Mad About The House by Kate Watson-Smyth

Mad About The House by Kate Watson-Smyth

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Mad About The House by Kate Watson-Smyth
Mad About The House by Kate Watson-Smyth
Design Decoded: Nine Beautiful Rooms

Design Decoded: Nine Beautiful Rooms

A stroll through real rooms to see what we can take away for our own places and spaces. Learn about layout, the 'rules of rug' – and how to curate your clutter into a collection.

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Kate Watson-Smyth
Dec 11, 2024
∙ Paid
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Mad About The House by Kate Watson-Smyth
Mad About The House by Kate Watson-Smyth
Design Decoded: Nine Beautiful Rooms
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This month on Mad About The House we are not Mad About Christmas. I’m sure you get enough of it elsewhere, so most of the posts in December will be a respite from that particular madness. A space to step away from it all and look at beautiful things that don’t glitter, that don’t need wrapping, that are calm and allow a deep breath. And since I’m assuming most of you will have paused any house-hunting activities as well, I have instead chosen nine rooms that are not only gorgeous to look at, but might also give you ideas and inspiration. So read on – there’s not a bauble in sight.

Here’s the first. Take a deep breath and relax…

NARBOROUGH HALL

Let the room speak

I’m sure that most of us don’t have rooms like this, but that’s all the more reason to just gaze at it. I can’t stop. It’s not just the idea of having a room so big and so un-needed that you can stick in a pair of giant day beds and walk away. It is more, and here’s the science bit, the juxtaposition of the incredible plasterwork ceiling, the over-the-top chandelier, the abundance of windows and just two chairs. This room is a gallery and I can’t tell you how much I want to visit.

There has been no attempt to add a rug, a bookcase, a useful table, indeed the only table is full of flowers – more things to admire and nothing to use.

I’m sure we can’t all have a room like this but we can bookmark this one. And we can walk away and remember that sometimes, perhaps especially at this time of year, less really is more.

Upgrade to paid to learn the rules of rug layout, why you should always check your doors, and how, when it comes to paint, there are no rules at all. There is also a 25% discount on a gift subscription at the bottom of this post, which means if you are canny, you can split the cost with a friend and get two subs at last year’s price.

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