How to be tidy (and some storage porn)

I'm still on a high from the massive garage clear-out; a few scary cupboards inside got a healthy de-clutter. 



But, while it's all good for the weeks following a big blitz like this, if you’re anything like me (untidy at heart) you’ll soon be wading through mood-dampening mess in no time. I’m in awe of tidy people: what are their
secrets? 





Above: Future & Found's bright and cheerful

Another retro trend renaissance: hello pink bathrooms

Pink bathrooms are a trend a-brewing, I'm telling you, and I've been eyeing them longingly for a while. 

I thought it might just be me, but then these much maligned blasts from the past started popping up all over Pinterest. (Though not especially looking like this one, below, even though it's incredible.)



Then I visited the beautifully designed Bill Granger restaurant in Clerkenwell (read

Wednesday Question: gold taps – well, would you?

Gold taps were to 80s interiors what a Lamborghini is to inner city driving. A bit showy-offy for the sake of it.

So who'd have thought they'd be reincarnated all these years later in such pleasing way? It's a quick post from me this week as there's lots going on, but here's a run down of the new way to do gold taps. The trick is to mix them with a utiltarian back-drop and play down the flash.

Object of the day: Dutch tiles with tales

The best thing I saw at the London Design Festival last week measured 10 centimetres square and was based on a 16th century Dutch design classic. 







Yes, yes, there was so much to love at LDF 2014. The sprawling event, now in its 11th year, is the non-trade way through the back doors of the design world and, with six big fairs in different venues, various landmark displays of creativity, and

Throwback Friday – and a request to people make nice stuff

Today I'm plucking some of my favourite craft from the archives. Why? 

To inspire any readers of this blog who make, paint or draw lovely stuff, to apply to be part of the illustrious Crafty Fox Markets this Christmas. The deadline for submissions is next week (23 September) and – ta-da! – I am one of three guest curators selecting which stalls get a pitch (details below).



I touched on this

The best design giveaway? Elle Deco's ace anniversary competition

Have you heard about the rather enticing Elle Deco 25th anniversary competition – where six winners will bag the contents of one of six rooms created by the magazine? 

Here are three of them (my favourites).


It's all tied into the mag's October issue, which marks its quarter of a century of existence.

Each room set is worth around £16,500, and winning a competition is the only way I'd ever

Object of the day: New Eley Kishimoto wallpapers

Weeeeeell, if I can't write about eye-popping budget-stretching wallpaper during the London Design Festival, when else? (The event started this weekend and goes on until next Sunday.)

I'm a big fan of Eley Kishimoto clothes, and the print mad design duo's expanding homewares range excites me greatly. And it's not for the faint-hearted...



This is my favourite of the wallpaper designs that the

Real homes: an artistic hoarder's creative curation

Emy Gray owns Brixi, a pretty special shop near where I live, in Brixton*. 

We got to know each other because I'm regularly in the shop, frequently loitering and ogling beautiful things I can't justify buying. We're also collaborating on something rather exciting shortly too, more of which at the bottom of this post...



Brixi is more of an art gallery than a shop in some respects; Emy, a

Guest post: create affordable washi tape art with Hannah Cox of the Crafternoon Club

Today I'm pleased to be passing you into the capable and creative hands of Hannah Cox, pictured below, founder of excellently inventive hybrid, the Crafternoon Club (where cabaret meets craft – what else?).

Hannah, who has a prestigious Mollie Makes Handmade Awards trophy under her belt – or, rather under her (hand-sewn) apron – is sharing an affordable interiors trick to spruce up walls for

Amara Interior Blog Awards: Vote for Your Home is Lovely

Well, well. I've been nominated for an Amara interiors blog award. How very exciting.



Just click on the image above to vote for me (if you'd like to).

The awards are divided into several categories and Your Home is Lovely has been nominated for – no sniggering those who read about my grouting misadventure – Best DIY Blog. Apparently, the thrust is more about bloggers who get stuck in with

Object of the day: insanely cute animal wall stickers for kids

I stumbled across these door decorations from Finland on Etsy. 

If you're prone to being swayed by interiors trends (guilty) you might be thinking: wall-stickers, aren't they a bit 2011? Pah. Just try to think of trends while looking at these nice, friendly faces.








The vinyl stickers are made and sold by a little Helsinki-based company called Made of Sundays and cost around £28 each. What

Travel: some reasons to make Palm Springs your next holiday

I spied some snaps of a friend's holiday on Facebook and it looked so amazing I asked her to share. The photos, specifically, were of the Palm Springs modernist architecture tour she'd just done.

Among the many gems, the intimate, three-hour tour features the Kaufmann house, commissioned by the same family who commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. You get the idea. Over to you,

Real homes: am I the hoarder next door?

If ever I needed evidence that I had hoarding issues, my garage is it. 

But during the August break, its purging is just one of many cleansing activities I've got up to. I shudder to relive the ordeal through this "before" photo, below...





This garage was in trouble before I'd even moved in (when you get to the oven picture you'll see why). But over the years, with different configurations