The Garden Room by bentheim*

In between dust and exposed wires I just had to write about The Garden Room, a new interior design by bentheim. This cafe uses stainless steel and timber to give a warm, industrial canteen feel, but it's the quirky use of metal buckets as light fittings that made me smile. The foliage wallpaper adds to the garden theme.

Day 8: House renovation*

Time to order the flooring. This kitchen looks contemporary so to give it the warmth it needs to stop it becoming too stark, it needs a wood floor. So which type to choose - solid hardwood flooring or engineered wood? Engineered wood is less expensive, more environmentally friendly [because the sublayers are often made from junk or scrapwood], and can be installed in kitchens and bathrooms because it can withstand moisture, buckling and rippling.

If it gets damaged you can sand it. You'll be able to get three to four resurfacings from most engineered hardwood floors. To help keep the modern look, choose wide planks. As the kitchen is 8m long, I've specified long planks aswell as wide. Solid Floors had the modern look we wanted but only as solid hardwood and not engineered. So we found a simliar grade at Timeless Floors, a White Oak Natural oil, £29M2. I will post photos once it's installed next week.

Day 7: House renovation*

So the clever builders keep knocking things down...and putting things up. The first fix is done, the plumber is updating the heating and boiler and the new kitchen skylight is in! The bi-fold doors are coming next week and then we will see the garden. I can see how the L shaped kitchen will work in my head. Only 2 weeks until it is real.

Day 6: House renovation*

When we ripped the kitchen units out we found these lovely patterned tiles. There is something so thrilling about pulling a house apart, peeling back it's history, wondering who laid these tiles and if they had a happy life here.

Day 5: House renovation*

Look - they knocked the kitchen down yeeeeeee ha!

Day 5: House renovation*

The walls are coming down!!! Oh, they are going up too. How fast is this Welsh builder?

Day 4: House renovation*

You could spend your whole life looking at wall tiles - pop ones in candy colours, geometric ones, metro ones, understated ceramic ones, porcelain floor tiles. How to stop??! The answer is when you have builder's knocking down walls, a looming deadlines and a brief to stick to, then is the time to stop...The brief for the bathroom here is 'contemporary eclectic'. We have dark, dramatic floors, white neutral walls and so some bold feature tiles in a geometric pattern or a bright colour will make the whole room pop. For geometric and patterned tiles I saw some stunners at Fired Earth, Emery & Cie, Dar Interiors, Motif Tiles and Bisazza. But to get the intricate pattern effect we wanted was going to take some serious dosh. So the bold colour option seemed more viable - I found some amazing large format glass tiles in red, pink and orange which fitted the bill, but glass tiles in the shower area = high maintenance in hard water areas [who wants to scrub walls tiles every day?]. So cue some large scale wall tiles in ceramic - Johnson Tiles and Surface Tiles were my saviour. In the end 'my client' went for Milan Blue ceramic tiles 300x600mm by Original Style.

Day 3: House renovation*

Sanitaryware

Things are moving on swiftly - bathroom walls going up, new windows going in. My client's builder has arrived 2 weeks early, so the planning phase has literally gone out of the new window. It's seat of pants stuff. We have to get ours hands on lovely sanitaryware - and fast. No time for online items with 10-day leadtimes. The man on the phone at Cardiff bathroom store is our saviour. He has a Villeroy & Bosch acrylic Oberon bath in stock. The white modern curves of this piece will suit the space perfectly. It looks double-ended [luxurious and great for kids] but isn't so space-greedy. He also has a semi-recessed Roca Senso basin - more curves that will add warmth. We get a shower too - a Hudson Reed model with stunning cross dial. And a Phoenix heated towel rail and Ideal Standard Concept wall hung toilet. Seriously good for two hours shopping...

Day 2: House renovation*

Day 2:
The bathroom.

It's day 2 and we know where the services will run and have decided on a layout. There is little time to ponder over a brew and a breakaway as the builders are busy knocking down walls ha ha. What next? It's time to think about the 'envelope' - what materials will we specify for the floors and the walls? Get these right and the rest is easy. Get it wrong and you'll be looking at expanses of cheap and nasty for years and years. For the floor there are clear favorites for a family bathroom - ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles, rubber flooring. [wood flooring was a no-no, not for messy little ones]. I don't love ceramics though [they chip easily] and while rubber is warm and tactile, it gives a very specific look [60's pop]. So porcelain is the best - it's impossible to chip or scratch, is super waterproof and can look expensive without taking all your dosh. Stontech 1.0 do a stunning porcelain tiled floor [pictured] in black/brown and it's suitable for bathrooms. Yummy. Available from Surface Tiles, £67 per sqm.

Day 1: House renovation*

I am redesigning my brothers interiors.

