Tag Archives: hints and tips

Interior inspiration from Decorex

Posted by Alison on September 30, 2011 None comments

It’s amazing how a small amount of progress on the ground can spur you to thinking about all the finer points of interior decorating. I was inspired after my visit to Decorex on Monday.  Decorex is the UK’s show for architects and interior professionals where we all go to get inspiration, to see the latest interior trends and talk to new and existing suppliers.

The grounds of Chelsea Hospital are transformed with the installation of a large marquee and trade stands. We had a great day and met with many existing suppliers who were launching new editions to their already stunning interior selections. And found new suppliers with amazing things to offer.

Here are some of my favourites:

who could resist this London bus rug

 

 Getting lighting right can transform a room

Interior Lighting

I love this

wall treatments can be amazing

An alternative to a boring stair carpet

Add colour to your stairs with a runner

I went a bit dotty over these carpets and runners

A dotty runner

Choose paint colours with care to make the best use of your interior space

Paint colours of the world

 
For more of my inspiration,  or to dicsuss a project call Alison 01572 747318 or 07973843020.

what jobs should I do in the garden this month ? September

Posted by Alison on September 2, 2011 None comments

This is a glorious time in the garden but the work can’t stop – tidy up now and prepare for the year ahead and you’ll reap the benfits next year.  Gardeners seem to embrace the routine of garden work, after all it is the pattern which runs through the year and without which inspiration would falter and imagination stall.

Sculpture at Burghley House, in Stamford, provides inspiration

If you spotted some gaps in your borders and took photos to remind you of when and where the gaps appeared you are a step ahead. If not, plant pot grown asters, phlox and rudbeckia in the gaps now and they will have filled out for next summer.

Or sow hardy annuals directly into the borders in some freshly drilled soil. They will provide an early display next summer.

Begin to dry off large pots of tender plants such as agapanthus and fuchsias. We lost a lot of agapanthus last winter so ensure you dry pots well and set aside – it can be sitting with their toes in water rather than the cold that kills them.

Prune climbing roses cutting out the oldest stems at ground level. Tie in new growth as near horizontal as possible to encourage flower buds next year.

prune climbing roses now

Buy Spring flowering bulbs – you can never have enough bulbs they brighten even the dullest day. I have stocks of tulips and alliums. Call or email for more information on my current favourite planting combinations.

Add to your borders now to fill gaps next year

Plant new climbers, shrubs and evergreens while the soil is still warm.

Ponds

Now is the time to net your pond – not to stop the heron but to catch the leaves before they fall.

Vegetable garden

Keep harvesting courgettes. I made a fantastic courgette and lemon dish with dill and capers for vegetarians visiting us last night. I’m sorry to say the rest of our guests devoured a lot of meat (all local though!)

If you haven’t already done so lift your main crop potatoes

Add a fleece tunnel to keep the ground warm and sow winter salads. It’s amazing how easy it is and so delicious to pick a handful of fresh leaves for a sandwich in the depths of winter.

Plant new strawberries now to keep your patch productive

Plant new strawberries. A strawberry plant has about 3 years productive life so continually replanting is the way to keep your patch productive year after year.

I like to clear the greenhouse and give it a thorough clean in September. I know I can leave plants outside for a night or two without them coming to harm so I empty everything, give it a thorough scrub and light a sulphur candle over night to disinfect the whole greenhouse.

What jobs should I do in the garden this month? Garden jobs in August

Posted by Alison on August 1, 2011 None comments

The summer is upon us and our gardens are flourishing. Now is the time to start thinking ahead to Autumn and beginning to put plans into action which will mean your garden continues to look good and is productive right into winter.

Look after borders now to prepare them for winter

Borders

Trim lavender once it has finished flowering. Hang to dry and then mix with dry rice to fill lavender bags later, or make lavender sugar.  Layer fresh lavender leaves in jars between 3cmof caster sugar. Seal the jars and store to use later – it’s delicious in cakes. Remove flowers before using or crush with the sugar in a pestle and mortar.

Plant colchicums, cyclamens and crocus to naturalise in grass.

Propagating and general maintenance

Take cuttings of established box plants – book on one of my box trimming workshops for next summer.

