Designer's den is home from home

The barn has seen the re-birth of children's label Poppy, first launched by Stephanie in 1980, when she returned to Yarm to take over her family's 150 year-old department store Strickland and Holt.

"My parents came back north from London to rescue the store and mum started Poppy as a back-up. I can remember wearing it and the clothes and bedding were also sold in Harrods. It ran until 2000 when those kind of prints went out of fashion," says Bryony. "When the minimalism trend was over, we got the idea of re-starting it."

With two family businesses on the go, the Richardsons' house near Northallerton is always a hive of activity.

"There's always something going on and lots of people about. It's what you call lived in and well-loved," says Stephanie, who bought the house seven years ago after falling for what she calls its "Jane Austeny" charms.

It is a perfect Georgian property with well-proportioned rooms, lots of character and five large bedrooms. "I saw this place and fell in love with it. It's pretty from the front but it's very robust, which it has to be. We have four children and four grandchildren. It's quite often full of little characters, which is wonderful."

The rooms retained some of their Georgian features, but Stephanie also reinstated others including two period fireplaces. She also redecorated and filled the house with much-loved pieces that are happy reminders of the past, like the rocking horse, which she rode herself as a child, and the old "drug run". This enormous cabinet in the hallway with its little drug drawers belonged to Stephanie's father, a pharmacist. It's now full of bits and bobs that add up, says Stephanie, to too much stuff.

"I'm a bit of a hoarder and I don't like throwing anything away. I'll always find a corner for it."

Bryony's bed is also a family heirloom and a perfect place for dreaming up new ideas for Poppy. Bryony, 30, a 3D design graduate, worked for Cath Kidston. "Cath taught me a lot about product and about what consumers want and it was great working there but it was frustrating not being creative myself. I did some courses in fabric design and printing and learnt about pattern repeats and making garments as I went along."

The new Poppy is very different from the old one.

"I wanted to do border prints for the dresses and I wanted them to tell a story, so Poppy is the main character along with her border terrier Fred," says Bryony. "I hand draw them taking inspiration from illustrators like Eve Garnett, which is what gives the dresses that vintage nostalgic look, and each dress comes with a story book."

As well as the beautiful, whimsical clothes, she also designs bedding and accessories and all her fabrics are made in England. The soft tweed used for her little boys' jackets is from a mill in Otley. She also imports fair trade handknits from a family-run business in the Himalayas.

The samples are produced in her Yorkshire studio, but the products are now made in a little factory in Bishop Auckland and carried by an impressive list of stockists, from Strickland and Holt and the London branch of Harvey Nichols to chi chi shops in Japan and France.

"The Japanese and French seem to love the very English look," says Bryony. "It's been a lot of hard work growing Poppy, but it's helped enormously being at home. It's a lovely place to come back to and there are always loads of people around to discuss ideas with. My parents are a great help because they've been there and done it before."