Design Dilemmas

Episode 104. This week we're discussing choosing wall lights, cottage front doors and good quality bath towels. Plus decent flat pack drawers and the Sunday Niche Edit.

[cover photo credit: Nicola Harding for House & Garden].

Good morning all and as I write this, I am about to start binging Rivals Season 2 and cannot wait. My sister in law, Louise, was staying these last few days so I’ve spent this afternoon reading Londons Falling which I am seeing commentary about absolutely everywhere. I’m not far in but it’s based around Mill Hill which is where my Dad grew up (he went to UCS which is randomly the school mentioned in the book) so it’s feeling quite familiar. I’m making a conscious effort to read more of the huge pile of books that is sitting by my bed - it’s oh so easy just to flip up the iPad and watch TV before I go to sleep but I’m sure that’s not nearly as beneficial as a relaxing read. I have seven stacked at the moment so I need to get on with it, ha.

This week, Leo my youngest is going to be 17 which is kind of mind blowing, both for me and for those of you who have followed me on Instagram since I started posting in 2015 when he was but six. Madness. He’s now almost six foot with stubble and a crew cut (buzz cut? Honestly I don’t know what it’s called now) and a far cry from the long white blonde hair that he started with at the beginning of my social media career. 17 means, of course, that he will be able to start driving lessons which is terrifying not just for me but for the entirety of York, mostly the bit that goes up the Huntington Road which is where I’ll be making him drive me daily to drop himself at school. He’s got lessons booked in, but I found with Max that the only way to really get him confident was to have him drive me about. Which is obviously putting my life in his hands daily but needs must. I failed my test not once, not twice but three times, all times down to failure to successfully reverse around a corner. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve had to reverse around a bloody corner in the last 30 years, it was RIDICULOUS. Although at least we didn’t have to take a theory test back then which seems to be more terrifying for the kids than the actual test itself.

But back to business and this week, we are discussing choosing wall lights and whether or not they need to match the rest of your room lighting. We are looking at a gorgeous blue cottage and debating the front door colour and hardware, plus an edit of the very best, most plush and eternally washable bath towels on the market. And finally, we are looking at decent flat pack drawers for a subscriber who can’t get anything up the stairs as they’re too narrow. And the Sunday Niche Edit is a subscriber request this week, attractive bedside carafes (my favourite? Without doubt the Romeo and Juliet one which is dreamy). Paid subscribers, remember that you can add your dilemmas or quandaries below here in the comments or you can join in the Group Chat (the speech bubble on your app) where there are thousands of you waiting to help with any issues that arise (I pick ones from both of these locations for my weekly post, so whack yours in).

You can READ ON by becoming a paid subscriber which means that not only do you receive four free posts a month but you’ll also get an eight EXTRA posts a month (including all my plans for our new home) plus Chat threads so you can join our blossoming community. You’ll be able to access my archive to read ALL of my past posts (including recipes and travel write ups) for the price of one coffee a month. I would thoroughly recommend!