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...

The sociology of sofas

Coloured bathrooms

Homes: in store

Antlers come in from the cold as homeowners ditch the beige for bold

Antlers become the latest hip accessory to reflect the sharp end of a Sloaney new dawn in the world of home interiors

This is the sharp end of a Sloaney new dawn

The once creeping return of the Tory aesthetic is accelerating — expect a return of oriental rugs and roughed-up chintz

Auction of Yves Saint Laurent belongings

Statues, luggage and furniture from the Normandy home of the late designer and his partner are to be sold at Christie’s

Interiors: Kitchens: Comfort zones

Farewell clinical chrome perfection. Hello cosy, cheery kitchens - made for families and friends to linger in

At home with Joss Stone

After tough times on the road, Joss Stone bought her rambling family home in Devon and is turning it into a haven of hippie chic

The sociology of sofas

What your home says about you: patchwork

Homes in store

The grandest B&B in Britain

Sumptuously decorated and embellished with eccentric touches, 40 Winks is designer David Carter’s East End homage to fin-de-siècle...