Journal Index
Here is a list of all the journals we have published:
Design
Design Advice and Inspiration
Brave Ground – Dulux colour of the year 2021
My hot-take on the Dulux colour of the year? I can’t give you one, because so far I have only seen it on a screen. I’m being a touch disingenuous…
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Renovate to rent
With most rental properties, budget is key when undertaking renovations or repairs. Here are our top tips and things to consider: Repairs and Admin When you are letting out a property, it’s imperative that everything is…
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Using bright & holiday-inspired colours in your home
One of the things we love (and are missing) about holidays is the glorious colours of hotter countries – both from the natural landscape and the décor trends. With the…
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Transforming your home through textiles
Textiles serve so many functions in the home - they bring warmth, differentiate spaces, add personality and character, and control acoustics in the space. Some points to consider, when choosing…
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Let’s talk about Ironmongery
You probably don’t spend much (any…) of your time thinking about ironmongery but, if you are embarking on a renovation, prepare for that to change. Here’s a beginner’s guide to…
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What colour should I paint my garden fence?
Daylight, space, and the naturally bold colour palette of plants makes your garden or patio a space you can ‘get away with’ colour choices that wouldn’t work inside your home……
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Exterior Design
Why decorating the outside of your house matters Peeling paint on a front door can be weirdly appealing… we’re here to tell you that the place for it is romantically…
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Hanging Artwork
In the last few weeks a collection of clients, friends and family have excitedly been looking to hang artwork in their homes and asked for our advice. We’re sharing our…
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How to design a Utility Room
Design your ideal Utility Room When it comes to allocating space in the home, a utility room can be a contentious issue. Some people consider it to be a luxury…
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How to make your home a sanctuary during lockdown
Homes, like much of life, are rarely perfect. During a lockdown some aspects of your home can make you feel even more frustrated. Here are my top tips (now and…
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Making the most of small spaces
With so much uncertainty in so many areas due to the global health crisis, many house-moves and renovation work projects are, rightly, paused for now. However, to the extent it’s possible to do so,…
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How to adopt Interior Design Trends in your home
A new year, a new decade, and so to the irresistible annual activity of trend-spotting. It is undoubtedly fun to pore over lists of interior predictions (and we do have…
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Why we still love Biophilic Design
Since we first heard Oliver Heath’s talk at Eco Build 2015, it feels like the whole world is on board with Biophilic design principles. Throughout Pinterest or Houzz, you see…
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On the white track – our guide to decorating with the ultimate neutral
White paint features in almost every home renovation. It may be the ‘go-to’ neutral, but it is far from basic. Applied well, white can create a chic minimalist dream. Used…
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Australian Design
For the most part, the design world in Australia is small, especially given the size of the country. That’s not to say that it doesn’t have one; it does, it’s…
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Colourful Bathrooms
The colourful bathroom suite is back. It started creeping onto pinterest boards last year, and the big sanitaryware producers are beginning to respond with colourful ranges. Should you tap into this…
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Partial Partitions
Open plan living, dining & kitchen spaces continue to be popular – and we love the way that (safely!) removing walls can convert a dark set of small rooms into…
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Feline Friendly Furnishings – Part II
Following from our blog on the basics of setting up your house for a cat, we now cover how to design spaces which your cat will love. Designing spaces for…
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Enjoy your Outside Space all year round
Exposure to natural daylight, plants and landscape improves our health, happiness and productivity. When the days get shorter and colder, we naturally spend more time indoors – so how do…
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Essential bedroom design for your teenager
With the new school year around the corner, now is a good time to think about re-designing your teenager’s bedroom. There is a lot to think about, so we suggest considering separate spaces…
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Feline Friendly Furnishings – Part I
Cats are generally clean, (fairly) low maintenance pets, however some of their more instinctive habits can cause problems in your home or to your new furnishings. Scratching, curtain-climbing and ‘accidents’…
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Bright Ideas from Brighton
Jo lives in Brighton (Hove actually…) – an inspiring space filled with creative people, bright colours, and natural beauty. Three interior design ideas inspired by the seaside city: Maximalism –…
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Love your home
