Happy New Year! Well here we are in 2026! Do you make a New Year’s resolution? Most people I ask don't bother, knowing full well they won't be able to keep it for anything longer than a few days, if that. I'm with them. For me, the beginning of a new year always feels a little daunting. The sparkle of Christmas is over, the decorations will soon be back in the loft, and suddenly an entire twelve months stretches out ahead, full of unknowns. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about colour I do have one resolution to offer you, and trust me it’s easier than trying to eat less chocolate. Let’s be more colourful . Now, that can mean all sorts of things. It might just mean being a little more observant of the wonderful array of colours around us in nature: bare brown branches silhouetted against white skies, the first green shoots of spring coming up, or even the moody blues of a rainy day. Or perhaps this is the year you experiment with wearing something brighter like a scarf or a pair of socks – see how it affects your mood! And of course, my favourite question: how could you use more colour in your home this year?  Recently, I rearranged our bookshelves into full rainbow order. It’s a small, playful thing, and certainly not for everyone, but it made the whole space feel more uplifting. And people have really noticed it! Colour change can be small, but meaningful, and it certainly doesn’t have to mean buying new things. It’s really just about being intentional with how you use colour in your home. If you’re planning a decorating project for 2026, don’t feel limited to white or grey. There are thousands of colour options out there! And it doesn’t have to be bold or bright; it can be soft, calm, and soothing. If the idea of choosing colours feels overwhelming or you’re unsure where to begin, why not get in touch for a consultation. Could 2026 be your most colourful year to date?!

There’s something special about digging out the Christmas decorations each year. The sparkle, the nostalgia, the things you’d forgotten you had. But do you ever find yourself decorating on autopilot? Putting everything up exactly as you did the year before... and the year before that? Last year was our first Christmas in our current home, so I was forced to rethink where things might go, but even then, I found I was trying to do things the way I always had, just in a new setting. Now that’s fine if you love consistency, but the problem is it can feel a bit stale, and you might be tempted to hit the shops and buy new things to refresh the look. This year, I want to challenge that urge. Instead of decorating exactly as we did last December, what if we mixed things up, but using only what we already have, and curating it in a fresh way. Here’s the approach I’ll be taking, and maybe you could try it too. 1. Lay everything out Before you hang a single bauble, get everything out and lay it on the floor or table. Have a good look through it all. Clear out anything broken or well past its best. Decide what goes on the tree and what could be used elsewhere. Look for a common colour thread. Do you have lots of reds? Or purples? Or gold? Or, like me, a joyful mixture of everything?! Begin to think about what could be grouped together, ready for the mantelpiece, fire place, table or shelves. 2. Make space Don’t be afraid to move your everyday accessories out temporarily to make room for Christmas. If you have vases, frames or decorative objects on the mantelpiece, shelves or coffee table, give them a little “holiday” in a cupboard. They get eleven months in the spotlight, so let them move aside for December. By doing this, the Christmas decorations won’t feel like they’re cluttering the space, or competing with what’s there already. 3. Mix it up. Just because you decorated a certain way last year doesn’t mean you need to repeat it. Try grouping items differently, swapping pieces between rooms, or styling small vignettes in places you’ve never decorated before. Leftover baubles look beautiful gathered in a bowl, ribbons can dress up jars or candle holders; and trays make perfect bases for little festive scenes. Play around, experiment and enjoy being creative with the things you already love. The sparkly new decorations that we see in shops and magazines may be tempting, but most of us don’t actually need more stuff. Instead, try looking at what you already own with fresh eyes. By reimagining and curating your existing pieces, you’ll create a Christmas look that feels personal, intentional and completely renewed. And the best part? It costs nothing at all.

