It’s a luxury not feeling compelled to spend money on new things. The reason why we get so stressed is because we think we need to keep on acquiring. If you have dining-room chairs that are perfectly good but have a surface you don’t like, sand it down and give it a coat of eggshell paint in a bluey-green colour. If you really do want a new item, one of my favourite stop-offs is the British Heart Foundation’s second-hand furniture shops, which are all over Britain
Lovely linen
Whenever I’m out and about, I’m always on the lookout for vintage linen sheets; there’s quite a big market for them. You can use them on your bed, or as curtains; it is gorgeous to have a really lovely fabric to play around with. Make a tablecloth that reaches to the floor and sew a band of bright velvet ribbon around the edge to add a luxurious touch; eBay is a good place to go hunting
Fine dining
Glasses can be quite expensive, but you can bring together all sorts of mismatching styles of wine glasses, which can be different sizes. If you have them all gathered together, they can look very pretty. Put some creamy white candles on the table and place some sprigs of rosemary in little glasses of water and dot them around the table. It’s attention to detail that adds luxury to your home, and you can’t buy that. Simple ideas using good materials are the stuff of luxury
Say it with flowers
Forced hyacinth bulbs are around at this time of the year. I like the blue and white varieties for look and scent. Take them out of the plastic pot and put them in some compost in little bowls, and leave them in your kitchen or by your bed – they are nice punctuation marks of colour around the house. There’s nothing like it when the days are really short, and they last for two or three weeks, so it is a much better investment than a big designer bouquet
A better bathroom
The problem with bathrooms is that they can seem quite cold, so a mix of textures is good, such as an old, worn towel rack combined with plain white cotton towels. It may be a cliché, but you could place a bowl of pebbles you have collected from the beach by the window. Get some tongue-and-groove panelling from B&Q for your bath panel and paint it. Ikea do great natural floor coverings, too
Pure Style: Recipes for Every Day, by Jane Cumberbatch, is published by Pavilion at £25 (purestyleonline.com)
Say it with flowers
Forced hyacinth bulbs are around at this time of the year. I like the blue and white varieties for look and scent. Take them out of the plastic pot and put them in some compost in little bowls, and leave them in your kitchen or by your bed – they are nice punctuation marks of colour around the house. There’s nothing like it when the days are really short, and they last for two or three weeks, so it is a much better investment than a big designer bouquet
A better bathroom
The problem with bathrooms is that they can seem quite cold, so a mix of textures is good, such as an old, worn towel rack combined with plain white cotton towels. It may be a cliché, but you could place a bowl of pebbles you have collected from the beach by the window. Get some tongue-and-groove panelling from B&Q for your bath panel and paint it. Ikea do great natural floor coverings, too
Pure Style: Recipes for Every Day, by Jane Cumberbatch, is published by Pavilion at £25 (purestyleonline.com)
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