Inspiration

New Season, New Throws, My Top Five.

  https://www.mushroomlondon.com/product-category/shop/house-and-home/throws/ So that’s a wrap for summer, and now it’s time to shake the house up a little and get ready for winter.  I still find it a shock when the weather becomes cooler and the light begins to fade at the end of each day.  And don’t get me started on the dark mornings. You would think I would be used to after all these years! As the leaves fall off the trees, and the landscape changes, we start to think ahead to cosy days indoors, by an open fire. Sometimes as the summer comes to a close the house can feel a little tired, perhaps lacking lustre. Rooms that have been neglected as we have holidayed away … Read more

The Emptying Nest

                                              I think the most surprising thing about finding the nest is emptying is that I didn’t see it coming.  You embark on your journey as a parent with the whole process and excitement of being pregnant.  At the time the weeks seem to pass so slowly. By nature I am impatient and couldn’t wait to meet our babies.  Then you are catapulted into a world of responsibility and care and things you have no understanding of.  The learning curve is massive and there is no handbook.  Each baby is different; different children different worries.  You entwine your heart … Read more

Interiors through the eyes of a Doll’s House

            Some of the remaining Art Deco Hotels on Ocean Drive, Miami Beach. Spending a week in the most beautiful Art Deco Hotel in Miami has got me thinking about interiors over the centuries. This particular property has been sympathetically restored, maintaining the integrity of a bygone era. I can imagine the stylishly clad women and men walking on the stunning tiled floors, surrounded by stylish fixtures and fittings. The hotel itself is a landmark 1941 Art Deco building; understated yet opulent, and by the nature of the way it has been restored, it is very easy to imagine how it would once have been. Our decor today seems to be a bit of ‘anything goes’. … Read more

New Year, New You, New Me!

2018 Why, oh why, do we have resolutions only in a new year, which in this country falls in the winter?  Surely we would feel far more energised if it was in June and we had the sun on our backs wearing flip flops, than when we are seemingly weighed down with food, alcohol and late nights.  But it seems to be the way it is, as we say goodbye to the old and wish in the new.  A clean slate, a new beginning, heading into a new year resolving to change our habits, jobs, diets and routines, to name but a few. OK when I say new year, I should probably have started writing this in January.  I have … Read more

Christmas – deck the halls with boughs of holly

We all want our homes to feel magical at Christmas.  From our front doors to our hallways,  the Christmas table, and the star of the show (excuse the pun), the Christmas tree. Is there such a thing as a socially acceptable Christmas decoration?  Do you mind that Father Christmas is called Santa and that people have fake trees?  Or at heart are you an out and out traditionalist – glass baubles, no tinsel on the tree, candles, and stylish stockings hanging from the mantelpiece.  I think Christmas is a time to live and let live.  Each to their own.  It is the season of goodwill after all. Even if you choose to join the masses who now decorate the outside of … Read more

Throws on gate

Throws – our cosy top 4 for autumn

Autumn is here, time for cosy throws. As the leaves fall off the trees, and the landscape changes, we start to think ahead to cosy days indoors, by an open fire. Sometimes as the summer comes to a close we feel the house is a little tired, perhaps lacking lustre. Rooms that have been neglected as we have holidayed away or enjoyed summer al fresco. Autumn always sees me rearranging rooms as the light alters.  I like to inject a change of feel to make it more snug than it needed to be in the summer months. The light comes into the room at different angles at different times of year.   Don’t be afraid to move furniture around seasonally. … Read more