The Ins & Outs - BIGGER IS BETTER, why size counts.

Episode Date: October 1, 2024

Today we do a deep dive into cushions and garden pathways, thanks to our amazing sponsor Boutique Stone! https://boutiquestone.co.uk/Jojo explains how many cushions you should have on your couch, or your bed. How you should match your cushions and how big should they be.Then Polly talks us through what you should be thinking about when you put in a garden path.Plus....We talk about the different names of the seasons.Polly is back on the mushrooms.Jojo's ovaries tell her to go again.Rules for dressing a bookcase.And Polly gives us a pot plan!Boutique Stone pride themselves in sourcing the highest quality tiles from around the world and retailing them in the UK. Their ranges of handpicked curated collections of marble, limestone, travertine, and porcelain tiles are sourced directly from quarries and factories around the world Italy, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, China, India, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Turkey and more. Check them out here https://boutiquestone.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Got a mortgage? Chances are you're thinking about your payments right now. Need help? Ask your bank about relief measures that may be available to you. Learn more at Canada.ca slash it pays to know. A message from the Government of Canada. Green, the colour of true elation. Pine on a summer's day, see I've been waiting for you, waiting for you. Hello Inns and Outs and welcome to this new episode of the Inns and Outs with myself Jojo Barr and the ever so gorgeous Pollyanna Wilkinson. This episode, very excited to say that we

are being sponsored by Boutique Stone who stock the most beautiful italian and spanish made kitchen and bathroom tiles boutique stone has a curated collection featuring terrazzo porcelain minimalist practical whites and warm and inviting ivory tones so loads of things there if you're doing a renovation go and check them out yeah i've been having a really good look and as you guys know i'm a massive fan of limestones and particularly i love jura beige limestone and they have a porcelain version of this which is incredibly convincing so i would go and have a look at that one which would be beautiful for indoors and then they've also got quite a few actually limestone effect porcelains that are suitable for outdoors. So what you could do if you like that kind of indoor-outdoor seamless finish, you could use something like the Digby limestone porcelain, which you can use inside and outside.

And you're just going to get that indoor-outdoor look. So go and check them out. And do you remember not long ago, there was a question on somebody that had a beach house and they wanted a porcelain but a wood effect and they do a really really beautiful reed maple milky go and check it out it's really beautiful the colour is spot on and I'm very fussy about that sort of thing so there you go anyway go and check them

out their Instagram is boutiquestone official and they're on boutiquestone.co.uk thank you boutiquestone on this week's podcast we're talking autumn. Or is it autumn or is it fall? Polly's back on the mushrooms. My ovaries tell me to go again. An update on my renovation and where we are at with Polly's project. My rules for cushions on sofas and beds. What is the formula? I'll be telling you. Polly puts on a footpath masterclass.

My rules for dressing a bookcase and Polly gives us a pot plan. So let's jump on in. Hello, sweet cheeks. Hello, my darling. How are you today on this fine, not so fine morning? I'm on the mend. I had a bit of a rough weekend. Oh God, tell me. Tell us what happened. It's the start of sickness bug season isn't it the the kids they do love to share it around all this we found my kids haven't been sick so it it was uh

it was similar to a neurovirus it was uh is neuro out the top end or the bottom end or both oh i was i'm more of a puker are you a puker oh we know that actually from that podcast if you remember yeah you said it ran off that one. Actually, this is quite funny. Mid-pod, mid-pod. Because Mr. Big was here and he did say, my God, you're a very loud puker. I was like, yes. And it's not something you can control.

Oh, well, I mean, how are you supposed to puke? Some people may be a bit more demure than me. It's just, it's got to come out. it's got to come out it's got to come out uh so i spent i spent my weekend in bed yeah that was a bit bit of a downer oh well with the old noro the old noro but you know it's like a great great for dropping a couple of pounds so i was gonna say deep cleansing of the eyes nice and bright this morning basically had an oral an oral colonic I always think of that devil wears prada saying where she's like I'm one stomach a flu from my stomach flew away from my

goal weight it's funny they call it stomach flu in America isn't it oh actually can I just digress there actually speaking of speaking of American and I know we've got some American followers so hey um so I I've started saying fall so we are in the fall so autumn is full that's the American in saying and quite a few people have said that's really American please stop using that word like actually like people are sort of almost offended that I'm saying fall right I don't know why we would be what's what's wrong with using an American term and they're like stop saying fall it's autumn well I looked it up and it's actually what's what's wrong with using an american term and they're like stop saying fall it's autumn well i looked it up and it's actually it's it's actually old english fall means it's from fallen for like leaves are falling off the trees and this is why we call it fall so but

