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The Great Indoors podcast S2 Episode 5

Hello and welcome to the 5^th episode of The Great Indoors Podcast, supported by DFS. You can listen to the full podcast here.

The Mad gold ceiling

In this episode, we kicked off by talking about Kate’s amazing home office with the gold ceiling! It was a very unwelcome opportunity for me to eat humble pie and admit that her gold paint from Mylands was a triumph. No shiny poo or Indian takeaways circa 1970 to be seen in this little luxe bolt hole. Indeed the whole effect is opulent and yet restful all at once. How did she do that? Drat, Clever lady. For your reference, the walls are painted a soft pink which is Thread Needle by Mylands which I think add to the gentle serene feel in this room.

The home office of Kate Watson Smyth complete with gold ceiling and desk found on Ebay.

Architects versus Interior Design

Things swiftly moved on to debating the subject of architects and how they work with interior designers. Kate and I discussed how many people budget for the architecture of their build, the bricks and mortar if you like but don’t put budget aside for the interior. All too often you end up with an impressive build and then an Ikea sofa and a plant pot inside.

I talked about our experience with an architect on my Mums annexe project. His designs were amazing, but out of our budget, so my advice is to work closely with your builder to get the design within your wallet. And make sure you set aside money for blinds! As Mum’s was a new build we cleverly planned in a recess above the window so when the blinds are drawn they disappear from view. And the architect didn’t think of that- we did!

This is the shot of my mum’s annexe. We worked hard with the builder husband to bring the architect’s vision into budget, so there was still enough money to do a lovely job inside too.

Lighting

Ooomph this is a huge topic and took up a hearty chunk of the podcast. My biggest piece of advice to you is to plan your furniture layout before working out where you want your downlighters, wall lights and sockets. This is only really applicable if you are building a new build, extension or completing a renovation.  So failing that you want to add lots of points of lights. Lamps are great, include floor lamps so you have light at different heights. You can move pendants by replacing the flex with a long fabric flex (Dowsing and Reynolds are great) and hanging it from a hook, where you want it. I get asked this a lot but I get my downlights from All Square lighting.

In my living room notice how the downlighters are positioned around the edge of the room, central to the windows. Other areas are illuminated by lamps.

The downstairs loo

Up there as my favourite room to design in anyone’s home is the downstairs loo. My rule is to go high impact, have fun and be bold. Quel surprise. This is where you can use that crazy wallpaper, patterned tiles, deep shocking colour or indeed whatever it is that you love but just don’t have the confidence to use elsewhere in your home. here are some snaps of mine and Kate’s downstairs WC’s for inspiration…both works in progress. I’m still to find that perfect jungle chintz wallpaper for my WC!

My downstairs loo is furnished in Blue tiles by Minton Hollins from Topps Tiles. Gold taps by Bespoke taps. Old Havanna Bauta floor tiles by Claybrook studio

Kate’s downstairs loo features wallpaper from Farrow and Ball and an original Barbican basin

Thanks once again to DFS for sponsoring this podcast and to Kate Taylor, our producer for crafting it into the aural delight that it is! Please don’t hesitate to listen to the full episode here, and while you are there please do leave us a rate and review. You can rate the podcast multiple times so please feel free to tap five stars with wild abandon. It helps give us a boost in the ratings which ultimately helps us reach more new listeners. Thank you!