Design Details: Beautiful Rooms
Where I take a look at a beautiful room from my Saved file and work out why and how it works, plus how we can get the look. This week, we're looking at Sandra Baker's gloriously patterned kitchen.
Last year, I started an occasional Wednesday series where I looked at inspirational rooms and we worked out how and why they work. Regular readers will know that I am a huge fan of Pinterest for gaining inspiration and am prone to losing myself down a rabbit hole of glorious spaces before planning new ones of my own - I have endless Saved Boards where I regularly head for ideas and it really does work when you’re looking for clarity as to what sings to you and what doesn’t. Designing your own spaces - particularly what I’d term ‘complicated’ ones such as kitchens and bathrooms - isn’t always easy and it’s super helpful to look at rooms that have been done well so you can work out if you can use some of these ideas in your own home.
Of all the questions that I receive to answer on my Sunday Design Dilemmas posts, kitchens quandaries are by far the most popular. Let’s face it, kitchens are HARD. Mostly because they can be shockingly expensive to create and once in, are pretty much there for life. There’s a lot of pressure to make the correct decisions when choosing what to put in them - cabinetry, hardware, sinks, taps, flooring, tiling. It can be quite overwhelming, really. I’m currently planning a new kitchen and the struggle, I can confirm, is real. It’s one of the biggest costs of your home and you want to get it just right.
A few months ago, I did a summary of the dining room of Bianca Hall (her blog French For Pineapple is a good one) and why it works. I’ve also covered Malcolm Beggs kitchen (an absolute dream space that was done on a budget) and Kate Watson’s Smyths kitchen dining area. Breaking these spaces down to see what contributes to their success can help point you in the right direction during your own planning.
But back to my Saved Boards, and this week we are heading for the glorious kitchen dining space of Sandra Baker, who you may follow on Instagram as The Idle Hands (if you don’t, you should - also, randomly, Sandra is the cousin of my sister Annabels husband, Andy, a fact we only discovered when Sandra spotted them on my Instagram Stories). Sandra’s style is curated maximalist - she’s a genius with pattern and knows exactly how to pull it all together. And this isn’t an easy task - it takes a lot of skill to incorporate strong colours and patterns into your home without overdoing it. Pattern, as you all will know, is not my forte so I am always in awe of how Sandra manages to nail it every time to create rooms that are interesting, welcoming and super chic. Let’s start with some photographs of the space.
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