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New Grohe Sense | Growing Spaces

We are lucky enough not to have experienced any serious flooding in our home (well, there was that one time in our first flat when Ben drilled through the mains water pipe, and I had to hold a towel tightly around the pipe for over half an hour while he tried to locate the stop cock, but let’s not talk about that, ok?). But the damage caused by a leak – whether thanks to a burst or leaking pipe or a faulty appliance like a washing machine – can be extensive and expensive, and I’m definitely keen to find a way to guard against… View Post

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Fiddle leaf fig | Growing Spaces

As birthday presents go, this was a parcel that was hard to beat – a huge box, with a few tantalising leaves poking out of the box – inside was the most gorgeous fiddle leaf fig tree (ficus lystrata). It was a gift from my lovely mother-in-law (she sourced this beauty from The Palm Centre), and I was over the moon because I have wanted to add a fiddle leaf fig tree to my plant family for absolutely ages. Having got my green-fingered confidence up over the last couple of years tending lots of succulents and other low-maintenance houseplants such… View Post

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Clarissa Hulse bed linen | Growing Spaces

I can’t remember the last time I had bed linen that wasn’t white (or the lightest grey). I’ve been a firm believer in white bed linen for as long as I can remember, but when I posted about this recently, the very lovely Clarissa Hulse dropped me a message setting me a challenge to give something else a go. I’ve loved Clarissa’s colourful screen-printed patterns for a decade – she even treated me to a go at screen-printing my own cushion cover a couple of years ago – but I’ve never taken the plunge and tried any of her designs on… View Post

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Faking it: cheat's wood burner

We have been yearning after a wood burner (wood burning stove, log burner, whatever you want to call it) for years. One thing we really miss in our 1970s house is that there aren’t any fireplaces whatsoever (a big change coming from period properties) and we’ve always thought that a wood burner would provide our living space with the perfect focal point, as well as being something to cosy up around when it’s cold out. But because we don’t have any chimneys, having a wood burner installed isn’t as straightforward as it might be, and after a couple of super-scary… View Post

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DIY homework desk | Growing Spaces

The area between the living and dining zones in our open-plan ground floor space has been through so many different uses as the twins grow and their needs change. Until a month or so ago, our old dining table lived there. We called it the craft table, but in reality it was a dumping spot and just attracted piles of clutter and paperwork (as evidenced by the cringe-inducing before shot above). I decided that it was time for the craft table to go – this would open up the space and help us in our constant battle against clutter, but I… View Post