Jen Bernard, Interior Designer at Audley Villages shares her top tips on achieving a modern twist on the classic Wuthering Heights look ahead of the movie release next month.
1. Choose the right metals
Wuthering Heights celebrates the poetry of patina; materials shaped by weather, use, and time. Avoid anything overly polished or pristine.
Opt for unlacquered brass and blackened iron for door furniture, taps, and switches. These metals are alive: they darken, soften, and deepen with touch, accruing a quiet history. Sourced and finished by local metalworkers, they bring authenticity and soul, an integrity that feels earned, not applied.
2. Textures are key
The original farmhouse was grounded in honest, tactile materials; raw wood, wool, and hand-worked finishes. To keep the mood contemporary, layer these textures onto clean, architectural forms.
A heavyweight wool throw or sheepskin draped over a pared-back sofa introduces depth without nostalgia. Choose woven wool fabrics for upholstery and soft furnishings to build richness through layering; elemental, restrained, and deeply comforting.
3. Creating a stone wall
Flat white walls feel thin; the Heights feel thick, protective, enduring.
Recreate the presence of stone without masonry by using limewash or chalky, mineral paints. Soft greys, mossed greens, or deep earthen browns applied in a cross-hatch motion create tonal variation that echoes ancient walls. The result is a surface with visual weight and quiet movement—cocooning, atmospheric, and resolutely timeless.
4. Ditch the big light
This world belongs to shadow, firelight, and the glow of dusk. Overhead lighting flattens the mood, switch it off. Instead, compose the room with pools of light: table lamps with fabric shades, wall lights, and warm, amber bulbs. Add the ritual of black taper candles.
The effect is intimate and brooding, a subtle gothic undertone, think Audley Cooper's Hill; where gothic architecture aligns to modern living; spaces feel sheltered, storied, and alive.
