The Blog
New products and services, interesting shops, ideas for your garden, our pick from design fairs, and other things we like...
Guinevere’s Guide To Buying Antiques
Marc Weaver shares his expertise on how to select antiques for your home and tells us about Guinevere’s new photography exhibition. Q1 Guinevere is one of the most celebrated antiques shops in London; can you tell us about how the...
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The House Directory’s Kitchen Design Tips
Planning a new kitchen is both exciting and daunting at the same time. Kitchens are the heart of the home and major investments, so you want to give every detail the consideration it deserves. Kitchen designers have the expertise to...
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Design for Diversity : The Beginning
Kate Watson-Smyth, of Mad About The House, and Interior Designer Rukmini Patel discuss how the Design for Diversity initiative was born and how to be a part of the change. Image: Co-founders Rukmini Patel and Kate Watson-Smyth Q1: What does...
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GARDEN ORNAMENTS: CLEVER WAYS TO ENHANCE YOUR OUTDOOR SPACE.
Whether you have a small courtyard, a patio or a sprawling country garden here’s TheHouseDirectory.com‘s guide to how garden ornaments create impact in your outdoor space. Planters magically soften hard landscaping. Garden structures – obelisks, rose arches and trellis –...
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OUTDOOR FURNITURE FOR 2020 AND BEYOND.
Someone once said that having a garden is like having an extra room in your home. We are enjoying a glorious Spring and now more than ever we can appreciate this extra space to dine, relax and cherish nature and...
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HOW INTERIOR DESIGNERS AND BRANDS ARE ADAPTING TO LIFE UNDER LOCKDOWN
The Designers’ Advisor Polly Williams asked some of the interior designers and brands in her thriving Camberyard Collective how they’re coping during the pandemic. Focusing on three key questions – how it’s affected their work; what, if any, silver linings...
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HOW WE BUILT THE FRENCH HOUSE
Hand-crafted lighting, earthenware pots, carbon steel pans, raw brass and copper taps and sinks, marble basins: suppliers are artisans or small family-run firms producing timeless designs for The French House. In this post, the founders Mark and Elke share with...
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What I Learned From Reading Mad About The House: 101 Interior Design Answers
Kate Watson-Smyth has been writing about interiors for 20 years and she has helped clients to style their homes. In her new book, Mad About The House: 101 Interior Design Answers, she shares her expertise and offers a wealth of...
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Reclaimed Leather in Interiors
Adam Hills and Maria Speake, the creative team behind interior design and architectural salvage practise Retrouvius, have a reputation for transforming ‘one man’s trash into another man’s treasure’, reusing cast-off materials in unexpected ways. Their Harrow Road warehouse is a...
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10 Tips For Designing A Home Office
Home offices are essential in the age of kitchen table entrepreneurship, freelancing and working from home. Design of a home office shouldn’t be an afterthought; environment has a significant effect on your mood, sense of wellbeing, and productivity. Here are...
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Family businesses: on working together
In this blog we’d like to introduce you to a few of our outstanding members whose traditional family values are well worth celebrating. We asked the families behind each of these inspirational inter-generational businesses to share what they have learned...
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Amy Somerville at Milan Design Week 2019
Amy Somerville are proud to have taken part in the Palazzio Della Meravigle joint exhibition at the historic Museo Bagatti Vasecchi as part of Milan Design Week 2019. The pieces launched at the exhibition were created especially for the ‘Sala...
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Top tips for building a brand & developing your business
Polly Williams, the multi-award-winning Designers’ Advisor, founded Camberyard, an interior design business development consultancy, in 2015. Inspired by the belief that collaboration is better than competition, she also formed the Camberyard Collective, a select group of like-minded designers, brands and...
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Antique, Vintage or Collectible: What Is The Difference?
Florence Martin, of architectural antiques specialists Westland London, guides us through the differences between antique, vintage or collectible items. Q: What is an antique? A: Many specialists consider ‘antiques’ items which are 100 years of age or older. Reputable antique...
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Ceramic art: Craven Dunnill Jackfield collaborates with Frances Priest
Frances Priest’s ceramic art installation at Edinburgh Hospital is engaging patients, staff and visitors with its visual warmth and texture. Completed in December 2018, the work is known locally as The Tiled Corridor. Priest tapped into local, Victorian architecture for...
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