Love it or loathe it, AI is here to stay. Over the past year, I’ve gone from being extremely sceptical, to someone who now uses it regularly. So what’s changed? Focusing on the positives, I have found AI most helpful as an editor and analytical tool. As someone who is gradually learning to use social media, I have found it helpful for suggesting how to communicate with followers and potential clients across different platforms. Whether suggesting captions, hashtags, post ideas or editing my writing to be more appropriate for different audiences, it scores very highly. I have also found it to be incredibly intuitive in knowing my ‘voice’ – something which is important to me as I have always wanted to sound friendly and approachable in my work! There is also no end to the possibility AI can offer when it comes to content creation ideas, marketing strategies, and client attraction and engagement. And as a one woman band, this has the potential to save me time and money! But, and it’s a big BUT, I would never ever use AI for colour and design. Asking AI to create a design, colour scheme or mood board would completely take away from the authenticity of who I am and the services I offer. Not only do I love that work (so why would I ask a bot to do it for me), but crucially AI cannot delve into our emotions and our personal responses to colour. It cannot create designs which have a heart and soul, and which connect with the end client on an emotional level. And that’s what my designs are all about. It’s not just about using colour, but using the right  colours which connect with people and support how they want to feel in a room. Just by way of illustration, I tried this out. I recently asked ChatGPT to look at my website and create a mood board based on my presentation style. I gave it a brief - “design a mood board for a client living room. They want to use dark blue, greens and touches of mustard yellow. They like natural materials and connections with the outdoors. They need suggestions for wall coverings, curtains, rugs, cushions, sofas and an armchair. Storage also needs to be considered for busy family life.” AI generated This is what it came up with. OK, so AI can put together mood boards. But there are so many things wrong with this! The images appear very flat. They aren't laid out well. They have stuck too much to a formula of colours without any interest in patterns or texture. It certainly doesn't reflect my presentation style. Perhaps most importantly, it lacks personality. It doesn’t tell a story. It doesn’t make me feel….anything. And the reason for that is because AI is unable to replicate the way humans connect with each other. It cannot recreate the relationship between designer and end user, and the intuition that comes from that. . Here's my design! So the good news is that whilst AI tools are useful for many processes, it won’t be replacing us designers any time soon. I will keep doing what I do – meeting with people, listening to their stories, and designing rooms which connect to how they want to feel.

How are you enjoying the autumn so far? It is my favourite season as I love the changing trees, the rich oranges and reds, the fun of kicking through a pile of leaves. The chilly days are the perfect excuse to reach for the cosy blankets, scented candles and fairy lights in the evening. But what if you could bottle up that feeling, and experience it all year round? The way our home feels should really matter. A house can be beautifully decorated, but if it feels stark or soulless, something essential is missing. When I design rooms, I start by asking myself, or my clients, how they want the room to feel. Is it somewhere they want to feel cocooned and cosy at the end of the day? Is it somewhere where they will be busy and on the go, so it needs to feel ordered, but uplifting. Or perhaps it should blur the line between indoors and out, bringing the beauty of nature inside. This has to be the starting point for any room design, before you reach for the paint charts or wallpaper samples. Only when you understand what you are trying to achieve, can you begin to piece together the different elements that will get you there. Take for example our recently completed bedroom. For almost a year we lived with it as a lifeless, beige box. It had beige walls, a beige carpet, beige blinds, and an outdated gas fire to top it off. We wanted our bedroom to have the feeling of somewhere calm to rest our heads, but also a room that would completely envelop us in colour and pattern in the most comforting way. Not in a way that was harsh or over the top, but rather in a way that was beautiful, respectful of the property, and would support our personalities. The result is a room which is primarily a dusky pink colour – a grounding colour that speaks to my autumn personality but still feels light and fresh enough for my “spring” husband. The rest of the colour scheme is rooted firmly in our feature wall paper, with a mix of greens, navy and lilac, and a bonus dollop of sunshine yellow. We used a glorious mix of stripes, florals, woven linen, velvet, antique gold, natural rope, gingham and even a few playful wiggles to give us the look, but more importantly, the feel that we desired. So if you are thinking of redecorating any time soon, ask yourself how you want the room to feel when it's finished. It really will make a difference.

While I was taking a break over the summer, I had in the back of my mind what I might write for this blog post. I decided I’d aim to capture three photos of something wonderfully colourful and share them with you—simply for the joy of it! So here is my summer, in just 3 photos! Firstly, what’s not to love about this rainbow garden. This is in the pleasure gardens at Pecorama in Devon. You can stand on a balcony above and look out to sea, or gaze down at this rainbow made up of flowers, hedges and glass beads. We have been several times and every time we are excited to see it again! It’s clever, beautiful and happy. We loved it. Next up, we saw so many colourful houses this summer! This was one we were staying in, but every house along the row was painted a different colour. There’s something intrinsically joyful about walking down a street lined with houses in different colours! My eldest son used to love watching Balamory when he was little and it definitely reminded me of this! Finally, this piece of graffiti really caught my eye. I spotted it along a footpath in Bridport, Dorset, and it sums up everything I aim for with my interiors business, my home, and my social media: more colour. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know how passionate I am about using colour and encouraging others to do the same. Surrounding ourselves with the right colours has so many benefits. Over the summer, I had an update from a client who’s in the middle of lots of redecorating. She told me her living room used to feel uncomfortable because the colours just weren’t right for her. Now, it’s cosy, feels ‘just right,’ and has become a space the whole family can relax in and enjoy. Hearing that truly made my heart sing! Here’s to more colour.

