Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Ideal Home

Chez Richmond’s looking the worse for wear. It has suffered a long, hard summer at the hands of the littlest Richmonds, who’ve been building dens, scattering Lego far and wide, filling up the Sky box with Disney mini movies, losing shoes and generating laundry. As a neat freak, it’s been fun to let go, but now I’m starting to twitch a bit! It’s time to launch ourselves into a massive clear-up, clear-out and shake down. There will be decluttering, reorganising, rethinking of space and intensive list-making, followed by a quest for genius storage solutions. That’s one thing we’ve nailed in this issue: you’ll find loads of problem-solving options for kids’ rooms on page 94 and space-stretching furniture on page 140. Oh, and don’t miss my dream wardrobe-taming system on page…

“ My favourite thing is sitting out on the terrace in the evening, watching the sun going down and enjoying a glass of wine ” THE PROPERTY A ground-floor flat in a detached Victorian Cornish stone house in Padstow, Cornwall. VALUE Bought for £362,500 in 2015, now worth more than £575,000. Take a quick tour... When Pete Gardiner retired, he and his wife Amanda decided to look seriously at properties in Padstow, Cornwall, where they’d enjoyed holidays for more than 20 years. ‘Padstow isn’t huge and there are a limited number of old properties that are close to the harbour and restaurants,’ says Amanda. ‘We wanted estuary views and parking, too, so it was a tall order. But this was to be our dream home, and we…

WHERE TO BUY 1. PENDANT Concrete pendant, £70, Gray & Willow range, House of Fraser 2. CUSHION Finn cushion, £15, Linea range, House of Fraser 3. LAMP Ripple ceramic table lamp, £70, Next 4. TABLE Petra side table, £163, Wayfair 5. THROW Throw, £40, National Trust Shop 6. SOFA Elvis three-seater sofa in Ash soft wool, £1,540, Sofa.com 7. MUG Mug, £2.50, Matalan 8. RUG Kelim Squares rug, £189, Ferm Living range, Amara…

1 Get smart with storage Pack the playroom full of storage so that everything has a dedicated spot. Tackle toys with easy-access crates that tots can dip in and out of. Make use of wall space with a full-length peg rail with plenty of hanging space for sports kits and gym bags. Go under the bed with a high sleeper that includes a pull-out desk. 2 Choose a bed with extras A cabin-style bed with integrated storage beneath is a useful choice. This mid-height design is low enough for younger kids to access and features a pull-out chest of drawers and cube storage on castors for lots of flexibility. 3 KEEP THE LIVING ROOM IN CHECK If the children’s bits and bobs seem to migrate from room to room, keep…

 Lack of privacy, an awkwardly-shaped window or a steamy bathroom can leave you looking for an alternative to bathroom blinds. Replacing clear glass with obscured glass might offer a more practical solution. “In bathrooms, privacy is key and obscured glass allows this while also adding a touch of style” PHIL BROWN, PILKINGTON Q What’s the popular option? Textured glass – a rolled, patterned glass with the design impressed onto one side of the surface. It makes the glass translucent and non-transparent, distorting views while also letting in plenty of light. Designs vary from simple ripples and reeded lines to more decorative florals, foliage and geometrics and there are several different gradings available, according to the privacy level (or obscuration) required. QI’m not keen on a textured finish – what else…

WHERE TO BUY 1. PLANT Fejka plant, £35, Ikea 2. FIRE PIT Foscot fire pit, from £55, Garden Trading 3. CROCKERY Grey Lines mug, £8, ED Ellen Degeneres range, Royal Doulton 4. CUSHION Geometric cushion, £28, J by Jasper Conran range, Debenhams 5. THROW Herringbone throw, £75, Bronte by Moon 6. LANTERN Linea lantern, £55, House of Fraser 7. DINING SET Geo Mosaic table set, £649, Marks & Spencer 3 OF THE BEST TROPICAL PLANTS Aloe vera Best grown in pots and moved indoors in cold weather. Keep in full sun, with well-drained loamy soil. Cordyline Can grow to 10m tall, but smaller varieties are suitable for beds and pots. Happy in full sun or light shade. Tree fern Ideal for adding height to a sheltered spot as they can…

