Our recent project is without a doubt the smallest but potentially the most trickiest area of our home. The room is part of the original house which dates back about 400 years. It has a low ceiling, exposed beams and extremely uneven walls to go with the two doors coming off it, plus an ugly loft hatch to add into the mix. It does have a very small window, but being north-facing (and with the deep overhang from the thatch) the room gets minimal daylight even on the sunniest of days.

To add to the rooms limitations, in one corner it has rather large pipeworks which protrude from the floor and go up the wall, as well as an electric meter on the wall which are always a bit of an eyesore, aren’t they?

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Obviously it goes without saying that I would happily sleep on a sofa with a blanket if that was required, and I would never expect anyone to have the perfect guest room set up ready when hosting me. In fact, nearly all my family and friends do not have a guest room readily available and that is, I expect, more the norm than the exception!

However, for those lucky enough to have a spare room that they can keep as a guest room, here are a few ideas on how you can make it a welcoming space for all.

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Our third renovation and it’s definitely the most curated set of colours I’ve used yet. The more you make a home for yourself, the more you realise which colours you love time and time again and the tones or hues you’re naturally drawn to.

I don’t see any reason in changing things for changing sake so I’ve also used colours we had in our previous homes too. There’s nothing more satisfying than using up an old pot of paint for a cheap DIY project!

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We’re on our third house renovation but I’d definitely still call myself a beginner when it comes to DIY. It doesn’t come naturally to me, and whilst I do it a lot, I still find it intimidating and often overwhelming. No question is too silly so do let me know if there’s any other DIY questions you’d like covered.

One of the questions I get asked most on Instagram is which electric sander do I recommend for someone starting out? Here are the three that I use:

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Like many of you in a similar season of life with young kids, sleep often gets pushed down the pecking order of priorities. We’ve been the parents lying on a cold wooden floor next to the cot, willing our child to sleep in the middle of the night, we’ve been the parent relegated to the tiny toddler bed, whilst they starfish in the king size bed, and of course, we’ve been the parent who wakes up in the morning with a little foot in their face which you daren’t move because otherwise, the game is over, and the day begins well before the seven on the clock has a chance to show it’s lofty, taunting digits.

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It feels scary to put pen to paper and admit how naïve we were starting this project. We’ve renovated two projects before this – a 2 bed Victorian mid-terrace and a 3 bed 1930’s semi – but whilst we learnt a lot transforming those, neither one compares to the scale of the 4 bed, 400 year old thatched cottage we live in now.

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Painting an old radiator is a great and easy way to help it blend into your décor, creating a seamless and coordinated look on a budget.

As we have never been blessed with particularly pretty radiators - think dated and grubby with the previous owners’ old knickers found behind them kind of radiators - I love to colour match them to the walls so they ‘disappear’ and let other design features in the room stand out.

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As we’re well into our third lockdown, this project could not be anymore timely as we all try desperately to find a corner of peace within our own homes. Our kids absolutely love playing in here, and whilst it is currently the only corner of the whole home that actually looks decent, you’ll probably find me hiding in here too - most likely with a sneaky bar of chocolate before they find me!

Thankfully this room already has a lot of built in storage so whilst the girls are still young, and they’re not fighting over wardrobe space, it made sense to turn this area into something more fun. The doors were warped and didn’t close properly so they would have needed replacing anyway. This felt like a much cheaper and immediate solution.

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