Ah, summer! What do you enjoy most about this season — long, light evenings, picnics, ice creams, day trips or holidays, or seeing roses, lavender, and hydrangeas in bloom? Over the past year, I’ve shared post about the different seasons and how they relate to our personalities, and the colours, patterns and textures we are drawn to. The final instalment is all about the summer. First, let’s clear something up: the summer seasonal palette isn’t about the vibrant, bright colours that you might see on beach towels or picnic ware, lovely as they are. Rather, the summer palette conjures up images of long, lazy days, hazy sunshine, faded, blousy florals, washed out hues and an overall feeling of being cool, calm and collected. The colours in the summer palette are soft and muted. They are cool colours - blues, greens and purples - but in the mid-tone range, softened with grey. So where as adding white would make theses colours fresh and bright (like in the spring palette), and adding black makes them deeper and richer (hello autumn palette!) adding grey gives them a gentle, low energy quality that’s easy to look at. As for patterns and textures for the summer palette, think watercolour patterns, faded florals, linen and silk. Nothing too busy or showy. Interiors tend to be understated, well organised and balanced. There is an elegance and stillness to them. If this sounds like your kind of colour palette, your personality probably falls into the ‘summer’ category too. Are you gentle, reserved, graceful, efficient, calm and understated? It’s easy to see how those traits align with the colours and textures of summer. So, if this describes someone you know – or if it’s you – then surrounding yourselves with these colours, patterns and textures can positively impact how you feel in your space. If not, one of the other seasonal palettes will resonate more with you. You can find details on spring, autumn and winter by looking through my earlier posts. Enjoy your summer!

The topic for this blog post has been inspired my daughter, Libby. This term, the whole school are doing an art project, with each class looking at a different artist. In her class, they have been studying Andy Warhol, and Alfie has been looking at the work of Kandinsky! As part of their work they had to explore the colour wheel and how it can be used. And this got me thinking! We can probably all remember learning about primary and secondary colours at school, and possibly the warm and cool colours? What about your complementary and your related? Or your tint, tone and shade?! And why is any of this of any use when it comes to colour for our homes? Well in a nutshell it matters because this is how we can build colour schemes and make sure our choices work together. This is called colour harmony. Here are a few ways you could use a colour wheel to start to build a colour scheme. Pick your starting colour. The main colour that will feature in a room. Let’s say it’s a blue. Using colours that sit either side of this on the colour wheel (or ‘relate’), will make for a tonal colour scheme giving you a calming space. So either side of the blues we have the greens and the purples. If tonal calm isn’t really the vibe you want though, you can look at what sits opposite your main colour. So, again using blue, we find orange sits opposite (or ‘complements’) and so pairing colours which sit opposite each other gives you more contrast! Perhaps you want even more drama in your colour palette though, in which case you might look at a split complementary scheme. This is where you take your main colour, and then the two colours which sit next to the opposite one. So with blue, you would be looking at red and yellow. Hello primary colours! Now of course not many of us are going to decorate our rooms in the primary colours as you are all now picturing them. And this is where tint, tone and shade comes in. Tint = adding white Tone = adding grey Shade = adding black Now you will find thousands of variations of colours!! So the blue we used as our example might actually be a deep navy blue, which you use with a sage green, and a touch of lavender for accent. All related on the colour wheel, and they come together to give a calming, harmonious colour palette. What about the complementary blue and orange? Well, actually we have used this in really quite a bold way in our eldest son’s room! But it doesn’t have to be like this – think of a mid-tone blue (blue with grey added) paired with a burnt orange and you have a very warm, sophisticated colour scheme. And finally the split complementary, blue with yellow and red. Well, if we add white to all these colours, you end up with a lovely light sky blue, a primrose yellow, and a pastel pink – a perfect spring colour scheme! So thank you Libby for the inspiration! I use my colour wheel all the time when I’m designing, so if you want to know more about how to put colours together, do get in touch.