Home-made barbecue sauce Takes 25min Makes 600ml INGREDIENTS • 2 shallots, peeled • 10 garlic cloves, peeled • 2 red chillies, trimmed • 3tbsp olive oil • 8 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves only • 2tbsp fennel seeds • 2tbsp smoked paprika • 3tbsp soy sauce • Zest and juice of 2 lemons • 1tbsp mustard powder • 150g soft brown sugar • 225ml tomato ketchup • 175ml orange or apple juice • Sea salt and pepper Whizz all the ingredients in a blender until combined. Place in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15min. Once cool, pour into a sterilised jar and keep in the fridge for up to a month. Use as a marinade for meat. The best barbecue rub Takes 2min Makes 240g INGREDIENTS • 50g smoked paprika • 50g sea salt • 15g mild or hot chilli powder…

DRESS YOUR HOME IN TED BAKER Ted Baker isn’t just keen to get inside your wardrobe – it’s now got its sights set on your whole home. Its distinctive graphic florals are popping up on bed linen, rugs and splashbacks, and designs inspired by the menswear have been rescaled and adapted to tiles and tableware. Paradise tiles, £36 per sq m, Ted Baker range, British Ceramic Tile . WE KEEP SEEING… TINTED MIRRORS It’s not about the frames right now, it’s all about the finish Scaled-down style to snap up now DFS is launching its Capsule collection of sofas, armchairs and footstools, all with petite proportions but big design personality. Space savings have been made in all the right places, with every sofa under 2m wide. But while…

MY GO-TO STORES… • JOHN LEWIS ‘Always reliable for staples, such as good-quality white linen and towels’ • M&S ‘Solidly made furniture and interesting accessories; they keep getting better’ • NEXT ‘Well-priced, interesting pieces that are a bit different’ • INDIA JANE ‘Unbeatable for classic items with a quirky edge’ STYLIST’S TIP “Add interest with accent shades – classic coastal colours are red and blue, or try turquoise and coral ” TARA KING, CONTENT EDITOR…

Your home is your sanctuary so it’s important that it reflects your personality and is a place you can truly relax in and be yourself. Featuring a beautiful and diverse range of wallpaper, printed fabrics, upholstered furniture, trimmings and paint, Style Library is a one-stop shop for design inspiration to help you do just that. The new official home for iconic brands, Zoffany, Harlequin, Sanderson, Morris & Co., Scion and Anthology, Style Library covers a whole spectrum of styles so you’re bound to find something to unleash your creativity and inspire you to put your own stamp on your interior design. HOME-GROWN DESIGN All of the Style Library’s collections feature unique and authentic designs, created by its talented in-house designers and inspired by an intoxicating mix of history, craftsmanship and…

“The house was a building site for six months – the kids loved it, but we had our moments! ” THE PROPERTY A five-bed Eighties house on the Essex/Suffolk border. VALUE Bought in 2007 for £335,000, now worth around £450,000. The Prestneys’ previous home was a converted Victorian schoolhouse with period features, but with the imminent arrival of their first child, Kay and Andy decided they needed more space. Andy’s mum spotted an Eighties house for sale and persuaded Kay to take a look. It lacked the character Kay loves, but was spacious and had lots of built-in storage, as well as a large, split-level living space with sliding doors leading to the garden. They moved in just in time for baby Bella’s arrival and, only a few…