Whether it is a place to recharge, something glamorous to show off or just ‘home’- there should be many reasons to love your home. After all, it’s supposed to be where…
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Embracing the Dark
Working in central London, where every square centimetre of space is precious, has made us experts in making the most of dark spaces. We’ve transformed numerous dark basements and sun-starved rooms…
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Temporary Decorating
Following her recent move to a seaside rental flat, Jo shares her tips for decorating without putting holes in the wall – useful for Home Staging, student rooms and rental…
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English Seaside Style
We love spending time on the English coast (St. Mawes in Cornwall, Torquay in Devon, Emsworth in Hampshire and Blakeney in Norfolk are particular favourites). Here’s how to incorporate the…
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Vietnamese Style
Following a recent trip through Vietnam, Liz describes the wonderful artwork, culture and colours of this beautiful country, and outlines how to introduce elements of Vietnamese culture into your own…
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Moroccan Style
Following a recent trip to Morocco, Cat shares her favourite interior features and tips to recreate the fabulous exotic style in your own home... Following my wonderful trip to Oualidia…
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Hygge and Happiness
As the nights draw in and the scarves come back out, here’s some Danish advice on how to make your home cosy and welcoming this winter. Denmark is the happiest…
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Biophilic Design
Absolute Project Management attended Eco Build 2015 in London where we saw a great talk on Biophilic Design by Oliver Heath - Founder of Health Design and Author of Urban…
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A sofa is for life, not just for Christmas!
A sofa is for life, not just for Christmas; How to buy furniture that lasts… At this time of year in particular you can be ‘panicked’ into buying furniture to…
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Flooring and Finishes
Tiles and Tiling
The hashtag #ihavethisthingwithtiles has nearly 300,000 instagram posts. Many of us do, indeed, have a thing with tiles. Choosing tiles for your home can be a really fun part of the…
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Wood Flooring, Colour and Texture
Last year we published a series of journals about issues to consider when choosing wood flooring for your home. This is a great overview (and well worth a read!) -…
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Paint, Pigment and Provenance
Absolute have been learning more about paint… We were fascinated to discover that how it is (and was historically) manufactured actually influences the colour palette. Here’s an overview of our…
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Wooden Flooring, Part 3 – Maintenance, labour and sustainability considerations
There is lots of choice when it comes to wooden flooring. See the following maintenance, labour and sustainability considerations to help you make the best choice... TYPE OF BOARD Solid…
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Kitchens
Ten kitchen design tips when planning your dream kitchen
As well as choosing cabinets you’ll love every time you look at them, there are practical considerations to bear in mind: Ergonomics Having an ergonomic kitchen is by far the…
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Choosing your New Kitchen
Your New Kitchen Choosing a new kitchen is an exciting opportunity to create a beautiful, functional and welcoming space in your home. But there’s so much to think about –…
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Lighting
Lighting for indoor living – Guest Post
Lighting plays a huge role in the look and feel of our homes. With increased time living & working at home likely to be an ongoing part of our lives,…
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Intelligent Lighting – key Considerations
With significant investment into ‘smart home’ technology by all the big tech giants, Intelligent lighting is a trend that is here to stay – and it is one we’re excited…
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The case for Intelligent Lighting
With significant investment into ‘smart home’ technology by all the big tech giants, Intelligent lighting is a trend that is here to stay - and one I'm excited about. Here's…
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Lighting with Pendants
We love a pendant light – they are a wonderful way to light a space while creating an eye-catching feature, even when not in use. As with all lighting, there…
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Design for the Future
Lighting for indoor living – Guest Post
Lighting plays a huge role in the look and feel of our homes. With increased time living & working at home likely to be an ongoing part of our lives,…
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Intelligent Lighting – key Considerations
With significant investment into ‘smart home’ technology by all the big tech giants, Intelligent lighting is a trend that is here to stay – and it is one we’re excited…
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The case for Intelligent Lighting
With significant investment into ‘smart home’ technology by all the big tech giants, Intelligent lighting is a trend that is here to stay - and one I'm excited about. Here's…
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Lighting with Pendants
We love a pendant light – they are a wonderful way to light a space while creating an eye-catching feature, even when not in use. As with all lighting, there…
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Renovation
Technical Details & Regulations
How do Interior Designers make money?
