Decode · IN /ɪn/ adv.
This Victorian kitchen got better, not bigger
No side return. More light, the garden kept and a room that works harder.
Illustrative imageOUT /aʊt/ adv.
Montecito garden style in the UK
When a heatwave arrives, the garden stops being somewhere you glance at from a window.
Illustrative imageOUT /aʊt/ adv.
The Good Life, Manhattan style: how to make a kitchen garden beautiful
Tom and Barbara would approve of the hens.
IN /ɪn/ adv.
Cloud House: colour, curves, joyous and a rather Grand Design
Some houses behave themselves. This one absolutely does not.
Illustrative imageIN /ɪn/ adv.
Bond, by design: where will the new Bond live?
Forget the car. I want to see the house.
The instructions your home never came with.
Lighting / 01
How to layer lighting in a room
The short answer
Five layers: ambient, task, accent, decorative and control. Add them in that order, keep every bulb at 2700K, and put the lamps on a switch you can reach from the chair.
Shop the look /ʃɒp ðə lʊk/ v.
The Listening Room
Nine pieces recreate this room. Tap a dot to meet each one.
01 / 09
Bonnio orange accent chair
Bonnio's orange accent chair is the seat that refuses to blend into the background.
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02 / 09
Black bear side table
Part table, part house guest. The black bear is useful, odd and impossible to ignore.
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03 / 09
Bluetooth headphones
Headphones let you listen properly when the rest of the house has other plans.
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04 / 09
Louis Poulsen Panthella 320 table lamp
Louis Poulsen's Panthella 320 gives Verner Panton's familiar curves a soft, atmospheric glow.
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05 / 09
Now playing light
A now-playing light gives the current record its own little moment in the spotlight.
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06 / 09
Pro-Ject T2 turntable
Precision engineering meets analogue pleasure. The reason for the room.
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07 / 09
Mid-century-style sideboard
A mid-century-style sideboard gives records, equipment and favourite objects a shared home.
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08 / 09
Flo red glass floor lamp
A glossy red glass floor lamp that brings colour and sculptural confidence to the room.
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09 / 09
Checkerboard rug
A checkerboard rug gives a quieter listening room the graphic element it needs.
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Shop the Listening Room Edit →At mine
The Forth Bridge of front doors
We’re two-thirds of the way through our annual paint job. One more coat to go. This year we've experimented with Prestonett Gras à Laquer.
On my radar
Paparkone Handcrafted
An architect’s eye, a potter’s hands. Mediterranean craft, playful design and not a tourist cliché in sight. Roberto is as lovely as his creations. His cheeky little demon, Antònia la Dimoni, is mine to treasure.
In the diary
15 Nov · SunImage: Midcentury ModernMidcentury Modern, Dulwich
Good design doesn’t have a sell-by date. Vintage treasures, modernist icons and one-off finds return to south London. Go early. The best pieces never hang around.