Innehållsförteckning för July 2024 från Ideal Home

EDITOR’S LETTER I have a thing for storage. If I popped round to your place, it’s guaranteed that I’d be found checking out your built-in cupboards, or swooning over a flawlessly organised cutlery drawer! I’m genuinely on the lookout for space-saving ideas everywhere, from social media to TV, friend’s homes to b&bs, so scouring all the brilliant houses in this issue for tricks to steal for my own, constantly bulging at the seams, family home was an absolute treat. All of the homes we’ve featured this month are on the more compact side, and the owners have had to get creative with how they use the available space to make the most of every inch. It never fails to impress me how it’s possible to adapt the most awkward spaces…

LOOKS THAT LAST STYLE DIRECTION “Placing panelling or a faux wallpaper horizontally creates a beach house feel" HEATHER YOUNG, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF STYLE DIRECTION “Use plants and green foliage as a contrasting accent in a classic blue and white scheme" GINEVRA BENEDETTI, DEPUTY EDITOR OPT FOR A SIMPLE PALETTE It’s a tried and tested colour scheme that always works, so stick to soft whites and breezy blues, layering up pale sky tones and accenting with rich indigo and teal. Mimic the textures of the coastline and include natural materials such as woven seagrass, jute rope and pale woods for a relaxed, informal look. TAKE A LIGHT TOUCH Enhance natural light by choosing chalk white or soft natural colours for walls and floors, adding interest with panelling or a pale textured rug. Stick…

It’d be easy to blame Beyoncé. Often credited with repeatedly capturing the zeitgeist, tracks and visuals from her latest album Cowboy Carter are pretty much everywhere at the moment. However, as much as she’s a trendsetter, she can’t take full credit for the Americana and Western-style aesthetic that is proving so popular right now. The wheels of Cowboy Core were set in motion some time ago, with this trend part of a larger shift towards maximalist style. ‘Recently, there’s been an uptick in the popularity of cowboy-related home accessories,’ says Alex Stubbs, interior stylist at Flitch. ‘These elements tap into the nostalgia and romanticism associated with the American West. The style features distressed leather, weathered wood, brass or iron hardware, and natural textures like animal hides and woven fabrics.’ Alex…

1 SET AN INVITING SUMMER SCENE Create an outdoor area you can relax in just like an indoor living room, complete with a coffee table to put drinks on and cushions and throws for a homely feel. Add lanterns to cast a glow when the sun goes down and cosy heating with a chiminea, patio heater or fire pit. 2 PAINT AN OUTDOOR WALL Giving your exterior masonry a hit of colour is a great way to brighten it up, but you don’t have to go for a full wall. Why not paint an eye-catching frame around a window or door echoing its shape to create a point of interest? PAINT CHEAT SHEET 3 Ward off wasps with scents that they dislike – basil, peppermint, bay leaves, eucalyptus, citronella and…

HOME NOTES WHO LIVES HERE? Sarah Jones, who is a doctor, lives here. THE PROPERTY A five-bedroom Victorian mid-terraced house in Newcastle. 1 “Green is a powerful colour” ‘I love being around nature, so added large windows and used green on walls and ceiling to bring the outdoors in. Outside, vertical planting and clusters of pots have turned my garden into a haven.’ BUY THE KEY PIECES Wall and ceiling painted in Louisburg Green, £37 for 0.94ltr, Benjamin Moore. PlantBox living-wall system (opposite page), £212 for set of 10 troughs, Growing Revolution 2 “Kitchens can be practical and pretty” ‘My interior designer, Cathy Dean of Studio Dean, helped me to create a bright, sleek, modern layout that is so functional, and beautiful to boot.’ BUY THE KEY PIECES WOOOD Damon…

