A7. Bon Après midi Chloe, I have just recently returned from Southern France and have fallen in love with French rural design, I'm an avid fan of dinning tables for both family and friends to eat and be sociable, if your room is an open kitchen/dinner then embrace the room as one rather than trying to separate them. as for shapes, sizes, and materials clear the intended space mark off the options using either newspaper or masking tape leaving room to walk around don't forget where the chairs will be, this will help you decide how big or small the table can be and how it will fit around your existing furniture as for materials you cant go wrong with a sturdy wooden table with linin and a centre piece. all the best to everyone with their projects and thank you for your questions, until next time Adieu,

Loved reading this discussion! I am an interior designer and have done my interior sketchign courses with BehindCanvas. The tutor is amazing and you can do the tutorials online in your own time and rewatch them. Highly recommend if you're interested in mastering sketching from zero!

Oh you're too sweet! I've been thinking about my biggest challenges so I could pick one. A lot of them were actually practical or build related things - stuff that I didn't consider or couldn't foresee during my renovation and that I will do differently next time. What I'm finding surprisingly challenging now that I'm furnishing my home is: balance of colours and materials. I've been obsessing over interiors for as long as I can remember, and in my head I knew exactly what I wanted my home to look like. There is not one item of furniture that I purchased in a haphazard manner, I thought about function and style, I considered how it would tie in with the rest of the room, I created visuals...and still, now that it's all there, carefully arranged, it doesn't look like I wanted it to. Colour is a big aspect of it: what is the right amount of colour to inject so it doesn't look bland but still coherent? I like bright and white so I stick to neutrals for permanent items and bring in colour with decorative items that don't cost the world and can be moved and played with (that's with the exception of a brown chesterfield sofa that I've had for years and can't part with, an a black fireplace that must have been tiled by a blind person). Same goes for materials - I guess with an all white backdrop you can introduce materials more generously (?) but there is probably still something like a healthy medium. Is it ok to mix brass, steel, glass, fur, linen, marble...or is there a magic number to stick to? I have attached a photo of the living room I'm working on, as an example. I'll either remove the rattan chair or cover it with a sheepskin, the grey sofa will be reupholstered in a lighter fabric and the art over the mantle will be replaced with a mirror or a more toned-down canvas. Maybe these changes will solve my problem. But bottom line is, I was going for an urban industrial look and now feel that the room has got a granny touch, it's too girly. Anyway, materials and colour. I bet you're sorry now that you asked ;) x

A really good article! Two things we can absolutely agree on are portable lamps and glass lighting. At this year's Light + Building fair we had the opportunity to check out the very latest in the industry and these trends are definitely alive for 2018 /2019. We just recenly published an article on that - maybe you're interested on our view of the subject as well :) Fascination Glass Lighting: Interior Trend 2018 / 2019