Bright idea

Victoria Whitbread’s design company has had huge success with its range of Pantone mugs, so it’s hardly surprising that her love of...

The sociology of sofas

High-flyers

Homes: in store

Home Front

News, views and need to know

Interiors: What a contrast

Black-and-white interiors are back in vogue, and playful new designs have injected fun into monochrome chic

Work the room

This Christmas baubles are breaking out, bigger and bolder than ever. Don’t save them just for the tree

Baby, it’s cold outside

Set on the edge of a village of gingerbread-perfect wooden houses in Finland, glass designer Anu Penttinen’s colourful Modernist home is a...

Homes in store

The £9 million mansion with dog wing and gift-wrapping room

Classical Chesters is perfect for racing fans

Kylie and Twiggy: In bed with the stars

Are celebrity homeware lines just a gimmick, or can Zandra Rhodes, Cindy Crawford and Katie Price really cut it as designers?

Tweed is of the essence

Innovative designers north of the border have updated traditional Scottish fabrics using some creative contemporary ideas

Base Room: How do you like our new digs?

For extra living space without sacrificing your precious garden, burrowing beneath the lawn might be the answer

The online Christmas gift guide

Sit back, log on and forget all about the seasonal crowds, with the best sites to help you choose your presents

Self-storage units: not just anonymous lock-ups

Meet the new generation of self-storage converts, for whom the warehouse units they rent are anything but anonymous lock-ups

Knit one, glue one

From knitters creating woollen robins to gardeners making garlands with apples and pomegranates and design students reinventing the Christmas tree...

Abigail’s party

Entertaining at Christmas doesn’t have to be a Victorian extravaganza of garlands and tartan. At her East London home, Abigail Ahern keeps it...

Exterior motives

You’ve found a house in a great location but it’s the ugliest on the street. Don't ignore it - buy it cheap, then give it a facelift

Noughties but nice: a decade of design

From the rise of pattern to those wretched Union Jack cushions, what a difference 10 years made to our homes

Northern light

Swapping London for Glasgow was a good move for designer Anna Murray. Her stylish reworking of a grand Victorian interior has provided all the family...