PROJECT DETAILS WHO LIVES HERE? Chris and Bryony Benstead live here with their children, Ralph, 12, and Matilda, 10. THE PROJECT Refurbishment of the kitchen including knocking through into the dining room to create one large open-plan room. TOTAL COST £110,000 THE PROBLEM Our kitchen was too dark and it didn’t have space for us to have family meals THE SOLUTION ‘Being a bungalow, the house was naturally dark, plus the kitchen was small and we rarely used the separate dining room. So we decided to knock through and create an open-plan kitchen-diner. New skylights at the side and rear allow lots of extra natural light to come in, as well as through the sliding glass doors, which replaced the old uPVC French doors. It meant we could have a…

PROJECT DETAILS WHO LIVES HERE? Jim and Connie Walker live in this two-bed house in North Berwick, East Lothian. THE GARDEN A small south-facing front garden measuring 9m x 14m. THE PROJECT To transform the uninspiring garden into a welcoming space, with two seating areas and seasonal planting. PROJECT COST £60,000 THE PROBLEM The plot was empty, with nowhere to sit and enjoy the south-facing sunny aspect THE SOLUTION ‘After 30 years living in Hong Kong, we moved back and settled down in the seaside town of North Berwick. After engaging Somner Macdonald Architects (somnermacdonald.co.uk) to renovate our house, we turned our attention to the front garden. We wanted the space to complement our new home and were keen to have two patio areas to take advantage of the sunshine,…

Whether you’re landscaping a sloping garden and want to create different levels, or you’d like to break up a large lawn with an area that can be used all year round, decking is the perfect solution for zoning different spaces in the garden. Building a decked area might seem like a mammoth task to tackle yourself, but by following practical tips from our experts, it’s a job you can do as long as you have an extra pair of hands to help. PREP THE GROUND PROPERLY ‘Although often the least enjoyable part of any landscaping job, preparing the ground is one of the most important things to do to ensure there is a strong and sturdy base for you to work on,’ says Fiona Jenkins at My Job Quote. ‘You…

If you suffer from allergies, choose a bagged mower to collect and dispose of grass cuttings that may irritateGINEVRA BENEDETTI, DEPUTY EDITOR BEFORE YOU BUY ■ Lawnmowers come in a wide range of shapes and sizes – each one will have benefits for specific types of garden or lawn and frequency of use. ■ Petrol lawnmowers will cover a lot of surface area on one tank, they boast a long life and offer a lot of power for tackling long grass, plus they’re great at cutting wet lawns, too. Their obvious downside is the faff of buying and mixing fuel, as well as the unsociable noise they make. ■ Mains-powered electric lawnmowers are as powerful as petrol mowers, without the smell or noise. As they’re plugged in, you’ll always be…

How to manage your inheritance tax The number of people falling into the inheritance tax (IHT) trap is increasing. Between April 2023 and February 2024, the taxman bagged £6.8 billion from families after the death of a loved one and it’s expected to exceed the previous record of £7.1 billion. Our money expert Kalpana Fitzpatrick explains how you can cut the IHT bill and pass more of your wealth to loved ones. WHAT IS INHERITANCE TAX? This is tax payable on someone’s estate when they die, but how much you pay depends on the total value of the property, possessions and money. The current threshold for when the tax kicks in is £325,000; it has been at this level since 2009 and is expected to remain the same until 2028.…

YOU WILL NEED ● 4 old wooden coat hangers (with trouser bars) ● 2 pieces of board ● Spray paint ● Cordless drill ● Screws ● Saw First, remove the hooks from the hangers. Then place them opposite each other with the hook holes touching and measure the distance across. Cut the boards to size. Next, on one hanger, pre-drill holes at either end and one in the central section. Repeat this with the other three hangers. Paint the hangers and leave to dry, before assembling the table with screws.…

Radio 2 DJ and host of BBC Two’s Between the Covers, Sara Cox lives in London with her husband Ben Cyzer and children Lola, Isaac and Renee WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU WALK IN THE DOOR? Well, it’s always dog-based. So I’ll either have dogs with me or I’ll be coming home to dogs after work. If I’m coming in from a big walk, I’ll chuck a couple of them in the sink and rinse them off. Or I will put them in their crate with a snack and let him have a little chill. At night, it’s lots of excitable yaps and dinnertime. WHEN’S YOUR FAVOURITE TIME OF THE DAY AT HOME? I do love getting back from work around 8pm. I see whatever teenagers are…

