The main advantage of living room carpet is the incredible range of decorating possibilities that it offers, thanks to the wide variety of colors and textures, as well as the feeling of warmth underfoot. The different types of carpet pile available mean you can create a dramatically different look and feel, from the smoothness of velvet pile, to the sumptuous luxury of Saxony. We explore the best options for your living room ideas....

Colors tend to be from a muted palette of soft gray-greens and mauve-blues that creates a painterly effect, but bright splashes of color are welcome, too. Mediterranean plants like a sunny south-facing position if they’re going to thrive and they do well in poor soil, with many happy even to settle their roots straight into gravel, which, of course, makes them the perfect complement to your Mediterranean garden ideas. The mild winters and hot dry summers of the Mediterranean lends itself to drifts of hardy and low-growing plants that like these conditions including lavender, herbs, succulents and grasses....

When drawing up your home office ideas, work towards creating the perfect office Feng Shui by positioning your desk correctly for good feng shui furniture placement, and incorporate nature. These are just two simple ways to invite good energy into your space, but there are many more. Here, Feng Shui designers and experts offer their advice for boosting office Feng Shui. Office Feng Shui Having good office Feng Shui is important as the home study is a hub for success, explains holistic interior designer Anna Lippett (opens in new tab), who explains the meaning of Feng Shui in relation to an office layout: ‘The goal of contemporary Feng Shui is to shift and balance the chi in an environment through intention, action, and adjustments....

Organizing a bathroom effectively is vital for hygiene reasons, too. A littered bathroom countertop is hard to keep thoroughly clean, while good order will make the task simple. Keeping track of products’ expiry dates is also easier if they’re well arranged. Here, we’ve collected our favorite strategies for organizing a bathroom countertop and asked the experts to share their advice, too. Organizing a bathroom countertop Bathroom countertop ideas are considered part of any bathroom design and a chaotic collection of objects on their surface hides the beauty of the materials, as well as detracting from the room’s calm....

‘We consider foliage color contrast, texture, size of the plant for extra lushness, and determine whether or not the plant will look good year round,’ says Kate Anne Gross of Los Angeles landscape design firm Kate Anne Designs. ‘Do we want butterflies to come to the patio? Would the homeowner like a garden scent from the patio? Does the homeowner want herbs and plants for cooking right outside their kitchen?...

There are many different greenhouse ideas and styles that can suit any style of backyard. Greenhouses and glasshouses provide a beautiful, undercover alfresco space, and the capacity to grow a huge variety of vegetables that can augment and start off crops planned as part of your kitchen garden ideas. Planning a greenhouse – what to consider A greenhouse will broaden the scope, not only of what you can grow, but also when you can grow it....

See: Interior design trends – the top looks for the New Year My collection came about thanks to a bag of key dust that a locksmith gave me one day. I love how a material that is useless to one person can be of much greater value to someone else, and the starting point of a new project; I think we need to make more of these design connections. All of the pieces in the Rust collection are inspired by a desire to create new forms and utility out of commonly discarded waste materials....

With fewer practical constraints than other areas of the house, once you’ve covered the basics – great bedroom storage ideas and a comfortable bed to sleep on – deciding on the romantic décor is the easy part. Romantic bedroom ideas If you are in need of romantic bedroom ideas for you and your significant other, we’ve come up with a host of delightful bedroom ideas that we think will inspire you to indulge in all your decorating fantasies....

Unsurprisingly, their homes are some of the world’s best homes, and many members of the firm have more than one palatial residence that they call home. 11 royal homes – where do the Royal family live? From lesser-known private houses to the most famous of Crown-owned castles, H&G takes a look at the top Royal residences around the UK, from Buckingham Palace to Balmoral, to Frogmore and Kensington Palace....

