The Duchess of Cornwall revealed a surprising hobby during a visit to a charity shop on Tuesday. After splashing out on a £1.50 mug celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee, Camilla confessed that she has a ‘whole collection’ of royal memorabilia at home. With the Platinum Jubilee just weeks away, there will be plenty more opportunities for the
To add a library to a house is to give that house soul – at least, so said Cicero. Unfortunately we’re not all as blessed in the book department as Ernest Hemingway, whose Cuban library boasted a ten-foot long desk ‘curved like a boomerang’. Modern living is often short on space. But that does not mean you can’t create a cosy
Hands up if you’ve ever had your house decorated and strategically placed a couple of empty tins of Farrow & Ball Dead Salmon on the doorstep so the neighbours appreciate your excellent taste. It happens a lot, says Henry Prideaux, a London-based interior designer who agrees that a certain kind of paint brand, ‘can appeal
In another world, I would sit down at the beginning of December with a notepad and pen and make a really organised Christmas shopping list. What I actually do is commence the proceedings by searching every drawer in the house for forgotten gift vouchers. I usually start with the children’s rooms. My son and daughter,
Television has a lot to answer for. The terrible reputation of the building trade for one. But not all builders are out to wreck your house, rob you of your life-savings and leave you in need of rescue by Nick ‘DIY SOS’ Knowles, the slightly smug TV-expert builder who goes round making good the mess
I could recite the standard advice on instructing an estate agent in my sleep. Always invite three to do a valuation, don’t go for the one who quotes the highest asking price, and haggle on commission. However, it’s not until you sell your own house that you realise this mantra doesn’t even begin to prepare
