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Giveback January – Recycle or Donate Unwanted Electrical Goods

6th January 2021

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Boxes of electricals in front of book shelf for Giveback January – Recycle or Donate Unwanted Electrical Goods

It seems appropriate for this first AD Break of the year to begin with a piece about recycling. And I’m also posting this the day after 12th Night (yesterday for the record) when new research has found that the UK alone has thrown away nearly 35m Christmas tree lights - enough to wind around every

Mad About The House to launch Design Storey – an edited interiors shop

10th December 2020

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I'm so excited to share this news with you today. It has been a long time in the dreaming and even longer in the making but Mad About The House is launching an online shop in January. Read on to find out the story behind Design Storey. The idea came about after realising that there

Monday Inspiration: Beautiful Rooms

5th October 2020

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pink and wooden kitchen design by studio duggan and 202 design photo by mariell lind hansen

Focusing on kitchens and bathrooms this week as these are the hardest to get right, the most expensive and yet the most important rooms in the house. The key to both of these rooms is not to treat them in isolation. They are part of your home and, as such, must reflect and link with

Outdoor Lights by Davey Lighting

22nd July 2020

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Finally, after 10 years of living in this house we have sorted out the outside lighting. At the start of the year I agreed to work with Original BTC for 12 months and this post for my Wednesday Ad break is part of that collaboration. Original BTC is a British company that also owns Davey

Why is there such a lack of diversity in the interior design industry?

4th June 2020

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interior design by fawn interiors studio

Last year I started a directory of companies that were actively trying to reduce their impact on the planet. It’s by no means complete and I don’t update it as often as I should, but I hoped it would raise awareness and help you make more informed choices about where you shop based on your

A Few of My Favourite Things: 5 Blogs 5 Interior Design Websites and a Book

19th May 2020

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Well we've reached the stage of lockdown where it's time for me to share some of the places that I go when I want to learn something, be entertained, have something to read. I am, of course, hugely appreciative that so many of you choose to come here and I hope you will continue to

The Househunter: Room by Room – the perfect one bedroom flat

8th May 2020

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I adore this little flat. From the way it has been decorated to the pretty pink walls outside. It's a one bedroom flat in Bristol and it's on the market for £350,000 with The Modern House. If the 19yo were studying in Bristol instead of Manchester.... But he isn't - not that anyone is studying

Small Businesses for NHS

9th April 2020

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table lamp by laurie lamps

Now I don't know about you but what with the change in weather and the realisation that most of my clothes are definitely meant for outside and not hours on sofas with slippers/indoor shoes, I have felt myself wandering towards shopping sites for the first time in weeks. Just for a look you understand. And

CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE: ROOM BY ROOM – THE KITCHEN

26th November 2019

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aarke carbonator

Am being super organised this year as I realise I often start these guides in December (which feels right) when it's too late to get hold of some of the stuff (which is wrong) so this year I thought I would start now and you can ignore me if you can't face it yet (come

An Interview with Michelle Ogundehin (podcast notes)

17th October 2019

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Kate Watson-Smyth and Sophie Robinson take a house tour with Michelle Ogundehin for the Great Indoors podcast. The dining room features floor length dusky lilac velvet curtains, a antique mirror effect wallpaper and anaglypta. #thegreatindoors #madaboutthehouse

Michelle Ogundehin needs little introduction; the editor of Elle Decoration for 13 years (from 2004) she is now a regular television presenter, creative consultant and is just finishing off her first book. Notoriously private about her home, Michelle posts only corners of her rooms and has said she will never, ever, invite a magazine into

Monday Inspiration: Mad About The Bathroom

16th September 2019

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Kate Watson-Smyth takes a look at bathroom design and how to take inspiration and adapt it for your space. A classic background of mostly white but the freestanding bath has been painted in a deep plum colour. And you could change this if you got bored. The black chandelier is the real focal point in this bathroom. #bathroomdesign #freestandingbath #madaboutthehouse

It's a shorter post this week (will anyone notice or mind?) as this weekend has been spent taking the 18yo to his new home at university. I was completely fine about him going until two days before when he texted me and asked me out to lunch. And I had to work. And it really

Dulux Colour of the Year 2020

12th September 2019

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dulux colour of the year 2020 tranquil dawn

With the new season comes a raft of new stuff from furniture to fashion and all of them wearing their new colours. This week saw the annual Colour of the Year announcement by Dulux. I have been writing about this since 2014 and in that time we have seen teal, copper blush, cherished gold, denim

If You Buy One Thing: Recycled Glass Vase

2nd April 2019

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recycled bottle vases from rowen and wren

Now that the clocks have gone forward and we've all recovered from that missing hour (how can that be so hard?) the longer days and burgeoning blossom is making me desperate to bring a little of the outside in. Especially as it's not quite warm enough (at the time of writing) to go from inside

Monday Inspiration: Beautiful Rooms

1st April 2019

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Ingredients London kitchen by devol

Monday morning and a little ode to the transformative powers of pink. It's the new grey. I say that because, just like grey, there is a version of it that will go with every other colour on the spectrum. It's not a girly colour (and does it matter if it is?) but a warm shade

Monday Inspiration: Beautiful Rooms – Bathroom Special

11th March 2019

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This weekly collection of rooms has always been a fairly random collection of spaces that have caught my eye during the past seven days - sometimes I try and do a walk-through every room in a house (as it were) and sometimes, often, there are lots of of kitchens. This week, for some reason, I

Monday Inspiration: Beautiful Rooms

4th March 2019

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pink and green kitchen via wattleanddaubhome

Good Morning and welcome to Monday. We start this week's room inspiration with a visit to the house of Philippa McFarlane, who has featured on these pages before. I love her house and these brass-lined blue kitchen cabinets are definitely on my "to steal" list if I ever redo my kitchen. blue kitchen cabinets with

Podcast Notes: All About Soft Furnishings and Planning A Dining Space

21st February 2019

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bedroom at the dean hotel dublin

For the fourth episode in the series we went to Dublin for a live recording so it made sense to talk about using hotels as inspiration as well as how to choose and match - or clash - your soft furnishings and finally planning the dining room - or for most of us the dining

New Year’s Resolutions

1st January 2019

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via Pearl Lowe

Happy New Year! Shall I whisper? How's the head? I just thought that if you were dropping by The Mad House today you might like to see some of the Interiors New Year's Resolutions which also contain some valuable advice. So I'll just leave this here while you get another cup of coffee. I'll see

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

The Househunter: Room by Room

21st December 2018

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So it's a toss up this week between those who want an escape from all the Christmas madness and those who are too busy to think about, or want to see, anything else. I'm pretty sure that none of you are actually buying houses though so I thought I would just round up a few