From common misconceptions, to addressing what an Interior Designer can actually do for you, here’s why you would, could and should(!) hire an Interior Designer to help you pull together and elevate your living space.

When considering a home design project, an aspect we often overlook is the importance of our ‘rituals’ and the role they play in the way we live, how we move through our space and the way they make us feel. Rituals, are the quiet, often subliminal actions we perform with regularity, helping us to achieve certain goals or feel a certain way. They also form a key starting point of the design process.

And it was contemplating this thought whilst making dinner this very evening that it struck me. I get a delicious stomach-tingling buzz of excitement when I get my hands on a new book. That is often shortly followed by dismay as I mentally try and find time to sit down and read it. And not just read it, enjoy it. Absorb it. Drink in the pages. You know the kind of reading where you take something away from the pages.

That’s when it occurred to me…

A book is one of the most precious gifts you can give. This year, I’ve drawn so much inspiration and comfort from books, so I wanted to share a few that you may enjoy, or want to give as a gift this year.

So, like many others, this year was the first time we’ve had a successful crop from the garden and as we head into winter, I really don’t want to let all that hard work go to waste - so here’s how to nurture your garden through winter…

One of the greatest goods that has come out of lockdown (note that is said with the awareness of how difficult this year has been and continues to be, for so many) is the simpler way of life we have adapted to. Yes, that was somewhat forced upon us, but how much did the environment and our own minds need that pause on rush hour, rammed car parks and the constant need to ‘be’ somewhere else?

It's a largely under-appreciated room.It exists, but you're not proud of it. It's small, it's a toilet, you hide things like the old washing machine in there until you can get rid of it (yes, guilty, I've done that) and therefore you're a little embarrassed about it. 

We're required right now to say at home for our own safety - but our homes have always been our safe place.  Just look Maslow's hierarchy of needs; you'll find shelter, alongside food and water at the bottom as the most fundamental of things we need to survive and function. Home is our foundation.