"English Country Style" - Mad About The House

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Small Space Decorating, how to create an Insta-worthy tree and the enduring appeal of English Country style (podcast notes)

14th November 2019

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I promised you a chunky post to make up for missing the other day and this one has a lot of content in it. Now it's a sort of written version of the podcast for those who like images to go with their listening but I also try hard to make sure they work as

The Househunter: A fully restored Georgian country house

15th July 2022

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Off to Lincolnshire this week where the thick stone walls of this recently renovated Georgian house will keep us cool from the baking heat outside. This handsome beast is near Stamford and is on the market with Inigo for £2,150,000. It has seven bedrooms set within seven acres as well as a tennis court, parkland

8 Of The Prettiest Bedrooms for National Bed Month

9th March 2021

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bedding by bedeck1951 and wallpaper by morris and co

I'm not normally one to mark National this and Daily that but given that schools went back yesterday and I discovered it was national bed month, it felt like there was a link. I have kept going by telling myself that as soon as life returns to normal (whatever that is) that I will celebrate

Interior Inspiration: Beautiful Rooms

9th November 2020

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pomegranate wallpaper by tatty lowther

Everything's coming up roses... well not necessarily yet but shall we go with the green of new beginnings ? Or maybe just - it was a long week but it all turned out all right in the end. So here are some lovely rooms for you to stroll through on this Monday morning when I,

Decorating with Bold Colour: A House Tour with Sophie Robinson

8th October 2020

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muted pattern clash and english country style at sophie robinson house

Yes she's finally finished her house and since we have only met once since before lockdown (when we recorded at Skye McAlpine's house, we thought it would be good to show the finished article. So welcome to a house tour with Sophie Robinson. Now you can hear the full story on the podcast so do

The Key Interior Trend for 2020

2nd January 2020

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Kate Watson-Smyth looks at interior trends and the recent beige revival. Layering with different textures and adding accent colours create a modern look. The tall proportions and windows of the living room by H&M home help to keep the scheme light and contemporary. #modernliving #livingroom #madaboutthehouse

There’s always a lot of talk about new trends for interior design at this time of year and when I have written about this in the past it has proved to be one of the most read posts of the year. madaboutthehouse sitting room in fallen plum by atelier ellis But this year I’m not

New Releases: Interior Design Books

31st October 2019

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A new season means new book releases and October is a big month for publishers - the first Thursday of the month is known as Super Thursday when hundreds of books are released at the same time in a bid to hit the Christmas market. This year, on the 3rd, there were 426 hardbacks published,

Five Future Proof Trends

13th July 2017

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Sounds like a contradiction in terms doesn't it. How can a trend, which is surely allied to a fashion, be future-proof? Surely the point is that it will change. Usually quite fast. After all, isn't trend just another word for fashion? Or is it? We often talk about a fad that leads to an underlying

The Househunter: Codebreaking Interior Design

6th October 2023

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A somewhat cryptic headline for this week's househunter as we will be decoding the interior design tactics used in this house which was lived in by Alan Turing, Harry Hinsley and John Tiltman during the time they worked as codebreakers. It's a six minute drive from Bletchley and is on the market with Inigo for

Beautiful Rooms: Inspiration for Your Places and Spaces

14th February 2022

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design by berrow projects in mallorca

Sometimes the joy of a collection of inspiration images is that precisely that there is no theme - it is just that: a seemingly random group of pictures that have caught my eye during the week and that I feel you will like or be similarly interested in. But then is anything really ever random?

The Househunter: A 16th Century Farmhouse

19th March 2021

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Now, first of all, before we get into this house a word about the house with the controversial staircase. The architect emailed me the other day to say he was loving the post and all the chat - he admitted the stairs were very Marmite - and suggested we have a chat about well, the

An Interview With Salvage Hunter Drew Pritchard

11th March 2021

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pale green panelled wall, antique mirror and statue, faded floral button back armchair by Drew Pritchard for Barker and Stonehouse

This week on the podcast I interview Drew Pritchard, an architectural antiques dealer, on turning his passion into a career both on and off-screen. As the star of TV’s Salvage Hunters, Drew says it’s all about the thrill of the chase rather than the selling of his finds. He shared his tips on shopping for

FIVE INTERIORS TRENDS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2021

7th January 2021

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yellow window frame at the home of skye mcalpine by madaboutthehouse.com

Normally at this time of year I would be heading off to Paris to visit the Maison e Objet trade show to see what looks the designers are predicting for the months and year ahead. Obviously in the current circumstances I’m barely allowed to the end of the road, never mind abroad so I have

Book Review: De Gournay Wallpaper and Scandi Rustic Interiors

29th October 2020

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St. Laurent designer Greg Natale photo Anson Smart

Suddenly there are new interiors books coming out every week after years of it being a massively unfashionable subject and it's becoming hard to keep up. Today I'm going to show you two books from either end of the spectrum - in a vain (probably laughable) attempt to try and keep all of the people

The Househunter: White Beachside Decor

9th October 2020

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Now it was only when I was deciding to include these two houses this week (yes a double treat) I realised that it might have been a subconscious design to create a contrast with yesterday's post which was all about colour. Never let it be said that this blog doesn't try to cater for all

Lockdown Lighting Tips and Decorating Ideas

30th April 2020

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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

Trend Focus: Granny Chic, Faux versus Real and Buying Berber Rugs (podcast notes)

20th February 2020

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In this week's podcast Sophie and I discuss the rise of Granny Chic, whether faking it is best when it comes to textiles and surfaces and interview Willem Smitt, the interior design at El Fenn, Marrakech, where we held our recent interior design retreat. You can listen here or you can simply read all about

The Househunter: Room by Room

7th June 2019

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To the country as the sun is shining (at the time of writing) and there is an alarm going off outside my city garden and I wish I was lying on my back under a tree looking up at the clouds scudding by. In silence. Instead I'm on the sofa typing and occasionally shouting/pleading/cajoling with

Podcast Notes: Series 2 Episode 1

10th January 2019

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office in a cupboard by 2lg studio

And we're back. Series II of The Great Indoors launched this morning and, as usual, here are some notes to what we talked about with any relevant links to help you. In this episode we discussed January Decluttering, the return of Chintz and How to Plan the Home Office. New Year Decluttering Always a popular

Interiors Trends 2019

28th December 2018

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warm neutrals by Bianca Hall of French for Pineapple

Oh I know we all say that trends aren't for following and we should ignore them and only buy what we love and will love for ever, but that doesn't mean we can't have a look. And given that the shops will likely be full of these things in 2019 we may as well be