To ask your interior design loves

[Dandyarseholes]

To balance out the 'hates' tgread currently running.

What do you like/love that makes your home a happy place?

Lots of colour
Books
Artwork
Wood flooring (downstairs)
Carpet in bedroom
Blankets

My house is quite quirky!

I love this thread!

I love:

Natural wood
Built in shelves and lots of books
Nick nacks gathered over years
Low lighting
Calm colour tones for walls
Brighter accessories (I'm in love with mustard yellow at the mo!)
Candles
House plants- I'm a murderer of plant's though but ikea have some nice false ones I can't kill
Lots of blankets
Canvas photos (we have a great one by a Yorkshire photographer called Ryan Maudsley- it's a gorgeous highland cow!)
Comfy couches and footstools

I've only last week finished redecorating our living room and all of the above is in here

An acquaintance has lots and lots of books displayed. I’ve made a mental note and over the years none of the books have ever moved which means although she may have read them once, they’ve never been picked up again. They are dusty too. So what’s the point of displaying them other than to show you can read?

She is a massive snob who judges people by tv size so I’m probably aligning all ‘lots of books!’ people to her to be fair.

You take notes of book movements? She’s a “snob” but what does what you do make you?

Fireplace
chevron pattern flooring

natural wood

@Endlesssummer2022 Because some people take pride in a book collection just like they do with their record collection, especially if it's been
up collected over decades (they do cost money, you know)? You're also working on the assumption all books are fiction - what about cookbooks, what about books you refer to for work (e.g. academia)? For some, books take on an extra meaning beyond a first reading and serve as reminders of people if was a gift, the time they read it, etc. The aesthetic of a book cover can be meaningful too, just like a record sleeve. Also, not everyone has a Kindle. I share books with mates, so we pinch books off each other's shelves (we're also not all weirdos who take mental notes of their mate's book movements).

And tbqh, shelves and shelves of books are just fucking lovely to look at.

But sure, it's just to prove you can read😂

Similar to many on here - period house, wooden floors, books, the personality of the owners coming through.

My big thing is the kitchen. We spend most of our time in ours, which we renovated in 2018 to exactly what we wanted. There are four different colours on the walls, but it’s not obvious/showy - most people don’t actually realise until you point it out.

I dislike standard issue kitchens that look and feel like kitchens, so wanted ours to feel more like a 😬 - for want of a better phrase - ‘lounge bar’, i.e. somewhere people want to hang out / spend time. It also had great indoor/outdoor flow to another living area outside, so in summer the doors are always wide open, and it feels like one big space. We never entertain in the living rooms, always in the kitchen - both in summer and winter.

What an inspiring thread! I love:
Olive green walls
Velvet cushions
Fairy lights!!
Lamps (never the big light on)
Pink lighting like Kimjoy
Plants in every room
Natural things like wicker and wood

My home couldn't be further from the all grey homes you see on insta. I couldn't live without colour around me!

It has never occurred to me the bookcases were there to show off. My big bookcase is in our living room which is only really used by family. Guests tend to stay in the kitchen, which has 3 shelves of cook books. You may well think that they don't move because I tend to put them back into the same place I got them from.

Mirrors are another thing I love. Not just to check my appearance, but to bounce light around.

I love almost all on here, I even gave wuite a few. Confession though - much as I love the look of a Belfast sink I had to have one taken out - I am 1m78 and my husband 1m96, the wretched thing was simply too deep for us to use comfortably. It was not an old one if that makes up for it at all 🙁

I love old furniture but am also a weirdo that loves a mooch around IKEA. I have a lot of books but also a big TV, loads of plants and a couple of very nice original paintings but also a massive collection of fabulously tacky fridge magnets. I may even have troll dolls living in some of my 'artisan' plantpots. Are most of us not a mix like that?

Gave wuite? Have quite. Pah.

Sentiment? My parents always inscribe books when they give them, and when they buy them they write their name and the date inside – I’ve picked up the habit and it’s lovely to glimpse your own changing tastes and reading history.

I categorise (poetry, cookbooks, feminism, literary fiction, etc) then alphabetise by author so my shelves largely look unchanged year on year on year, plus always a bit dusty because I’m a slattern (actually, decor-wise I prefer a slightly dusty, lived-in house to a Hinched one), but they do get consulted every now and then. Then put back in the same place.

That said I do frequently cull books as it can get a bit claustrophobic having mountains of them.

Mine stay on the bookshelves as there is no where else to put them!

Books, of course.

I like the American colonial style and anything C18th as I've collected antiques of this period for years, and acquired through family. I love primative style kitchens, open fires, American folk art, naive art and portraits. I collect C18th oak and country furniture. I also like the Georgian merchants house feel with faded simple elegance.

I've had to compromise a lot because I'm quite a puritan who only likes Georgian interiors, but husband likes quite a lot of victorian things, and has enough stuff to fill a museum, including clay pipes, antique medical, stoneware, even the bed sheets, cutlery, plates, all antiques. My toothbrush, PC and knickers are new but that's about it

I like murky slightly dull colours mixed with dark richer colours, vintage fabrics, heavy brocades and velvets and antique carpets.

To me, the perfect room is faded, warm, simple but not sterile, with only enough carefully chosen things to look authentic. Staged but only so far as having created an authentic unstaged antique interior. What I absolutely hate is posh looking interiors with high class antique furniture, expensive but overly restored things, coffee tables with carefully chosen books, and chintzy curtains, plush carpets, and anything which looks flashy and orchids, I hate orchids.

You sound just as judgemental as she does to be fair.

