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10 Beautiful Rooms

And here we are again. Time seems to be speeding up as we race towards the end of the year doesn’t it. Certainly the Mondays are coming round very fast. We starting with a picture taken by Melanie Lissack, whose house featured in last week’s 10 Beautiful Rooms, and who too this lovely picture at a dinner I hosted for made.com last week.

the made.com showroom image by Melanie Lissack
the made.com showroom image by Melanie Lissack

It’s so tricky to take good pictures in shops but this is gorgeous and it’s all available from the website. The sofa is the lovely Julianne that I have raved about before – here in petrol  – and the walls have been painted in Calamine by Farrow & Ball which is a gorgeous shade of pink.

kitchen by Higham Furniture Roques-O’Neil Photography
kitchen by Higham image by  Roques-O’Neil Photography

Next up, I was sent these two very different kitchen pictures last week but the common factor is the pillars. Extending and enlarging our houses can sometimes mean that a pillar has to remain in the middle to hold the rest of the house up  but you don’t have to box in an industrial RSJ as these images show.

kitchen by Higham Furniture Roques-O’Neil Photography
kitchen by Higham image by  Roques-O’Neil Photography

The top is a Victorian lamppost and above the girder has been painted to co-ordinate with the room. Both look great and both go with the style of the rooms they are in. Bear in mind also that leaving it bare like this will take up less rom than boxing it in and plastering it.

blue kitchen via Shoot Factory
blue kitchen via Shoot Factory

Sticking with blue kitchens, which seems to have turned into a thing this week, is this gorgeous one from Shoot Factory which is available as a location house. Note the square tiles on the wall which have been laid on the diagonal to echo the herringbone floor. The rectangle metro tiles might have been too much with this floor but, by choosing squares, the owners have made a feature and connected the two areas without labouring the point.

jo berryman kitchen by paul massey for living etc
jo berryman kitchen by paul massey for living etc

This blue kitchen belongs to the interior Jo Berryman, of whose work I am a huge fan. Now if you were nervous about choosing blue for your kitchen, and I have featured a lot of navy ones, then be assured that you can still go for a strong blue but it doesn’t have to be that dark. Go on, I dare you.

loft conversion by nusladesign image by birgitta wolfgang
loft conversion by nusla design image by birgitta wolfgang

Or will you always return to white? This is a fabulous light and airy space but perhaps not one that is easy to recreate until you live in a huge space. You have to play to the strengths of the room you have and while a large open space can go either dark or light to great effect, those of us with smaller spaces are sometimes better off going with drama and colour to make an impact.

loft conversion by nusladesign image by birgitta wolfgang
loft conversion by nusladesign image by birgitta wolfgang

It is lovely though isn’t it. Although I just know I would fill it up with books and rugs and layers of stuff because I am, as I said in an interview last week – a monochrome maximalist. It’s a phrase I thought up earlier in the summer and it definitely applies to me. I might be the only one in fact? Anyone else?

dark hallway by studio 304 image by juliet murphy
dark hallway by studio 304 image by juliet murphy

Because you could really make a large space sing by painting a dark hallway which immediately makes the room at the end appear lighter and brighter and the pendant lights over the table just echo the black floor below in a tiny way that makes all the difference.

humphrey munson kitchen pantry image by paul craig
humphrey munson kitchen pantry image by paul craig

The pantry of dreams. I featured my new larder last week but this one is, as they say on instagram hashtag goals. The dark doors both separate it from the main kitchen but also make it a feature. One day…. Maybe I should paint the door of mine dark – to match the kitchen cupboards? What do you think?

blue bathroom via Shoot Factory
blue bathroom via Shoot Factory

And finally a blue bathroom because this week we appear to be celebrating all things blue.

Now, do you want to come on a tour of The Mad House? As a treat for scrolling down the end of this post? Over the summer I was interviewed by The Pool and the ten minute house tour video came out last week. I have already linked to it on Instagram but if any of you haven’t seen it that would like to here is the link

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

10 Comments

  1. I really like the way “Kitchen by Higham” is decorated. Blue color on the sides of the tables is looking amazing. Loft conversion designs are also looking awesome.

  2. Loved your video/interview Kate! Next time you’re in Los Angeles, please stop by for a glass of vino, 🙂

  3. I want to move in to your house. Leave all the furniture please. Although I might paint the pantry door dark! Great video Kate – thanks for sharing it here.

  4. This looks like the door to my kitchen and I absolutely adore this. The pantry cupboard is also ready for a change since last week’s post. ❤ all these ideas. Thank you.

  5. The Butler’s pantry is my favorite. The dark gray /blue doors with window lights leading into the sun drenched room reminds me of a Dutch master’s painting. The light gray cabinets, rustic gray washed plank floor makes a perfect transition from the
    dark doors and stone floors of the main room. Of course the copper pots and rustic crockery on open shelves all add to the charm of the space.

  6. Great video! I think painting the door black would look good. I also love that glass and chose it for my bathroom window. The blue rooms all look great. I’ve decided that I’m painting my living room blue next. A light grey-blue with built in cupboards painted the same and an electric blue velvet armchair. Haven’t even finished painting it in ammonite yet – it is still awaiting another coat 😳 My husband seems surprisingly accepting of it this time. He’s probably realised that it’s less effort to accept and allow me to get on with it around him than enter into discussions and run the risk of him helping being brought into it 😄

  7. I allways wonder why you chose not to paint the door to your pantry black, as I think it is screaming for.

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