obviously the english language came long before the American language and therefore it's actually English. So I think everyone just needs to pipe down a bit and just. I did notice that. Let me use the words I choose to say. Do you not just think people could go. It's amazing how people just, you know, like to get really people like to have an opinion, don't they? Like people get honestly like they were annoyed at me about it. Stop using the word fall yeah well you put together that beautiful um house jobs

for the month which was always lovely and I felt slightly overwhelmed if I'm honest because I got a lot to do pal um and I noticed you had fallen it and I thought oh is this for our American friends it's probably because I take I take a lot of inspiration from American design and and I think it's quite a nice word actually I think we're coming to fall I think that's quite isn't it does what it says on the tin doesn't it I would say I would say late I wouldn't call it late fall I would say now is fall because it's when all the leaves are falling off the trees and I think that's quite nice actually so there so there well put that in your pipe and smoke it but speaking of fall slash autumn before I got sick this weekend Mr Big and I went on a walk

in the woods and I was feeling very queasy but what we found as we were walking was chanterelles or rather mushrooms a chanterelle it's chanterelle season it's mushroom season yeah and we've talked about foraging before haven't we and i'm incredibly phobic about picking the wrong mushroom and killing myself um mr big slightly more gung-ho about it and a bit more au fait with foraging so he was getting very excited about finding this one singular chanterelle whilst i was vomiting behind a tree. That was nice. You really have met your match.

You've really met your match. I have to say, you do have to be careful with mushrooms. And the kids love it. Like if we're walking in the woods and they come across like a little family of mushrooms. Oh, there's got to be a word for that. What's the term? What's the, you know, when you have a collection of something. Andy.

What is it? Let's look that up. Come on, andy that's quite a good one what would that be like a collection of mushrooms oh a cluster a cluster or a troop quite like a cluster or a troop i quite like that right so if you come across a cluster of mushrooms and they're such curious little things aren't they they look you can understand why kids love them so much because they look like little you can imagine little sort of fairies and things coming out of them little little funny houses they're so pleasing but when you start looking you see them everywhere and so actually uh mr biggs taught me a lot about finding mushrooms and my god i'm like a bloodhound now it's amazing if you go to the woods at this time of year and you and you key into the fact you're looking for mushrooms just scanning the floor which is not

easy actually with all the leaf fall but it's really exciting actually you find all sorts and um what's the other one we were looking for sep up trees all up trees but i think general rule is don't eat anything you don't know and with my kids what I've always said with mushrooms because obviously they've heard that you can eat certain ones or whatever I've just been like what do you eat in the forest and they were like nothing what mushrooms do you eat nothing because I just think it's easier with kids just to be like don't put any of them in your mouth okay we just say don't even touch them actually no no no absolutely not absolutely not so um generally it's just a sort of don't eat stuff unless I say I feel like mushrooms are like a

they're marmite aren't they you either love them or you hate them I mean for ages Brad told me that he was really highly allergic to mushrooms until I thought hold on is he allergic or does he just not like them because people always say I'm allergic to mushrooms they never just say I just don't like them because I think they genuinely don't like the texture so I tested it one day and I stuck some mushrooms in a lasagna and he was absolutely fine, luckily for me. Do you have an EpiPen to hand? No, I didn't.

No, you were just like, well, let's roll this dice. It's obviously something about the texture. He said he had some when he was younger and he was very sick. It was amazing to forage them. I mean, the thing is that you go searching and then what I really want is to find some sort of dark web article which tells me where to find them because foragers don't tend to share where they find things because obviously then everyone would go and get them so I'm on a mission to hunt down

the chanterelle of the oxshot woods so yeah that's my weekend how about you what did you do um do you know what I went to see a very good friend of mine has moved out to the cotswolds which for one i'm deeply envious because i just love the cotswolds and it just feels a bit too that too far for me out of town but it's just so beautiful around there i love it and she's just had a new a third third baby so tiny little baby little baby boy called felix and you know when you just hold someone else's baby and they're just fast asleep in your arms and you think oh my god your ovaries just do you make you just feel them throbbing oh I do you know what and I go back and forth on this a lot I really would

I really would I know all you need to do pal go on holiday with Brad where they let children near the swimming pool like a two-year-old near a swimming pool. It'll remind you. Don't do it. No, but that's somebody else's kids, though, when they're your own. I love the idea of a big family. I love, like, you know, lots of kids running around. I think because my kids mean so much to me and I love my family life. Yeah. What's one more?

