Day 4 included a visit to Great Dixter gardens. Given that it’s a fair schlep to Great Dixter, I identified three beautiful Kent churches to visit in the vicinity.
Read moreChurches in Sussex (3rd day trip)
I was really starting to enjoy these days out on my own with my camera so decided to venture back into Sussex a week after the previous trip, armed with another list of churches.
Read moreChurches in Sussex (2nd day trip)
If you read my previous blog post, Visiting Churches in Sussex (day 1), you will know that I am doing day trips to Sussex in search of the little churches often found in woodland, at the end of lanes, in hamlets or villages – steeped in history. I’ve focused on Sussex as it’s not too far to travel by car and it’s a beautiful county.
Read moreChurches in Sussex (1st day trip)
I decided not to have a summer holiday this year and instead do day trips to Sussex which is only about 80-90 minutes from home, on my own with my DSLR camera for company. I wanted to focus on visiting historic little Sussex churches in obscure places.
Read moreMelanzane alla Parmigiana
This is my version of the recipe and is how my Sicilian mother-in-law used to make it. It’s simple and yet very tasty. No breadcrumbs, mozzarella or other ingredients, just aubergines, basil, parmigiano and a tomato sauce. In Sicily its an antipasto not a main course so I always eat it with fresh crusty bread.
Don’t eat it directly from the oven as it’s too hot to appreciate the flavours. Wait until it is luke warm or even room temperature.
I always make more of both the aubergine slices and the sauce than I need for this dish so that I have some left over to use with pasta. There is nothing better than a plate of spaghetti with the tomato sauce and slices of fried aubergine on top and a sprinkle of parmigiano.
Read moreHoney-roasted Walnuts
Sometimes you just want a snack that is a bit different, very moorish, sweet as well as savoury, healthy and not too fattening. Well, these walnuts do the trick. They are absolutely divine and I challenge you to not eat them all in one sitting!! You can use them to garnish salads or just as a tasty snack. They are also wonderful with sweet dishes. I sprinkle them on plain yoghurt or ice-cream and if you really want to be decadent add caramel sauce.
Read moreCreating a ta-dah effect in your entrance hall
Every home needs to create an impact as soon as you open the front door, to draw the eye in and make you want to enter. It creates that feelgood factor that is so important when you open the front door.
Read moreRenovation of a mews house to sell
Further to a previous blog post about the Clapham mews house, I’ve completed the work and the house is now on the market. Yesterday, Friday 10th May 2019, the property was featured in The Times as House of the Week ! Sadly I’m not mentioned in the article as the interior designer neither Shelley Hugh-Jones who I used to design the courtyard garden and terrace planting, but it’s great to see the house featured in the newspaper.
Read moreHow to entice your guests over the threshold
We set a certain expectation the minute we open our front door to guests. Do you want them to think “wow I can’t wait to come in and see more” or “hmm, I’m not sure this home is going to wow me”?
Read moreInteriors sourcing at the Decorative Fair and Golborne Road
January started with a vengeance from a work perspective but I managed to squeeze in some outings. First up, a day of sourcing for clients started with a visit to the Decorative Fair in Battersea Park and then to one of my favourite haunts for client sourcing, Golborne Road.
Read moreMy interview with Style Matters podcast
This podcast focuses on one of my main pieces of advice for decorating a room: follow the light.
Read moreTips for using colour in your home
From where to start, how to choose a brand and a colour, through to adding little pops of colour to a grey-themed room, here are my tips on how to lighten up.
Read moreStyling your shelves
When it comes to showing off your favourite little knick knacks and treasures, don’t despair: practice really does make perfect.
Read morePetersham House Open Gardens
This post is for all you garden lovers. If you are lucky enough to live in London you have the chance to see the gardens of Petersham House, the home of the owners of Petersham Nurseries, Gael and Francesco Boglione. Their home is adjacent to the Nurseries and is a stunning Georgian house with extensive gardens, swimming pool and tennis court. They have a substantial vegetable garden which is used for the restaurant in the Nurseries.
Read moreA week in the life of an interior designer
This week has been action packed. I’m furiously trying to finish a two-bedroom flat which the owners want to put on the market asap (they are moving out of London and already put in an offer on a house).
Read moreChoosing the paint colour for any direction room
Create the optimum look for your room, no matter which way it faces. Here are my tips for north-, south-, east- and west-facing rooms.
Read moreLearn to paint furniture with chalk paint
Did you know I run a workshop on how to paint furniture with chalk paint? It's called the Power of Paint and I run it from my home with very small numbers so I can give plenty of one-on-one tuition. The workshop runs from 10am to 3pm and includes a picnic style lunch of salads, cheeses and charcuterie. It's a lot of fun and you leave with a piece of your own furniture painted and ready to use!
Read moreLamb Marinated in Yoghurt with Warm Barley Salad
Try this staple recipe of mine. It is always a huge hit with guests.
Read moreMagazine feature of my home
I’m delighted to announce that my home is featured in the latest issue of Homes & Antiques magazine’s Art Issue. The beautiful images were taken by the brilliant photographer Mark Bolton. His wife Sarah Bolton wrote the feature.
Read moreFocus on my home
Hi everyone
I recently wrote an article about my home for a fellow Instagrammer's blog, The Girl with the Green Sofa aka Nicola Broughton. Each month on her blog she does a home tour and this month it was mine. If you are on Instagram give her a follow (and give me a follow also!) as she has a fantastic account. If you would like to read the article click below (it includes plenty of images also):
By the way, I'm excited to let you know that my home is being featured in the arts issue of Homes & Antiques magazine which is due to hit the shelves on Friday 20th June. The feature is nine pages (9 sides of a page to us laypeople!). I've not seen the proofs so have it will be as much of a surprise for me when I see it. I'd love to know what you think of the article so do contact me when you've read it.
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It's so important to create an instant visual impact because people form an opinion of your home within the first 20 seconds of entering. Here's another beautiful stair runner I created.