Catherine

We had been buying light fittings for our past French apartment and suddenly, I was focused on various lighting around restaurants and hotels for inspiration. If you can, sit under the light fitting you are considering and ask what you sense. Having sat under crocheted bohemian lights, I realised that I felt as if I had string hanging over me! Then I sat under wooden slatted Chinese lanterns and immediately got a sharp 'poison arrow' energy. So let's talk about light. In Feng Shui, light is seen as a key energy that can add yin and yang, light and

Robbie Burns said, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. We flew down just before Christmas discussing paint colours, cushion covers and candlesticks. One small delivery of furniture had happened and we were looking forward to the main delivery and sleeping on a real bed. It didn't happen. Our removalist was unusually silent and we finally received a text that he had suffered a heart attack and was in hospital with three stents! We reassured him that it was just furniture and went back to our empty space and inflatable mattress. Vintage Furniture We had

Green is a colour that resonates with nature, freshness, new life and a sense of calm. It comes in a range of shades and you need to decide, carefully, if you go for a yellow-based green which produces happy apple green and citrus lime. If you are considering blue-based shades there is a wide range of turquoise and emerald. It is important to remember the base, otherwise you might end up with different greens that clash. You can now by from paint companies such as Farrow & Ball, hints of green but be careful as they can give the

Deck the halls with boughs of holly! It is that time of year where trees, decorations and lights come out. Trouble is, I don't like the traditional Victorian style decor of Father Christmas, chubby angels and general red and green shiny baubles. Fortunately, there are now lots of different styles of decor you can consider. Traditional Victoriana This is where it all started commercially . Queen Victoria's German husband, Prince Albert, brought over some of his family traditions of candles, cake and small gifts opened on Christmas Eve. Along with sugared almonds, Christmas pudding with charms inside to find,