The bathroom is heading up to the stars, leaving room for an 8metre kitchen yee ha. This will be a challenge for the upstairs layout [we are effectively squeezing a bathroom into the third bedroom, while trying to keep that bedroom as a working space]. Nothing that some clever space planning won't solve. So before we can even really begin to think about concepts the walls are coming down! And the concept? Well, it's a family bathroom, so above all else the materials must be robust to splashing and bubbles. Robust materials don't mean we have to leave style at the door. The other golden room with family bathrooms - circulation. When you have 10 squillion bodies all vying for the basin, you need room to manouvere. Space is a luxury, but carefully locating basins, baths and toilets buys back valuable inches. So the concept? Bright eclectic. Contrasted with a dark floor. So you get a big fat slap across the face when you take your morning shower. And the colour shot is one for the kids too.

Blodwen* - new online store

Well, I haven't written for so long. Life takes over - new house, new interior design projects, my friends beautiful wedding at House for Art Lover. Before I can start thinking about our new house [new project!] I have to finish my brothers house, and drag myself away from new websites such as Blodwen. Strictly speaking, spending hours on Blodwen is interiors 'research'? It's so nice to see a Welsh online shop selling cool, handmade stuff. I am going to find space for their Carthenni traditional wool rug in our new home. Not sure I like their prices so much as their designs (£395 for a blanket, ouch). It may be beautiful but so far it ain't demographic.

Trincket cosy*

What is cosy? It's most certainly fabulous textiles, furniture that envelops you, open fires and tactile surfaces. But does it have to be warm colours? Can't it be cool hues aswell? Can industrial style be cosy? I love the contrast between the two styles. Think giant high back velvet winged chairs and open fires next to concrete surfaces. The challenge is to mix both styles successfully [as I am finding]. Shoreditch House London is a shining example.

Vivienne Westwood squiggle wallpaper*

My pick of the day is the amazing graphic print wallpaper by Vivienne Westwood for Cole and Son. Blue and white 60's style.

Arts and Crafts house, Living Etc*

I came across a wonderful Arts and Crafts house in Living Etc today. The owner has chosen a dark, cocooning effect for their living room. It makes such a nice change from white, light, bright which everyone is doing, I mean everyone. There is something very mock-baronial about dark pannelled walls and a stuffed animal on the wall.

Most Curious by Tracey Neuls/Nina Saunders*

If you fancy some fairy, Alice in Wonderland interior escapism, check out the 'Most Curious' Tracey Neuls/Nina Saunders collaboration at the Tracey Neuls Marylebone store. Get some trees indoors pronto. Check_ check_ check_ it out! It all looks very Florence and the Machine. Watch out for giant rabbits.

Dean Street Townhouse*

Regency style - tick. Cosy escapism in central London - tick. BritArt in the rooms - tick. Roll top baths in the bedroom - tick. Dean Street Townhouse is the new hotel from the Soho House people. I'm a big fan.

Retro kitchen*

Oooooo, how cool is this retro kitchen. A lovely way to start a Thursday

Cosy winter lounges*

Today I was up at 6am and in Clerkenwell at 8am in my spring mac. What a mistake. It started snowing and made my hands go blue. I should be thinking about spring interiors schemes and bursts of colour but all I can think about is cosy winter lounges - my favorites here.

Bathroom colour*

Today is officially 'house on the market' day. The For Sale sign is on our front garden wall! And I know what this means - an excuse to work up mood board after sample board for each new space. I'm getting a little high pitched just thinking about it. Pity my poor boyfriend. Anyway, it's got me thinking about bathroom ideas, and colour - not least because I have a residential bathroom project to resolve by Thursday. I have seen some nice bathroom treatments recently that introduce colour in different ways - wallpaper, colour glass shower walls, metallic mosaic tiles and ethnic style tiles, with a middle eastern style. This is just the start!

Hackney glass extension - Platform 5*

Everyone is talking about the glass side extension to a Victorian east London house by architect Patrick Mitchell of Platform 5 Architects. And I mean everyone. That's all I have heard today. And there is no doubting that as well as being beautiful, the extension has transformed the rear of the dark Victorian house into something light-filled and utilitarian. The architect has built in a quirky and snug window seat for lazy afternoons gazing into the garden. And the huge glass door on the left pivots open, linking the inside with the outside. But while I admire the space I don't love it. The contrast between the roughness of the Victorian bricks and sleek new glass is great, but the overall feel of the room is a little stark and bare. I can't imagine warm times spent in there. It's not the cosiness we all crave right now?

Highland Fling - Dunblane Hydro*

It's February, it's cold and I need some tartan in my life. And some dark panelled walls. Oh, and some cosy deep red velvet chairs. Just to keep me warm from the snow, don't you know. I've just spent four lovely days at the Double Tree at Dunblane Hydro. It's hard to find highland interiors chic though the miles of hotels that cater for the retirement set. I loved the Hydro for it's contemporary scottish style - antler mirrors, tarten covered modernist chairs and ballsy Farrow and Ball Downpipe walls. The gallery of black and white photos details the Scottish great and the good that have stayed here. It is the perfect place to hole up in with a strong drink and a window framed view to the hills outside.