STYLE STATEMENT Glow-getters Add midsummer magic to your outdoor set-up with a twinkly glow. Flame-free lighting – battery operated or solar – adds all the atmosphere without any of the fire risk, ideal when there are little ones about (or any adults in particularly high spirits!). Make it safer for the planet as well by investing in rechargeable batteries. For ultimate impact, choose a mixture of micro fairy lights, candles of varying heights and lanterns hanging overhead in tree branches and pergolas – perfect for a sunset soirée. IH LOVES... Zesty vibes Clementine stoneware jug, £36.99, Gisela Graham What to do this month... READ Followers of Kay Prestney (@kinship_creativedc) and Becca Cherry (@_beccacherry) will be pleased to see they’ve combined all of their know-how to create this stunning book. A…

IH COLOUR EDIT What the experts say... Designers and stylists share their views ‘Butter yellows are perfect for adding richness to a scheme. Palettes of greys, blues and greens will be harmonised and enriched by the addition of these creamy golden yellows – and they’re uplifting, too.’ JAMES SIRETT, HEAD OF PRODUCT, FIRED EARTH ‘Used as an accent colour or for a feature wall, a butter yellow instantly rejuvenates a room with warmth, while adding freshness, comfort and energy at the same time. Layer with other pastel tones or pair with neutrals for a more subtle final look.’ BAILEY OATES, COLOUR EXPERT, EARTHBORN ‘All yellows tend to be warm, but buttery yellows can be refreshing yet also calming. They work very well with natural materials and wood tones of all…

PLAN THE PERFECT MEET THE EXPERTS STAN STABNER, GENERAL MANAGER, BIG GREEN EGG ‘It’s often a good idea to contain the outdoor kitchen area – it should work just like an indoor version might from a functional perspective.’ STEVE ESDAILE, FOUNDER, EO KITCHENS ‘Hosting alfresco parties and gatherings is much more enjoyable – everything you need is right there.’ PAUL TINDLE, PROJECT MANAGER, KÖNIG OUTDOOR ‘It’s great to see an outdoor kitchen as an entertaining hub with an open feel and bar-style seating, so guests can sit and watch the culinary action.’ The humble barbecue has had an upgrade with outdoor kitchens increasing in popularity, making it easier to spend more time with your guests rather than running back and forth to the house. From refrigeration to hobs, pizza ovens…

HOME NOTES WHO LIVES HERE? Ryan James, a PR manager, and his partner Craig live here with their cat, Macy Grey, and dog, Darcy. THE PROPERTY A two-bed 1920s detached cottage in Woking, Surrey. Ryan and Craig moved here almost three years ago from a Victorian two-bedroom property in Woking. ‘We’d renovated that quickly and made a bit of profit on it, and we wanted something a little different to do it all again,’ Ryan says. WHAT CONDITION WAS THIS COTTAGE IN WHEN YOU BOUGHT IT? ‘This place had been rented out and was all perfectly liveable but it needed some character and clever ideas. There was a lot of dark mahogany and the ceilings had been lowered, so it felt very small and enclosed.’ HOW DID YOU APPROACH THE…

PROJECT DETAILS WHO LIVES HERE? Jenny Howard, a brand strategy consultant, lives here with her son, Luca, who’s five THE PROJECT Converting a bedroom into a family bathroom in a now three-bedroom Victorian cottage in Winchester PROJECT COST £10,000 THE PROBLEM There was no bathroom upstairs and we only had a shower room downstairs THE SOLUTION ‘When we moved in, the cottage only had two bedrooms and no bathroom upstairs. It was a really inconvenient layout – you had to walk through the living room to get to the downstairs shower room. I decided to convert one of the bedrooms into a family bathroom before starting on a first-floor extension to create two additional bedrooms. For the bathroom project, I went with Ripples, which meant that the design was much…

