Mad About the House: Kate Watson-Smyth's award-winning interiors blog is now a go-to guide book for home decorators
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Kate Watson-Smyth really is mad about her north London house, but the author of the UK’s number one interiors blog is also mad about yours - and everyone else’s.
So much so that she has extended her award-winning site into a book packed with helpful tips and design ideas for everyone to follow, whether you're a first-time buyer, renter or empty nester.
But don’t expect a classic coffee table tome, heaving with glossy, professionally styled interior looks you will never have the time or the budget to emulate.
Mad About The House offers a down to earth and achievable guide to getting it right for you and your home.
Speaking as part of the Soho House Interior Design Lounge series, hosted by journalist Amira Hashish (@thedesigneditor) in Notting Hill’s Electric House this week, Watson-Smyth said: “I purposely chose not to fill the book with pictures of interior styles I like, or of what I have chosen for my house. I think that would put people off reading it if they don’t share the same love of dark rooms, for example."
"I took a similar approach to the blog when putting the book together. I wanted to have it all in once place so it felt like a logical step to put everything together, room by room."
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BiQ7q57Aocm/" data-instgrm-version="8"> <div> <div> <div> </div> </div> <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BiQ7q57Aocm/" target="_blank" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-120116-https://www.instagram.com/p/BiQ7q57Aocm/" data-vars-event-id="c23">If anyone wants me I wish I could be sitting here today - a mix of my current favourite colour scheme - old gold, deep pinks and dark wood/chocolate brown. It’s the top floor of the Electric, part of Soho House, where I was interviewed by @thedesigneditor as part of the @evening.standard design lounge series. Thanks to everyone who came and squeezed into the room to hear. And today? Well I shall be on @bbcradio4 You and Yours at lunchtime talking about the rise of supermarket homewares. Tune in if you’re around. . . . #interiorstyling #interiorgoals #bringthehousehome #sohohouse #fireplace #howivintage #vintagechairs #tinceiling #madaboutthehouse #authorinterview #makeyourhouseahome</a> A post shared by <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.instagram.com/mad_about_the_house/" target="_blank" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-120116-https://www.instagram.com/mad_about_the_house/" data-vars-event-id="c23"> Kate Watson-Smyth</a> (@mad_about_the_house) on <time datetime="2018-05-02T06:12:54+00:00">May 1, 2018 at 11:12pm PDT</time> </div>
The book has chapters dedicated to decorating your hallway, kitchen, dining room, sitting room, right through to the bedroom, bathroom and even the spare room. But it's also realistic and reassuring, walking you through the type of agonising interior design dilemmas that cause you to question your own judgment and can halt progress for months.
As well as her top 10 design hacks, she reveals the rules of rug layout, explains how to buy a sofa, shows you how to get the lighting right in every room and gives you the confidence to add touches of your own flair - for example, why not paint the inside of your front door a bold and vibrant colour that you love, as you're the one looking at it most.
Crucially, Watson-Smyth is all about helping you work out your personal style by leading you around your home to figure out how the space will be used, and then working out which colours you like.
"When you’re trying to find colour, look at your wardrobe. If you’re comfortable wearing it, you’ll be comfortable living with it, but look at the proportions you're wearing," she says. "My wardrobe is basically black, grey, ivory and various shades of pink. Guess what? So is my house."
Looking around the packed room on the top floor of Electric House, most of us will be using a lot of black in our rooms, "which is massively on-trend".
Judging from the number of questions fired at Watson-Smyth from the design lounge audience, from curtain pole dilemmas (how can we get excited about them?) to the best alternatives to wooden floors if your London neighbours forbid you from ripping up the carpet, many of us share the same challenges when designing the spaces we live in.
Perhaps the best advice of all she saves until the end of the talk: "If it appeals to you and you think it's fun, then do it. It's your home."
The hardcover version of Mad About the House is available through Amazon for £14 or £11.04 for the Kindle Edition. Follow Kate Watson-Smyth on instagram @mad_about_the_house