“ It’s perfect as a family house. Our last place was an open-plan flat, which didn’t work for us once the twins arrived! ” THE PROPERTY A three-bed Victorian terrace in north Essex. VALUE Bought for £275,000 in 2012 and now worth around £440,000. Kate and Andrew Whitfield managed to see beyond the dire state of their house in north Essex when they first viewed it in 2012. ‘Someone was living in part of the property, but it was dated and rundown, and needed everything doing,’ says Kate. ‘In spite of all that, I fell in love with the period features, high ceilings and good light.’ ‘Renovation is in my line of business, so I wasn’t too worried about having to do all the work,’ says Kate,…

“We viewed eight houses, but this one blew all the others away! ” THE PROPERTY A three-bedroom Victorian end of terrace in Withnell, near Chorley, Lancashire. VALUE Bought for £162,000 in May 2015. It’s now worth around £250,000. First-time buyers Suzie Johnson and Andrew Hill climbed onto the property ladder by taking on a house that needed top-to-toe renovation. In its favour were great views from its hilltop position and the fact that Suzie’s sister and mum live just minutes away. But transforming the terrace, located in the village of Withnell, Lancashire, took 17 months of hard work. ‘It was badly designed,’ says Suzie. ‘The kitchen had red and white gloss units with black worktops, combined with yellow and purple walls. The bathroom had a blue carpet and…

 With its industrial looks and hard-wearing and easy-to-clean qualities, it’s little wonder polished concrete flooring has become popular in homes. It holds heat well, too, so it’s a good choice if you want to install underfloor heating. “Choose a specialist installer – the finished floor should offer good depth of tone and lustre ”JONATHAN REID, DIRECTOR, GREYMATTER CONCRETE Q What exactly is polished concrete flooring? Very simply, it is concrete, left in its raw state or coloured, which has been polished and sealed to create a nonporous surface. It is commonly polished to a grit level of 800, 1,500 or 3,000 – the higher the level, the shinier the floor. Costs vary from £80-£450 per sq m, depending on whether it is levelled by machine or trowelled by hand, and…

1 IT HAS A LIFE SPAN THAT’S EXCEPTIONALLY LONG... Made from natural and traditional corrosion-resistant materials, zinc protects itself by developing a patina. 2 ... AND IS ALSO LOW-MAINTENANCE Zinc is easy to took after because it doesn’t have a coating or varnish that wears out and needs to be re-applied. 3 IT’S GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT Not only is it a non-toxic, durable and plentiful material that’s used extensively in the building industry, zinc is also an essential trace element vital to biological equilibrium and growth. Usefully, it is 100% recyclable. 4 ... AND LOOKS SLEEK AND MODERN Standing seam ridges in zinc roofing give a streamlined appearance, and the square-faced box gutter helps to provide a stylish, sharply detailed edge to the roof. 5 IT’S VERSATILE Anthra-Zinc is…

WHERE TO BUY 1. APRON Blue check apron, £5, Wilko 2. MINI BARBECUE Jumbuck bucket, £8.49, Homebase 3. SALAD BOWL Salad bowl, £35, Marks & Spencer 4. SAUCE BOTTLE Squeezy sauce bottle, £3.99, Lakeland 5. TONGS Tongs, £6.99, HomeSense 6. DRINKS DISPENSER Glass drinks dispenser, 4ltr, £10, Hobbycraft 7. TEA TOWEL Tea towel, £4.99, The Oak Room 8. GRILL Sagaform bamboo hamburger grill, £25, Houseology…

GEORGE HOME’S FABULOUS NEW FURNITURE “Let’s face it: Asda’s accessories have always been awesome and now its furniture is catching up. The new range, which includes solid oak pieces, made us gasp for all the right reasons!”…

Supporting star Sandstone may not be a ‘wow’ colour, but if you have interesting pieces of furniture it’s a great shade for letting them steal the show while still adding interest and warmth to the space SUBTLE PATTERN  This textured wallcovering looks less flat than a painted wall “Brown neutrals can be sludgy and dull unless you cut through them with the right accents. We used blue and mimosa yellow” NICKY PHILLIPS , DECORATING EDITOR Stylist’s note GREY TONES Sandstone blends with other browns, as well as greys for a smooth mix Cool blue Instead of using sandstone as your hero colour mixed with other neutrals, try something more unexpected by teaming it with a pale, grey-toned blue – it creates a soft and sophisticated contrast LOVELY…

