Dining Room & Kitchen Schemes Where Each Piece Is Under £500

They may not be the greatest rooms you've ever seen but they're something.

This idea came about due to two things -

One - Many of the things I see in editorial are wildly expensive and out of reach for me and, I imagine, some of you. That being said, I have no anger towards such items; furniture is always going to be expensive, and good furniture should be expensive as a huge amount goes into those pieces. Nevertheless I can’t afford them and sometimes find that a little disheartening,

Two - I do believe we rely too heavily on the internet retailers, those whose products get shipped over and within two weeks are falling apart. When I moved into my first flat, I bought some really hideous pieces of furniture, one of which I still shiver at were some shelves from La Redoute which were so badly made if you moved them a cm the whole thing would collapse. I wish I had been brave and searched for pieces that would have heartened our flat. But I was making a very small amount of money and was rather nervous about the process of buying antiques.

Fast forward ten years, and my house is filled with pieces like the ones below. Each piece is at least 50 years old, and none of them were expensive. Many people will enter my house and think it looks like a mess, which it does, but it is interesting and unique. You couldn't just copy and paste it (nor would many of you want to).

#makeitmakesense

N.B - A few things to note, none of these pieces are to scale. Yes some items are better value than others but everything is under £500. If you are worried about couriers Shiply and Proovia work very well. If you like the idea, I’d love to do more, just let me know. Deafening silence will speak volumes.

My Design For A Rather Odd but Doable Sitting Room.

This sitting room is either in London or some other city dwelling I don’t think it could work in the country as the sofa is not one for lounging. Sofa’s under £500 are not easy to come by so I went for one that passed the visual test rather than the butt test. All the seats in this room have been bought purely on their visual chops. The armchair for me is quite the most beautiful thing, I would upholster in something terribly dull but I am sure one of you has better imagination than I. I know the coffee table is odd but it feeds into what I was saying above, one needs a little joy a hint of frivolity. Too chic is too boring.