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Five Easy Pieces: Easter Bunnies

28th March 2018

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So I don't normally get all cutsie and Easter about these things but these are, as the song goes, a few of my favourite things and they just happened to have bunnies on and one of them was for a good cause so it seemed appropriate for the time of year. If you're trying to

Five Easy Pieces

4th January 2018

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Peili bowl by Zone Denmark

Remember when you were in your teens and early twenties and you used to treat yourself to a new thing on payday. Or sometimes on a Friday to wear out on a Saturday night. Perhaps you still do it now. I do. Although there comes a point when you seem to stop buying things for

Five Seasonal Tweaks For Your Sitting Room

6th September 2017

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farrow and ball helleborus wallpaper

First of all let me apologise for the late posting of this and admit to feelings of bafflement and rage. I spent all yesterday writing posts for the rest of the week and woke up this morning to find they had all disappeared. Vanished. Gone. Along with all the images I uploaded to go with

5 Ways To Revamp Your Bedroom

23rd August 2017

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grey bedroom photographed by Paul Craig styled by Kate Watson-Smyth

This week in my mini series 5 ways to revamp a room and this time we're looking at the bedroom. We have recently revamped The Mad House bedroom by changing the wallpaper (see below) and painting the walls. Neither of those tips appear in this list as I imagine you can work that one out

Five Of The Best Styling Tricks For Your Home

15th August 2017

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This month's guest post is by Ciara Elliott, editor of Essential Kitchens Bedrooms and Bathrooms magazine, on whose pages The Mad House bedroom and bathroom featured last April. When she came to shoot the house with the photographer Paul Craig, I asked her for her top five styling tips and tricks. Given that she sees

Guest Post: Sophie Robinson On 5 Ways To Bring Colour Into Your Home

8th August 2017

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Television present Sophie Robinson proved to be one of the most popular guest bloggers in The Mad House with her 5 ways to bring colour into your home so I thought I'd share it with you again during this season of August updates. I'm delighted to introduce you all to Sophie Robinson, judge on The

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

Objects of Design #321: Five Finds from Etsy – Storage

16th January 2014

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handmade storage bags by papatotoro from etsy

I do love good storage. Everything works better in a house if there's good storage. When we moved into this house I was determined that we would create enough space for everything and still have empty cupboards. Well, we didn't quite manage that but having lived in several houses with either no cupboards or small,

Objects of Design #236: Five Task Lights

23rd October 2013

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Five Industrial Task Lights Task lights, reading lamps, desk lights, call them what you will, you need some. Creating the right lighting in a room is about adding layers that can be used in different combinations. Sometimes an overhead, sometimes a gentle wall light, sometimes a few table and floor lamps. Or combinations of all

Five Finds: The Home Gym

26th June 2013

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Some of us don't have quite enough space in our homes for a gym (I know, I know – what an outlandish suggestion) and it can be hard to make room for ugly equipment that takes up precious floor and, after a while, possibly, doesn't get used quite as much as, er, intended. So, this

Five Finds 5/6/13

5th June 2013

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This weeks' Five Finds kicks off with some rather fabulous big cushions which are perfect for taking outside as extra seating or can be stacked up in a corner for when they are needed indoors. Crush Cubes crush cubes outdoor cushions Made by Francesca, who realised that as the mother of four sons she never

Five Finds

7th March 2013

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Some real treats for you this week, I hope you will like them as much as I do. First up, Christian Lacroix (yes that's Lacroix Sweetie) has designed some fabric for Sofa Workshop. It's called Butterfly Parade and it comes in four colourways, including this rather fabulous Lagoon. It costs around £85 a metre. This

Five Finds: The Best of February’s Objects Of Design

28th February 2013

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So, the end of February and the end of the First Volume of Objects of Design. Yes, there have been 365 ideas and gorgeous pieces for your home published over the last year since the blog began. #343: concrete stacking pots from between dog and wolf It wouldn't be possible to pick just five highlights

August Updates

3rd August 2017

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the rough table by norr11 photographed in The Mad House by Paul Craig

the rough table by norr11 photographed in The Mad House by Paul Craig Hello everyone, a slightly unusual post as I'm writing to tell you that as we will be revisiting posts during August, while the Mad Brain takes a break to recharge its batteries, you won't be receiving your daily email updates. That's due

A Perfect Lampshade

14th June 2017

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I have realised I don't often write about lampshades and that is because I own remarkably few of them. The ones I have all came attached to the stands they are on and nothing much has changed in that time. However, in my recent Five Ways to Revamp a Room series I remember saying (and if

10 Best Plant Pots

8th June 2017

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fluted zinc planter from cox and cox

I'm not sure quite why it has taken my so long to get round to this one. All anyone seems to be talking about is bringing plants into our interiors - either real or fake - and for that to work well we need to focus on the pots we are putting them in. To

10 Beautiful Rooms

29th May 2017

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wood burning stove in navy living room by Greg Penn Hello on this Bank Holiday Monday. I can only assume that the storms clouds have gathered on the horizon and if it's not already raining it will be about to do so - all the more reason so settle down with a cup of coffee

Vintage French Wine Carboys

17th May 2017

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vintage french wine vessels

vintage french wine vessels from homebarn We have been talking recently - in the Five Ways to Revamp a Room series - about how little things can make a big difference. One of those little things being accessories. Now I'm not advocating you rush out and buy a load of meaningless stuff but the odd

How To Cover Your Ugly Splashback Tiles

2nd May 2017

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vinyl tile splashback

vinyl tile splashback Last week I started a new series called Five Ways to Revamp A Room and if I'd waited until this week to start it then it would have been six. When you move into a new place - either bought or rented - one of the first things that is crying out to

Is AI the Future of Interior Design?

27th September 2023

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AI generated design of a kitchen blending the interior design styles of madaboutthehouse and sophie robinson

A controversial headline this but it’s a subject we recently discussed on the podcast (you can listen here) and I thought it was worth a follow up. Those of you on instagram may have noticed more and more AI generated designs creeping into your feed. Those of you who linger and pay attention to comments