Question: when embarking on a fresh design for your home, where do you start? Are you the sort of person who breaks it down into chunks and designs each room – kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms – separately? Or are you a bigger thinker and find it easier to imagine a cohesive flowing scheme from the start? Personally, I aspire to be in the latter category…
Although the Chalet-style design of the house lent itself well to a big extension, we had already spent our budget on buying the house and some of the more pressing projects (such as installing heating and updating the electrics), so a side extension is something that’s always been on hold, but the time had finally come to get on with it…
We had an idea of the look we wanted so we now needed to decide on which log burner, hearth and surround. Neither of us knew much about log burners so we visited a local retailer for some advice. There was a lot to take in and frankly we felt quite overwhelmed with efficiency ratings, hearth material, a whole range of price brackets…
Some of my favourite Instagram renovation projects are ones that track the progress of a remodel (whether that’s a whole house refit, self build, extension or a single room makeover) and show the sometimes questionable and other times amazingly retro before shots alongside the afters. It’s the journey (sorry) of the project that catches my attention and then I get drawn in by the clever interior design tricks, cool use of décor, colour and pattern…
"I know most people are downsizing at our age – my husband Dave and I are in our mid-to-late 60s – but this is our chance to have our dream house, and so we’ve taken on a bungalow renovation. To say we’re nervous is an understatement"…
If you ask me, refurbishing your home with a new kitchen or bathroom will certainly have the biggest positive impact on the way your home looks, functions, its value, and also how much you enjoy using it. But it’s important to remember these projects are usually among the most expensive renovations you’ll do. How much does it cost to renovate a bathroom or kitchen?…
We had at least eight weeks to wait for the decision on our planning permission. Time to settle into the house and mull over the decor. Then make some decisions on the new windows, maybe buy some samples and start some Pinterest boards. Or so we thought! But no one could have expected what came next…
The colour blue has got quite a bad rep – think 'feeling blue', Blue Monday... But we're here to flip the narrative and show you how to use the shade – be it light or a deep, jewel-like tone – to create a stylish scheme that packs a statement in your home …