Renovation Lessons; Planning Your Space, Finding Your Style and Trusting Your Gut.

This month's newsletter is dedicated to all things renovating

Life’s been a bit bleugh of late. Namely, because I came down with some sort of flu/sore throat/chest infection 3 weeks ago that still won’t let up. I feel like everyone has been struggling with lurgy this winter. I’m very good at being ill for a couple of days (vitamins? check, bone broth? check, rest? check) but after that when it’s just getting worse, not better, I definitely start to feel frustrated and a bit miserable at having to cancel things and being predominantly horizontal. And you know I LOVE TV so you know it’s bad when even I am sick of it. You can probably tell from this month’s R-rated products where I’m at…

1: hyaluronic glow mist - 2: pyjamas - 3: cellular hydration

This month’s newsletter is dedicated to all things renovating and the pearls (ok probably more like ball bearings) of wisdom I can offer having undergone an 18-month renovation of my own from 2020-2022. For me, ‘renovating’ started wayyyy before the first sledgehammer was swung because there’s so so much that happens in the planning stage alone that shapes decisions. I think many of us know what we like (I felt at times I liked too much, to be honest), the hard part can be working that into a cohesive scheme, trusting your gut and making a decision rather than dithering eternally. Don’t worry, I did my fair share of dithering at times…I hope the below can help you out at navigating where to start, how to hone in on what you truly want and need in your home, as well as a few extra practical and design tips.

It’s really important to think about your day-to-day life rather than how you aspire to spend your days.
For example, do you need an enormous kitchen ripe for entertaining when you’re more into going out with friends than hosting at home? Do you need a massive bedroom or actually would you relish a larger bathroom/dressing room to house your extensive shoe collection and beauty products?

Think practically as well as beautifully.
I feel like this especially applies to wannabe minimalists which I definitely can’t count myself as but I, too, have aspirations to be neater and more refined than I actually am. Things like gym mats and workout stuff, board games, children’s toys, pet toys, towels, sheets, Christmas decorations, and anything hobby-related all need a place and you don’t really want to be popping up to the loft every time you want to play scrabble or change the sheets. If you’re someone who likes to have a place for things, make a place for them or they’ll just end up lying around.

Tap into your nostalgia.
Nostalgia plays such a huge role in everything for me, be it getting dressed or styling a room. Whether it’s a house you spend time in growing up or an old movie or TV show, nostalgia is such a great way to find your own aesthetic. I love buying vintage decor books as they’re such amazing sources of inspiration that aren’t remotely connected to today’s trends. I love how so many of them I’d move straight into now despite being designed 30 or more years ago.

Think more about how you want to feel rather than how you want it to look.
After narrowing down the purpose of each space and the floor plan, the starting point for each room should be about how you want to feel in that room, rather than just ‘what colour do I like’. For example, when thinking about our kitchen, I imagined coming down into the kitchen for my cup of tea in the morning and wanting it to feel light, and bright, and to have that ‘mornings on holiday’ feel. Whereas our TV snug I wanted to feel cocoon-like, cosy and extremelyyyyy comfortable, I also knew this would be the room where my books would live. Feelings look different to everyone - some people’s energised will be bright white, others will be bright yellow - but identifying how you want to feel is the first step. Do you want to be energised in a space, or relaxed? Playful or calm?

Don’t let fear drive decisions.
While I’m still trying to overcome this in other parts of my life, I do think I managed it when it came to renovating the house! So many people I speak to fill their Pinterest boards with pictures of bold spaces and rooms but immediately shut down the idea of using a strong colour or something experimental in their own home, normally because it makes them nervous. If you know that you personally couldn’t live with strong colour that’s one thing, but not doing something because of fear is another. I always think being a bit brave is worth it in the end. Pleaseeee don’t paint your whole house or apartment the same shade of white or paint every ceiling white. Please. Personally, I like skirting boards and ceilings all the same colour as the walls but that’s me.

Trends vs Timeless.
That age-old conundrum. Do you like it or do you like it because it’s hot right now? I think all of us are affected by ‘trends’ in some way, even if it’s just by actively trying to avoid them! Just look at Meryl Streep’s speech about cerulean blue in The Devil Wears Prada…Trends are fun to acknowledge and notice but I feel like they should be a bonus to you loving something rather than the driving force behind choosing it.

Remember lead times.
Lead times are killer. We’ve just had to replace a radiator valve and it’s 5 weeks for that alone… Everything from bathroom fittings to door handles can be (not always granted) 12 weeks+ from ordering to receiving so don’t leave it a few weeks before you need it to save delays. If your builder is ordering for you, you’ll need to give them exact specifications of what you want or at least allow a price per unit at the time of tendering.

Light is everything.
The direction a room faces, especially somewhere in Northern Europe where the light is so changeable throughout the year, is always a big factor when deciding on colours. A colour can look wildly different in a south-facing room than it does in a north-facing room. A bright, non-pigmented white for example can look dingy and grey in a north-facing room and a creamy, warm white can look yellow in a south-facing room. Swap them around and you’re onto a winter! Before you start thinking about colours you like, try and think about what a specific space can handle.

Electrical lighting too.
The lighting layout is one of the most important bits of a renovation. Do NOT leave this up to your builder or you will potentially end up with lights in a grid of spotlights (shudder) or a central ceiling light in every room. I enlisted the help of my friend and lighting designer Max Barlow to help with mine, particularly in my kitchen which was so useful. Unlike lots of people, I’m not dead against spotlights thanks to Max’s advice, I just think you have to go for really nice ones that are placed and directed sparingly rather than littering a ceiling with them. I made sure to have lots of lower lights be lamps, pendants, and wall lights on a different circuit to the ceiling lights so creating an atmosphere is easy.

Lighting to me should work with furniture rather than the other way around.
Lighting is one of the best ways to ‘zone’ a room. Again, before you even think about colours of fun stuff, I would work out your furniture layout and lighting layout for each room.