It's All Just As You Left It...
Tuesday 15th July 2008

I go away to get married in about a week and half and counting. When we return both future hubbie (butterflies) and I know that life will be just as busy, if not more so, as before. If you’re as ultra organised as I am and you’re doing the whole wedding...

When a Welcome is Warm
Tuesday 1st July 2008

Have you ever walked up the path of somebody’s house to be greeted by an entirely seasonal wreath? Or perhaps you’ve visited someone who took the effort to personalise every one of their Italian terracotta terrace pots. If you have been in the home of someone who makes those little touches...

Notes On Summer...
Tuesday 17th June 2008

Socially, there’s no better time to entertain at home than during the summer season – the best thing being you can use your house AND your garden. Fling the doors open wide as early as you can and invite your friends round for a breakfast meet or brunch; it’s the...

Teeny Weeny Tasty Treats
Tuesday 3rd June 2008

When it comes to the guest room, clean towels and a stash of delicious bathroom goodies (shampoo, bubbles and even cotton wools and buds etc) are essential. A few copies of Hello and House & Garden are also a nice touch (especially if you want to encourage guests to...

Daily Confetti
Tuesday 20th May 2008

Mention the word confetti and you immediately think of the stuff that’s thrown at weddings. Be it rice, bits of paper in the shape of hearts and bells or preferably dried flowers. (Though personally I’ve never had a penchant for pot pourri to be tipped on top of my wedding dress...

A Welcome Home Basket of Goodness
Tuesday 6th May 2008

My ‘nearly’ hubby and I were at the wedding of our next door neighbours on Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding in a little village called Bramley. The bride was stunning and the groom beamed from ear to ear. The couple didn’t have a traditional wedding list as they’ve already set...

Let's Do Tea, In The Garden...
Tuesday 22nd April 2008

I sensed that there was a slight change in the air as I looked out of the window this morning. Gone were the grey skies of late and in its place was a deliciously milky sky hiding a watery sun which really was rather hot by the time the afternoon rolled...

A Special Purchase for A Special Man
Tuesday 8th April 2008

Is it me or are the men in our lives VERY hard to buy for??? (I’m so glad you agree - I knew I wasn’t alone.) Special occasions are all opportunities for me to scream out to anybody that happens to be passing “What can I possibly buy him??? NO, I’m...

Asparagus Days & New Healthy Cook Books
Tuesday 25th March 2008

As someone who loves food and its preparation I’m always SO pleased when the asparagus season finally arrives. It marks the end of the root vegetable season and heralds the beginning of the late spring and summer produce that I so dearly love. It’s also at around this time that the...

It's All Down To The Lighting...
Tuesday 11th March 2008

Over at Casa de Menlove we’re starting to think about the garden. We’ve already shifted huge amounts of soil and cleared entire Victorian novels worth of brambles and thorns. All this work has got me thinking how (after the dirty work has been done) we can start to look forward to...

Your Mother, Her Garden
Tuesday 26th February 2008

So, it’s Mothering Sunday this weekend and dutiful daughters across the land are trying to pick out the perfect gift for the person who offered bosomy cuddles when we were sad, sat us up on the kitchen worktop to wash our knees when we had fallen over and told us how...

A Place For Everything
Tuesday 12th February 2008

It only dawned on me yesterday (as I came across yet more pine needles – does one ever stop finding them?!) that the pre spring clean is a great opportunity for real change in our homes. We talked a bit about it in my Light Bright & Heaven to Know...

Crafting Time - Part Two
Monday 28th January 2008

So, your copy of Sublime Stitching has arrived and you’re amazed at just how easy it is to add a stitched cupcake to your slightly ‘worse for wear’ pinny or some French knot daises to your daughters P.E. bag! But, once you’ve embroidered everything in site with your, slightly wonky version...

Crafting Time...
Monday 14th January 2008

The knitting renaissance (lauded by the media super trendy hobby of women everywhere) is already in its fourth or fifth year, so it’s only right and proper that other crafty activities are given an airing. Some folk will say that they've always knitted, crocheted, sewed, embroidered etc and I believe them,...

