Kate Watson-Smyth, Journalist and Interiors Blogger of Mad About The House
Kate Watson-Smyth is a journalist, author and creator of the award-winning Mad About the House blog – a generous sourcebook for modern living. It’s a place to show wonderful things and their creators as well as packed with advice to help you how to decorate your own home.
My philosophy? Your home should tell your story. It should make your heart sing when you open the front door.
She’s also a dab hand at Make Me A Rug, so time for a chat to get some insider tips.
Here’s our Q&A on the first of our Rug Stars…
Rug Stars: Kate’s rug is a Wool Pebble Stade with a thick stripe grey border
AF: WHERE DOES YOUR DESIGN INSPIRATION COME FROM?
KWS: Anywhere and everywhere. I always pay close attention to restaurant loos as they quite often use amazing tiles and decor effects to make the most of a small space. Hotel rooms can be good too as they often have to fit a lot into a small space and, of course, fashion is always good for colour and texture. What you see on the catwalk always works its way through to the cushions eventually and the time lag between the two is getting shorter.
AF: DESCRIBE THE STYLE IN YOUR OWN HOME
KWS: Well it’s currently undergoing a bit of a change and a lot of the grey is going. I still love dark grey but I am moving towards softer dark colours such as plum and dark chocolate. There is something vintage in every room whether it’s old Persian rugs or chairs from ebay. In short, every room adheres to my mantra of Something new, something old, something black and something gold. It doesn’t have to be gold but it does have to be metallic or shiny to add a sense of luxe and to bounce the light around. I don’t like too much colour but I do like it to be dramatic. I’m a monochrome maximalist if you like.
Enid the cat lounging on Kate’s Wool Pebble Stade rug
AF: WHAT PART DO RUGS PLAY AND HOW DO YOU USE THEM?
KWS: I love wool rugs and have them in every room apart from my sons’ bedrooms which are carpeted – partly for the noise factor. Everywhere else has white painted floorboards and rugs. In the sitting room, I have layers of old Persian rugs as I inherited (stole) a couple from my mother and they weren’t big enough for the space so we layered them to fill the space.
We are still a little wary of patterned carpet in this country but wool rugs are a great way to bring in lots of pattern in a way that seems less frightening. I think you can be very dramatic and bold with a patterned rug in a way that you can’t with a carpet. At least not yet.
Rug Stars: Kate’s rug is a Wool Pebble Stade with a thick stripe grey border
AF: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS DESIGN?
KWS: This rug is for my son’s bedroom – he is about to move bedrooms and take over the spare room. So, as a 17-year-old it was bound to be more conservative than I might otherwise have chosen. He likes black and grey – those are the colours he wears so it was logical that was what he would choose for his bedroom. I did manage to inject a little colour with the border though.
AF: HOW DID YOU FIND THE MAKE ME A RUG SERVICE?
KWS: It’s easy and effective. I have used it before.
Alternative’s Dotty Damson stairunner as seen in Kate’s home
AF: WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ALTERNATIVE FLOOR AND WHY
KWS: I have had Dotty Damson on my stairs for nearly eight years now – since well before I started working with Alternative Flooring – and I love it just as much now as I did when I first laid eyes on it. Stairs are often the first thing you see when you enter someone’s home and they need make a statement. When you come home from a long day at work your house needs to welcome you in and make you happy. For me a beige oatmeal twist is never going to make my heart sing. Dotty, on the other hand, makes me happy to come home every day.
Kate also has a new book called How to decorate your home with style.
The book of the UK’s No.1 interiors blog, madaboutthehouse.com.
Expanding on her award-winning blog, Kate Watson-Smyth shares a wealth of experience in home design to help you make the most of your space, be it a house, apartment or single room.
Whatever your style, Mad About The House is a must-have for anyone who is interested in interior design and who wants to make their house a home.
‘Kate Watson-Smyth writes with great flair and humour, but what I Iove about her is that she encompasses core design principles, whilst giving people a chance to form their own opinions and see things in a different light.’ – Kelly Hoppen
http://www.pavilionbooks.com/book/mad-about-the-house/
Visit Kate on her website, read her blog and follow her on Instagram
See Alternative’s Rug Stars and Kate designing with Make Me A Rug
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