You know, what's one more? But I feel like I'd be, I think if I was a few years younger, I probably would just get at the whip the coil out and let's go. But I think I feel like I'd be I think if I was a few years younger I probably would just get at the whip the coil out and let's go but I think I feel like I would be pushing it that's where I feel like I I'm so I'm so grateful for what I have yeah I feel like that sort of gratitude but I think my god imagine yeah imagine if I then had a third who just came along and just you know I don't know really upset the apple cart I mean it probably would probably be absolutely wonderful I'm just trying to convince imagine if you had a boy pal

that would change your life I would love a boy I think maybe that's what I feel like I'm maybe I feel like that's what I've got to my two little girls there'd be something so fun about having a boy I just don't think it works that way I think if you get two of the same more often than not you get a third of the same right look I would be honestly thrilled if I had three girls I'd be absolutely over the moon if I had three girls but I'd also love a little boy so just I think I just love another baby but I just go on then I can't I can't crack one out I can't no no I can't I could I mean I could I could but I can't I I shouldn't. Would you go again? Absolutely not. Ah, good times. Okay, fine.

So your ovaries were a-popping. What else? So my ovaries were twitching. Apart from that, just really quite buzzed about the fact that it's looking like our renovation might be coming forward. Stop it. The build is free sooner. No, but what we're going to do is get someone else to do the garage.

Okay. And then we're going to lock in the other contractors to start the main house i don't i've got to get planning that's the thing and so there's this question mark with any we live in an area of outstanding natural beauty and amazingly there's some houses here where bungalows have been knocked down and these whopping great glass mansions have gone up and i'm not a fan of that i i quite i'm a as you all know i'm a bit of a traditionalist. She loves a farmhouse, this one. I love, yeah, I love traditional looking houses. And therefore, when I do an extension, I don't think, I wouldn't do like a glass box.

I can fully appreciate them. I love the juxtaposition of that sort of, you know, modern and old. I love it. But in my house, it wouldn't work. So it would be a traditional extension. And actually, planners can be really particular about that. They don't like so much traditional extensions where a house looks bigger,

but they'd be very happy with probably a glass box, something more contemporary. But it also very much depends on your area. There are some, it's terribly sad at the moment, we've got just the loveliest client in Islington and they've bought this beautiful beautiful one of those lovely white stucco crescent houses and when they bought the house young couple everyone on the road had done this thing where they'd move the kitchen from the middle of the house to the front of the house so

it's on the crescent all that lovely light great big Georgian windows beautiful yummy everybody's done it so they bought the house exchanged got the con you know got the um got the team together the architects they got us together here we are designing the kitchen and then with the heritage you know officer and then it goes in for planning and they've just said no absolutely no even though everything has done it to the basically everything everything we're suggesting and it's a very traditional layout see back in the day they didn't have you didn't really used to have en-suites you'd have bedrooms then you'd go down the corridor to a bathroom so knocking through walls nope you know closing up doorways nope

you can't change skirt nope you can't we can't move the kitchen and suddenly they're in this position where they're really fighting tooth and nail but this is the thing one what one house has done one year it can totally change the next so don't because somebody on your road happens to have been able to do a loft extension or rear extension it doesn't mean that you suddenly can because it can just suddenly they can clamp down and say that's enough we've got enough extensions now in the area we can't do any more basement you know basement digs or anything so I feel so sorry for them because obviously now they own this house and they can't do what they want with it that is such a worry isn't it so you never know planning is quite squeaky bum isn't it you never really know you've got the house you don't really know

if you're going to get that extension and you're not going to put in for planning before you buy the house because by then you'll probably lose the house so it's a real sort of it's yeah it's a touchy touchy one yeah that's such a shame because actually when I bought this house I knew that it it wasn't suitable for modern living and I sort of said to my architect I was like I don't want to buy it if I can't change it you know if there's no planning and so he was like well look we can get a planning officer around and we can try and do pre-apps and you know but there's no guarantees in life but no guarantees yeah but so it is a dice roll it is a dice it's a dice roll yeah and actually what we want what we need to do to the house to make it

