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  • Neutral interior with blossom branches, minimalist sideboard styling, soft grey-green walls and abstract art | The best scented candles for spring | These Four Walls blog

    The best scented candles for spring – updated for 2026

    March 9, 2026March 9, 2026

    21 of the best scented candles to refresh and fragrance your home this spring, from delicate florals to uplifting green blends…

  • Home tour | An Art Nouveau townhouse in The Hague

    Home tour | An Art Nouveau townhouse in The Hague

    February 25, 2026May 14, 2026

    A peek inside a sensitively restored Dutch home with sophisticated, considered interiors by Holly Marder of Avenue Design Studio…

  • Our cottage renovation – an update

    Our cottage renovation – an update

    February 20, 2026February 20, 2026

    It’s three months since we moved into our 19th-century stone cottage on the edge of the Cotswolds. Here’s a renovation progress update, plus details of what we have planned next…

  • Vipp’s latest guesthouse: a minimalist mountain retreat in Austria

    Vipp’s latest guesthouse: a minimalist mountain retreat in Austria

    February 16, 2026February 16, 2026

    Set high in the Austrian Alps, Vipp’s latest bookable guesthouse combines pared-back Scandinavian style with plenty of local character…

  • Synaesthesia: the unusual reason behind my love of neutral decor

    Synaesthesia: the unusual reason behind my love of neutral decor

    February 9, 2026February 10, 2026

    I share my personal experiences of synaesthesia, how it shapes my decor choices, and why I find the ‘beige is boring’ narrative frustrating and offensive…

  • A new home and a new renovation project: plans for our 19th-century stone cottage

    A new home and a new renovation project: plans for our 19th-century stone cottage

    November 25, 2025February 9, 2026

    Why we’ve moved out of Bristol to the beautiful town of Bradford on Avon, and our plans for the renovation of our 19th-century Bath-stone cottage…

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Snippets from the first few days of yet another he Snippets from the first few days of yet another heatwave... Late-evening walks around our little town once it's cooled off enough to actually go outside, Loki falling asleep in front of the fan with his mouth hanging open, and a visit to the beautiful @walledgardenatmells in Somerset. And if they see this, hi to the couple I got taking to while queueing at The Walled Garden. I didn't catch your names before the queue moved, but your kind words about my books made my day! #visitwiltshire #thisprettyengland #visitsomerset #slowsimpleseasonal #summermoments
[AD - PR product] From one Loki photobomb (see my [AD - PR product] From one Loki photobomb (see my last post) to another... I love this view through the doorway from our dining room to the living room. And it perfectly frames the 'Ecru' throw, designed by @ceciliemanz for @elvangdenmark, that I've draped over our CH25 chair. The subtle stripe detailing along the edges is gorgeous, and it's made from super-soft baby alpaca wool. #neutralhomedecor #simplehomestyle #cottagerenovation #rusticminimalistdecor #softminimalstyle
Thought I'd have fun doing a little summer still l Thought I'd have fun doing a little summer still life yesterday evening - an hour of creative play, just for the fun of it. Loki decided he wanted to join in too. #cottagekitchen #summermood #summerstilllife #lightandshadow #seasonaldecor
[AD - features PR products] After months of floori [AD - features PR products] After months of flooring, sanding, priming, painting and juggling different trades, the ground floor of our little cottage is pretty much finished. And that means I can finally reveal some completed rooms! I'm starting with the dining room, as it’s the first space you enter after coming into the house through our tiny vestibule (I’m not sure it even counts as a hallway) and it sets the tone for the calm, cosy mood we want to create throughout. We wanted a rustic-minimalist style: pared-back yet textural, with subtle nods to the countryside setting. Like the rest of the cottage, the dining room has beautiful light. It faces west, so it’s illuminated by a golden glow later in the day, but it also gets morning light from the east-facing living room behind. And the ground floor as a whole has a wonderful sense of flow: each room leads directly to the next, creating the ideal balance between separation and connection, openness and cosiness. To enhance the light and the sense of flow, we’ve painted all walls, ceilings and woodwork in one colour, @farrowandball's ‘Slipper Satin’. It’s a chalky off-white that’s neither too cool nor too warm, and it interacts brilliantly with everything from bright sunshine to flickering candlelight. We’ve also used the same pale oak engineered hardwood flooring throughout the ground floor. It’s the ‘Wintry Forest Oak’ colourway from the @quickstepfloors ‘Cascada’ range, which is extra-matt for a soft, organic look. We’ve laid it continuously, with no thresholds between rooms, to lead the eye seamlessly from one space to the next. [PR product] The ground-floor layout did present some challenges, though. The dining room essentially acts as a transit space from the front door to the rest of the house, so we had to leave clear paths to move through it while also ensuring it has a defined function of its own. To achieve this, we positioned the table towards one corner of the room and anchored it within the wider space with a large jute rug. We also moved the pendant light to hang over the table rather than in the centre of the room and added a big linen shade from @baileyshome. This creates an intimate d
So how is everyone doing in the heat? It's been un So how is everyone doing in the heat? It's been unbearably hot and humid here all week, and I don't manage well in this kind of weather anymore (neither does Loki, as you can see). But we've also had tremendous storms, with some of the heaviest rain and most intense thunder I've ever experienced on Monday evening. #summermood #naturephotography #sunsetsky #lightandshadows #chasinglight

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