Thanks for stopping by, fellow Idealist.
Autumn is well and truly on its way, which has us dreaming of cosy colour schemes and interior design projects to last all through the winter. Here at The Idealist office, we’re obsessing over the versatility that shades of brown can bring to interior design. Although if bright colours are more your style, you might be inspired by this lime green scheme for the living room, or a shocking red colourway.
Our favourite kind of inspiration is the type that comes from seeing real homes, and their transformations from average to amazing. And in this edition of The Idealist, we’ve toured plenty of homes, from an unusual farmhouse to an architect-owned design masterpiece, and a few in between. There’s a cottage that was rejected by other potential buyers due to its aesthetics (but after this stunning makeover, we bet they’ll be kicking themselves), and this small bathroom renovation that’s all of our scandi chic dreams.
Speaking of Scandinavia, we caught up with Jonas Krüger to talk about his family’s business Brdr. Krüger, a Danish institution when it comes to furniture design. Other modern heroes we’re introducing in our latest issue include Pluck Kitchens (be prepared to want all of their designs), Martin Waller, who founded Andrew Martin Designs, and Cornish fabric designer Helen Baker.
Although we love all things local, we also have itchy feet and can’t help but explore further afield as well. In the latest issue of The Idealist, our team has travelled far and wide to share our insider guides to our favourite destinations, showing you where to eat, drink, stay, and (importantly), shop. We’ve travelled to Florence, Bilbao, Venice, Sydney, and even Philadelphia. And we’re throwing the spotlight on some destinations closer to home, too, like Newcastle and London’s own Notting Hill.
An interiors blog wouldn’t be complete without some expert tips, and we have plenty of those to share with you. We’ve rounded up the home renovation projects with the best ROI so you know where to get started, and we’re teaching you how to transform your coffee table from a functional piece of furniture into the focal point of your living room. If you are a believer in the mantra ‘more is more’, we’ve got some interior design guides created with you in mind, like these nature-inspired wallpapers for a feature wall that’s bound to turn heads, or this guide to decorating with velvet for an opulent look that’s as comfortable as it is stylish.
And if you’re more of a minimalist, we’ve got you covered, too. The trend for marble interiors isn’t going anywhere, so we’re showing you how to incorporate it into your modern home design. And when it comes to midcentury style, we’re unashamedly obsessed. That’s why we hunted down these ten showstopping coffee table designs for you to shop.
So whether you want to get your home ready for autumn, you’re looking at clever ways to decorate a small space, or you just want to peep inside real people’s houses for inspiration, you’ll find it all in this issue of The Idealist.
So grab a cuppa, sit back, and let us inspire you with our interior design ideas and tips in this issue of The Idealist magazine.
And when you’re done, we want to hear from you. Tell us what else you’d like to see on our interiors blog and share your design struggles so our experts can help you solve them.
And if you have a home to be proud of and you’d love to show it off, we want to hear from you! We love sharing real homes interiors, whether they’ve been designed by a professional or you just have a knack for design yourself. Your home could be in our next issue – just head over to our contact page to get in touch with our team.
Don’t forget to follow us on social media, too. We’re on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, sharing our best tips as well as exclusive interiors content we know you’ll love.
with our warmest wishes,
Stephen, Lauren, Charlie, Jules, Ben, John, Ellie, Joan and the rest of the Idealist team