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29 Nov 18

The Great Indoors Podcast S1 Episode 5 show notes

Interior designer Sophie Robinson and journalist Kate Watson-Smyth The Great Indoors podcast grey panelled wall Ercol dining table

Thanks so much to all of you for tuning into our brand new Interiors podcast, The Great Indoors. The popularity of the podcast just grows and grows so thanks to all of you who have left us a rating and review- do continue to leave your comments, we read every one!

So one of things you’ve been asking for is some show notes including useful links and some pictures to help you visualise some of the topics discussed. So here you are, a post dedicated to the key points we covered in episode 5 of the The Great Indoors.

kate watson smyth and sophie robinson record their odcast, The Great Indoors, and discuss how to up do your rented pad

A behind the scenes peek of Kate and I recording this podcast episode in our producer Kate’s rented home.

How to update your rented pad to look fab
  • Invest in great accessories. A bold patterned rug or large piece of art will have maximum impact, and you can take them with you when you move.
  • Check out removable peel and stick wallpapers. I don’t have any personal experience of using them but you can buy them at B&Q here or you can find some great designs on Etsy here, although many are shipped from the US.
  • Create your own graphic wall designs with Haru tape.
  • Hang pictures using Command strips, which mean you don’t need to knock nails into the wall.
  • Ask your landlord in advance what they will agree to in terms of decoration and improvements and be clear on who is paying for what.
  • Invest in quality flat pack furniture that can easily move house with you. The Brunel from Heals is especially designed to be easily flat packed.
  • Check out Insta-style for your Living Space by Joanna Thornhill for more styling tips.
  • I revealed the tip to remove wall decals is to warm the glue with a hairdryer first. I know this as unbelievably I used to be a rally driver and had to remove stickers from my rally car after every race!

Haru stuck on design from £11

 

Tower shelving, from £69, Heal’s is easily packed away, moved or reconfigured, so ideal for renters.

 

Insta-Style for Your Living Space by Joanna Thornhill

 

Yes it’s true! In the early noughties I was Britains top female rally driver.

Christmas gift guide
  • Both of us are agreed that it’s all about the wrapping!
  • Build up a group of presents around a theme. Kate recommended coffee beans, a Stelton coffee pot and mug for a coffee lover.
  • My plea is don’t buy plastic tat- be discerning at Christmas and buy less plastic
  • Dress up vouchers with some supporting presents. For example cinema tickets go with a bag of popcorn and a reusable cup for drinks.
  • Consider buying from local or small entrepreneurs and designer makers. There is a great edit of present ideas with sustainability in mind on the Etsy Good Store.
Design Crimes

Vertical Blinds

Up for discussion was whether vertical blinds are indeed a design crime? Kate kept them out of the Room 101 on the basis that they look good in 60’s houses or in modern extensions.

Bella vertical blinds, The Fabric Box

Also try….Decora, Luxaflex, Hilarys, Olivia Blinds, Decoshaker

Colour coded book displays

Again we disagreed on this one. I’m totally down with styling your books in order of the colour of their spines as I think it makes a great display in your room while Kate thinks it sacrilege!

My colour co-ordinated display and Kate’s very organised library

How to plan the guest bedroom
  • My recommendation is to go bold on the scheme, as this is a room you can unleash your wilder side on. Go for that wallpaper or bold colour that you love but chicken out of elsewhere in your home.
  • Hang a peg rail in the bedroom for guests to hang clothes, rather than a bulky wardrobe
  • Often guest bedrooms are mufti-tasking rooms. Seek out multi functional furniture, like sofa beds and style the room so it can shift easily from home office to bedroom.
  • Invest in fresh linen or freshen up your existing linen with scented linen water
  • Pop a dish of hotel sized toiletry samples for your guests to use

Dazzling Blue 100% Linen Bed Linen, duvet cover from £95; pillowcase from £18, Secret Linen Store

Thanks once again to Dfs for sponsoring our podcast. Episode 6 will air on the 13th and you can catch up on previous podcasts by following the link to your podcast platform here. And please do rate and review the podcast while you are there!

