Innehållsförteckning för December 2022 från Ideal Home

EDITOR’S LETTER This will be our third Christmas in our current home, but I don’t feel like the other two really count! The first year we were still unpacking boxes from the move, plus we were in lockdown. Last year we went away for the big day. I’m probably tempting fate by writing it here, but our kitchen renovation should hopefully be finished in time (touch wood, etc etc), and I’m ready to play hostess with the mostest and show off the new space. I’ve got every intention of pulling out all the stops when it comes to decorating the house for Christmas. “Our kitchen renovation should be finished in time, and I’m excited to show it off” I’m a fan of a real Christmas tree, and going as a…

TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, who lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband Steve and their much-loved dog Angus, shares her Christmas plans WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TIME AT CHRISTMAS? I really love the build-up to the big day, and most especially Christmas Eve when all the decorations are up, the table is set and the fridge is full. I light scented candles, open a bottle of cava and just take it all in. There’s that wonderful tingly feeling of looking forward to the big day. WHAT’S YOUR NON-NEGOTIABLE MUST-HAVE AT CHRISTMAS? Our daughter Rosie being home with us. She lives in London and will come over on Christmas Eve with her wee dog Ruby. Also we have to have a huge walk with the dogs before, and most especially after, the…

WHERE TO BUY I also come as a 12-piece dinner set Now and then, the high street comes up with something so utterly fabulous, it looks as if it’s come from a designer boutique. Here are some of our latest discoveries that will make your home look expensive without the big spend...…

HOME NOTES WHO LIVES HERE? Hannah Hampton, an interior designer and founder of Ottosam Design, lives here with her husband Paul, who works in finance, and three girls, Sophia, 10, Amelie, eight, and Ottilie, six. THE PROPERTY A six-bed, late Victorian house, near Wandsworth Common, London, bought in 2018. 1 “Learn the art of layering” ‘We were keen to achieve an industrial feel in the kitchen. We did this by leaving brickwork, structural beams and columns exposed, laying a polished concrete floor and fitting floor-to-ceiling Crittall windows and doors across the width of the property. We then added elegant features such as marble and panelling, along with natural elements such as the solid wood dining table, which contrast beautifully with these harder finishes.’ BUY THE KEY PIECES Island, worktops and…

What the experts say... Designers and stylists share their views ‘Almond is a soft off-white shade with a neutral base, perfect for south-facing rooms where the light will accentuate its warm tones. But it also works well in north- and west-facing rooms, by lifting the cool light and adding warmth.’ JUSTYNA KORCZYNSKA, SENIOR DESIGNER, CROWN ‘How you dress the room is important in making neutral schemes sing. Upholstery in slightly deeper tones than the walls adds subtle contrast, while for cushions, use a bolder version of your neutral. For the backdrop to a greige scheme, try our subtle green shade Tuesday’s Child.’ AARON MARKWELL, COLOUR CURATOR AND PAINT COLOUR EXPERT, COAT PAINTS ‘This buttery shade of light brown brings a warm and comforting tone to a room. It’s pinker than…

MIX OF MOTIFS This scheme is all about pattern. Inspired by folk designs, mix Romany-style floral and figurative patterns on crewelwork and block prints using a warm palette. Thanks to the neutral base, you can go to town on the variety of mixed motifs from ditsy and blowsy florals to graphic shapes and geo designs. Blend spicy cinnamon shades with soft blues and choose a naive floral paper for a feature wall to set the scene for woodland motifs, embroidery, weaves and knits. NEUTRAL BACKDROP Even though colour is intrinsic to this room, virtually every shade is laid onto a neutral base, keeping the scheme light despite the deep reds and blues. The almond white on the panelling would work just as well on a wall above a picture rail,…

A few years ago, I embraced the trend of having vases packed with pampas grass dotted around my home. I even wrote about it in Ideal Home – whether it was a brilliant or bonkers addition to your interiors! Back then, I couldn’t quite believe I’d succumbed to the Seventies throwback appearing on so many interiors Instagram accounts. But even today, pampas grass takes pride of place in my living room. And now it seems it has stepped straight into Christmas. The trend for metallic sprayed ferns or crystal-covered stems stuck into a tree for a touch of glitz has been around for a few years. But these textural (and sometimes a little bit dusty) stems may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Plus, with sustainable décor now reaching every…

PROJECT DETAILS WHO LIVES HERE? Sophie Morgan, a TV presenter, has lived here for five years THE PROJECT A bathroom refit in a purpose-built flat in southeast London TOTAL COST £8,000 THE PROBLEM The clinical- style room was meant to be accessible but didn’t work in practise THE SOLUTION ‘When I moved into my new apartment, the wet room wasn’t very nice to look at. There were standard plastic grab rails and a shower seat but it wasn’t designed very well. The mirror wasn’t low enough for me to look into and the shower seat wasn’t actually underneath the showerhead. As well as working as a TV presenter, I am a disability advocate and this bathroom made me feel disabled every time I went…