Sam and her husband Andrew opened an interiors store in Chelmsford, Essex, in 2005, and quickly moved online. Amara.com made high-end brands such as Missoni Home and Ralph Lauren available nationwide, and now has its own-brand range, too. Sam and Andrew live in Essex with their two daughters, Lotty, 21, and Molly, 17. Everything in my house has a story behind it, or reminds me of something or a place I’ve been. The downside is that I find it impossible to get rid of anything! I suppose I’m a really emotional person when it comes to decorating my home. I decorate with my heart. We have a special chair for my mum. She bought a rocking chair by the British designer William Plunkett and we stored it for her in…

Add textured accessories Layer plain textiles with throws and cushions with fringing, tufted, tasselled or knotted details. WHERE TO BUY Double mattress, £849, Herdy Sleep. For similar throws and cushions, try Anthropologie STYLIST’S NOTE “Can’t live without colour? Inject some with rugs, artwork or cushions, but keep it faded and subtle ”MICHELA COLLING , STYLE EDITOR Go back to nature Choose pieces with an unfinished look, like this simple wooden table. WHERE TO BUY Vega coffee table, £555; for similar rug, try Amira, £399; both Barker & Stonehouse Make a feature of leather A cognac-leather sofa like this has just the right natural-but-decadent look. Keep it smart with square styling, though. WHERE TO BUY Marl sofa, £1,795, DFS. For a similar table, try Square Parquet coffee table, £385,…

Glam vintage Walls painted in Dix Blue estate emulsion, £43.50 for 2.5ltr, Farrow & Ball. Blinds in Anouska Aqua, £62 per m, Jane Churchill. Ella U side table, £275; Amina console table, £675; both Graham & Green. Drum stool, £125, The Dormy House; upholstered in Gotska Glacier, £27.50 per m, Studio G. Coffee table painted in Slaked Lime flat eggshell, £30 for 1ltr, Little Greene. Fitz chair in Primrose velvet, £369, Swoon Editions. Circuit 01 rug, £275, Plantation Rug Company. ON SIDE TABLES Althea rose lamp base, £145; ivory cotton empire shade, £55; both India Jane. Mug, £10, Murmur. Notebook, £12.50, Also Home. ON CONSOLE Sachi vase, £50, Habitat. Ochre planter, £26.50, Holly’s House. Another Winter framed print by Lesley Birch, £150, King & McGaw. ON COFFEE TABLE Mint concrete…

Now is the time to reap the rewards of your summer garden by enjoying blooms inside as well as out! But instead of using any old vase for your freshly cut flowers, why not get creative and pimp up a glass jam jar or paint a plain white vase in your own design to make a beautiful display that’s unique to you? MAKE IT YOUR OWN If you don’t have a garden and can’t afford too many flowers from the florist, give faux a go for a longer-lasting display. As well as a huge range of accessories and tools for all your crafting projects inside and out, Hobbycraft has some lovely faux flowers that look just as good as the real thing. Whatever your style or budget, you’ll find plenty…

WHERE TO BUY 1. LIGHT Cobb rise-and-fall large pendant light, £215, Original BTC 2. CLOCK Black Smiths retro clock, £60, Roger Lascelles 3. PITCHER Two-tone earthenware jug, £21.99, Ian Snow 4. CLOTHES AIRER Laundry pulley maid, £55, Sheila Maid 5. MAP PRINT Framed ordnance survey explorer map, £50, Love Maps On 6. TABLE Marcelle six-to-eight-seater dining table, £899, John Lewis 7. STORAGE JAR 2ltr glass jar, £4.50, Kilner range, Wilko 8. CHAIR Tram chair in yellow, £69, Cult Furniture…

