Classical Ideas, Tips & Guides

Not everyone has the luxury of a separate home office or a room just for working out. Sometimes, you’ve got to squeeze a play area in the living room, take work calls in the kitchen, and maximize a spare room to its fullest potential.  But how do you combine these different functions into one space without it looking cluttered and chaotic? We asked interior designers to spill their top tips for achieving a space that is equal parts versatile, stylish, and harmonious.

Transform your fruit harvests into juice and cider with your own apple press.

Whether planting, weeding, watering or mowing, it’s easy to lose track of time while you’re gardening. An outdoor clock is an ideal solution.

There’s no understating the importance of a kitchen backsplash. Not only is a backsplash practical—sparing your bare walls from spaghetti sauce splatters—but it sets the tone for your kitchen’s personality. Think of it as an opportunity to flex your design skills, whether that means including a jolt of color, choosing an unconventional material, or sticking to a classic-as-can-be style.   There’s a caveat, though: if you veer too trendy or too conventional, a backsplash can quickly look outdated. To spare yourself from inevitable regret, we asked three interior designers for their honest take on backsplashes they’re sick of seeing. Warning: controversial opinions ahead. Read on to learn which popular backsplashes they think need to retire, so you can invest in a conversation piece (not a controversy) that you’ll love for years to come.  

If you are looking forward to having a colourful specimen in your garden that also acts as a focal point, then do check out these Maple Trees with Unique Leaves and Colors!

Canning corn is a wonderful way to enjoy the summer’s bounty all year round. In this article, I’ll show you exactly how to do it in a few easy steps.

The dog days of summer are officially upon us, and as the temperatures begin to cool, many are eagerly swapping out their spring and summer home decor for fall-inspired items. Pumpkins, warm color palettes, and fall foliage are classic decor pieces, but if you’re looking to try something new this year there are lots of on-trend options.

Aldi

When it comes to interior design, it can be tricky to know what decor trends to buy into and what to skip. While 2023 trends included leaning into bold color, maximalist style, dark countertops, and a nod to Art Deco, some others like all-white interiors, sparse spaces, and wiggly furnishings weren't as popular. They may not be entirely trends to skip, but at least ones to put on the back burner if you are currently designing or updating your space. Looking for some advice? We sat down with interior designers to get their take on design trends they wish they'd skipped.

As we enter fall and the pumpkin spice latte returns, it only makes sense to gain inspiration from the beloved seasonal drink to decorate our homes.

Kraft Mac & Cheese

If you’re looking for new outdoor seating, then why not bring a laid-back holiday vibe to your garden with deck chairs? These traditional, foldable seats are colourful, comfortable and budget-friendly, ideal for relaxing in the sun or shade.

Dive into the world of autumn magic with the Best Blue Pumpkin Varieties! From the Blue Prince to the Japanese Shishigatani, learn about these stunning blue pumpkins and the true blue pumpkin meaning.

As humans, we are omnivorous and eat a host of foods. And our furry and feathered friends seem to enjoy a similar diverse diet. It is not unusual to check the vegetable patch and find some gnaw marks in our food, especially squash. What animals eat squash? The answer is as varied as our wildlife.

Switching up your decor for the seasons is always fun. But this isn’t always practical because not only can it be expensive, but it can also soon become a storage problem. One of the quickest and budget-friendliest way to introduce seasonal decor is with garlands. You can have one, two or even ten for each season and each holiday without much spend or space needed.

Nicholas Sampogna

Herein in lies part of its charm. Tiny coastal villages, lazy rivers, reed beds and their narrow, watery channels, sandy beaches and the wide horizons for which the region is renowned make this a place of glorious escape. The region is studded with gardens to visit, too, be they aristocratic estates or smaller country houses.

Glidden

Tile countertops: love them or leave them in the past? While some designers like New York City-based Emma Beryl think they bring «the '70s and '80s back into the kitchen,» others believe they should stay in the time capsule.

It’s time to shake the mud of 2016 off our boots, and to prepare the soil for 2017 (metaphorically speaking). I have the bones of a planting plan for next year, which will be subject to revisions, and we know which areas of the garden still need work.

The latest edition of Joy Larkcom’s classic, The Salad Garden, has been sitting on my ‘to review’ pile for some weeks now. It’s not that I didn’t want to read it – I did read it. It’s just that it’s extremely dense, in the sense that it contains a lot of useful information about a lot of useful plants. It’s not a book you can read quickly, digest, and move on from. It’s a reference manual that will be part of your collection for years. Forever, probably.

One of the classic meals in Ryan’s family is bean feast. Ryan’s parents serve it occasionally when we visit, and Ryan’s mum kindly brought us over a bean feast when we moved into the house, to tide us over the first couple of days when we didn’t have the energy to cook. (It is the only time anyone has ever brought me food like that!)

One of the stories that I read as a child that has stayed with me is The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. For a long time I had a copy on my bookshelf, but when I had the urge to read it last week I discovered that was no longer the case. Fortunately it’s easy enough to find a free copy, particularly as it’s part of the new range of free Amazon Kindle Classics, which you can read via the free Amazon Kindle app – you don’t need an actual Kindle.

I haven’t been feeling well this week, so in lieu of eating food, I have been reading about it. A while ago, whilst I was pondering what a resilient UK garden would look like, blog reader Audrey asked me if I had read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which is somewhat of a classic in the local good genre. I hadn’t, so I bought a secondhand copy and started reading.

Of all the rooms in our homes, laundry rooms are one of the most notorious for clutter. Whether your surfaces are covered with to-be-washed laundry or your cabinets are filled with unnecessary products, it can be overwhelming to keep this space clean and clear of excess. 

So many recent, trendy aesthetics are loud and impactful—patterns are bolder, colors are brighter, and palettes are warmer. In fact, a lot of the latest viral trends, including grandmillennial, maximalism, and even Barbiecore, are beloved because they make such a statement. 

French toast is a classic breakfast dish and for good reason. It's made by soaking stale bread in a mix of milk, beaten eggs, cinnamon, and sugar and then cooking it in a skillet until it's golden-brown. The results are crispy on the outside and custard-like on the inside. It's even better with a pat of butter and maple syrup on top. It's a nostalgic breakfast that many of us grew up with. The basic recipe has been unchanged for years until our Test Kitchen stumbled across a new TikTok hack.

When you want to freshen your home’s exterior, there are some common routes most people take. If you have wood or Hardie board siding, you can paint it or even replace it if you really want to switch things up. When it comes to bricks, it can be a bit trickier. Although painting may be one option, there are many other creative options you can choose from to breathe new life into your home’s exterior. 

Your backyard is a place where you can go and unwind from daily stressors. There's nothing better than coming home from a long day at the office and spending some time reading or relaxing with a favorite beverage while taking advantage of the last few hours of sunlight.

Introducing Dragonfly Tattoo Meaning and Designs! Delve into the captivating symbolism and intricate allure of dragonfly tattoos, exploring their significance as powerful representations of transformation and adaptability in the realm of body art.

With leathery, lance-shaped leaves, the Beautiful Cordyline Varieties add a dimension to any space and brings a riot of colors. You can easily grow this plant indoors or outdoors in a semi-shade location.

Functional foods are topping the health trend charts these days. And while you may have heard of the term before, perhaps just assuming that they were good for your health, what are they really, and where can you find them? Here's all the information you need in order to add more fortified foods to your diet.

Soon, your morning coffee might feel a little different: Dunkin' Donuts seems to be breaking into the alcohol business, with a whole new line of spiked coffees and teas.

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Read McKendree

Anna Stathaki