our our dream home is to add this side extension which is a sort of dining room with a boot room so it's not actually big it's a single story and then the garage we're doing two little dormer windows to make it a room up there so literally knocking out these two little dormer windows and then slightly extending the front of the garage so it's nothing major but you just don't know what planners might say well you'll know within what 10 weeks now eight weeks about 10 weeks yeah well we're the garage we're going in with first because as we said we're going to move into the garage which i know sounds absolutely ludicrous. But because we've got a couple of the rooms upstairs done, we're going to get all our stuff and shove it all in there that we don't need. Like, you know, beds and furniture, close up the doors, seal up the doors while the rest of the house has been done.

And then we'll be living in the garage, which will be quite good fun. But it means we don't have to upheave all the cats and all that sort of stuff, even though the thought of all these contracts around will be terrifying for them. But it'll be fun. I think we'll probably do it over the summer months yes if you can I highly recommend that yeah yes anyway fill me up fill me in on your news let me let me hear it well in the renovation journey windows are in yes they look great they look wonderful I will share a photo and the kitchen is I am watching the brilliant gentleman of apron kitchens installing the kitchen as we speak and it's Jojo you picked the most beautiful colors the most beautiful I'm so excited actually the builders were like this is this is one of the nicest color combinations

we've ever seen I was like really and then your ceiling details of all of your beams and the cladding they've all said like oh when we put it up we were like this is a terrible idea like this is so fussy and now they're like oh gosh this is beautiful it has so much character anyone would think i knew what i was doing anyone would know but it's turned this white box this big white box of a room into this really characterful space so house nine chapeau oh well done team i have to say ceilings are a funny one because i think people people overlook the ceiling and the importance of ceiling details and of course when you have a big space and it's got a kitchen in it and you've got all these lovely details and you've got your warm floor and your all your sort

of cabinetry and then you've just got this big vast expanse of white ceiling with downlights in it's a complete it's it's a bit sort of um what's the word it's contrasting contrasty it's too contrasty so a way to really pull that together is create a zone on your ceiling using beams i love it different sort of down i'll share photos so pleased good right should we do some questions then should we entertain should we entertain our lovely listeners with something far more interesting than yes yes yes let's let's come on then okay our first question is from lauren who claims to be our biggest fan oh hi lauren hi lauren hey girl so how many different types of cushion on a four-seater sofa? All matching,

half and half, two, two and two, all individual styles? From your biggest fan, Lauren. Gosh, this is quite a good question. That is. Give us a formula, love. Give us a formula. I will never tend to do even numbers on cushions. And I rarely tend to go, so I, no, here, this is your formula. Okay. You want to go two matching. Uh-huh. Two matching, and usually like a little single random one. And they want to be, mix up the patterns.

So hold on, are we saying five? Essentially saying five, yeah. So we're saying two matching pairs. Yes. And a random. And a random, a smaller one, yeah. But then you can also go complete mismatch. But it's just so important that what you're mismatching is you're pulling together with a thread.

So you might have a plain. If that was a plain, let's say oatmeal, you then might have a little ditzy print, which is going to have a bit of oatmeal, but it might have a bit of olive green. It might have a little bit of blue. And then you want to have a little stripe, perhaps like a little fine stripe. Let me guess, that would have some oatmeal in it? Green.

Yeah, so you're weaving it through. So you kind of just create, but then you could have, depending on the color of your sofa, you could then have like a little, you know, velvet cushion or something that might have that bit of hint of green or blue in it as well. So it's just all about pulling those patterns together if you're ever

thinking i just you know you're looking online you're just buying cushions that you like willy nilly i know i go on about this a lot but it's just put them on a powerpoint presentation everybody's got powerpoint presumably just take the cushion off the website stick it on the page and see what they look like together shuffle them around um before you ever go for one with a solid color yeah that's what i mean so i'm about like the sort of velvet for instance or the linen or the cotton whatever it is okay that's a solid solid color yeah and is that the one you do as the standalone on its own or is that you do usually the standalone at the back because you think it's on its own that you

tend to want to put that at the back and then you sort of layer in front of it got it but you could go you could go six i i honestly i know lauren i'm sorry this is really not very helpful there isn't really i would say a general that would be my general rule but i wouldn't say there's necessarily a right or wrong depending on the style of your sofa so you could even go three what about on a two-seater pal because the temptation is just to put one at each end but that can look a bit yeah if anything on a two-seater i'd probably just have two and i'd have almost put them together don't put one over there and one over there like they've had an argument yeah i put them put them next to each other and they would be different so again they would be kissing

or snogging they would be snogging each other, having a cuddle. Yeah. I think cushions add character. They add so much character. So take them all off. You've just got your plain sofa. And that sort of layering of all those cushions and the different materials, I think that's what's adding your texture and your interest. It's a bit like sort of artwork for your sofa.

