Hi everyone! It’s been another busy month for me. I’ve spent 3 weeks overseas filming and doing what I love most - looking at properties and getting ideas for interior design. Most recently, I’ve been travelling around the Murcia region and I was surprised to find a really nice feature wall at the new airport.
I love a good feature wall, it’s a great way of creating a big impact in a room without being too overpowering. In our house, we’ve chosen feature wallpaper in our TV room, our hallway, our living room, and our bedroom. I’ve sourced some interesting designs from a variety of places and I thought I would share a few photos of the feature walls of my home with you.
The bedroom features black and white abstract wallpaper.
Soft greys in the hallway.
Black and white bookshelf wallpaper in the TV room.
Our lovely black and white bookshelf wallpaper in the TV room is from eBay! It’s always worth checking out sites like this, where someone might be selling off some unused rolls. Some of my other favourite places to look are Harlequin and Designers Guild. We even decided to create a feature wall at our coffee shop Lord Roberts on The Green. Here we used a beautiful wallpaper mural in our garden studio which was beautiful.
When it comes to choosing which wall should be your feature wall, you do need to consider it carefully. How are you planning to lay the furniture out in the room? Where does the light in the room come from? And how light is the room itself? If you choose a colour or wallpaper that is too dark in a room that doesn’t have much natural light then it will make the whole room feel dark. You should also bear in mind that the colour you choose will also make the paint on the walls look a slightly different colour. For example, my whole house is painted 'Tottington White' yet it looks a different colour in each room because of the different coloured feature walls.
In my opinion, the feature wall should be the one you see as soon as you walk into the room to give the biggest impact. I have followed this rule throughout my home and it really works. If you are thinking about creating a feature wall, choose some sample wallpaper and blue-tac a sample of it onto the wall you plan to cover before you actually do it. Live with it for a few days and if you aren’t sure, try another one until you are happy!
As well as a feature wall, one of the other things I love is a gorgeous smelling home. Everyone has their own home scent, whether they realise it on not, and just like when you are wearing perfume, you often can’t smell it yourself! I have always been a huge fan of scented candles, and since our Jo Malone-themed wedding (that was featured in HELLO! Magazine a little over 7 years ago), I’ve maintained I would have a Lime Basil Mandarin scented candle at home; the scent at our wedding.
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As the seasons change, I think it is nice to change the scent of your home. During the summer months, I love cotton, linen and fresh scents. In the winter months, I often choose a woody, fig smell and at Christmas, I love a spicy smell with a hint of orange. As much as I love burning my Jo Malone candles, they can be a little pricey so I've rounded up a few ideas on how to make your home smell gorgeous for a little less.
Zoflora
I am a huge fan of this disinfectant, and I can’t believe I only discovered it a few months ago. There are a few varieties of scents in their range but Linen Fresh is currently my favourite and the smell lasts several hours. And what's more, in October they are donating 20p from every sale of the limited edition Secret Garden scent to Caudwell Children’s charity.
Electric diffusers
Made by Zen diffusers are absolutely amazing. They have so many different designs to choose from to compliment your home interior. I opted for a simple white diffuser and I currently rotate between three scents: I used Monsoon throughout the summer, I use Sleep at night to help me switch off (which I never seem to be able to do!), and I’ll be using Sweet Orange during the autumn. The other thing I like about it is the light that it omits changes. I definitely recommend checking them out.
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Reed diffusers
I have a reed diffuser in every single bathroom and toilet in my house and the scents generally last 3-4 months. Any parents will know children have a habit of going to the toilet and not flushing - mine do, and we have created a reward chart to remind they have to flush otherwise the smell lingers! Having a reed diffuser in the bathrooms and toilets is a ‘child safe’ way (if it’s out of reach) of ensuring it smells nice. Some of my favourites are Wild Fig from the Rituals Private Collection range, Cinnamon & Clove from True Grace, the Neom De Stress diffuser, and, when it’s in stock, the No1 diffuser from ALDI (which smells like Lime Basil Mandarin but is a fraction of the cost).
If you're feeling creative, you can easily make a reed diffuser yourself. The bottles, oils and reeds are all available online through Amazon and it’s nice to be able to create a scent that is unique to your home.
Candles
Over the years, I have found that there is a massive difference in scented candles and so many don’t actually seem scented at all. Aside from Jo Malone, I have always found Diptique and Molton Brown candles to provide long-lasting scents. If you have any other recommendations on scented candles or other scents around the home, I would love to hear from you.
Until next time, Laura x
@laurahamiltontv