There’s a fair amount of mystery around how interior designers charge, what they do and what they are paid. We’re sharing the most common fee models, to give you a…
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Home automation- Nest thermostat review
Finally it is getting warmer… however, with many more of us working from home, we expect some people have been playing ‘thermostat wars’: where one person believes in putting on…
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Considerations if you’re planning to move stairs in your home
Re-designing the staircase in your home can unlock a whole world of design potential and bring light and a sense of space to previously dark, cramped areas. However, the new…
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Party Wall Awards
If you were hoping this post would be about a fancy event with evening wear, unfortunately the Party Wall Awards are not at all what you were expecting! However, they…
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Pinterest Pipe Dreams vs Regulation Reality
Clients often gather images of the look they want to achieve with their renovation into a virtual scrapbook on Pinterest or Houzz. These are excellent tools to provide ideas that convey…
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Construction Dangers and how to avoid them!
Following completion of a CITB Health and Safety Awareness course, Liz outlines some of the Construction Industry statistics and common dangers when undertaking work on your property. The Health &…
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Secondary Glazing
What is it and why would you use it? In the UK, there are almost 10,000 Conservation Areas, many of which restrict the changes that can be made to the…
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Windows – and what we know about them
Sash windows Many of our design and renovation projects are in period houses and, assuming the original windows have been retained, these will be sliding sash systems. These are two…
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Health & Safety for home renovation
Jo describes some key Health & Safety considerations to take into account when planning a renovation. Health and Safety in home renovation may not be glamorous, but it is vitally…
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Managing a Renovation
Case Study – Converting two flats in a Bauhaus Hospital building
Our clients approached us with what emerged to be a fascinating brief. They owned two neighbouring flats in a converted hospital building, and wanted to renovate them both – reconfiguring…
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What do the latest lock-down announcements mean – for would-be home renovators?
The construction industry was allowed to continue during the first phase of lock-down, but problems with supply of materials, and the challenges of working with physical distancing, has meant that…
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What you need to know … when renovating a flat
With so much uncertainty in so many areas due to the global health crisis, many house-moves and renovation work projects are, rightly, paused for now. However, to the extent it’s possible to do so,…
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4 reasons why your neighbour’s renovation cost less than yours…
A common feature of renovating is the sudden appearance of your neighbour/ uncle/ frenemy who has ‘views’ on your renovation. Theirs was always, somehow, larger in scope yet cheaper, quicker…
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Relocating Utility Meters
Picture the scene; you’ve designed a lovely new layout which will work perfectly as long as you can move the electricity or gas meter. Your building contractor tells you it…
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Behind the Scenes – Starting on Site
After months of careful planning & design work, starting work on site is an exciting and busy time! Here is a behind-the-scenes look at what happens as a project transitions…
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Dust, Anybody?