But, you know, you're likely to end up having a fight with your partner about well have we got so many cushions or bloody pillows everywhere but you know because they look good they look good honey what about on a bed what's the what's the golden number oh okay give me a size uh king okay so king so sort of standard five yeah five foot bed okay king size I would tend to go two big back cushions and again this might also I talk about seasons a lot change of seasons but I tend to want more cushions in the winter because it's more layering so I'd go two bigger sort of back cushions and they might be your sort of your plane are we talking like a 50 centimeter here or are we talking like 55 60 big okay decent size beefy nice and big beefies um and that would be a sort of more of a sort of

neutral or a color but just a plain and then you want to put your pattern on top so you can then go with one in front of the other so you've got your big cushion at the back smaller one in the front yeah and then if you really want to go for it then you can put a lovely bolster cushion in front of that which i do a lot so we're doing two bigs at the back, two 50 to 60s at the back, plain. Then one patterned middle. So two at the front. So you've got two big ones at the back, two sort of mediums. Two big ones at the back.

You've got your biggins. Mediums. And your meds. Biggies, mediums. And your mediums, we're going like what, 30, 40? Yeah, about 40. It sort of of depends but about 40 okay what do you do and then and then a bolster a uh a sort of rectangle one exactly and then a rectangle yeah and so it might also depend because when you ask about the size it might depend because it might have a little frill on it or it might have a sort of ruching and that's going to make the cushion bigger so and what should the bolster be because we've got the planes and then

we've got the patterns and then the bolster is a stripe oh it could be a little little stripe exact pole you're getting it you're getting it lovely stripe something like that will help ground it and just that i love a stripe because i think it helps just ground uh you know when you've got florals and planes i do love a little stripe would you bother having cushions on a kid's bed pal yeah but it might be just be more sort of they're more slightly fun a bit more animated don't forget the more stuff you put on a kid's bed the more you're going to be picking it up off the floor in the morning about you but I mean look the number of cushions that you have on a sofa and bed very much depends on the size of your furniture and the desired style and your personal preference so it's i'd

say like a two-seater would probably be like two or three cushions and then three seat is going to be yeah three to five can't like if you had a big l shape you can go absolutely nuts you can cover it in a sort of seven to ten cushions i'd say blimey that's a lot of cushions yeah but then i think some people just i mean you can honestly on a bed you could literally just have if it's a more contemporary modernist look you could actually strip it right back and just literally have like one lovely bolster and actually you know you can get those really nice linen you can get um pillows actually big square pillows that you can actually sit up in bed with as opposed to cushions so you know it's it's a it's really a personal choice I do think in the summer it's much nicer to have fewer cushions and I just think it's in the winter it's like

layer up more cushions it's a very much a style thing there are sort of the you know general rules just I think odd numbers odd numbers is always that's actually probably my number one rule is is go odds that's true of so much in design though isn't it so much yeah it creates yeah even even numbers will always create a more formal and balanced look but by throwing that extra one in it creates a sort of different it creates a feeling of I don't know it's a bit sort of less contrived I think and then what about do you recommend people buy them off the shelf or get them made with fabrics they like totally depends on budget it can be really expensive to get cushions made so I would say most of the time we buy ours off off the peg we never used to but I

think there's such there are so many amazing cushions available now off the shelf and can you mix high and low yeah absolutely we do that a lot so for instance we might want one that's really going to help pull that scheme in especially if we've gone with an unusual color on a sofa like you know like a really unusual rusty brown and we just can't find that particular color that we need so we might go with a couple of cushions that we're making bespoke and then we might add in the high street you know the off the peg ones yeah so mix it mix and match and also don't don't be afraid to just play around with them and also i will say you there are places where you can just buy the