Rugs are an easy way to bring warmth and softness to hard floors, but they are also a fabulous way to add color, texture and to express your personal style. Available in a dazzling array of materials, weaves, colors and patterns, there’s a rug to suit all tastes, from versatile, neutral rugs to use as a base for a layered scheme, to vibrant feature rugs that double as artwork. Whether you’re looking for a living room rug, a bedroom rug, or simply want some inspiration on the latest interior design trends, read on to find out what colors, materials and ways of displaying rugs are popular with interior designers right now....

Narrow floor space, low ceilings and awkward angles can all present a challenge when designing a bedroom, but with some clever planning and out-of-the-box thinking, what small bedrooms lack in size they can make up for in ingenuity and personality. Luckily there are plenty of ingenious ways to make spaces look and feel bigger than they are, from furniture placement to clever storage ideas. To help get you inspired we’ve rounded up a selection of bedroom layout ideas perfect for planning a small sanctuary....

And this focus is sharpest when it comes to designing a kitchen. It is, after all, the heart of the home, where many of spend the most time. And while it has to be functional, and of course we want it to be beautiful, it’s got to make us feel good too. So, how to create a kitchen design, through color choices, layout, materials and lighting, that appeals to our emotions, positively?...

‘Perhaps it’s a yearning for the light and warmth of sunnier climes that’s behind the current demand for reds, burgundies and terracottas,’ suggest Merlin Wright, design director at Plain English. ‘Warm colors are positive and inspiring and complement other Mediterranean hues such as blues, greens and yellows. Experiment with different tones to suit the light and scale of your room.’ Understanding color lies at the root of all interior design decisions....

An endless crowd pleaser thanks to its versatility and timelessness, blue remains one of my favorite shades to decorate with. While a brave choice, it’s very easy to work with and can be layered with so many other colors. At a time when maximalist decor trends are on the rise this is the perfect time to begin experimenting with decorating with blue. Here, I share my top tips on how to freshen up your interiors by inviting this charismatic accent color into the home....

White kitchen ideas can be the most versatile foundation for any remodel. Whether you choose an all-white scheme, with white cabinetry, countertop, backsplash and walls, or decide to major on white for key pieces but add in some other tones for variation and depth, white’s ability to go with any other color is unparalleled. When white can go with any color, choosing just what shade you want to team it with takes even more consideration....

Kicking off on Christmas Eve and through to the New Year, Nordstrom shares with us the Half-Yearly Sale; it’s the second biggest sale of the year as a halfway marker to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Honestly, we expect it to include a similar assortment of products as the Anniversary Sale: think a cozy clearout of sweaters, blankets, boots, as well as bedding, to make way for the White Sales to come our way in January....

The most important first step in how to grow radishes and when to plant radishes is when to harvest them once fully grown. Get this right, and you can be enjoying a homegrown harvest, high in vitamin C and packed with antioxidants, year round. When to harvest radishes Check the size of your radishes before picking by removing just the top layer of soil around one of the plants in the row....

It is one thing knowing how to prune an apple tree, but experts suggest it is all about getting the timing right when it comes to this fall garden task. Whether you want to simply tame your large apple trees or are looking to actively improve your tree’s crops, set out a gardening schedule to get your pruning right and avoid damaging your plants. Here, we talk to an expert to learn his pruning secrets to get the most out of your apple tree pruning each year....

On the desirable evergreen shrubs list for many gardeners in the south – as well as that of those located in colder zones who are prepared to move their plants indoors in winter – gardenias are adored for their showy, fragrant blooms and attractive foliage. But to help them look their best, pruning is a good idea, and this is the lowdown on when to prune gardenias. When to prune gardenias Gardenias are one of the best flowering shrubs for busy gardeners because they don’t have to be pruned much....

While you may have mastered how to grow rosemary (and how to harvest rosemary for delicious aroma and flavor in cooking or floral displays), it is equally important to know when to begin the pruning process. Though, the time frame is refreshingly generous – stretching across many months of the year. This is when the experts prune rosemary – for healthy, fragrant shrubs that will continue to look good for longer....