News

Where a Dream Catcher Should Hang, and Why the Window Rule Exists
Where a Dream Catcher Should Hang, and Why the Window Rule Exists
Tradition says where the morning light can reach it, and there is a reason. Then the practical questions about windows, nurseries and draughts. Read more...
What Size Buddha Head Works on a Wall, and What Size Works on the Floor
What Size Buddha Head Works on a Wall, and What Size Works on the Floor
Buddha heads are bought by eye and placed by guesswork. Here is the sizing done properly, with real measurements. Read more...
Which Colour Buddha Head Suits Your Room
Which Colour Buddha Head Suits Your Room
Five finishes, five very different objects. How each behaves in a British room and which one your walls actually want. Read more...
Where a Buddha Head Sits Well in a British House
Where a Buddha Head Sits Well in a British House
A Buddha head asks for a different spot from a full figure. Here is where it works in a typical British house, and where it does not. Read more...
A Shelf That Works, Three Objects and Nothing Else
A Shelf That Works, Three Objects and Nothing Else
The arrangement that always works, explained properly, with three real examples you can buy. Read more...
A Calm Corner for £100
A Calm Corner for £100
Three complete arrangements at £100, costed to the penny, with what each piece is actually doing. Read more...
What Goes With a Buddha Statue, and What Fights It
What Goes With a Buddha Statue, and What Fights It
Which objects support a statue and which ones argue with it, with the reasoning behind each. Read more...
Where a Reclining Buddha Should Go in a British Home
Where a Reclining Buddha Should Go in a British Home
A horizontal figure is a different placement problem from every other statue you own. Read more...
How Many Buddha Statues Is Too Many
How Many Buddha Statues Is Too Many
There is no traditional limit. There is a point where the eye stops reading each one, and it is lower than you think. Read more...
A Calm Corner for £250
A Calm Corner for £250
At this budget you can buy one genuinely good thing and finish around it. Here is how. Read more...
A Reclining Buddha in a Bedroom, and Why People Ask
A Reclining Buddha in a Bedroom, and Why People Ask
The most asked placement question in this category, and the answer is less strict than the internet suggests. Read more...
A Calm Corner for £50
A Calm Corner for £50
£50 is enough if you spend it on one thing plus scent. Three lists, costed to the penny. Read more...
Carved Masks in a Modern Interior, Without the Theme
Carved Masks in a Modern Interior, Without the Theme
One carved object in a plain room is striking. Four is a theme, and a theme is hard to live with. Read more...
One Mask or Several, and Why More Is Usually Worse
One Mask or Several, and Why More Is Usually Worse
One does more than three, and there is a specific perceptual reason why. Read more...
Masks in a Hallway, and Why They Work There
Masks in a Hallway, and Why They Work There
The best room in a British house for a carved mask, for reasons that are mostly about how you move through it. Read more...
What Height to Hang a Mask, and Why It Matters
What Height to Hang a Mask, and Why It Matters
Almost every mask in Britain is hung too high, and there is a specific reason it looks wrong. Read more...
How to Light a Carved Mask So You Can Actually See It
How to Light a Carved Mask So You Can Actually See It
The difference between a mask you notice and one you walk past is lighting rather than the mask. Here is how to get it right. Read more...
Antique, Black or White, Choosing a Mask Finish
Antique, Black or White, Choosing a Mask Finish
Three finishes that behave like three different objects once they are on a wall, and a simple rule for choosing between them. Read more...
How Many Dream Catchers Can One Room Take
How Many Dream Catchers Can One Room Take
More than you would think, if you group them properly. Considerably fewer if you do not. Read more...
Scent, Sound and Light, a Room That Works on Three Senses
Scent, Sound and Light, a Room That Works on Three Senses
Most rooms are designed for one sense. Adding two more is cheaper and more effective than redecorating. Read more...
What to Buy First, Second and Third
What to Buy First, Second and Third
Order matters more than budget. Most people buy stage three first and then have to start again. Read more...
Where to Put an Indoor Parasol, and Where Not To
Where to Put an Indoor Parasol, and Where Not To
A 40cm parasol solves a problem most British rooms have and very few objects fix. Read more...
Bali Parasol Colours in British Light
Bali Parasol Colours in British Light
British light is flatter and cooler than the light these were photographed in, and it changes everything about how the colours read. Read more...
Where to Put a Feng Shui Set in a British House
Where to Put a Feng Shui Set in a British House
The placement guidance is consistent and it assumes a house layout most of us do not have. Read more...
Boxes in a Small Flat, Where Storage Has to Be Seen
Boxes in a Small Flat, Where Storage Has to Be Seen
In a small flat everything is on display, which changes what storage has to be. Read more...
