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The Househunter: Room by Room – Concrete and Antiques



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On the face of it not a property I would normally consider, but actually I love this. It must be lockdown mania - in the same way I suddenly want to paint my kitchen ochre yellow, it now seems I want to live in a concrete bunker. Well, a very posh concrete outhouse, as it
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Lockdown Lighting Tips and Decorating Ideas



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swachbox by sophie robinson
The remote recording of the podcast continues and this week Sophie and I repaired to our respective duvet tents for this episode of The Great Indoors in which we discuss ideas for lockdown decorating and I interview Sally Storey, the design director of John Cullen Lighting, on "decorating with light" as well as rounding up
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The Househunter: Room by Room



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I do love it on Grand Designs when people find odd little plots of land and turn them into brilliant and imaginative houses and this week I have found one such property. A three bedroom house arranged over two floors with split levels, created from a former mechanic's garage in east London, this is on
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Happiness At Home: A podcast special episode



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my mantelpiece is a collection of family souvenirs and happy memories
Now this might be quite a timely - if long - post. We planned to focus on happiness at home for this episode of the podcast several weeks ago (well before all this) but it turns out that this might be just the thing for now. So today on The Great Indoors, Sophie and I
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Neptune: not just kitchens but furniture, fabric and paint too



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walnut paint by neptune
And they are still delivering.... Way back BV (Before the Virus - BC sounded a little too far back) I met the team behind Neptune and we decided to work together for a year on a mix of projects that would include in-store events (they will now take place later in the year) - product
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The Househunter: Room by Room



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Now I suspect this one might be quite polarising but I like the story behind it and the way it has been decorated and, actually, the architecture, so leave your instant reactions (and shoes) at the door and come on in to this three bedroom house in the Kirkstall area of Leeds which is on
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Small Businesses for NHS



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table lamp by laurie lamps
Now I don't know about you but what with the change in weather and the realisation that most of my clothes are definitely meant for outside and not hours on sofas with slippers/indoor shoes, I have felt myself wandering towards shopping sites for the first time in weeks. Just for a look you understand. And
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Monday Inspiration: Beautiful Rooms



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de gournay wallpaper badminton
Now I wrote last week about decorating in a lockdown and how what we want now might turn out to be quite different to what we want in a few months time. So I advised a little bit of caution and planning as your mood might very well change. You might, I said, be looking
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Decorating in a Lockdown



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orla kiely yellow landing book nook and vintage eames rocker
There has naturally been a flurry of posts and features and articles (some of which I have contributed to) about how to make our homes work for us during this period and there are two points I want to make for anyone who a) isn't suddenly feeling they want to rush out and paint their
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Monday Inspiration: Beautiful Rooms



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A look at some inspiring room schemes with Kate Watson-Smyth. This home office features a terracotta filing cabinet is a darker shade than the walls and the green cupboard provides a glorious jolt of contrast. #homeoffice #terracottascheme #madaboutthehouse
Come on in. Let's go for a calm and quiet stroll through a collection of beautiful rooms and take a moment to look at what appeals (or doesn't in each room). We have the time to plan so we might as well really look at what works for us in each of these and see
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The Househunter: Room by Room: Think about Your Floorplan



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Returning today to a house I featured three years ago when the owner, Greg Penn, was in the process of doing it up. He later sold it fully furnished and moved to Devon where he bought The Admiral's House, part of the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth, which is an even more mammoth restoration job
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10 Ways to Work from Home



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the loft studio at madaboutthehouse.com
Now I sense this is a subject we will be returning to over the new few weeks but for now I wanted to share a few things that have helped me work from home over the last 20 years with babies, toddlers and now teenagers. Sometimes I had a dedicated space and often I didn't.
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Monday Inspiration Beautiful Rooms



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pink gallery wall grid via Bianca Hall @frenchforpineapple
So here we are then. It's certainly not the new normal yet is it, but it's the new reality at least. I hope you are all staying well and indoors. Can I firstly say thank you all so much for your messages of support for my post last week. I will absolutely continue to write
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The Househunter: Room by Room



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Firmly in the fantasy Friday camp with this lovely house which I chose because of the outside space. Not all of us have some and I figured that some of you will be sick of looking at interiors and gazing at a big green garden can be quite calming I find. That said we will
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The most popular interior styles of 2020



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Vintage (Shutterstock - Pavlovska Yevheniia)
Now this dropped into my inbox a couple of days ago and I thought it might be fun to share; a round up of the top 20 interior design styles as evidenced by google searches so far this year. These things are often to be taken with a pinch of salt, not so much for
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Monday Inspiration: Colour Soaked Spaces



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dark walls and persian rug via @white_rabbit_living
Now before we start: a word on the virus. I feel that you come here for escapism, for home decorating advice and chat, and to see things you might want for your own homes and to be inspired. I also feel that for some of you right now that will feel inappropriate and wrong. I'm
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The Househunter Room by Room



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So here we are on Friday 13th and this house seemed apt. Not least for the picture over the fireplace but also just look at the setting. Feels like the perfect place to hide away and still be able to go outside for fresh air. Built in 1980 it's nestled in  oak woodlands in Surrey
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Five of the Best Soap Dishes



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Well you know...it just seemed like it might be useful. So I just thought I'd put it out there. UPATE: Do read through to the comments for links to soap leaves (brilliant when you're out and about and travelling) and floating soap as well as an organisation making environmentally friendly soap (plastic and paraben free)
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Beautiful Rooms: A Dash of Mustard



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Kate Watson-Smyth looks at ways of injecting touches of mustard to scheme. Here a pale pink bedroom with navy headboard and side tables has the simple addition of mustard cushions to liven the scheme. #mustardaccents #madaboutthehouse #bedroom
Well now are you sitting comfortably with washed hands and ready to take our weekly stroll through some beautiful rooms. If we're all going to be quarantined soon then we're going to need all the inspiration we can get and I'm starting this week with a look at how a dash of mustard can just
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Publication Day, New Ways with Wallpaper and a Spring Retox



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Kate Watson-Smyth and Sophie Robinson discuss the launch of Kate's 3rd book on the Great Indoors podcast #thegreatindoors #madaboutthehouse #interiorsbook
And it's Happy Publication day to me! Now I wrote all about the book last week so I won't go into it all again here but do follow the link if you would like to know more. And, of course, it's podcast day so if you would like to hear me chatting to Sophie about
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