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Catch Sophie In All Her Colourful Glory On Instagram

Today I’m popping up at @happyplaceofficial free Today I’m popping up at @happyplaceofficial free online well-being festival hosted and masterminded by the awesome @fearnecotton . I’m thrilled to be part of this festival again this year and passionately believe that your wellbeing and happiness starts at home. . I’ll be in the ‘wellbeing garden’ today at happyplacefestival.com 3pm today with a guided meditation to help you create your own dream home. All the talks and works shops are free for you to enjoy! But meanwhile I thought I’d share this poem by a four year old poet, highlighted to me by @katetaylorldn and I feel sums up what our home’s mean to us. Titled ‘Coming Home’ Take off your jackets Hang them up Take our gloves off Take our shoes off Put them Where they are supposed to go. You take off your brave feeling Because there’s nothing To be scared of in the house: No dark caves no monsters no witches no bees no howling sounds You don’t need your brave Anymore wash your hands Eat lunch Go get cosy
On The Great Indoors podcast today (new episode! L On The Great Indoors podcast today (new episode! Last in the series!) @mad_about_the_house both head out to The Great Outdoors and talk about what we love about our back gardens. You can see Kate’s suitably stylish outside living room (swipe left) and my more rural affair! I actually just grab rugs and cushions from the house and lay them out under the willow tree, with the children’s swing as a handy side table! Rey impromptu but it works! What an incredible week to get outside whatever you’re garden situation. 🥵 And in this episode we also have a catch up about diversity in design as conversations turn into positive action. We interview the incredible design brain @matt_gibberd , the mastermind behind the cult estate agency @themodernhouse . And finally we chat all things trending #cottagecore #grandmacore and #nancore. And I almost get Kate on board by the end of the episode. Almost! Bar the smock dress. Tune in to find out more! Links to listen are in my profile @sophierobinsoninteriors as well as the show notes with pictures and links to support the show! Now...time to get back to that G&T!
Now that Toms Brighton development is drawing to a Now that Toms Brighton development is drawing to a close I will be able to pass the baton and start to get back to work. While I’ve loved being with Arthur during lock down the home schooling has been hard for both of us. He ‘breaks up’ for the holidays in two weeks but has a summer of being with his dad to look forward to while I look forward to getting back to my desk. So looking forward to sharing more interior inspiration with you here. Lovely illustration by @sjaxelby . Check out her feed for more beautiful colourful interior inspiration!
This week I’ve enjoyed stepping back from the gr This week I’ve enjoyed stepping back from the grid and handing over these squares to black-owned interiors accounts that I love, and to support #diversityindesign. Please do read my previous posts for context. Instagram has been a great platform for @somethingbluehome to share her obvious talent for design, where she has had the door to a career closed too many times due to racist attitutes. You can hear Angie’s full story on this weeks The Great Indoors podcast. But meanwhile can we all give some love to that yellow stair case! Hello, I’m Angie. I set up my interiors account to explore my love for bold, colourful and eclectic interiors. I’ve always known that there is an under-representation of Black and minority ethnic groups in the world of interiors, however, I naively thought that with the right attitude, commitment and passion — being a young black woman would not be a barrier to success in the industry. Sadly, my experience of racial discrimination left that dream unfulfilled. One particular experience etched in my memory was when I was asked to leave a shoot because the homeowners didn’t feel comfortable with having ‘me’ around. Presently, when the world seems more aware and awake to the perils of systemic racism, injustice and inequality, I have found myself sad, at times angry and hurt as to why it has taken this long. However, I feel encouraged by the actions of the many to fight for change. My hope is that — people will see the talents of BAME creatives first and not their skin colour when deciding whether to hire them or not. I hope that we can collectively work together to increase diversity in ALL industries.
Today on The Great Indoors podcast @mad_about_the_ Today on The Great Indoors podcast @mad_about_the_house and I bring you a special extended episode. Everyone has felt effected by the recent #blacklivesmatter movement and it’s sparked many much-needed conversations both online and around our kitchen tables. We decided to look at diversity within our interior design community by passing the mic to Black, Asian and minority ethnic interior designers, TV presenters, authors, commissioners, casting directors, bloggers and Instagrammers and asking them to share their experiences on what it is like in the world of interiors. It makes for sobering listening and there are conclusions we can draw in order to make much needed change. But the first thing we need to do is listen. We also have the absolute pleasure to talk to colour expert and trend forecaster @m_shillingford about how the power of colour can lift us up during these uncertain times and Kate and I tackle Kitchen revamp ideas to keep you all busy refreshing your homes during lock down. I’d like to thank our amazing sponsor @geberituk for their continued support and our super talented and oh so commited producer @katetaylorldn for whom without, this would all be just be waffle. Tune in on your podcast app and please let us have your thoughts on the show and keep these conversations for change going. All links to listen plus blog notes in my profile.
