Front doors: the key looks

How does your home make an entrance? Here’s our guide to creating the perfect portal – without letting the neighbours down

I am ashamed of my front door – a putrid purple reproduction affair, the house numbers two timid little digits from B&Q. It is only now that the front door has become such a lifestyle statement that I have dared to ask why.

Your front door needs to sing to your soul and say something about you to your visitors

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Ptdmb5
via IFTTT

Homes: 'We wanted a house where we could dance underneath a disco ball'

Design aficionado Thorsten van Elten has turned a 70s bungalow in East Sussex into a playful home

Three days before Christmas, in 2015, Thorsten van Elten and his partner Karl swapped central London for rural East Sussex. “I was fully ready for a change,” says the German-born design retailer, who had lived in the West End for 20 years, after he moved to England to study interior design. “Karl’s family arrived for the holidays on 24 December, so it felt immediately like home.”

When the pair began looking to buy in the countryside, Van Elten knew a beamed cottage wasn’t going to work – he is more than 6ft tall. “We wanted a house where we could dance underneath a disco ball. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days trying not to bump my head.”

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2UhWoeF
via IFTTT

How to grow winter salad | Alys Fowler

Our gardening expert looks at rocket, mustards and oriental salad leaves in the second of a two-part special (read the first part here)

I think winter salads need a little heat to them; a few leaves that pepper the cooler greens and don’t mind being rested on by hot things, be that roasted vegetables or grilled cheese. For this you need the spicy salads from the brassica family, such as rocket, mizuna, and the many mustard leaves.

Rocket, as its name suggests, is up before the rest and races to grow, giving you substantial salads by autumn, slowly increasing in spiciness as the weather darkens. If its peppery heat is too much, try Real Seed’s ‘Mild’ rocket, which is sweet rather than fiery. By winter, cultivated rocket will have stopped growing unless it’s in a polytunnel or greenhouse. Not so for wild rocket, Diplotaxis tenuifolia, which is smaller-leaved, spicier and hardier. I love it on top of pizza.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2UlFH1Q
via IFTTT

Gardening tips: build a stumpery

Then make a bold statement with Senecio ‘Angel Wings’ and watch a new series of DIY video tutorials

Plant this The large, silvery leaves of Senecio ‘Angel Wings’ make a bold statement in a container in full sun. It’s hardy down to -5C but won’t like cold, wet conditions, so offer protection in winter, if necessary, or bring it inside as it also makes a great houseplant. Height and spread: 35cm x 35cm.

Try this Shady spots under trees can be tricky, but a stumpery transforms a dank corner into a cool verdant retreat. Improve the soil with leaf mould or compost, then arrange hardwood logs and stumps, planting ferns, hostas and spring bulbs such as snowdrops in the gaps between.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/34ewgFQ
via IFTTT

How to grow winter salad | Alys Fowler

Our gardening expert looks at rocket, mustards and oriental salad leaves in the second of a two-part special (read the first part here)

I think winter salads need a little heat to them; a few leaves that pepper the cooler greens and don’t mind being rested on by hot things, be that roasted vegetables or grilled cheese. For this you need the spicy salads from the brassica family, such as rocket, mizuna, and the many mustard leaves.

Rocket, as its name suggests, is up before the rest and races to grow, giving you substantial salads by autumn, slowly increasing in spiciness as the weather darkens. If its peppery heat is too much, try Real Seed’s ‘Mild’ rocket, which is sweet rather than fiery. By winter, cultivated rocket will have stopped growing unless it’s in a polytunnel or greenhouse. Not so for wild rocket, Diplotaxis tenuifolia, which is smaller-leaved, spicier and hardier. I love it on top of pizza.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2UlFH1Q
via IFTTT

Gardening tips: build a stumpery

Then make a bold statement with Senecio ‘Angel Wings’ and watch a new series of DIY video tutorials

Plant this The large, silvery leaves of Senecio ‘Angel Wings’ make a bold statement in a container in full sun. It’s hardy down to -5C but won’t like cold, wet conditions, so offer protection in winter, if necessary, or bring it inside as it also makes a great houseplant. Height and spread: 35cm x 35cm.

Try this Shady spots under trees can be tricky, but a stumpery transforms a dank corner into a cool verdant retreat. Improve the soil with leaf mould or compost, then arrange hardwood logs and stumps, planting ferns, hostas and spring bulbs such as snowdrops in the gaps between.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/34ewgFQ
via IFTTT

Homes: 'We wanted a house where we could dance underneath a disco ball'

Design aficionado Thorsten van Elten has turned a 70s bungalow in East Sussex into a playful home

Three days before Christmas, in 2015, Thorsten van Elten and his partner Karl swapped central London for rural East Sussex. “I was fully ready for a change,” says the German-born design retailer, who had lived in the West End for 20 years, after he moved to England to study interior design. “Karl’s family arrived for the holidays on 24 December, so it felt immediately like home.”

When the pair began looking to buy in the countryside, Van Elten knew a beamed cottage wasn’t going to work – he is more than 6ft tall. “We wanted a house where we could dance underneath a disco ball. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days trying not to bump my head.”

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2UhWoeF
via IFTTT