What Shutter Style Is Best For Your Windows?

If you follow me on Instagram you'll see that I've recently painted a very large rainbow mural in a nursery for a client of mine. While searching the internet for a window treatment to match the rainbow wall, I came across this image below by the shutter company Shutterly Fabulous. Isn't it brilliant?? I love how each different colour louvre creates a rainbow effect down the shutter. On a side note, shutters are also really great for a child's room as there are no hanging cords or reams of fabric for them to get themselves dangerously caught up in.

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Decorating my bedroom with Farrow & Ball Wallpaper

According to the interior mags and those 'in-the-know', minimalism is out for 2018 and maximalism - vibrant colours, patterns and a 'more is more' approach - is in. Being much more on the maximalism side than minimalist, I was pleased to hear this as I have just finished decorating my bedroom in Farrow & Ball's new Hegemone wallpaper, and giving my bed a fresh new update in beautiful, luxurious Yves Delorme bed linen.

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The Best Teal Coloured Paints To Decorate Your Home With

2018 is all about maximalism, luxury and cocooning comfort. In my blog post last week I talked about how peacocks, and the beautiful teal colours associated with them, are set to be a big thing in interiors and decor this year. A client that I am currently working with wanted their hallway painted in a beautiful teal colour. Because of this, the past few weeks I have been researching and testing out numerous teal emulsion paints. I thought I would share with you the best of the teal colours that I found on my hunt for that perfect teal shade, in case you were thinking of going totally teal in your own home!

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What Will Be The Key Interior & Decor Trends In 2018?

Once Boxing Day is over I am itching to get all the Christmas decorations down and have a good clear out of all the clutter that has built up over the past month! Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but all the extra 'stuff' that takes up space in the house - from the tree and the decorations to the piles of gifts and boxes of uneaten mince pies - starts to bring out a bit of household claustrophobia! The New Year is a new start and once Christmas is cleared away I fill my home with hyacinths, count down to the first days of spring and start to think about how I'll change up my home in the year ahead.

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Before & After: Guest Room Revamp Ready For Christmas

Long time readers of this blog will know that I've been working on my guest room for a loooooonng time. The room is in the basement of the house below ground level, is small and is therefore really dark. When we moved in I painted the room, but the room still just felt cold and had no homely, cosy feel to it at all. Being the guest room it also became victim to having furniture put in it from our old house that had no place elsewhere in our new home. Here is what it looked like before:

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Colourful Sinks, Gothic Castles & Pretty Porcelain: The Wonderful World of Villeroy & Boch

Villeroy & Boch are one of those companies that you know and are aware of, even if you don't really know much about them. Their expertly applied trademark stamp adorns sinks and toilets in an abundance of hotels, restaurants and residential properties all over the world. Since 1743 Villeroy & Boch have been producing ceramic tableware, then, later on down the line, bathroom sanitary-ware, and are one of Europe's most valued and celebrated producers of ceramics and porcelain. So, when they invited me to go and stay with them for a few days at their headquarters in Mettlach, Germany, how could I refuse?

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How To DIY A Xmas Wreath Like A Pro

I always make a Xmas wreath every year for my front door, but I'm totally self-taught. I just go with an idea in my head and run with it, which is great, but sometimes it is nice to get an insight into just how the professionals do it. When a really great florist makes a wreath, there is often something unexpected in the mix, and you know it will last right through over Xmas without wilting or drying out!

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Trees & Baubles: My Home At Xmas

Well hello and welcome to this years 'My Home At Xmas!' I can't quite believe it but this year is actually the first Christmas since my living room has been painted blue. The Xmas scheme for 2017 therefore had to match the new walls, so I am delighted to have partnered up with Balsam Hill this year as part of their 'Trees & Baubles' blog hop.

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Holiday House London With Farrow & Ball

Holiday House London is two ginormous Maida Vale mansions, right next door to each other, which have been completely transformed inside, top-to-toe, by some of the worlds leading interior designers. The mansions act as showhouses for the elite designers, plus some of the best lifestyle brands, to showcase their product and talent.  The houses are then opened up to the public, and all money raised goes towards the prevention and cure of breast cancer. You'll agree that this is an excellent idea and a very worthy cause, but I am going to be completely honest here - I had heard of Holiday House London, but it wasn't something that I thought I would be interested in. I totally wrote it off as a big rich fundraiser for big rich people to showcase the sort of interiors and design that decked out a Kensington pied-à-terre, or a home in upstate New York.

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How To Paint Melamine Cupboards


painting melamine cupboards

One of the main pieces of feedback I received in regard to the Revamp Restyle Reveal project was how I was going to tackle the dreaded built-in wardrobe dilemma. If you remember (or if you don't you can read all about it here!) I really disliked these cream-veneered built-in wardrobes that we inherited with the house:

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The wardrobes just did not work with the room, stood out and I felt they were an eyesore. I'd spent the past couple of years really trying to decide what to do with them. I spoke to some very much in-the-know people (such as Oliver Thomas from the Great Interior Design Challenge) about what to do with them and they all told me to paint them in the same as the wall colour. The idea was that they would 'blend in' a lot more.

Even though I knew deep down this was the best idea, I was really scared of painting them. They get a lot of use, and I didn't want to regret painting them if they started to chip a few weeks down the line.

