‘Modest’ decor lets the elegant interior architecture of an 1840 rectory in Cheltenham shine
She is the designer who made bunting, table confetti and cake toppers staples of party decorating. Yet you’re unlikely to have heard of Meredithe Stuart-Smith. The US-born entrepreneur began her business at a glitter-strewn kitchen table in 1985. The luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, in New York, was her first client and she has been quietly busy ever since. Today, Meri Meri stationery, homewares, toys and reusable party trimmings, in her trademark pastels and neons, line the shelves of stores across the world.
“I’ve always designed for parents like me, who want to add a bit of magic to their children’s lives,” says Stuart-Smith, a mother of two. Many of those designs began here in the Cheltenham home she shares with her husband and grown-up son (her daughter now works in Birmingham). The four-bedroom property is set in a stucco-fronted 1840 rectory, which was sliced into three apartments in the 1950s. “The proportions are grand, but it’s not an overly elaborate house,” says Stuart-Smith, who has kept the decor accordingly “modest”. Walls are washed in a concert of bluey-whites; the original, wonky floorboards painted a shiny cocoa brown. Like her designs, the charm of this house lies in the details: a row of Surrealist plates, the swan-shaped cushion afloat on a petite sofa. “I’m drawn to things that are clean-lined, with a bit of fun thrown in,” she enthuses. “I love wallpaper and colour, but I couldn’t live with that intensity. I like to be able to see the wood through the leaves.”
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