If you follow me on social media you would have seen that we recently changed the rug in the lounge to something much more fun, colourful and bright. Using colour in your home doesn’t always have to mean redecorating. A simple switch up of the small things can make a big impact and bring more colour joy to your home. So here are my top tips on ways you can do just that. Bedding For lots of us, our bed takes up the most amount of space in the bedroom and sits right in the middle of the space. So, why not dress it in something lovely, and show it off! There are loads of options for bedding out there – whether you’re into florals, stripes, gingham, plain, abstract, there will be something out there for you. Just make sure it ties in with the colours in the room – so look at your wall colours, curtains, rugs or accessories as a starting point for your bedding colour. Cushions Another easy win! Cushions are very reasonably priced from places like Dunelm and George. Having a few cushions on your sofa can really elevate the look. If you have painted walls and a plain sofa, use cushions as a way to introduce an accent colour and a bit of pattern. You could go all out with different patterns, textures and prints, all keep it relatively simple with plain and stripes, say. Just stick to a tight colour scheme and it will work! Rugs There are soooo many different rugs on the market and these are another great way to add colour and impact to a room. If you are going for a plain colour, why not pick a thick pile with lots of texture for added interest. There are modern geometrics, vintage oriental, stripes and scallops and everything in between to choose from. Lamp shades Lighting in a room is a necessity but the functionality doesn’t mean we neglect the opportunity to add something attractive to look at! My personal favourites: big drum shades for ceiling pendants – again plenty of interesting ones on the market, and patterned tapered shades for table lamps. Got any scraps of fabric or wallpaper leftover from a project? Why not upcycle a boring lampshade by covering it with leftover materials. Then you get something completely unique!   Artwork and Photos When you go to someone else’s house do you have a good snoop at their photos and artwork? I know I do! It shows people’s personality – often their family and friends, their travels, their interests. Every picture tells a story. And of course every photograph, print or piece of artwork adds colour! Whether it’s children’s artwork pinned up, a gallery of family photos, a graphic design print, or a masterpiece, all can bring colour and joy to your walls. Tableware/kitchen Finally, lets not neglect thinking about colour in the kitchen. There are ample opportunities to bring colour in in small ways. Think tea towels, table cloths, plates and glasses. I have seen lots of lovely table spreads recently where the crockery is patterned and mis-matched and it works wonderfully! You can even get coloured appliances to sit on your worktop to add an accent and further interest. Pink kettle anyone?

We are well and truly into the spring now and most people I speak to like this time of year. There is a renewed sense of optimism and hope after the long winter months. Colours are popping up everywhere in gardens and the countryside, trees are bursting into life having been bare branches for many months. It’s positively joyful! If you were to bottle up all that optimism and joy that we see in nature and put it into your home, what kind of colours would there be? Well, a spring colour palette typically features colours which are light, fresh and clean. When I say light I don’t just mean pastel and light shades – more light as in the opposite of heavy. Where Autumn colours have an earthiness and heaviness to them, spring colours are lightweight and bouncy! There is nothing heavy or muddy about spring colours. They are there to lift the spirits and feel fresh and lively. Think primrose yellow – bright but delicate. Zingy greens with all those leaves busily growing on the trees. Pastel shades, and clear blue – just like the sky on a beautiful spring day. We can also carry this line of thinking into personality. I’ve talked before about our seasonal personalities and how colour relates to this. My husband is a classic spring personality! He is full of energy and bounce, friendly and enthusiastic. He loves nature, and the longer, lighter days. Other characteristics of the spring personality might be welcoming, youthful, lively, and upbeat. Can you see how this resonates with what is going on in nature at this time? When we understand our seasonal personality, we can then use this knowledge to choose the colours that we wear, and the colours that we use in our homes. So people with a spring personality will be drawn to these lighter, clearer colours, with nothing heavy. They will like rooms filled with natural light, that connect with the outdoors. When thinking about patterns, they would appreciate small scale prints, ditsy flowers, fine stripes and polka dots - these are quite playful and fun! Whatever our personalities are like, lets enjoy all the colours and fun that spring has to offer!

How does it all begin? This month I want to share with you a little more about my design process and how I go about putting a colour scheme and mood board together. There needs to be something in the room which acts as a spring board for the rest of the design. This might be something the client already has – a colourful rug they love or a piece of artwork which they would like to display. If the room really is a blank canvas, then my job is to come up with that ‘hero piece’ or the inspiration. I use wallpapers, patterned textiles, artwork, or sometimes even the view from the window to draw inspiration and act as the hero of the room – the piece from which the colour scheme will evolve. During the first colour consultation with my clients, I discuss these options, all the time listening and getting an insight in to how they want the room to function and feel. Once I have a starting point in mind, I can build a colour palette around that. The main wall colour is the next thing to pick out – a colour that will tie in with the inspiration piece, but will also fit with the purpose of the room, the aspect and lighting, the mood and feel. From wall colours I move to accent colours, starting big with things like rugs, curtains or blinds, and furniture. Each of these items need to stick closely with the colour scheme, so that the whole room will look cohesive. That’s not to say you can’t mix patterns – I’m all for that! But they do need to have similar colours in them to tie together. More on that another time. Once I have picked out the big pieces for the room, I can move on to different types of lighting, other soft furnishings and accessories. And so it builds up, layer by layer. Clients I work with are often looking to change the décor, but not necessarily everything  in the room. Often things like flooring and big pieces of furniture need to stay, or they have a particular item they want to incorporate. It is really important for me to consider the colours, patterns and textures of these often much loved pieces. I love this challenge of making existing items work within new colour schemes, so that every detail about the room works together. I see putting together mood boards for clients as something of an art form. I don’t pretend to know much about painting, but my guess is artists start with a background, layer up the colour, and add the details to bring together something beautiful. This is how I see designing rooms - first comes the inspiration, then the wall colours, accents colours, then the finer details. And then, hopefully, a masterpiece. My ethos is all about giving people confidence to use colour in their homes and so it is such a joy to be able to put together these mood boards for clients, so that they can go away with confidence to redecorate and shop colourfully!