You don’t need to be an expert gardener – or a mental health expert – to appreciate the benefits of being outside in green space. Numerous studies prove that gardens have a positive impact on our health and wellbeing, from the physical aspects of digging, planting and growing, to the mindfulness of experiencing the passing of the seasons. ‘Spending time outside, whether that is in our gardens or in a green space, can offer a host of benefits to our mental and physical wellbeing,’ says Dr Emily Lambert, conservation scientist and co-founder of Seedball. ‘Exposure to sunlight encourages the production of vitamin D, essential for mental wellbeing and overall health, while the fresh air helps to clear our minds, invigorate the body, and greatly improve our mood. ‘The sensory experience…

OUR JUDGING PANEL BEST OUTDOOR SOFA WINNER GARDEN TRADING Porthallow corner sofa ‘A timeless design in hardwearing acacia wood, this sofa is an investment piece that has both style and practicality.’ HEATHER YOUNG, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF HIGHLY COMMENDED BRIDGMAN CANNES TWO-SEATER SOFA BEST GARDEN SHADE SOLUTION WINNER GEORGE HOME Metal gazebo ‘This sturdy, smart and well-priced gazebo is a great garden buy; we love how the fabric panels can be moved as the sun does.’ GINEVRA BENEDETTI, DEPUTY EDITOR BEST GARDEN TOOL WINNER STIHL KMA 80R cordless KombiEngine ‘The ultimate in multi-tasking, tackling everything from clearing leaves to trimming hedges.’ JENNY MCFARLANE, SENIOR CONTENT EDITOR HIGHLY COMMENDED HENCHMAN FULLY ADJUSTABLE TRIPOD LADDER; STIGA SC 100E PRUNER BEST FIREPIT WINNER SOLO STOVE Bonfire 2.0 plus stand ‘I own one and I love it.…

A year on from planting my first, properly planned area of our garden, I think I have officially entered my gardening era! When you find yourself rushing downstairs first thing to check on your seedlings (and yes, I do wish them ‘good morning!’) you can be fairly confident the gardening bug has taken a firm hold. I’m actually finding that the renovation jobs inside our home are now being neglected because I always want to be outside, tending, tidying and plotting in the garden. I’ve always known that I love spending time outdoors. I’m a sun-lover, and crave sunshine to boost my levels of Vitamin D, well known for its positive impacts on mental health. Fresh air is also a great way to clear the mind. When my twins were…

Pea, tarragon & cream cheese tart SERVES 4 READY IN 40 MINS ● 250g frozen peas, defrosted ● 2 sprigs tarragon, leaves finely chopped ● 4 eggs ● 100g full-fat crème fraiche ● 1 lemon, zest and juice ● 1 x 320g sheet all-butter, ready-rolled puff pastry ● 150g Boursin garlic and herb cheese (or similar) 1 Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Boil the peas in a saucepan of water for 2 mins, then drain and rinse well under cold water. Meanwhile, whisk the tarragon, eggs, crème fraiche and lemon zest together with 1/2tsp of sea salt, then stir through the peas. 2 Unroll the puff pastry into a 20cm by 30cm roasting tin, just small enough that the pastry comes up the sides to form a lip. Pour…

WHERE TO BUY…

CLEVER DECORATING DIY a canopy Create full-coverage shade for a seating or dining area with landscaping poles (try a timber yard or Total Poles). Fit each pole into a parasol base and screw in hooks near the tops to support horizontal dowels, over which you can drape a length of voile. Give it a twist… Swap light white voile for a weatherproof outdoor fabric. Make a candlelight centrepiece Any deep planter, bowl or dish can do double duty as a candle holder. Simply fill it with play sand and poke in several long beeswax tapers, ready to light when dusk falls. If you dislike the look of sand, cover it with florist’s moss. Give it a twist… Use multiple identical bowls and line them up along a table. Tile an…