I spent a decent amount of time on the internet on other blogs and builder forums trying to find out the best way to paint melamine with a successful outcome. I knew it could be done, but I had to get it right the first time. All tradespeople seemed convinced that Zinsser B-I-N was the ultimate primer for melamine to make an eggshell paint adhere to the surface with no chipping, so along with some Earthborn paint in eggshell, I set about painting my melamine wardrobes in the same colour as the walls.

painting melamine cupboards

To make sure all the prep was 100% perfect, I first washed down the cupboard with sugar soap so there was not any grease or grime to cause any issues. I usually hate this job making sure I have clean enough rags, spray sugar soap and a washing up bowl to wash off the sugar soap, but I discovered sugar soap cleaning wipes recently and they are a game-changer! They make life so much easier as you use a wipe until it is used up and then dispose of it for a new one.

painting melamine cupboards

One the cupboards were dry, I taped off the sections I did not want to be painted with a low tack tape, then applied 3 coats of Zinsser B-I-N with a special furniture door and cupboard set roller. I used this pack of two rollers for the primer and the eggshell paint and I really felt they made a real difference to the application rather than using basic mini paint rollers. If you are painting any furniture, I would highly suggest using these for a smoother paint finish.

Zinsser B-I-N feels quite thin when you apply it, but it starts to thicken and really sticks very very quickly. If you find it too thin at first, pour some in a paint tray and leave it for 5 or 10 minutes for a thicker application. I left 24 hours between each application.

painting melamine cupboards

I then applied two coats of eggshell over the B-I-N and that was the wardrobes done! I think they blend in so much better now they are the same colour as the walls and so far so good - they do not look like they will chip at all! I wish I had painted them sooner!

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* Tor Coatings did send me the Zinsser B-I-N as a gift to use for this project, but this is not an a paid ad- simply a review! Please note that this post does contain some affiliate links.

Customise Your Kitchen Cabinets With Bespoke Fronts By Naked Doors

On my Instagram and under my Pinterest board 'Kitchen Inspo', I had been collecting up and re-gramming these amazing images of kitchens - such as the one below of the most amazing baby blue kitchen with polished gold handles.  It looks so good, right? You'd instantly think it was a completely bespoke, designer-led kitchen costing you 25k plus.

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Want A Stylish London Stay On A Budget? Check Out Cuckooz Apartments

I prioritise interiors and decor over pretty much all other factors. The food can be great in a restaurant, but if the interiors are awful I'll never go back. I'll always choose a design-led bar over a standard place to grab a drink. Therefore, when it comes to renting a room for a night, the interior stakes have to be pretty high for me to be satisfied! The thing is, unless you can afford one of London's premier hotels, chances are for a decently priced night in the city you'll be stuck in a sterile small white box room with a cheap MDF desk and one bed for company.

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My Favourite New Homeware Collection: 'Bangle' By LSA International

There are a lot of press releases that come into my inbox each day about new homeware collections, and even though I open them all, it really takes something amazing to grab my attention. Well, say a big, fat HELLO to one collection that did such a thing - the brand new Bangle collection by hand-blown glassware specialists LSA International.

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Luxury Vinyl Flooring - What Is It And Is It Any Good?

My own experience of replacing flooring has been quite limited. The most I've had to do was replace a hallway carpet in my old home after toilet training a puppy for 6 months; while I also had a very inexperienced attempt at painting my wooden floor boards white at the start of my DIY journey - I decided to skip the sanding and priming part, so the paint started to chip after 48 hours! However, I've recently been working with a client on replacing all the floors in a flat she has purchased. She mentioned to me in the initial design consultation that she wanted vinyl and I flinched - vinyl? - isn't that just like the cheap lino of the 80's? Turns vinyl flooring technology has massively advanced since then, and there is now something called 'luxury vinyl flooring'.

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The New Farrow & Ball Floral Wallpaper Collection (+ I'm In The New F&B Catalogue!!!!!!!!)

OK, so this article is about the new Farrow & Ball wallpaper collection -  BUT!!!  - I have to tell you before I talk about the new floral beauties that a mood board I created around one of the new papers, Helleborus, is featured in the F&B catalogue for the collection. At the start of the year F&B got in touch and asked if I would be interested working with them on promoting the new collection. They would send me a sample of one of the new papers (which was all very hush hush) and asked if I would create a mood board around the paper chosen for me. This would then appear in the new F&B Autumn/Winter inspiration catalogue, sent to customers.

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How To Get A Designer Kitchen On A Budget

Hate your kitchen? Want to upgrade? Would love a designer kitchen but don't have the cash? Never fear, it is possible, believe it or not, to get a designer kitchen (or your kitchen looking designer) without having to sell one of your kidneys. There are a few tricks out there that can transform your kitchen from bleak and basic, into something much more suited to your style. If you are someone with champagne taste on a prosecco budget (or even a cheap white wine budget) then read on for my tips to get that designer kitchen for less!

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Meet nomi - the stylish, modern high chair that won't ruin your decor

Just had a baby or due to have a baby soon? Petrified that your beautiful home is going to be hidden behind a mound of brightly coloured baby tat? Well, I know how you feel. Being an interiors obsessive, when I was pregnant and strolling around the baby section of department stores (clutching my extensive list of things I would 'need' to have in the home for baby), I was quietly groaning to myself as I passed piece after piece of baby furniture and furnishings covered in teddy bears, bright green cartoon apples or pale blue or sickly pale pink toweling fabric. 

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