HOME NOTES HOMEOWNERS Bobbie and Oli Hughes live here with their two children. They work in marketing and public relations respectively. PROPERTY A five-bedroom Edwardian property in southwest London. ARCHITECT Abhr_a (abhra.co.uk) BUILDERS London Dream Building (londondreambuilding.co.uk) TOTAL COST £250,000 THE PROBLEM The original kitchen was cramped, disconnected from the rest of the house with no direct access to the garden THE SOLUTION ‘We knocked down the old extension and added a larger six-metre deep space,’ says Alex Bilton, architect and co-founder of Abhr_a. ‘As it’s a terraced house, we had to carefully consider how to create the large open-plan space that the owners wanted, without impacting on the neighbours too much. So firstly, we stepped the footprint of the building away from the boundary, creating a…

How to stick to a festive budget So, you’ve tried making your own gifts and cards, and even regifted something to help you save money at Christmas. But this year is set to possibly be one of the toughest as households battle inflation, which is at the highest we’ve seen in 40 years. This means that everything, from food to travel and even Christmas crackers, will cost more. Our money expert, Kalpana Fitzpatrick, shows you how best to keep your festive costs low. BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET It’s easy to get carried away so to help you stick to a spending limit, try the Christmas Gift List app (Google Play) or the Christmas Gift List Tracker app (App store), which lets you keep track of your gift list. Make sure you…

Lemon thyme gin MAKES 70CL ● 4 large lemon thyme sprigs, plus extra to decorate ● 2 strips unwaxed lemon zest ● 5tbsp caster sugar ● 70cl bottle of gin 1 Wash the lemon thyme and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Place the thyme, lemon zest and sugar into a large, clean, lidded glass bottle or jar. Pour in the gin, making sure the thyme and zest are submerged. Seal the jar and leave in a cool, dark place for 1 week to infuse. 2 After the steeping time, strain the gin into sterilised gift bottles, adding fresh herbs for decoration, but giving strict instructions for the recipient to remove them within 1 week, to avoid the herb flavour from overpowering the gin. Spiced tree-shaped biscuits MAKES 20-25…

There’s nothing nicer than receiving a handmade-with-love gift or card at Christmas, and making your own decorations means you can put your personal stamp on your home over the holiday season to make it feel unique and special. I’ve got some of my own Christmas crafting traditions: they’ve become part of my festive preparations and I love that they force me to stop and slow down, when stress levels are inevitably building! I always make my own cards (and yes, they’re always done last minute), and I have a selection of Advent calendars that I’ve made over the years, too. In this mini magazine, we’ve curated a selection of 30 of the very best creative craft ideas for cards, decorations, gifts and festive touches, that are achievable whether you’re an…

HADLEY FREEMAN JOURNALIST & AUTHOR A Guardian columnist and features writer, Hadley has also penned four books. And her new house is keeping her busy! NICKY PHILLIPS STYLE EDITOR Nicky brings over 26 years’ experience to the table, and has been part of the Ideal Home family for 22 years. CHARLIE LUXTON ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER Charlie juggles his roles as director of Charlie Luxton Design, TV presenter and public speaker. KALPANA FITZPATRICK MONEY EXPERT An award-winning financial journalist, Kalpana is a regular guest on TV and radio, and editor of themoneyedit.com. FEARNE COTTON BROADCASTER & AUTHOR TV and radio presenter Fearne’s Happy Place podcast is now in its 17th season, with over 40 million downloads. THE HOME OF GREAT IDEAS FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS…

WHERE TO BUY…

SAPPHIRE & CORAL Create focus with a centrepiece painted in a rich blue shade, like this display cabinet. Window frames, a fireplace or sideboard would work just as well. A shade of pink-based coral used in equal amounts to the blue makes for a perfectly curated scheme. Both highlight shades, picked from the wallpaper, give you a fail-safe palette. For Christmas, you can dress the table with festive foliage, adding pizzazz with candles and sparklers. GOLD ACCENTS Add to the jewellery box feel of the scheme with plenty of gilded touches. Tableware with gilt edging, brass candlesticks at different heights and sizes with a variety of tea lights, church and pillar candles. You could even replace cabinet or drawer knobs with small gold pulls to bring a warming midas touch…

1. DINING TABLE The heart of the room, a generously sized table is a must if you host lots of guests on a regular basis. Opt for a lengthy table if lack of space isn’t an issue, or if it’s limited (or you only entertain occasionally) go for an extendable table with an extra leaf or pull-out top that can be called into action on special occasions, and used as a regular-sized table the rest of the time. IH LOVES… ■ Ikea for affordable basics ■ Habitat for modern, contemporary styles ■ Furniture Village for a range of big-name brands 2. CHAIRS Having plenty of seats is another essential at Christmas time; it’s often a matter of supplementing a standard set of chairs with extras to accommodate guests. Folding chairs…