ROOM RECIPE 1. GLAMOROUS TOUCHES Elevate your bedroom with a mix of materials that exude opulence, from accessories that offer glints of gold and brushed brass to furniture in marble and glass. Update existing pieces with high-quality handles and keep the rest of your scheme simple to let these elements shine. Alaia cube side tables in Monet marble, £1,380 each; Textured moon vessel, £449, both Collection Noir 2. SOFT LIGHTING Gentle lighting is essential to keep this bedroom look from feeling harsh and create a soft glow. Opt for diffused light from bedside lamps or swing-arm wall lamps, while a dimmable overhead light offers subtle or brighter light when you need it. Choose LED bulbs that can be adjusted and soften the look further by adding fabric lampshades that tie…

HOME NOTES WHO LIVES HERE? Tim Freeman, an events producer, lives here with Lizzie O’Neill, an architect. THE PROPERTY A compact self-build home with two bedrooms and two bathrooms in Clifton Village, Bristol. Externally, the design is based on a traditional mews house. When Tim Freeman moved back to his home town of Bristol in 2019 and bought a small commercial property, his intention was to build a compact bachelor pad while working on other projects. A mutual friend put him in touch with architect Lizzie O’Neill (ejstudio.co.uk) to help with the design and obtain planning approval, and a few months after planning the project they got together as a couple. Work had begun on the difficult, small site when Tim’s builder went into liquidation and he was left with…

Wireless lamps Add a lasting glow for al fresco dining or drinks at dusk WHERE TO BUY Indoor-outdoor rugs Layer on your patio to soften the space WHERE TO BUY Benches Room for two… or a few WHERE TO BUY Garden coffee tables Arrange among seating for a sociable setting WHERE TO BUY…

BEFORE YOU BUY ■ CADR is shorthand for clean air delivery rate and it measures the volume of air the purifier can filter, or clean, in a given timeframe. That rating is usually given per hour, in which case it’s measured as cubic metres per hour or m3/h. The higher the CADR rating, the faster the machine will be able to clean the air and the larger the space it will be able to purify. ■ Make sure you buy a machine that matches the size of space you want to filter, or it will struggle to adequately purify the air. All models come with a maximum room size recommendation, which is usually measured in square metres. Work out the size of your room by measuring its length and width,…

If you have plans for a break this summer, tech solutions can make your trip go smoothly, home and abroad. Here’s how… There’s a place for tech in everyone’s get-away plans. Whether it’s the smartphone that allows you to snap pictures of your destination or the console or tablet that keeps your kids entertained on a long journey, there are certain devices that you’ll never leave home without. But other tech must-haves can enhance your trip away without dominating it. We delve into the options that can make your holiday even more plain sailing. LUGGAGE MUST-HAVES Let’s start with packing. The Carry On suitcase from July (£245, july.com/uk) features a built-in power bank so you won’t have to worry about running out of smartphone battery while you’re away. However, due…

“Choose from small or medium-sized bags to a roomy laundry-sized bag priced at £68” Bag it up We at Ideal Home HQ are firm believers in the ‘You can never have too many baskets’ ideology as a cure-all for clutter. So you can imagine how pleased we were when we saw the latest launch from homeware brand Loaf. Available in four gorgeous shades (Moss Green, Natural, Wine Red and Dark Blue), these Scrumple baskets are made from coated eco paper so they’re suitable for stashing bits and bobs, dry food, plants, and so on – a quick wipe when you’re done using them and they can be reused over and over… STAY SHARP If you love to cook, you’ll know how frustrating it is when the blades of your knives…

Your grocery cupboard can be one of the hardest areas of your kitchen to keep in check. Since we regularly reach for ingredients and restock the essentials, it can quickly become disorganised. Whether it’s crammed with cans, filled to the brim with baking supplies or overflowing with herbs and spices, knowing how to make the most of your pantry can ensure finding food items becomes much easier. Sorting out your pantry will streamline both your kitchen and your cooking experience, but the hub of your home should suit your style, too. Your space might be small with a tiny pantry, or large with a whole cupboard dedicated to dried goods, but an organised pantry doesn’t automatically mean transparent storage boxes and printed-out labels. Even if you only have a trolley…