Thanks Louise, I think I'm going to need it! I have been following the comments on the 'decluttering for 2016' article with interest and am encouraged by the heroic efforts other people are making to sort out their lives. As so many of them say, it will all be worth it in the end, it's just getting there that's scary .... :0

I need to stop 'Houzzing', it's becoming a two hour addiction when i get up! I have things i need to do to my own house. Main bathroom needs and overhaul, the attic is desperately in need of redecoration and the wife wants a dormer in it! It's so much nicer to sit here in the morning and help others from the comfort of my chair than to start a project indoors.

New Years resolutions have been the central topic in our #OfficeDebate this week. As expected, each of us had our own interior goals for 2017, and we'd thought we'd share a few. Head of Customer Care, Sally, has recently moved into a new apartment... "I am determined to only buy items which I truly love. I had a brutal clear out when moving properties and it made me realise how much I have held on to that I barely like, let alone enjoy looking at or using. My original plan had been to rush through the work that needed doing but I have decided to live in the space for a while before I make concrete decisions; to make sure I get it right first time. I want to be braver with colour and to utilise it to make the various spaces cohere. I am lucky to have plenty of light so I can be bold and use it to my advantage." Let us know your interior goals for 2017 in the comments section...

I feel that the different styles and trends in the garden for 2019 will still have to cover the basic functional requirements that people have for their gardens: Entertaining space, privacy, area for bins, washing line etc, but we will be looking at slicker ways of doing this. While there will always be a demand for a soft, cottage garden, I am seeing more demand for tonally restricted planting scheme, sitting alongside visually gentle hard landscaping choices such as natural stone, cortex steel and gravel. Think of one of my favourite designers, Tom Stuart-Smith, combining natural soft planting with clean modern hard landscaping. Having said that , the most popular garden at Chelsea last year was Mark Gregory's Yorkshire garden - which was as cottage garden as you can get - so what do I know!