How florist Graeme Corbett decorates his former cowshed for Christmas
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‘For florists, the lead up to Christmas is all about making decorations for other people’s houses, so when it comes to decorating our own we have to get creative with whatever is left,’ laughs Graeme Corbett, the man behind Kent-based Bloom & Burn flowers. This year, however, Graeme carved out time to show us how his locally sourced, organic approach to floristry manifests itself over Christmas. His ethos demonstrates that, no matter the size of your house or the depth of your pockets, there is always a little festive spirit to be found.
Graeme and his partner Danny moved from London to Kent in 2021 after deciding, as so many did during the pandemic, that the time had come to escape the city. Graeme had left a career in TV to retrain as a florist at Judith Blacklock in Kensington, before taking a job assisting Melissa Richardson, co-founder of JamJar Flowers. ‘That is where I really fell in love with it,’ explains Graeme. ‘I loved the creativity and being able to make something beautiful using just a few natural ingredients.’ After just a year, Graeme decided to go out on his own, and started Bloom & Burn from his kitchen table in Archway, though he soon outgrew it.
When a cowshed-turned-house on a plot of farmland in Kent came up for sale with The Modern House, Graeme and Danny were quick to snap it up. One of the big appeals of the property was the farm’s original 18th-century threshing barn, which, though in a destitute state, had a relatively intact forge attached to it which lent itself perfectly to becoming Graeme’s temporary workshop, and had the potential to be converted into a larger house one day.
The forge's 19th-century bricks remain untouched, and line not just many of the walls but the floor too. Shelves house Graeme’s various tools and vessels, including a seemingly endless supply of antique and repurposed glass jars, perfect for small table arrangements. In the middle of the room sits the original workman’s table that belonged to the house’s previous owner. Today, it is rarely free of flowers, and the surrounding walls are barely visible behind the various wreaths hanging from them, soon to be sent to Water Lane's Christmas market.
It is just a short walk across the garden to the former cowshed where Graeme and Danny now live. The previous owner had enlisted the help of architects Matthew Hill and Urszula Russek of MiU Design to transform it into a lateral, largely open-plan space with a kitchen and living room at one end and a bedroom at the other, with a bathroom and mezzanine nestled in between the two. ‘As soon as we walked in here, we knew it was right,’ says Graeme. ‘It has so much glass and light and I knew that, even in the depths of winter, it wasn’t going to be oppressive in any way.’ Repurposed scaffolding boards painted white clad the walls and ceiling throughout and add to this sense of openness, while Crittall doors and windows run the length of the house on both sides and allow light to flood every space.
Since the house was in such good shape, the couple needed only to install their collection of mid-century furniture and vintage posters. ‘It was the most brilliant thing – normally when you move somewhere you have so much to do to make it a home. We put our furniture in, and by eight o'clock that evening, we were having fish and chips and looking around thinking “this is our place”,’ he recalls. Outside, Graeme quickly added a cutting garden while Danny bought a chicken coop, and so began their new, wholesome life in the country, which is never more appealing than on a winter’s morning.
Graeme’s days begin by feeding the chickens and taking a turn around the field behind the house. The hedgerows provide an endless source for wreath making, and mantelpiece and floral displays: ivy, bramble, rosehips and fir among the main components. His approach to Christmas decorations – whether those he sells or those he uses to decorate his own house – celebrates these native plants. ‘They are grown outside and shaped by the weather, which means they have to battle harder to survive,’ he says. ‘There might be some mottling on the petals or a wonky stem, but for me, that is what makes them exciting and creates a natural shape and movement.
‘I like to keep my Christmas decorations simple and accessible: it’s intuitive and nothing is over-worked or over-thought,’ continues Graeme. ‘It’s about elevating everyday ingredients. For instance, a sprig of something on the napkin is a lovely little gesture.’ These ingredients are woven together, adorned with lights or arranged in bud vases to make a series of low-cost but deeply effective decorations. Lengths of fir adorned with larch and fairy lights hang from wooden beams inside the house, while carefully placed branches of rosehips and a scattering of small bud vases holding just a few hardworking stems greet you at every turn.
For Graeme, the most important thing is ‘to create synergy between what’s going on outside and what’s going inside’. As he prepares for Christmas, hedgerows far on the horizon can be seen rustling in the wind. Inside, sheltered by the house, their bounty is illuminated by candle light. The two feel entirely at one.
Graeme's book, Life in Bloom, published by Quarto Publishing, will be published in April 2026 and is available for pre-order now.
Elena Bazu1/15Graeme with his dog Freida
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Elena Bazu3/15The bathroom is clad in metro tiles and features a mirror from Nkuku.
Elena Bazu4/15Looking towards the bedroom. The rug is from a vintage shop in Joshua Tree, California.
Elena Bazu5/15The workshop sits opposite the house.
Elena Bazu6/15The building is an 18th-century former forge.
Elena Bazu7/15Inside the workshop.
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Elena Bazu10/15Graeme arranging bud vases.
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Elena Bazu12/15Wreath making.
Elena Bazu13/15Graeme's garden sits between the house and the neighbouring field.
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