The APM guide to dust during renovations Dust. If you are planning renovation work, prepare for it to become a part of your life. Here is your need to know;…
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What to do when problems arise during a renovation – Part 2
Firstly, don’t panic! Almost every renovation, however well planned, suffers a few hiccups. Some are easily solved; some require time, effort and ingenuity to work around. As project managers, an important…
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Life After Renovation
From idolising island units to squeezing in en suites, guest blogger Tracey Petherick tells us what it’s like living in her renovated property. Island Life For a long time,…
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Smashing the Snag List
Guest blogger Tracey Petherick returns, post project… Important disclaimer - Tracey didn’t use a project manager but now wishes she had… There’s nothing fun about a snagging list. It’s basically…
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Stress-free Renovation
Liz, our Associate Director, has recently had some renovation work done at her home, by our favourite building contractor. Her top tips for a stress-free build: Plan Ensure: All your…
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How to survive a Renovation – Part 3
In the final instalment of our series on surviving a big build, Tracey Petherick talks people, paint and perseverance. Your project manager will fight your corner so your ideas become…
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How to survive a renovation – Part 2
Serial renovator Tracey Petherick continues her three-part series on home-build survival tactics, with good-to-know tips on housekeeping, moving rooms and working to a budget. Housekeeping ground rules …
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How to survive a renovation- Part 1
With a ground-floor extension, a loft conversion and a full house renovation under her (tool)belt, writer Tracey Petherick has picked up a few tips on how to survive a build.…
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Home Renovation and Pets
Pets and renovation London Around 44% of UK household own a pet, so their needs can be an important part of the design and renovation process. From design to site…
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How Much Will it Cost… Exactly??
At Absolute, we often receive enquiries about total project costs. A typical query might be ‘we have just bought a 3 bedroom flat in Islington and want to renovate it…
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Events & News
Lockdown Lowdown
Louise Morriss, Founder & MD of Amazon PR and one of our office neighbours, interviewed Cat for her series: Lockdown Lowdown. You can read the full interview here - and…
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Liz Bell appointed Chair of the BIID Professional Practice Committee
We are delighted that Liz Bell, Design Director at APM, has been appointed as Chair of the BIID Professional Practice Committee - the post formerly held by the new President…
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Black Lives Matter and the Interior Design Industry
In June, the British Institute for Interior Design (BIID) issued a call for ideas to ensure change in the industry on diversity and inclusion. We welcomed this request for feedback,…
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On site in 2020 – Part 2
Just before lock-down started, we shared behind the scenes photos from some of the projects we had live on site. Work on sites has continued through lock-down but inevitably progress…
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Making Renovation Happen… in lock-down
Here's a look at how team APM are working; Working from home We've got our chic home working environments set up, we're cultivating at-home jungles to rival the one in…
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Tile Trends 2020/2021 with Domus – Jess Piddock
Jo attended the Domus ‘Tile Trends 2020-2021’ event and was fascinated to see how trends translate from haute couture, through conceptual interiors, to individual tiles. As catwalk relates to high…
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On site in 2020
We have a great set of projects live on site at the moment. Here's the round up from behind the scenes: Camden Townhouse A multi-stage project, this family home is…
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Maison et Objet Paris 2020
Maison et Objet is an enormous design trade show, covering furniture, lighting and accessories in huge halls, with mysterious names like ‘Forever’ and ‘Unique & Eclectic’. We took a high-speed research…
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Design trends for 2020
We’re ardent believers in designing homes that transcend trends and will work for our clients as their needs evolve… but we’ve got a firm eye on the fashion barometer to…
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The BIID Student Challenge 2019
We’re delighted to announce that Liz, our Design Director, was invited to mentor Plymouth College of Art at the annual BIID Student Design Challenge. Herman Miller, London hosted 8 universities with teams…
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Absolute Project Management – Now in Brighton
We are excited to announce that we have started designing and managing renovation projects in Brighton & Hove! Read on to see our latest finished projects & design inspiration from the…
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Tom Raffield at Morgan Furniture – Clerkenwell design week
We at Absolute have long been admirers of Tom Raffield Lighting. The beautiful organic, decorative forms in steamed timber fit extremely well with our Biophilic ideologies and work particularly beautifully…
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Clerkenwell Design Week 2019
Clerkenwell Design Week 2019 was bigger and better than ever this year. Here is a round up of our highlights; Sustainability & Natural Materials Sustainability was a theme for the…
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What is the BIID and why is it relevant?