1 ADD WOW WITH FESTIVE WREATHS Create a gallery wall of Christmas garlands in your hallway to welcome guests. Mix simple hoops, stars and woven wreaths for a varied arrangement, hanging them from ribbon at staggered heights. 2 MAKE THE FIREPLACE THE FOCAL POINT Give a traditional mantel display a modern twist with an empty picture or mirror frame used as the backdrop for a rustic arrangement of greenery. Ensure any backing or glass is safely removed first, then prop your frame on the mantel and weave a garland of evergreens, such as holly or fir, in and around it. Add hanging baubles for extra sparkle. STYLE TIP Set gilt accessories and greenery against a festive backdrop of rich red or warm ginger for a cosy look COLOURS TO…

“What do I need to know about house cladding?” Timber, zinc, slate, glass, stone, concrete, plastic, steel, clay… the possibilities for cladding are endless. For most of our history, the material you saw on the outside of a building was also its structure. Stone and brick walls held up the roof and floors as well as providing the external finish and weathering layer. The main exception was timber-framed houses and barns. Here, the structure was provided by a frame, with timber boarding, lime plaster or clay tiles on the exterior. As technology has evolved with steel, concrete and more advanced timber frames, the role of structure for buildings has become increasingly separated from providing the weathering envelope. This opens up many opportunities: reducing the thickness of the external layer to…

BEFORE YOU BUY ■ Want a tree that’s difficult to distinguish from the real thing? Then check the tree’s ‘tip count’. This is the number of branch tips a faux tree has been designed with, and although the tip count will increase with the size of the tree, if you’re comparing two options of a similar height, then the higher the number of tips, the more bushy and realistic it’s likely to be. ■ When it comes to an artificial tree, you really do get what you pay for. You can pick up a budget version for under £100 that will add festive fun to your interior, but if you want a faux tree that can give the real deal a run for its money, then it’s likely you’ll spend…

BEFORE YOU BUY ■ New televisions are very thin, meaning that sound quality is poor – there’s typically not enough room in the build of a modern TV to accommodate decent loudspeakers. The result is thin sound with limited volume. The solution is to partner your thin screen TV with a separate soundbar, adding volume, width and clarity. ■ Soundbars turn on and off automatically, effectively replacing the speakers in a TV set. Alternatively, you can hand over sonic duties to an AV receiver. This creates a full-blown home-cinema system with speakers front and back. ■ If you have a smart TV, you may not figure you need a streaming device, but smart TV streaming interfaces are generally not the best – a bit of an afterthought by the companies…

“As well as wrap, John Lewis has made its gift bags and crackers 100% recyclable, too” It’s a wrap If you weren’t already aware, most wrapping paper isn’t recyclable. According to Recycle Now, ‘wrapping paper is often dyed, laminated and/or contains non-paper additives such as glitter, plastics and so on, which cannot be recycled.’ This year, John Lewis & Partners’ entire range of FSC-certified wrap has been designed to make it 100% recyclable. So once you’ve removed the sticky tape or, better still, use ribbons to secure (and re-use year after year), it can all go straight into your recycling bin, not landfill. FESTIVE CORK-ERS You will have noticed that we tend to bang on about the wonders of cork quite often. As well as being one of the most…

RETHINK ITS PURPOSE If you often have guests to stay, then of course spare rooms are priceless, but if your visitors are few and far between then perhaps it’s time for a rethink. Since more and more of us work from home, we find ourselves starting to squeeze into our spare rooms alongside a rarely used ‘extra’ bed. Have a think about the space and work out whether it needs to be a spare bedroom to work in, or a home office to (occasionally) sleep in! BE REALISTIC WITH FURNITURE CHOICES You don’t need to furnish a spare bedroom like you would your main bedroom, so think carefully before buying large bedside tables or wardrobes. Putting aside empty cupboard space for guests who are only staying for a weekend and…

1 Mini-bouquet foliage cards These sweet miniature bouquets of festive foliage make wonderfully inventive greetings cards. YOU WILL NEED • A4 white card • Scissors • Sprigs of foliage • Red cotton thread • PVA glue or a hot-glue gun 1 Fold a sheet of A4 card in half. Cut along the fold and fold each piece in half to create two A5 cards. 2 Gather festive foliage, such as rosemary, pine leaves and cotoneaster. Cut the sprigs to similar heights – our longest sprigs are around 10cm – and remove the lower leaves. 3 Arrange your mini bouquet so that the sprigs of foliage fan out gracefully, rather than being bunched up together. 4 Tie the sprigs tightly by wrapping red thread around the stalks from the bottom…