Light, Bright & Heaven To Know
Wednesday 2nd January 2008

Hmmmm, I’ve just heard that the second day of January is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. HOGWASH! I realise that it’s easy to fall into the mire of sad and nostalgic thoughts; remembering the lovely long holiday that has just passed and realising that you only...

Christmas Times, They Are a’ Changin
Tuesday 11th December 2007

When my siblings and I were small it was an exciting time as the decorations were brought down from the loft and we’d start to un-wrap the baubles that had been so lovingly preserved from the years before; glass baubles in an array of colours, multicoloured fairy lights and lashings of...

A Christmas Quandry...
Tuesday 27th November 2007

I recently placed myself in a bit of a pickle. I’ve been making my own Christmas decorations for a few years now and I started even earlier this year due to a magazine shoot that was taking place in my home in September. As a result (or so I thought)...

Ahhhhhh Advent!
Wednesday 14th November 2007

Advent...Say it with a hush and a whisper as if the very word needs the type of reverence usually reserved for members of the clergy. Advent is an event in my home. I awake on the first day of December to find an advent calendar on my pillow. My lovely HTB...

It's Coming Back...With Force!
Tuesday 30th October 2007

We moved into our new home in May. We then spent WEEKS deciding on what shade of paint to apply to the various walls in the house. On occasions we spent vast amounts of money on paint and then made up for the splurge by spending less elsewhere. However just a...

King Of The Kitchen
Tuesday 16th October 2007

If you’ve ever spent time watching Nigella, Martha or practically any other celebrity cook in the kitchen you’ll have noticed a constant companion. A beautiful companion that vies for camera time without even trying and... usually gets it. A companion that is at once traditional and sturdy, offering confidence in...

The Love of the List – The Final Chapter
Tuesday 2nd October 2007

Working with lists, whether they’re physical or simply something that you keep in your mind, can be extremely helpful when trying to get organised and but DO NOT get bound up in keeping lists. To the domestic goddess they're are an aid, a helper, a prompt, not a guide for life....

The Love of the List – Lists to Make Now
Tuesday 18th September 2007

In the course of a week there are rotating lists I make time and time again, week after week and there are lists I make sporadically as and when I need them (like the current one that lists the jobs I have to have done before a photographer visits my house...

For The Love Of The List – An Introduction
Tuesday 11th September 2007

I remember reading somewhere that keeping to-do lists was not such a good thing. I can’t quite remember what it was that was so terrifically bad about them... I think it had something to do with the fact that feeling like you'd achieved something each time you scrubbed another job off...

Bookish Chic
Monday 3rd September 2007

We accessorise our wardrobe without a moments thought, the latest must-have bag or necklace as we fly out the door knowing that the extra detail can transform a simple outfit into a blooming great one! It’s just as easy to accessorise our homes in this disposable and seasonal way. Regular readers of...

Forward Facing
Tuesday 28th August 2007

Goodness knows how hard it is to let go of the summer (not that we’ve had much of a summer in this country) and start to look towards cooler and darker months. But, as we hurtle towards rising and going to bed in the dark there is one place that need...

My Plump, Green Friends
Tuesday 21st August 2007

As this is my first recipe on SheerLuxe I thought I’d give you a little intro about how I cook and why. I cook seasonally. If the food isn’t in season, in this country, then I do my best not to use it. I also try to cook locally. This means...

The Big Split
Tuesday 14th August 2007

It goes without saying that most women love nothing more than fresh flowers throughout their home. But how often do we actually go out and purchase enough flowers to place in or on all the surfaces, nooks and items of furniture that we’d like our flowery friends to adorn? Not as often...

Leaving On A Jet Plane
Tuesday 7th August 2007

OK, so you may have already taken your summer break for this year but the following advice rings true whenever you holiday. We always pack very carefully for time away but, what about our homes? Do we prepare the home we leave behind as thoroughly as we prepare the suitcase? I...

Today’s Homemaker
Tuesday 31st July 2007

What is, or better yet, who is today’s homemaker? Are they a housewife with a Cath Kidston obsession or a stay at home mother who, try as she might, simply cannot stay away from the hallowed web pages of Jo Jo Maman Bebe? Is today’s homemaker a career girl who hires a...