Spread a compost mulch around fruit bushes, asparagus and rhubarb. Ensure the ground is moist first.

Prune rambler roses.

Prune rambler roses in August

Give hedges a final trim to get them into shape for the autumn.

If you have bare patches of lawn these can be reseeded from the end of the month if the weather cools.

Vegetables

Lift onions and shallots.

Now is the time to harvest onions and shallots

Harvest sweet corn at lunch time and have a pan of boiling water already on the go. Put the cobs straight in and eat as soon as they are ready. They will be delicious as you catch them before any of their natural sugar turns to starch.

Encourage further cropping of beans and courgettes with regular picking.

Harvest main crop potatoes.

Complete summer pruning of trained fruit trees such as espaliers and cordons.

Prune back to ground level summer fruited raspberry canes.

Start to sow seeds for autumn picking. Sow directly into the ground or in modules to plant out later. The following can all be grown well into Autumn and cropped as cut and come

Sow swiss chard now to ensure you have crops well into winter

again. Protect with fleece if you want to continue cutting into winter.  Sow, kale, Swiss chard, mustard spinach, chicory, lambs lettuce, lettuce and rocket now.

Garden jobs in July

Posted by Alison on July 4, 2011 None comments

 July is a great month in the garden – as long as you can keep on top of the watering. You should begin to reap the rewards of your hard work in the vegetable plot so make sure you are cutting every day to keep new produce forming, remember to clip herbs too as this encourages they to keep growing – you are mimicking grazing animals in the wild remember.

Keep your borders going with the additional of late flowering plants

Your herbaceous borders might have peaked at the end of June so look for any gaps and infill with pots of colourful later flowerers – salvias, cannas and dahlia’s will all extend the season with Michaelmas daisies (Aster) taking you right through to Autumn and beyond.

 

Vegetable gardens

Start to harvest garlic and shallots

Thin out direct sown seedlings including beetroot

Keep on top of the vegetable garden and repeat sow to ensure you have crops well into winter

Plant out winter cabbages, spinach, beetroot, kale, broccoli and leeks. Repeat sow lettuce, salads, French and runner beans, carrots and beetroot for crops later in the season. Now is the ideal time to plan your autumn sowings of salad crops and herbs to get ahead.

Mature trained fruit trees can be an intrinsic part of your garden design

Prune trained apple and pear trees in the middle of the month. Remember you are reducing the spread and enabling the tree to put all its energy into producing fruit for next year.

Borders

Continue to deadhead in your borders to encourage repeat flowering

Prune wisteria taking long stems back to 6“ of the main stem

Prune wisteria now to encourage the flowers next spring

Cut back hardy geraniums to encourage fresh foliage and repeat flowering.  If you are going away for a couple of weeks then is the ideal time. Cut the foliage right down to the base, they will look terrible while you are away but have put on new foliage and be about to flower by the time you return!

General

If slugs are a problem, get a couple of chickens! Bantams do hardly any damage to your garden and provide you with fresh eggs. They won’t lay all year round like a more robust breed like a long island red might but they will keep pests at bay.

Your garden design needn't suffer with the addition of chickens if you get the right breed

Make sure you have a couple of nice places to sit and enjoy the garden – perhaps one seat positioned for sun and one for shade. There’s nothing better than being able to enjoy all the work you’ve put in but if you don’t make it easy with a well positioned seat you may miss it and only ever go into the garden to toil.

If you feel your could benefit from some help or advice on your home or garden please don’t hesitate to get intouch. Tel: 01572 747318 or 07973843020

Garden jobs in June

Posted by Alison on June 5, 2011 None comments

Despite the promise of rain it has been rather disappointing: too short lived and rather light. I’d like a good down pour which lasted the night and cleared around 5am so the ground was dry enough to work again the following morning! I’ve resorted to adding irrigation systems to a lot of my gardens so that watering is directed to the plants that need it and not wasted. So what other jobs should you be doing in the garden this month.

Box clipping

June is when I allow myself the luxury of beginning to clip all my box (buxussempervirens) hedging and shaped topiary.  I use Derby day (this year Saturday 4th June) as the marker to begin but it often takes me a month to finish! It’s then just a case of trimming any over exuberant growth as it appears to keep everything in shape.

