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What Colour Sofa Should You Choose?

17th January 2018

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Odette Sofa in Bespoke Tango Stain Resistant Velvet - Peanut Propped

It might sound obvious, but these days you can have any colour sofa you want. And before you start saying that was always the case, I bet you would have hesitated before choosing a pale sofa if you have small children. Or are partial to a glass of red wine and a cup of black

The Househunter: Room by Room

8th December 2017

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Now this house is a beauty. It's a proper Victorian doer-upper that is practically intact and is full of such charming period details that I hope whoever buys it really tries to preserve it and just updates the heating and electricity and adds a lick of paint. Come with me and have a look: The

Is Your Kitchen Match Fit?

28th November 2017

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As if there wasn’t enough to do at this time of year when planning for Christmas, what with present-buying, parties and planning, there is one other, really important, thing that you should make time for if you want everything to run smoothly. Last week we looked at simple ways to create the perfect guest room

The Househunter Room by Room

25th August 2017

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Shades of grey or punchy navy? This was the best of May's property and I'm happy to have another stroll around both. Starting off in Wimbledon this week with this three bedroom duplex apartment which is on the market with The Modern House for £1,175,000. It's mainly about the kitchen with its soft greeny grey

The Househunter Room by Room

18th August 2017

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This study remains one of my favourite rooms so far this year. I could have bought this house just for that room alone. It's a short working week this week - first of several at this time of year so I thought I would start with this summery office space in this converted Victorian schoolhouse

The Househunter: Houseboat or Summerhouse

28th July 2017

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Seeing as we are firmly in the summer holidays now this house seemed perfect for the time of year as it has this fabulous black painted summer house in the garden. It's on the market for £1,895,000 via Brickworks and is now, officially, the sum total of my garden shed/summer house fantasies. I mean look. And

Large Floor Cushion

25th July 2017

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The 16-year-old has been redecorating his bedroom. It appears to be some sort of post GCSE don't-make-me-get-a-Saturday-job sort of plan. Not that I was going to, but it has clearly done him no harm to think I might. Actually when I say redecorating I use the term loosely. There was one lime green wall, three

Zinc Advent Calendar

8th November 2016

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zinc advent calendar from rowen and wren It is unlike The Mad House to dive headlong into Christmas, but I couldn't resist this zinc advent calendar which is like a whole village of tiny mad houses - and actually that wasn't why I chose it but now that I come to mention it... Advent calendars

How To Buy A Sofa

15th September 2016

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One of the questions I am most often asked is how to buy a sofa? By which I mean, it's not just about finding the right shape and colour and working out if it will fit through the door, but also about understanding the different components. Do you need hard or softwood? Do you want

Handblown Glass Pendant Lighting

14th September 2016

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Earlier this summer I went to the Rothschild & Bickers studio to learn about glass blowing. I have admired their gorgeous glass pendants for many years and, ever since I read a Donna Leon thriller set in a glass factory in Venice, have been keen to learn more about this ancient art. black kitchen with

The Househunter: How To Sell Your House

25th March 2016

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Cheyne Walk via The Modern House We're going househunting as usual this week everyone but as the house selling season kicks off in earnest in Spring I thought it might be helpful to share this feature I wrote for a newspaper a little while back on tips for helping you to sell. Spring and Autumn

The Househunter 10/7/15

10th July 2015

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Bewdley is a charming little town on the banks of the river Severn in Worcestershire, its name, which has morphed from the French Beau-Lieu meaning beautiful spot, sums it up for many. Although there is a reference to it in the Domesday book, it was built largely in the Georgian era, which makes it all

The Househunter

29th May 2015

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I have reached that stage in the loft conversion where I feel like I'm making a huge decision every ten minutes and have no brain left over to decide whether to have cheese or ham in the lunch time sandwich. Not to mention spending money like it's gone out of fashion. Someone once likened moving

Moomins and Hattifatteners

26th May 2015

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Seriously who doesn't love a Moomin? And with the release of their first film on Friday, I thought you might like to see these wonderful lights which were launched to mark the centenary of Tove Janssen last year. These are the Hattifatteners - silent beings that wander in large herds. The only thing that interests

Mad About Your House

15th March 2015

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It has been a great start to the year for Mad About Your House. I have been everywhere from 1960s single storey houses to newly converted lofts in 1930s properties. There have been kitchens, office/playrooms and sitting rooms with halls, stairs and landings in Victorian homes in between. sitting room of a modernist dwelling It

Wooden Tray

4th March 2015

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Now I don't know about you but whenever I watch a cookery programme, which is quite often, I spend as much time looking at the choice of serving dishes as I do the food. Both Nigella and Jamie seem to have an endless supply of cool dishes and charming boards which make even the most

Black and White Embroidered Pouffe

27th September 2014

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My love of black and white is well-documented. My love of putting my feet up perhaps less so. But then I find the two things can combine in stylish harmony with this embroidered black and white linen pouffe from Bodie and Fou. It costs £125 and, in the interests of fairness, I should say that

Objects of Design #346: The Cargo Trike

10th February 2014

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monochrome interiors HQ of Butchers and Bicycles in Copenhagen This a story of a bicycle. But before you start complaining that I've gone completely off message (and God knows I can barely ride a bike never mind own one) it is also the story of what may be the most beautiful office you will ever

Objects of Design #203: Isak Design

19th September 2013

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penguin wallpaper by isak I don't think we could have a series on children's rooms without including the wonderful Isak Design. Some of them, like the penguins above, will be familiar to many of you, but there are lots of other wonderful images in the collection. landsby easy up wallpaper The colourful images are perfect

Books Maketh The Room

13th February 2012

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“Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house,” Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Thomas Jefferson declared that he could not live without books and managed to create three libraries in his lifetime. When the first burned down, he wrote to