What do you think of when you think of winter? Cold, wet, grey, bleak. Snow – perhaps for some. Or, more positively, low sun, crisp frosts, wearing the winter woollies and drinking hot chocolate. As I write this, the rain is lashing down, there’s a strong wind and my feet are cold. But, I have enjoyed some of the better winter days we’ve had over the last month. Having to squint because the sun is so strong and low in my eyes, walking in the countryside where my boots crunch over the frozen ground, and hearing the squeals of joy as my children were pulled on a sledge up and down our road. Back in October, I introduced the idea of seasonal personalities – kicking off with the autumn personality, and how this can then feed in to the way we decorate and style our homes. With all the seasonal personalities, they claim many of their characteristics from nature, and hopefully you will be able to see how nature, personality and home décor all connect. People who have a winter personality might be described as being confident, ambitious, driven, unsentimental, and sophisticated. They like luxury items and aren’t afraid to show them off. They’re drawn to modern architecture and statement pieces. How does this link to home décor? Well, think firstly of a typical winter landscape. Rolling hills blanketed in crisp white snow. Trees and hedges, shed of all their leaves, silhouetted against that backdrop. Pops of green and red with evergreens and berries. It is a time of minimal colour, and strong contrasts. That image lends itself to the striking, minimalist style that winter personalities would want to create. Their style might be minimalistic, but they want to create drama by using striking contrasts in colour, textures and patterns. Think black and white, perhaps with some pops of very vivid, saturated colour. Stainless steel and polished chrome, glass and concrete. Sharp patterns and geometric shapes. Granite and marble. No clutter, and instead a few, high end, statement pieces. Does this resonate with you? If it does, then it probably means you have some of the winter personality in you! If not, roll on the spring!

White. What comes to mind when you think of white? Fresh, crisp, hotel bedding? Brand new socks at the start of the school year? Snow covered fields? A beautiful wedding dress? A pavlova with perfect peaks? That delicious dessert lends its name to a white paint colour for one brand! Other names of white paint include snowflake, moon shimmer, cliff walk, salt, blank canvas, frosted dawn. The imagery is strong! But you can’t pick a paint colour just because you like the name or the imagery behind it. When it comes to choosing white paint, you really are spoilt for choice. But that choice may seem overwhelming, and according to Farrow & Ball, “White is never just white.” So how can we make informed choices when we want to use white paint in our homes. Well there are two important things to consider. The first is the lighting within the room, and the second is the undertone in the paint. These two factors need to be weighed up together. Let me give you some examples. If your room is south facing, it will have a lot of warm, natural light coming through the window. If you want to achieve a pure white on your walls, you should choose a white paint which has cool, blue undertones, because the cool paint, paired with the warm light, gives you a happy equilibrium. If you were to take that same paint and use it in a north facing room, it will feel cold and err towards blue, because the blue undertone plus cool, northern light will only ever give you a cold feel. That doesn’t mean you can’t use white in a north facing room, just choose a white paint with warm, yellow undertones – that way it will balance out the northern light, and give you a fresh, clean look, without feeling too cold. If your room faces east or west, the lighting changes throughout the day, so think about when in the day you are most using that room and apply the same principles. “How do I look for the undertone?!” Good question! It really isn’t as complicated as you might think. The best thing to do is compare your paint sample to a simple piece of white A4 paper. If it looks blue compared to the paper, you know if has blue undertones. If the paint looks like it’s heading towards pink, it has red undertones. And if it is looking creamy, then the undertone is yellow. Allow me for one moment to get scientific. There’s actually no such thing as just white. White is all colours. White is simply the lightest shade of a colour. So the very very lightest pink will appear ‘white’, but so will the lightest grey, the lightest yellow and the lightest blue. You get the point. But this is actually really helpful to bear in mind when you’re choosing your ‘white’ paint!