covers and not the cases not the fillers because you don't want to have to buy you know you don't want to just have to constantly get rid of you know fillers so you can actually pack them away so when it's change of season take your cases off give them a good wash pack them away and then replace with your new you know your new winter layers love that isn't it done elm that do really good fillers have i made them do fantastic they do right yeah duck fell filled yeah they do and remind me i feel like we've covered this before but it's the general rule that you buy a cushion cover which is slightly smaller than the cushion yeah so you always size up the filler

needs you need to size up on the filler it filler is bigger than the cover yeah much much more so nothing worse than a floppy cushion like you don't want to pick up the corner and the case the filler just like falls down inside the no it doesn't look good you want to really stuff that case you want it to look like you have squeezed yourself into a pair of jeans that don't fit you you chop your filler fold it over squash it down and then shove it into your pillowcase stop and then up into the corners yeah i shove it in there just really shove it up into those corners before you zip it up make sure the corners are right up inside the corners of those cases this is just cushion gold right here riveting right can we get into the garden i feel like i'm exhausted this conversation

bored everyone senseless whether renting renewing a mortgage or considering buying a home everybody has housing costs on their minds for free tools and resources to help you manage your home finances, visit Canada.ca slash it pays to know. A message from the Government of Canada. Okay, right. I'm running out to the garden. This one is from Mia. Mia, love the pod. She's an outie. How do I make a nice footpath or hide it through a piece of lawn up to garage pedestrian door? Thank you in advance, Mia. because I don't love it when we have to cut across a lawn with a path. But obviously there are times where it's necessary, and I'm sure I've said before,

but if you've got something like an office at the end of the garden, or in this case a garage, then 100% you want to be able to walk on a hard surface, because walking across lawn to an office, or something that you're doing every single day throughout the year, you do not want wet feet and what grass is going to cause you. So number one question, do you need it? If it's's to a garage how often are you going in there if it's every day yes but if it's there as storage i would argue well do you want a path because what a path instantly does is create a focal point at the end of it because you your eye will just go to the

path down to boom the garage so is it is it attractive do you want to draw attention to it and i know in your question you've said that you do you want to draw attention to it and I know in your question you've said that you actually might want to hide it so let's get into that so let's assume the answer is yes Polly I need a pass because I'm walking down there every day there's a number of different options uh ranging from what some designers do which I sit on the fence a bit more about is um you know sort of laying a slab as stepping stones which is a way of keeping it quite soft because you can have grass running in between and it's sort of not exerting a sort of very heavy hardscape on it but I sort of it's that's quite a modern

look I would argue so if you've got a very contemporary garden that's sort of uh having one big sort of 900 by 600 slab boom boom boom or you could do the same size but in a sort of small format paver it's quite a crisp and contemporary way of sort of taking you down there without it being overly hardscaped and i would stick to that very modern modern gardens uh alternatively well there's loads of ways of doing it you know it's like broken records saying it depends, aren't we? But does it need to be a direct path is another question because one thing I'm always trying to do in a garden is add journey.

So do you need it to be the path of least resistance from your back door to the garage? Or could it be that it starts at the other side and then crosses across the garden and down, dividing your garden in two, making it feel wider? So again, it does depend on your space so there's opportunities to create a journey with your path you could use any number of different materials you can use a small format gravel pros and cons to that very cheap to do but it means

you might track that gravel into the house you could do large format pavers which again i find to be a bit more of a contemporary look or you could go with bricks or small format sort of clay pavers which i think add a sense of romance and softness is that the most expensive um in terms of labor cost yes because it's small so it's a bit if you think about tiling if you're tiling a massive tile that's relatively quick if you're tiling lots of small ones it takes longer would you do like if we could it be like a nice gravel what's that's what's it called when it's sort of you've got it in your you've got it in your lovely garden a compressed gravel compressed gravel yes and then on the sides would you ever then do like a little uh sort of um up the, you'd use your pavers.