Why Gold Detail Works in Flat British Light
Why Gold Detail Works in Flat British Light
The reason so many objects in this category carry gold, and it is optical rather than decorative. Read more...
Gold and Turquoise in a British Room
Gold and Turquoise in a British Room
A bold finish that works beautifully in some rooms and shouts in others. Here is how to tell which you have. Read more...
Horse Ornaments on a Mantelpiece
Horse Ornaments on a Mantelpiece
A mantel is one of the few surfaces where a horizontal object beats a vertical one. Read more...
Horses in a Study or Home Office
Horses in a Study or Home Office
The room a carved horse suits best, and the reasoning is not decorative. Read more...
What to Do With a Large Blank Wall
What to Do With a Large Blank Wall
The hardest problem in a British house, and small art makes it worse rather than better. Read more...
Sets of Four Wall Art, and When They Beat One Big Piece
Sets of Four Wall Art, and When They Beat One Big Piece
A set covers more wall for less money, and it needs hanging properly to work. Read more...
Do Indoor Water Features Cause Damp
Do Indoor Water Features Cause Damp
The question that stops half these purchases. The answer is mostly no, with two situations where it is worth thinking about. Read more...
How Big a Dream Catcher Should Be Above a Bed
How Big a Dream Catcher Should Be Above a Bed
Proportion to bed width, height above the headboard, and what to do about low ceilings. Actual numbers rather than principles. Read more...
How to Style a Large Dream Catcher on a Plain Wall
How to Style a Large Dream Catcher on a Plain Wall
A large hoop needs space around it more than it needs company. How to hang one so it reads as considered rather than stranded. Read more...
How to Choose Buddha Art Without Your Living Room Looking Like a Spa
How to Choose Buddha Art Without Your Living Room Looking Like a Spa
Everyone wants the piece and nobody wants the treatment room. The difference is specificity, and it is easier to achieve than you think. Read more...
Where to Hang Buddha Art in a Bedroom, and Whether You Should
Where to Hang Buddha Art in a Bedroom, and Whether You Should
Bedrooms raise the placement question more sharply than any other room. The traditional view, then the practical one. Read more...
Why Buddha Wall Art Looks Wrong Above Most British Sofas
Why Buddha Wall Art Looks Wrong Above Most British Sofas
Every hanging guide is written for American rooms with higher ceilings and longer walls. Here are the numbers for a British living room. Read more...
Where to Hang a Carved Mask So It Reads as Sculpture
Where to Hang a Carved Mask So It Reads as Sculpture
One mask is sculpture. Six masks is a display cabinet. The difference is mostly about restraint. Read more...
How to Hang an Elephant Head Without It Looking Like a Trophy
How to Hang an Elephant Head Without It Looking Like a Trophy
Wall mounted animal heads carry an obvious association. The distinction is craft and material, and it is a real one. Read more...
How to Group Elephant Ornaments Without It Looking Like a Collection
How to Group Elephant Ornaments Without It Looking Like a Collection
People accumulate these, and accumulated objects read as clutter. Here is how to make several pieces look like one decision. Read more...
Why People Keep a Figure in the Corner of a Practice Space
Why People Keep a Figure in the Corner of a Practice Space
What a physical object does for a practice is mostly ritual cueing rather than anything mystical. Said plainly. Read more...
How to Choose a Scented Candle That Suits the Room
How to Choose a Scented Candle That Suits the Room
Size to the room, scent to the purpose. Most candle disappointment comes from getting one of the two wrong. Read more...
How to Light a Statue Without Making It Look Like a Shop Display
How to Light a Statue Without Making It Look Like a Shop Display
Lighting technique rather than product. One lamp in the right place changes a statue more than moving it does. Read more...
How to Style a Wooden Horse Without It Looking Like a Nursery
How to Style a Wooden Horse Without It Looking Like a Nursery
Carved horses have a specific styling problem and it is entirely solvable. Here is how. Read more...
Why the Hallway Is the Best Wall in a British House
Why the Hallway Is the Best Wall in a British House
The most passed and least decorated wall in most homes, and the easiest one to get right. Read more...
How to Frame or Mount Buddha Art Without Cheapening It
How to Frame or Mount Buddha Art Without Cheapening It
Framing is where a good purchase most often gets undone. Here is what actually helps. Read more...
What Colour Glow Lamp Suits a Room After Dark
What Colour Glow Lamp Suits a Room After Dark
These only make sense lit, and the colour decides the room more than the shape does. Read more...
How to Make a Resin Statue Look More Expensive Than It Is
How to Make a Resin Statue Look More Expensive Than It Is
Styling that respects a smaller budget. Most of what gives resin away is fixable by where you put it. Read more...