Right it’s official, the lockdown is easing and we’re officially allowed to spend the night away from home (in our bubbles) so I thought we should take a trip to the seaside, in our own virtual bubble, to look at this huge Georgian townhouse in fashionable Margate. Who’s coming? It’s big enough for us to…
Back with a new series of the podcast and this week we are reviewing three of the newest interiors books, two of which are published today. Elsewhere in the show, which for this series is sponsored by Harlequin, we discuss scented candles – expect strong opinions there and whether you should unconservatory your conservatory. Do…
Today I’m chatting to Ed O’Donnell, the interior designer and one half of Angel/ODonnell whose house I featured on these pages a few weeks ago and whose staircase caused such consternation – we’ll deal with that at the end. In a piece he wrote recently his thoughts on trends chimed very much with my own…
This week I have fallen down the rabbit hole that is panelling. There’s no doubt that it’s everywhere at the moment and I have succumbed in my own house in my newly redecorated office. That said it’s one of those classics that is having a moment (like brass) rather than a fad that will pass…
It’s all about the simple details this week. Good bones, great furniture and no fancy paint tricks. And while I speak as a fan of fancy paint trick, this lovely one bedroom apartment in a building dating back to the 1800s shows you the power of buying well. I also think it shows you the…
Long timers among you will remember a small series I wrote way back BP (before Pandemic) about a beautiful velvet wrapped interiors book by Phaidon called The Greatest Rooms of the Century, the criteria for which was that they must all be residential. The rooms were a fascinating history of design through the decades but…
Liberty is one of the most visited and iconic (and I don’t use that word lightly) shops in the capital. Its huge beamed presence stands behind Oxford Street Tube station and if you haven’t posted a picture of its distinctive floral displays are you even an Instagrammer? Now the store has reintroduced Liberty wallpaper to…
Everyone will have different “rules” and I stick that word in inverted commas because they may be your personal rules, they may simple be a set of guidelines you like to stick to to ensure you get your space right for what you need. Think of them more as a set of principles; when they’re…
The last year has shown many of us that if we want new stuff we have to buy it online. With all but non-essential shops shut it has become the only way to get hold of anything whether it’s kitchen supplies, new shoes or even sofas. Now many of us were already shopping online and…
A riot of pattern and colour for you this week – well mostly – and if there’s no pattern and not much colour then there’s texture. So important, so often overlooked. Let’s dive in with this wonderful floral wallpaper: This pattern, which comes in seven colourways and includes an indoor velvet and a linen, an…