Design Dilemmas

Episode 49: Let's talk about warming up white bedrooms, hiding kids toys and displaying vinyl. Plus how to decorate a seaside home without going full on Coastal Trends and some Easter menu ideas.

[Cover photo credit: Caroline Horsley]

This week, it’s been half term which means that there was no need to set the morning alarm to get Leo out of bed and off to school. Absolute heaven. This didn’t, of course, stop me from waking up at an unfeasibly early hour. I am incapable of lying in bed and always have been; I am without doubt a full on morning person and I make no apology for it. During lockdown when we were all at home, I was writing a book and would get out of bed at 5.30am each day to get in four hours of writing before the rest of the family arose. It was absolutely my favourite time of day. It did help, of course, that it was Summer and the sun was already up which made it MUCH easier to throw myself into action. Anyway, I am still the same now and I love that feeling of being up and about before the rest of my family appear and start leaving discarded toast knives on the worktop, shouting for football kits and ruining my peace with YouTube video noise carnage.

I’ve been on a mission this week to finally clear out my wardrobe and, my friends, I had great success. I was ruthless as hell, admittedly. Going through the rails, I realised that I had a terrible habit of buying something new, wearing it once and then never wearing it again. Ever. In fact, I’ll go and look at it and think, ‘oh, I quite like this’ and then discard it. So I divided it into sections. Stuff I kept, stuff that was suitable for resale on Vinted and stuff that wasn’t but that might be good for friends. I invited them over to take what they wanted and then the rest I donated to charity; I listed 40 things on Vinted and sold them all bar one. I was very clinical about it - what hadn’t sold after a few hours I reduced, then reduced again and then again until it had all gone. There is nothing worse than listing stuff on Vinted then having it hang around for months in a pile (I have totally been a victim of this in the past). Anyway, it’s all gone now and my dressing room rails are more than halved, plus I’ve managed to put money away into our holiday account and my friends have added to their own wardrobes. Everyone’s a winner. Plus I feel TOTALLY smug.

But back to your quandaries and this week, we’re discussing a five varied subjects which have come via my lovely subscribers and my Instagram DM box. Let’s start with warming up a white walled bedroom with textiles and layers. I’ve got ideas about how to hide away the kids toys in a multi purpose living room and how to decorate a seaside house without it looking like the Coastal Trends section in The Range. Plus the best way to store and display your favourite vinyl and a couple of good menu plans for Easter if you want to veer away from the traditional lamb and veg.

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