Kate Watson-Smyth - Mad about the House: How to decorate your home with style

For Ad, Isaac and Noah,
and Enid the cat,
love always.

First things first: I am not an interior designer. Like most people, I suspect, I have never hired an interior designer, believing again, probably like most people that they arent for the likes of me.

I have always enjoyed finding my own style, but I think we are suffering from an information overload. The emergence of social media, interiors blogs and search engines like Pinterest have made it harder, not easier, to know what to buy. Every high-street fashion store seems to sell homewares these days. There is now so much inspiration, where once there was just the odd glossy magazine, that it has become increasingly difficult to work out what your personal style actually is. Add to that the sums of money involved the thought of buying the wrong 2,000 sofa is much scarier than that of buying the wrong 20 pair of sandals and the choices can be paralysing.

I can help. Im a journalist who has been writing about interiors for 20 years, and during that time I have interviewed some of the best brains in the business. Put that together with a passion for the subject, an eye for detail, a slightly obsessive need to have everything just so and a small (no really tiny) element of bossiness, and you have Mad About The House.

Thats me, and I am.

I set up Mad About The House in 2012 and it has grown to become the UKs number one interiors blog for readership and engagement, winning numerous awards along the way. My house has been featured in magazines including ELLE Decoration UK and Living Etc. Corriere della Sera has also featured the Mad House, as did Casa e Jardim magazine in Brazil. The Wall Street Journal named my first book, Shades of Grey, as one of the top five design books of 2016. Mad About The House is read every day by thousands of people all over the world, who log in, comment on content and talk to the other readers. This book is the result of that blog.

I have always helped friends with their houses and not only when they ask me to. I just cant help myself. I might casually tweak a cushion here, suggest that this table goes there, and inch a chair over to the right while they nip to the loo. So when I set up the blog it wasnt long before my small but growing band of readers started asking me for help. They ranged from first-time buyers to long-time renters to family home owners and older downsizers. Could I re-arrange their sitting room? Tell them how to buy a sofa, where to find a side table and how to position the rugs? Advise on which shade of grey paint to buy? The questions tumbled in, and the answers were well received.

I dont know the rules, so Im not bound by them. All I can say is that I have an eye for colour and style and know how to make a space work. Over the last 20 years, and through four house renovations, I have developed my own look and come up with my own ways to make every room work, both on its own and as part of a whole.

And work is the key word here. Your home should tell your story, but it also needs to store your stuff. And while I dont subscribe that theory of throwing out everything that doesnt spark joy, I would say that you do need things that make your heart sing every time you enter the room.

For example, the hall isnt just a passageway to the fridge at the end of the working day. It should welcome you in, offer to take your coat and give you a place to store your shoes and put down your keys and bags. Then, when it has done that, it should lead you to the kitchen: the heart of the home. A place where, even if this mornings breakfast things are still in the sink, you feel welcome and relaxed.

In other words, you shouldnt be fighting with your home. Yet so many of us do we argue with it for not having enough storage; for the lack of space to hang the towels after a shower; or the fact that you can only open the dishwasher when the bin is closed. Its like a bad marriage that you cant escape.

It doesnt need to be like that. We have the amount of space that the builder and the bank manager (or landlord) saw fit to give us, and we need to make this relationship work. Yes, there has to be some compromise, but there should also be a whole lot of love, a few laughs and plenty of moments that make your heart sing. Like the one when you realise that, for all the crumpled shirts in the overstuffed wardrobe and the mug stains on the coffee table, there is really, truly, nowhere else you would rather be. That you are home. That you are, despite its idiosyncrasies and multiple annoying habits, mad about your house.

This book will help you define your personal style, teach you about the perils of Pinterest and help you work out what colours you like. It will lead you around your home room by room, looking at all the elements you need to consider in order to make the best of what youve got. The answer isnt always ripping down the walls; instead, its often about using the space to its best advantage.

Well look at the lighting, the flooring, the storage and the layout. Well discuss the key pieces of furniture, from how to buy a sofa to choosing a mattress; the pros and cons of different kitchen worktops; and how to give your room that key element that makes it uniquely yours.

Every room should have something that draws you in. An amazing piece of furniture, a funky light, a family heirloom. So come with me around your own home, whether its a one-bedroom flat or a ten-bedroom villa they all have elements in common and lets see how we can make it tell your story.

What finally matters is that your house works the way you want it to. And that it is a pleasant place to be in.

Ray Eames, 1959

Im going to make a radical assumption here: that youve been making your own sartorial choices for some time, and that its been a while since your mum stopped choosing your clothes. If you havent, you should probably pass this book along to the person who is making those decisions for you.

If youre still reading, we can assume that you have a pretty good idea of what you like to wear. But many of you will be paralysed with indecision when it comes to dressing your house and you do need to think of it in those terms. In many ways its easier to find clothes for your house because your house doesnt have fat days, or hangover days, or days when it cant quite be bothered and just wants to wear tracksuit bottoms and lie on the sofa with a packet of biscuits. Your house, flat, penthouse, apartment or cottage is the same size all year round and probably the only thing that changes is the light, which depends on the weather outside and the time of day (well come to that later on).

In the meantime, the first thing you need to bear in mind when youre planning your dcor, whether its a full refurb or a gentle tweak, is that you