Yes, and that can be a really nice detail, and that does add cost. So much of the choice of the material you do will depend on budget. If you do something like a gravel or a compressed gravel, you could have something such as a steel edge, which again is sort of one of the less expensive options. It's still not that cheap. But then you could also do something like um a soldier course clay paver soldier course if you imagine it means side by side by side by side like soldiers going up the path you could do that in bricks or you could do that in clay pavers and that's

really beautiful too we try and avoid edging pathways with wood because wood rots and it's in the ground and we live in a wet country so wherever possible we'll steer away from wood unless it's in something like a woodland where it feels like it really fits so that's it in terms of materials bear in mind just to go back on just on just on costs again so yes cheapest would be i'm just curious cheapest would be or bark bark won't last forever and also would look a bit bark really only works in a sort of natural space okay woodland and then and then so that would be the cheapest and then probably the bigger pavers it would be sort of bark then gravel then probably a large format inexpensive paver

but okay you know i wouldn't like a line i would recommend if you use a paver use the same paver as you've got as your terrace don't go introducing a new large format paver for okay you know I wouldn't like a limestone I would recommend if you use a paver use the same paver as you've got as your terrace don't go introducing a new large format paver for your path that would look nuts so the if you went with a gravel option yep but say you had some sort of trees overhanging the path and it's going to get a lot of drop you know coming down on the path is it quite easy to maintain gravel or is it would you advise that it's probably best to put that under something that doesn't have a lot of overhanging trees well that depends on the gravel and that's maybe where the compressed gravel is a good shout because the compressed gravel is uh for those that don't know it's sort of it's caked down more so

that it's not like walking on a pebbly beach it's more of a tough surface it does come with the downside that often it can be a bit dusty as a result okay because obviously it's a very fine but no i mean a quick leaf blower and leaves leaves will come off so i've never really found that to be a problem the the biggest downside with gravel is if you if you're a barefoot family and you like to run around barefoot or the kids because you know they're sort of hobbling along on on gravel and that's not very comfortable so it depends you're not a fan of that sprayed gravel are you that sort of what's it called resin resin i look resin has its place for certain driveways on slopes uh utility spaces and obviously anywhere accessible that needs sort of wheelchairs or

similar then it's a brilliant surface because it's smooth it's not bumpy it's easy to clean and it's it's permeable which is really important in terms of suds and making sure that we put permeable solutions into gardens. But it can look absolutely bonkers in a, like in a path in a garden, just to have a resin path would look very odd. Quite too sort of contemporary almost. Well, too contemporary. Chances are your path isn't long enough for it to feel like it sits you know like in a public realm if you've got big sweeping

sinuous resin pathways i don't it can look great resin has its downsides and you know if you're looking at sustainability then it's sort of it's not it's not the most planet-friendly solution is from from a drainage point of view but but not from others. So public realm, it definitely has its place. Driveways has its place. But I would probably try and avoid it in your back garden if you can. Okay. But basically, so going back to the point you're trying to make is you want to meander down to it. You don't want a straight line to a garage or something.

You want to kind of have a little journey. If you have an opportunity to take yourself in different directions, it's a really nice nice way of doing so it's a really nice way of adding interest to the garden and then I don't tend to particularly enjoy leaving a path um undressed either so to speak in that my preference is that I would surround paths with plants rather than they just sort of sitting in the lawn I'd always rather they were lined it's a lovely opportunity to do something like you could do something really minimalist like a run of lavender or you know everyone's favorite something like a hydrangea but equally you could have some really cool borders of all mixed borders or grasses or all sorts of things you could put um archways over it and so if you know if it if the path has to be

there could you make it a feature could you put beautiful timber arches over it so you've got something to walk through at the end of the pathway what's your focal point could it be that the pathway is actually set to the left or to the right of said garage so that when you walk down the path you're actually walking to a beautiful tree or a pot or a water feature or even just a really great plant and then you dogleg left to get into the garage so i think the biggest mistake is everyone just going path of least resistance front to back get where you're going to go. And, you know, a garage door is rarely beautiful. It can be sometimes, but there you go.

Okay. That was really good. I love a deep dive. We're really deep diving into these questions, aren't we? We really are. Well, I could talk about pathways all damn day. We've got a quickie from Charlotte here. Although I'm an outie at heart I haven't any question the carpenter has built me a beautiful double height unit in my living room with some

down lighters and everything I love but it's completely bare oh sorry but it's completely bare bar a couple of photos of the kids where on earth do I start with dressing it oh this is so tough it's really tough actually guys I'll give that to you I think when you get this beautiful big you know lovely big bookcase and there it is and it's you know brand spanking new beautifully painted and you think where do you start with dressing it and I think the importance here is don't feel like you have to get everything in your house and stick it on the shelves because it needs dressing so it might be it's going to take a bit of time to get it right but my first rule when dressing a bookcase like this is that you