Absolute Project Management is now a BIID Registered Practice, this means the business meets the national professional standards for interior design. While it’s not compulsory for Interior Designers to register,…
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Interiors: What will 2019 Bring?
Our predictions for 2018 were spot on. Read on for our take on the Interior Design Trends for 2019 and beyond. 2018 in review We predicted: Terrazzo flooring: This was…
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Inspiration from 100% Design
The Absolute team were particularly inspired by this year’s selection of innovative and beautifully creative designs shown throughout 100% Design. We’ve now had time to digest and dissect our highlights…
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Joinery Design Challenge
Calling all Londoners - win a joinery design! We will be choosing the most interesting joinery challenge you throw at us and the winner will get 4 hours of…
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2018 Highlights so far
As we head into to the Autumn, we’re taking a moment to reflect on some of the highlights of the year so far. Fabulous Finished projects We’ve recently finished some…
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Clerkenwell Design Week
The Absolute team loved the buzzing atmosphere and the range of innovative, creative designs we found at Clerkenwell Design Week 2018. We’ve now had time to digest and reflect on…
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How to survive a renovation – Part 2
Serial renovator Tracey Petherick continues her three-part series on home-build survival tactics, with good-to-know tips on housekeeping, moving rooms and working to a budget. Housekeeping ground rules …
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How to survive a renovation- Part 1
With a ground-floor extension, a loft conversion and a full house renovation under her (tool)belt, writer Tracey Petherick has picked up a few tips on how to survive a build.…
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What will 2018 bring?
2017 has been a year of rich colours, marble and traditional furnishings throughout the interior design world. This was in part inspired by a desire to return to the past…
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3 Key design trends 2017/18
During the fabulous Surface Design Show in Feb 2017, we attended a talk by Phil Pond of Scarlet Opus. They are a trend forecasting agency and presented the 2017 three key…
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Don’t Move Improve 2016, Part 4 – House of Trace
33 projects were shortlisted for the Don’t Move Improve award; we recently attended the Winners Breakfast Talk, where the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place contestants presented their work. Here’s Liz’s…
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Don’t Move Improve 2016, Part 3 – The Sanderson (Fox) House
33 projects were shortlisted for the Don’t Move Improve award; we recently attended the Winners Breakfast Talk, where the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place contestants presented their work. Here’s our…
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Don’t Move Improve 2016, Part 2 – Shepherds Bush Extension
33 projects were shortlisted for the Don’t Move Improve award; we recently attended the Winners Breakfast Talk where the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place contestants presented their work. Here's Cat's ‘Absolute’ favourite……
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Interests
Indoor Gardening – Guest Post
It is unsurprising there has been a huge increase in interest in gardening in recent months; It’s a deeply nurturing activity that’s a perfect way to spend time when you…
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Styling Film Sets – Top tips
We’ve recently been involved with styling film sets for a series of promotional films showcasing new residential developments. We’ve summarised some our top 5 key considerations.
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Getting Started on Pinterest – Part 2
Pinterest is a great tool for organising & communicating your ideas for your renovation. If you are ready to dive in but not sure how to get started, here is…
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Getting Started on Pinterest – Part 1
Pinterest is a great tool for organising & communicating your ideas for your renovation. It can also be a great way to get inspiration – used with a little caution!…
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Festive Jam Recipe
This year we've made our very own Jam to give out as presents. Here's the recipe: 3kg mixed berries2kg Jam SugarJuice of 2 large lemons12 Sprigs rosemary Soften the fruit…
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Interior Design Lingo Bingo
Learn the Lingo, with Interior Design Bingo! As with most industries, home renovation uses specialist language to describe parts, processes or details. Whilst some of these words/ phrases are well…
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How to Glamp like an interior designer
Whether you’re having a family camping weekend, a couple’s glamping retreat or going to a festival- here’s our top tips on how to make camping as luxurious and comfortable as…
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