Decor 101

With sunshine one minute and rain showers the next, spring has definitely arrived – and that means it’s time for my seasonal round-up of the best scented candles. For me candles aren’t just a winter thing, and I love selecting fragrances that suit my mood and the moment. Around now I start swapping the smoky, spicy notes that I tend to favour during the colder months for lighter scents that breathe a bit of freshness into the house, and I’ve picked out 21 of the best below. Narrowing down the choice can be tricky, so I’ve focused on the kind of thing that appeals to me at this time of year, with some old favourites alongside new discoveries for 2026. There are delicate florals evoking blossoms and wildflower-filled woodland, clean blends inspired by laundry billowing in the breeze, aqueous fragrances that speak of refreshing spring rainfall, and invigorating scents created to uplift and revitalise after the long, dark winter. What’s more, almost all the candles I’ve included a...

Today we’re heading to the Netherlands for a peek inside a stunning Art Nouveau townhouse with sophisticated, considered interiors by Holly Marder of Avenue Design Studio and A . Gallery . I’ve long admired Holly’s work, and in fact it appears in both my books (her own home in  The Soft Minimalist Home ; a client project in  Bring The Outside In ). Her style fuses materiality, tactility and functionality while honouring architectural integrity and context, resulting in pared-back yet richly layered spaces that stand the test of time. It’s an approach that’s evident in every corner of this beautiful three-storey property, which sits in a picturesque neighbourhood of The Hague and has undergone a top-to-bottom transformation.  When the current owner – a well-travelled Scot and skilled amateur artist – bought the house, it had been divided into three separate student dwellings and stripped of most of its original features. Holly and her team were tasked with turning i...

[Advertisement – the flooring and radiators referenced below are PR products, but all words and opinions are my own.] This week marks three months since we got the keys to our new home, so I thought it was time to share an update on our renovation progress to date. You can read more about our house-buying journey and why we decided to move here , but to cut a long story short we’ve relocated from Bristol to a 19th-century stone cottage in the small town of Bradford on Avon, just outside Bath on the edge of the Cotswolds. The building itself is structurally sound, and we won’t be extending or making any major changes to the layout, but it’s still a big project. It had lain empty for almost two years and been rented out to a succession of different tenants for decades before that, so it’s tatty, dated and in desperate need of some TLC. Our aim is to breathe some life and soul back into the place, and reveal its period character. The decor will be neutral and pared-back, but in keep...