Most of my books are non fiction so even if they don’t stay out for me to read I refer to them often. I keep fiction I really enjoyed and will one day (how often would you like books to be picked up to keep you satisfied just out of interest?) pick back up again. A lot of my books also belonged to my late mum and I’ll never get rid of most of those as they are filled with notes.

I fear that I’m still stuck in the eighties stylistically, and I love vintage Laura Ashley and Sanderson floral fabrics, at least for cushions and curtains.
Apart from that I love to see art, books and beautiful colours.

I just like it when you can see how the house is lived in. Like comfy cushions and throws, you can picture people curled up on the sofa. Some of the 'instagram' houses I really struggle to imagine people actually living there, cooking a meal etc

Our current house looks like the stock room of smyths at the moment thanks to my toddler and soon to be baby; highchair at the table, baby chair and toys in the living room, my once lovely study full of books is now a playroom, bath seat in the bathroom etc etc. Doesnt really matter what colour the walls are as everything clashes with the bright toys. But I do love it!

We also need to redecorate thanks to mucky/sticky little hands but think that will be pointless for a while.

Loving this thread, thanks @Dandyarseholes
Can we have pics, please? I'd love to see your homes. :-)
My favourites? Homes that reflect the people who live there. Interesting bits & bobs. Nightmare would be like a Dunelm room set - nothing wrong with Dunelm btw, just, you know, add some personality!
I'm loving my industrial type furniture mixed with my old chestnut Barker & Stonehouse sofas.. but zapped with black & white accessories & just a sprinkle of yellow (throw, cushion) it oddly works. Well, it makes me happy, which is the whole idea, isn't it?
My most treasured pieces are the chests & ornaments that my grandparents brought back from Hong Kong, where they lived in the 40's & my Dad grew up there.. happy memories of Nan & Grandad's house..

Can’t share pics as we’re mid-renovation so currently the “decor” is dust sheets and plasterboard and builders’ tools and FUCKING CHAOS. I’m calming my hatred of it all with this thread and Pinterest and lusting after things I’ll need to save up for – no use buying anything now, it’ll just get in the way of painting and floor sanding, and I like a house that’s built over time with layers of life and taste rather than “I picked everything from the catalogue and paid on credit card”.

Currently on the motivation list for getting through the dust era:

Curtains made with Duncan Grant “Clouds” fabric – in fact all Bloomsbury prints, please
Also curtains in “Cloud Garden” by Rapture & Wright, which I’ll never afford but sigh over frequently
Unusual wallpaper; like Living Quarters’ Creeping Toadflax, or Cole & Sons’ Secret Garden – both have snails on and are just wonderful
Vintage Persian rugs
Replacing the hideous upvc front door with a proper wood Edwardian replica, with stained glass, and painting it Blackbird Egg blue from Fenwick & Tilbrook

Frankly though right now I’d just settle for a sofa without a dust sheet, and a nice vintage quilt to curl under on it

I like homes that look like Virginia Woolf hung out there: dark wood, oil paintings, books, wooden floors with rugs, mix of styles from the first half the century, some bohemian quirks.

I also like high ceilings, big windows, saturated autumn colours, colour clashes, coloured bathroom suites, furniture with legs, big mirrors and green.

My own house is furnished entirely from ebay, free cycle and my local community furniture scheme. One of the good reasons for doing this is that you can grab something beautiful when it comes up and just give away the old one without having wasted money. For example I have a green velvet chesterfield which I got for free, that replaced a mink velvet sofa that cost me thirty quid.

My house is full of mid century art - my ceiling price is normally thirty quid. I do spend on posh paint because I love highly pigmented colours. My house is small, and full of unmatched things, so I keep a tight colour palette to hold it all together.

I sleep in the living room, and I had to think a lot about how to make it work. I have a vintage single bed tucked behind a large wooden screen, which I have painted with large harlequin diamonds. When I can afford it, I might get a kind of Swedish box bed built in.

My bric-a-brac home isn't for everyone, but the local teenagers seem to love it! I like to think Virginia would, too.

Ket your house sounds lovely. I’m also a fan of found and preloved furniture. I could never otherwise afford the quality off pieces I’ve collected over the years.

A kitchen large enough to accommodate a big squashy sofa, ideally beside a fire. One day!

I read a lot but (sorry to the purists) solely on my kindle. Perhaps I should display that on a shelf?! I associate busy bookshelves with clutter tbh, how often are they actually being read? That said, a family member has her bookshelf arranged by colour and it does look amazing.

I love dark and cosy interiors. Warm lighting. Basically hygge in a room.

Here are some of my my controversial design choices. Purists! Brace!

My shiny white and matt grey kitchen, complete with F&B ‘citron’ painted dresser

Said dresser being crammed full of books, mostly cookery books but also photo albums, old gardening diaries and beautiful picture books (currently enjoying a toadstool identification guide)

Living room has a very loud feature wall covered in Frutto Proibitto by Cole & Son. It brings me joy every day alongside my heavily patterned curtains, striped sofa and fringed lamps. Oh and that same living room is paneled to the hilt!

This is an exciting thread! I'll add:

Howard armchairs in interesting fabric. Unusual cushions & table lamps. Stained glass, herringbone wood floors, real fireplaces, unusual vintage pieces well placed. Interesting chandeliers. Dogs & cats, fairy lights. Posh room diffusers (the sort you need a mortgage for )

My House of Hackney wallpaper ❤️

Loads of unstaged photos of the family. I had a school friend and their walls were literally just covered in family photos. They weren't professional photos or anything, but just lots of them over the years. They also had framed some of their school art work and it was lovely. It was one of the homes that felt very loving to me.