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Your House

How To Plan Your Decorating Budget

navy blue and gold wallpaper set off this pendant light perfectly image by Karen Knox
I'm excited to bring you the first in a new series on The Mad House today. When I asked you what you wanted from the blog a few of you said that you would like to see other voices from time to time to bring a change of pace. I have already started with my
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MAD ABOUT YOUR HOUSE

In the YOUR HOUSE category I have included some of the most common decorating queries I have received over the years. But I'm delighted to announce that I have now set up a dedicated interior design consultancy called MAD ABOUT YOUR HOUSE. Whether it's tracking down a specific item or talking through ideas for a
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Navy Blue Rugs and Accessories

midnight blue ombre rug from westelm
As you may have noticed recent posts have been edging slightly away from grey and towards navy and I note, from the comments I receive (many more on Twitter) that lots of you are going in that direction too. midnight blue ombre rug from westelm The other day, I published a post about a silver
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Painted Rugs on Floorboards

  from improvisedlife.com At a barbecue recently I was asked about painting the floorboards in a hall where the planks continued into the sitting room. We decided that this might be tricky as it would necessitate painting a straight line across the boards to create an artificial ending point. And then I remembered an idea
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Can I Use Wallpaper In My Bathroom?

Sam contacted mad about the house to ask about wallpapering her bathroom. But she didn't want just any old wallpaper... image from mikiorganic.blogspot.com Q: What do you think about maybe using the Brooklyn tile wallpaper for our main bathroom ceiling? At £219 a pop it feels a bit risky. Is it true that using some kinda
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Customise Your Ikea Kitchen

custom made grey doors for an ikea kitchen from superfront
superfront besta cupboard front for Ikea We're all familiar with the concept of the Ikea hack, a design phenomenon that is even supported by the store itself, but until now it has been mainly about DIY versions. I know people who have repainted their doors, or even had new ones made and spray painted. I
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I Need A New, And Affordable, Kitchen

rustic kitchen by paul massey
Zoe contacted Mad About The House to ask for help with choosing a new kitchen that wouldn't cost the earth: air kitchen by devol Q: We are trying to refurbish the house and I am desperately in need of some advice and inspiration. We are in need of a new kitchen and, having done the
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Choosing The Right Shade Of Grey Paint

It is the most fashionable paint colour of the moment and, if my blog analysis is to be believed, the most commonly researched shade on the colour wheel. But grey can be hard to get right and does need a bit of careful planning as our cool Northern light can make some grey tones too icy
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Buyer’s Guide To Carpet

zebra stair runner by alternative flooring
This runner from Alternative Flooring is called Quirky Skinny Black A few of you have been asking about carpet recently, so I thought it was time to take the plunge and investigate what's out there so you don't have to. Carpet has suffered from a rather poor image in recent years but it's coming back
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Should I Have Polished Concrete Floors?

Sam contacted Mad About The House to ask about concrete flooring. poured concrete flooring. Image from kitchenbuilding.com Q: What do you think about polished concrete flooring? I am struggling with a funky idea for my (small) kitchen floor and was interested to know if concrete is something you had come across – it sounds like
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Inspiration For A Victorian-Style Bathroom

victorian-style fittings in a cottage room                                                                                                  
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Should I Have A Black And White Bathroom?

Elizabeth contacted Mad About The House to ask for advice on going monochrome in her bathroom. Choose traditional black and white but lay it in an unsual and modern pattern Q: I am about to move into my new house and it needs everything doing. We are thinking about the bathroom first and I have
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Should I Have Curtains On My Folding Sliding Doors?

Donna contacted Mad About The House to ask about a giant set of curtains for her new doors. from housetohome.co.uk Q: My predicament - we’re in full flow of having a double storey extension built. The lounge will have 5m of bifold doors with a dark grey aluminium frame leading out to the garden, these are
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How Do I Coordinate Patterned Wallpaper And Paint?

Anita contacted MadAboutTheHouse to ask for help with choosing paint to co-ordinate with her wallpaper. Q: We have chosen Harlequin Camille Delphine Collection pattern number 110125 for two of the walls in our two daughters' playroom. I love the bright colours and the stripes but can't decide how to paint the other two walls. I
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My Daughter Wants Her Room Painted Grey

Emma contacted MadAboutTheHouse to ask about paint colours for her teenage daughter's bedroom.Q: My daughter would like her bedroom  painted grey and white. It's a bright, south-facing room with a black cast iron fireplace, with alcoves either side, and oak floors. One of the alcoves will have a white wardrobe in it. I think we
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Help Me Choose A Stair Carpet

Deborah contacted MadAboutTheHouse to ask with help in choosing a new stair carpet. Q: We moved into our house nearly three years ago but with three small children, decoration was the last thing on our minds. Now that our youngest is nearly four, we are starting to think about replacing and renewing. I want to
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Which Wallpaper Shall I Buy?

Emma contacted MadAboutTheHouse to ask about choosing wallpaper. Q: We are looking for some wallpaper for behind the bed in the master bedroom. The walls, floorboards and bedspread are white, and there are accents of canary yellow in the room (bedside tables, photo frames). The vanity unit is black, and the velvet headboard is grey. So
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Should I Have Hanging Bedside Lights?

Hannah contacted MadAboutTheHouse to ask about lighting in her bedroom. image from welke.nl Q: I'm thinking of installing bed-side lighting and the contractor who came round to quote for the job said that in terms of the work involved, it would be a lot easier to suspend lights from the ceiling rather than them have wall-mounted.
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