One of the clipped box spheres in a Lincolnshire Garden

Any plant grown in a pot needs feeding but box is a greedy plant and will benefit from regular feeding and watering.

If box is not your thing then opt for an alternative plant: yew, holly, santalina and loniceranitida make great specimens for topiary too.

Planting out and feeding

Once all danger of frost has passed, plant out any annuals grown in seed trays, herbs and vegetables.

Feed tomatoes weekly with a high potash feed and remove side shoots once trusses have set

Herbaceous borders

If you have some chunky clumps of Michaelmas daisies, phlox and delphinium nip out a few growing points now and you will encourage these to regrow and flower later thus prolonging the flowering season.

Continue to tie in and stake plants as they grow to prevent them from flopping. Once herbaceous borders get established you will find that other plants support each other but until this happens it’s important to stake early to prevent damage.

The rose border in a garden I designed in Lincolnshire

Deadhead and keep doing it! I find it very relaxing especially if it is accompanied by a glass of wine - I find most things look better with a glass of wine in your hand!

Fruit

Thin out apples, pears, gooseberries and plums if you have too much fruit. Not is the time to prune new cherry and plum trees. Invest in a good book with diagrams so help.

Lawns

Now is an ideal time to lay turf or re-seed a lawn. Prepare the area by levelling, raking off all stones, then tamping down to firm the soil. Lightly rake over and sow seed or lay turf on this prepared soil and then water. And don’t forget to keep it well watered while it establishes.

Ponds

It’s important to keep an area of pond clear at this time of year and ensure you have plants which allow dragonflies to climb out of the water and plants which allow access to the bank. Remove too vigorous pond plants to keep an area of water clear

Home Interior Styles

Posted by Alison on May 19, 2011 None comments

I heard a lovely thing on radio 2 recently: a caller said he knew it was Spring because his wife had said “this lounge needs painting.” I’m sure I say it every year but this is my favourite time of year. There is so much promise in the air, new buds are awakening every day and long forgotten bulbs are appearing like buried treasure from the damp earth.

For the interior one of the easiest ways to create a new look is with paint or wallpaper and I think the Radio 2 caller’s wife had a point. At this time of year light levels change and our homes do look different and a freshen up with some paint can work wonders. If you’re feeling brave you could also think about decorating a feature wall with a strong colour (if the room is big enough to take it) or a feature wallpaper. The fabric houses are full of strong primary colours at the moment with dominant patterns in striking color combinations so work these into your new scheme too. The colour at the Cannes Film Festival this week is reportedly WHITE but my Global Colour Research partners inform me that the colour for May is GREEN. There’s so much green about at the moment from the very restful to the striking and vibrant limes. I love some of the new looks the fabric houses are launching. If your budget is tight simply opt for a change of cushions and accessories but if you have more to spare then a new set of curtains or blinds will transform a room.

Little Greene Paint creates a striking feature wall

Paint has come a long way in recent years and we are all so much more aware of its environmental impact not just in terms of voc’s but in its storage and handling too.

One of my favourite paint company’s, Little Greene’s, offers a fantastic range of environmentally-friendly water-based paints. They are passionately committed to acting positively and responsibly in order to minimise the ecological impact of their manufacturing and distribution process. All the company’s paints are manufactured in their own UK factory using only the finest organic, natural and safe-synthetic pigments.

They have such a high reputation that Little Greene Paints were selected to decorate The Prince’s Foundation Natural House at this year’s Ideal Home Show.

The company has been working on this project with The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, an educational charity founded by HRH The Prince of Wales, for some time and is a source of considerable pride as well as much inspiration for Little Greene.

The Foundation aims at establishing sustainable, responsible construction methods for the planning, designing and building of community housing, thereby improving the quality of people’s lives.

Little Greene’s water-based paints are quick drying, virtually odourless and brushes can be safely washed in tap water after use. Colours selected are evocatively (and appropriately) named shades such as Salix, Celestial Blue, Acre, Linen Wash and Clay Mid. If you’d like more information on Little Greene visit their web site or give me a call and I’ll order samples for you.