This week I’m stepping back from the grid and ha This week I’m stepping back from the grid and handing over these squares to black-owned interiors accounts that I love, and to support #diversityindesign. Please do read my previous posts for context. Eva from UK design house @evasonaike brings forth her heritage and love of colour to everything she designs. I’ve been a long time fan of her striking patterns…and you can tell why! I am Nigerian but was born and raised in Southern Germany. I came to London in the late 1990s to study journalism at London College of Fashion. After working in fashion and lifestyle journalism for many years, I saw a gap in the market for a premium brand that reflected the vibrance, elegance and commercial viability of African design within interior design. I followed my instinct and passion and founded Eva Sonaike, an interior brand that specialises in luxury African-inspired home-decor and textiles with bold colours. We have been running for over 10 years and I’ve been blessed with making my dream a reality. We are represented world-wide, work with amazing stockist here in the UK and abroad and have collaborated with leading interior design firms on commercial and residential projects around the globe. But at the same time, this 10-year journey has been extremely lonely at times. A loneliness that is quite difficult to describe. At trade shows and industry events, I am often one of the few Black female-owned design businesses present. This can make you feel uncomfortable and exposed and have a negative impact on your overall performance. There needs to be more inclusion and openness both in the UK and the international design industry. We all have to address the uncomfortable topic of prejudice in representation and recruitment, now more than ever. I really hope that this moment represents a change.
This week I’m stepping back from the grid and ha This week I’m stepping back from the grid and handing over these squares to black-owned interiors accounts that I love, to support #diversityindesign. Please do read my previous posts for context. Sharing your home on here is an intimate thing to do and it’s a chance to share our personal stories. First up a woman after my very own heart, pattern lover extraordinaire, Laura from @nofeaturewalls . I grew up in North London and as a teenager my dad took me to the William Morris gallery in Walthamstow. I was hooked on pattern and interiors from that point on. My grandmother was a part of the Windrush generation and like most immigrants of the time she decorated her home with her unique Caribbean style, which was heavy pattern, wild wallpaper, and ‘good’ furniture that was covered in plastic! No one had much money but making the house look good was a priority. People just did their own thing and were inspired by what Winnie down the road had done. Whilst I am renovating my own house in Oxfordshire, I try to incorporate these styles into my own decorating. I love to use traditional heritage brands in a new way and I am partial to a bit of wallpaper. Over the last few months I have encountered a real mix of people on this platform but at the ‘big account’ level there are very few BAME people. I would love to see more accounts leading the way and hopefully this translates into a more diversified offline interiors world too.
It’s been a week since I made a statement here a It’s been a week since I made a statement here about the shocking murder of George Floyd in America. I was initially baffled why people wanted to hear from me - a white interior designer in the UK. I was slow to connect the dots but I want to put that right now. I realise people weren’t asking for an opinion piece but for solidarity. They were asking me to see beyond my ‘I only post about interiors’ bubble and recognise that everyone needs to be part of the movement for change. Like many of you these events have consumed me and it’s been emotional, overwhelming and hopeful in equal measure. I recognise the anger from Black people on why this still hasn’t been tackled effectively, and I accept my own failings. People have been fighting for change FOR YEARS and this explains the roar. I assumed diversity was being dealt with by the big folk: broadcasting houses, magazine publishers, brands, advertising agencies. But after speaking to many people within the UK design community this past week I have been shocked and realise each and everyone one of us can and need to make a difference, no matter how insignificant it might feel. Collectively it will create a big impact.  One area I can address is my own back yard, the interior design community. Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people want and need to be seen and acknowledged for their contribution. Young people need to see faces they relate to, to encourage them to follow a profession in interiors. Our industry can be elitist and impenetrable but social media has created a more inclusive space for all and these squares are a great place to start. This week I will be carrying on @mad_about_the_house initiative who handed over her grid to black people within our design community. And for those of you who messaged me to say you struggle to find accounts from people of colour I defy you. There are loads; so many that picking a selection for my grid this week was super hard! #diversityindesign
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