Practical advice to choose, measure and care for your linen, ceramic, stone and natural-fibre pieces.
Mounted on the wall either side of the bed, a wall light frees up the bedside table, puts light exactly where you read and gives the bedroom a softer glow than a ceiling light. The trick is getting the height, the material and the light right. Here is what we have learned.
A cordless lamp goes where no socket reaches: the middle of the dining table, a bookshelf, the wall beside the bed. It brings soft, atmospheric light with no trailing cable. It helps to know what you gain, what you trade for it and how to keep it in good shape. Here is our practical advice.
Stoneware feels like stone and looks like warm, fired earth. A hand-glazed plate, a matte cup, a speckled butter dish: these are pieces you use every day, and they give real character to a simple table. Here is how to pick the right sizes, understand the finishes and keep your tableware looking good for years.
An incense holder is something you look at as much as you use. It has to hold the incense, catch the ash and cope with heat, while sitting quietly in the room. Sticks, cones and bakhoor each need a different kind of holder. Here is how to pick the right one, use it safely and keep natural stone looking its best.
A soap dispenser, a soap dish, a tumbler, a tray: in travertine, everyday bathroom pieces take on a warm, calming, mineral presence. The trick is to build a set that hangs together, and to know how to live with a porous stone in the dampest room of the house. Here is how to choose your travertine bathroom accessories, look after them, and light the room with stone lamps.
Cool in summer, cosy in winter and softer with every wash: linen is the material that changes a bed the most. Here is what to check before you choose.
Linen filters light without blocking it and gives a room a very soft movement. A beautiful drape comes down to three choices: size, heading and weight.
A well-chosen pendant light shapes a whole room. Three measurements are enough to get it right: diameter, hanging height and shade material.
A limestone formed by mineral-rich springs, travertine is recognisable by its pores and sandy tones. It brings a material that is both raw and soft, as long as you know its few needs. Here is how to choose it, clean it and protect it.
A beautiful vase is almost enough on its own. Well chosen, it suits a single branch as well as a generous bunch. Here is how to match shape, material and flowers.
A linen tablecloth turns an everyday meal into a table you want to photograph. It still has to hang right, and everything starts with the size of the table.
Linen is easy to wash and gets softer every time it goes through the machine. A few simple habits keep its colour, drape and softness for years. Here they are, from the first wash to storage.
Cotton is the most common, linen the most sought after. Both make beautiful beds, but they don’t sleep the same way. Here are the differences that really matter.
Soft from the very first night, cool in summer and cosy in winter, a washed linen duvet cover changes the look of a bed more than any other piece. The key is choosing the right size, weave and closure. Here is how.
They are often lumped together as “wicker”, yet rattan, willow, raffia and seagrass are four different plants, each with its own feel, strength and way of filtering light. Knowing them apart helps you put the right piece in the right place.
Wabi-sabi and Japandi share a love of calm, natural materials and carefully chosen objects, yet they do not tell quite the same story. Here is how to understand them and bring them into your home without ending up with a catalogue look.