1 THEY’RE VERY QUICK TO BUILD ‘Off-site prefabrication in a factory means that the construction process can move at a much quicker pace than usual, as the build isn’t affected by adverse weather conditions or problems of accessibility.’ 2 FOUNDATIONS CAN BE REUSED ‘This allows for a much more sustainable, eco-friendly result. Retaining an existing foundation, for example, is one of the most sustainable options available because it means that no new excavations have to be dug causing disruption and damage to the surrounding landscape.’ 3 THEY CAN BE MOVED ‘Forest Lodge has been constructed with a steel frame, which means the house could be top-lifted by a crane, and still keep its shape. The building also features structural eyelets that could be used should Mel and Roy ever want…

“We’d been on honeymoon in Thailand and were inspired by the use of timber, lush green planting and clean lines we saw out there. Our garden is no longer an eyesore, but looks beautiful all year round ” Welcome to my home Philippa Beaumont lives here with her husband Alasdair. THE PLOT A small courtyard-style rear garden and side return belonging to a Victorian terrace in York, North Yorkshire. Two-in-one space The small garden has been divided into two zones, with decking nearest the house and paving in the second half, plus gaps for planting. ‘Hard landscaping shouldn’t do much talking – it should be in the background to allow the plants to make the statement,’ says David Rich. IDEAL HOME loves Tree ferns Give height, privacy and…

Whether you’re looking to redo a whole room or just add a few stylish twists, Dunelm has a wide range of quality homeware, from bedding, sofas, curtains, cushions, quilts and pillows to kitchenware and dining, lighting, furniture, art and rugs, as well as premium brands such as Dorma and Fogarty. Dunelm is also one of the few retailers to offer curtain fabrics on the roll, and produce made-to-measure curtains and furniture in a wide range of fabrics. Home delivery is available, or you can reserve online and collect in store. This autumn, Ideal Home has teamed up with Dunelm to give seven lucky readers the chance to win a gift card worth a whopping £1,000 to spend in one of its 160-plus UK stores. What are you waiting for?…

= mail order available A Alphabet Bags alphabet bags.com Amara 0800 587 7645; amara.com Amazon amazon.co.uk Ambience Interiors 01672 569070; ambience-furnishings.co.uk An Artful Life anartfullife.co.uk Anthropologie 00800 0026 8476; anthropologie.com Antique Church Furnishings 01737 844264; churchantiques.com Arbol House 01244 329643; ovohome.com Argos 0345 640 3030; argos.co.uk Arlo & Jacob 0333 122 4780; arloandjacob.com Asus 01442 265548; asus.com/uk Atkin & Thyme 020 3768 7775; atkinandthyme.co.uk Atlantic Shopping 0121 230 1644; atlanticshopping.co.uk Att Pynta attpynta.com B B&Q 0333 014 3098; diy.com Baileys 01989 561931; baileyshome.com Barker & Stonehouse 0333 331 5031; barkerandstonehouse.co.uk Basket Company (The) 01202 422 600; thebasketcompany.com Baytree Interiors 0808 168 9242; baytree-interiors.co.uk Blinds 2 Go 0800 862 0464; blinds-2go.co.uk Bobby Rabbit 0114 321 7000; bobbyrabbit.co.uk Bombay Duck 020 8749 3000; bombay duck.com British Blanket Company (The) 0845 474 1747; thebritishblanketcompany.com British Ceramic Tile 01626 834774; britishceramictile.com Bronte by Moon brontebymoon.co.uk Brume brume.co.uk Burlington Bathrooms 01322 473222; burlingtonbathrooms.com C Cath Kidston 0333 320 2663; cathkidston.com Chandelier…

Wardrobe heaven Flexible hanging rails and multipuprpose pegboards will solve all manner of storage niggles. Look forward to speedier end-of-the-day clear-ups and smoother morning rushesÉ…