I believe that every space can be comfortable, relaxed and beautiful without you feeling pressured to be perfect.  I would love to help you achieve your beautiful home. If I can help with a home or garden project please give me a call. Alison: 01572 747318 or 07973843020.

Home Interior Design Ideas

Posted by Alison on March 9, 2011 None comments

What are you giving up for Lent? And have you managed to keep your New Year resolutions?

Many of us will be giving up chocolate with the same hope of success that our pledge to get fitter or to de-clutter had at New Year.

I can’t really help with the giving up or getting fitter part but here’s some simple solutions to get a wardrobe, a room or your entire home in order.

Start with a small area – maybe an area that really bothers you.  If you start with something that is very visible or that you use often, you will feel wonderful once it’s done and be motivated to carry on.

Select a small area of your interior and concentrate your eforts

Focus on one area at a time – don’t get distracted and pulled into other areas.

To stay motivated you need to make it a habit.  So, for example, try to sort through your mail as soon as you get home. Try to touch each piece of paper just once and then make the decision right then and there: what you need to keep, bin or action later.

Set a realistic time limit – maybe you have an hour, so tackle the boots and shoes in the hall cupboard and then the next day you can do the coats.

With a large area or room – have five different boxes or bags.  Label them – TO KEEP IN ROOM – STORE SOMEWHERE ELSE – CHARITY – BIN and REPAIR.  Once they are filled, take care of them quickly.  I load the charity items in to the car and next time I’m out I drop them off.  You won’t miss them, and someone else will be thankful for your generosity.

Move items to the place where you use them the most, for example, rain mac by the front door.

Try to be ruthless with regards to your clothing. The familiar rule of “if you haven’t worn it in a year then you aren’t going to wear it”, holds true with one exception – formal wear.  I make four different piles for my clothes – TO KEEP, TO REPAIR OR ALTER, TO GIVE AWAY and TO BIN.  Again action the items quickly so there is no second guessing.

A tidy interior design or garden design studio makes work a pleasure

If you are still feeling overwhelmed maybe it’s time to ask a well organized friend for help or hire a professional organiser or decorator.  You won’t regret it. 

I believe that every space can be comfortable, relaxed and beautiful without you feeling pressured to be perfect.  I would love to help you achieve your beautiful home so get in touch if I can help.

Alison

Antiques they’re greener

Posted by Alison on March 4, 2011 None comments

For a long time I’ve been writing about how to mix old or antique furniture with more contemporary pieces to create a more eclectic look in your home. Well now I have another reason for buying antiques: they’re greener.

It's all in the detail

After years of falling prices antiques are now as cheap as they have ever been withwhat is often called brown furniture selling for very low prices. Don’t get me wrong, antiques can still be investment pieces, the good Gillows, Liberty and Chippendales are still commanding exceptional prices, and good quality Georgian and Victorian pieces are still making good money at auction.  But it can be cheaper to buy an antique piece, than its flat pack equivalent, and importantly it will hold its value. And what is really important is that this is a greener option too. During the 1980’s elegant mahogany and oak furniture saw something of a renaissance in the auction houses as we clamored to fill our houses with period pieces but in the 1990s and 2000s we started looking to the future. Scandinavian design was very much in fashion and we moved away from ‘brown furniture’.  A few of us still sold these pieces, often hand painted to emulate the Scandinavian look but flat pack and the rise of Ikea seemed to take over.

It may not be fashionable, but i've always loved 'brown' furniture

I now think we will see a shift away from flat pack furniture, not least because you can now pick up a well made, solid wood piece which will last for another 100 years or more for the equivalent price and it’s greener too. The energy and materials needed to make it have already been used so its impact on the planet and our precious resources is negligible. Your modern flat pack furniture uses new wood and energy to manufacture it, it’s probably made of particle board, fibre board and polyurethane/acrylic paint, it uses petroleum products and energy and will last 5 – 50 years if you’re lucky.

So if you’re looking to a brighter, greener future, take a look at what’s on sale at our local auction houses and antique centres. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll come to love a little piece of history in your home.