WE KEEP SEEING Odes to the capital For obvious reasons there is a lot of love being shown for London and its iconic landmarks this Christmas. From glass Big Ben baubles, to embroidered Crown cushions, become a tourist in your own country and decorate your tree and home with odes to everything that makes our capital and rich heritage great. Not only do they make wonderful gifts for family near and far, they’ll remind you of a remarkable time in history and become collectables in their own right. Plus, cute corgis wearing crowns will always have a place on our tree! IH LOVES... Alternative wreaths What to do this month... DO Is there anything more magical than a seasonal skate with family and friends? While the iconic SKATE at Somerset…

ORANGE & GREEN HIGHLIGHTS Choosing an autumnal tree-design paper border or a stencil painted in shades of oranges and green will create a standout decorating moment and the hero of the scheme. Keeping this as the single and only pattern in the room gives the feature the wow factor it deserves. Pick out colours from the border for block shades of orange and leaf green on upholstery, with velvet and chenille adding to the tactile ambiance. SATURATED BASE Start with a base of dark grey, navy blue or deep green on both walls and ceiling. Use a flat matt emulsion or a chalk paint which will absorb light and create a soft, warm finish. Paint up to picture-rail height and add your border or stencil above. Choose carpet and curtains…

Create a scented garland Lay a real or faux garland along your mantel, weave in fairy lights and bundles of dried orange slices. Pop battery-operated tea lights into votive holders. Give it a twist... Replace the orange slices with colourful dried hydrangea heads for a more feminine, yet delicate touch. Line up sparkling pieces Silver and mercury-glass candlesticks and tea light holders, along with the glow of candlelight, bring a shimmering magic to your Christmas mantel. Give it a twist... Arrange shatterproof silver baubles among your display, securing them in place with double-sided sticky dots. Display a row of stockings Hang handmade stockings in shades of soft pink, complemented with toning gift wrap and whimsical ornaments along the shelf. Give it a twist... Arrange paper or wooden trees and honeycomb…

PROJECT DETAILS WHO LIVES HERE? Vanessa Forster lives here with her three sons: James, 20, Charlie, 18 and Henry, 15. THE PROJECT Kitchen revamp in her five-bedroom, semi-detached Victorian house in London. TOTAL COST £70,000 THE PROBLEM Dated design and appliances, not enough storage, and limited space for the family THE SOLUTION ‘With three growing teenage boys, I knew our family needed space more than anything else. We undertook the project after my husband passed away, and as nothing had been updated since 2001, it made sense to do a total remodel. Before we started out, the kitchen and dining room were separate, which really cut into both spaces. I was lucky to find Regal Builders to do our structural renovations and one supporting beam allowed…

The one surprising side-effect that the past years of Covidenforced outdoor gathering has had is that we’ve all taken to decorating our gardens, porches and outdoor trees so much more. ‘Getting creative with Christmas lights has become a big thing,’ says Jason Billings-Gray, Christmas buyer at John Lewis & Partners. ‘Often months in the planning, the best of these light-fests become destinations in their own right – somewhere to visit when Santa’s Grotto’s been ticked off the list! ‘Most modern outdoor lighting uses LED bulbs, which are super-efficient and long-lasting,’ continues Jason. ‘Strings and ropes of outdoor lights come supplied with a transformer that plugs into an indoor or outdoor socket so you can safely use them in the house or in the garden. Smaller decorations, such as wreaths and…

MIDNIGHT LUXE GILT EDGED WINTER WONDERLAND RELAXED BOHO…

As we find ourselves in December you might be tingling with excitement or dreading the whole tinsel-filled season. There’s no right or wrong here but, whether you love it or not, it can be a great time to start a new tradition. We all know the usual practices: hanging stockings up on Christmas Eve, wearing paper hats out of crackers and eating mince pies, but there’s still room to create your own. Traditions ripple through the years and the generations, pulling people together – they don’t have to be fancy or involve any great planning. Your new tradition can simply be a shared moment or activity, a beautiful way to create new memories and have shared moments that force you to stop and engage whole heartedly with the people you…

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It is, arguably, unseemly for a woman in her mid forties to ask for presents from Santa Claus (or, in my case, the Hanukkah fairy, who I imagine looks exactly like Barbra Streisand.) But dammit, it’s been a tough few years and we all deserve a break. So, for Christmas 2022, here is my wish list, and it’s not what you might expect. On it, I outline all the interiors trends that I’d like to end – right now. GREY WALLS Why? No really: why? Why would anyone paint anything grey, let alone the walls of their own home? It doesn’t matter how many euphemisms paint manufacturers put in the name – ‘soft’, ‘dove’, ‘velvet’ – you still end up living in something that resembles a jail cell. As nonsensical…