want to always start with the bigger objects first right so where you have and you want to sort of sort of almost take us to keep taking a step back i'd say so get everything that you've got everything that you want to put up there and put it on the floor you're going to start with your big things first your big objects like a big vase you know big pots whatever they are and then you're going to go to books so the books is then you're going to have your big books and then you're going to work through to your smaller books and the idea is that you want to sort of spread them out across the books across the shelves so if you had a big pot over to the left you're going to have a big pot down to the right so move things around keep taking a step back does

it look right if it doesn't look right take it off and then start again but i'd say the main thing to do is just is is put it all on the floor get everything on the floor that you want and if you have got a lot of bare space um you're gonna have to just build up a collection of bigger lovely big books going you know go and get some nice big pots i always think i always think a couple of really nice big coffee table books with a really nice bowl or something on just simple that's a really nice way to fill but equally guys like i will also stress i i'm not a designer that believes that these bookcases need to look perfect and that they're not going to be lived in you know this is your home at the end of the day and when you see a lot of our you know my me and my fellow interior designers you'll

see our sort of finished projects and the bookcases look absolutely perfect they do i'm not expecting my clients bookcases to remain looking like that forever. Right. Because people have their own books. Get your photos and leave, pal. Yeah. So, you know, but you've got to, you've got to, it's your personality. It's your home.

So, you know, dress that thing up with what feels good to you. But if every day you're walking in and you're like, that looks like an absolute shit show, get it you know at the end of the day I don't think I don't like trinkety little things I've said it before I'm not a mad fan of trinkety little things trinkety little things can almost go on their own shelf together somewhere else like you know in a bedroom I don't know where you want to put those on a on a chest of drawers in a bedroom but the it needs heft it big big units need big things. I have two questions that I really need you to answer here, okay? Go on.

The first question is, if you don't have any, like, of these beautiful earthenware pots and bowls and things, do you basically have to go and buy a load of pots and bowls that you're never going to use solely that your bookcase looks nice? Yes.

Okay, fine. No, let's own that. But do you know what? Do you know what? I'm going to throw out some suggestions here. Yeah. case looks nice yes okay fine no let's own that but do you know what do you know what i'm gonna throw out some suggestions here yeah find go to your local go to your local car boot sale yeah go to a local antique market you don't have to spend a fortune on these things you know go and get some lovely dark you know pots and things from car boot sales and fun and charity shops you

know have fun with it don't don't feel the pressure i've got this huge thing i've got to dress it right now it doesn't all have to be premium okay my second question it doesn't have to be premium go on my second question and this is a selfish question but i'm hoping others will feel the same what if you're a magpie so for example i have uh maximalist vases that are sort of a yellow stripe which i love and i would love to to show them off but equally I love that look of like a big earthenware pot but those two are going to look crap on the same they're going to be hard to put together so do you have to pick a theme and stick like you're like look if you want a yellow stripe vase on there then you're going to need to go this is colorful bookshelf and

everything is sort of bold and bright kind of do a bit so well like I say you can if you have a bookcase and there's one red book sitting in the bookcase you're going to see that book it's the first thing your eye is going to go to okay if you have multiple colorful things all over the bookcase then your eye is just your your it's your view is dispersed across the bookcase and it will work you're gonna pick a thing so you've kind of got to pick a theme a bit with certainly with earthenware and modern color you know color glass that's going to be very hard to combine so i'd say keep your i know that you've got for instance a couple of bits like earthenware bits you know you've got your console table i think you had a concert to remember you bought those

baskets that's lovely pop it on there with a couple of coffee table books but then i think if you also do do what you love you know if you've got a couple of bits that you really love work with those you know it might be that if you've got a yellow vase then get another couple of yellow accessories to work within the shelf tied in so that they kind of they tie in together rather than just that one yellow thing which can look a bit like it could even be a yellow book cover or something love that so um right a quick one out in the garden i've got one here for you from Meg in a courtyard garden should all the pots match and if not how do you make mismatched pots work without it looking messy thank you okay no they don't need to match they could be that they were a similar material

or a similar size I think the main thing the thing that makes courtyards or any garden look messy is small pots it's clutter and anything which draws your eye to the floor makes things look messy anything which is kind of uh waist high or sort of i'd say sort of above 80 centimeters feels intentional so no they don't need to match i think you can have ones of different shapes different colors it's quite nice if they're all for example terracotta or they're all i don't know powder coated steel or clay but that's not always possible if you're sort of gathering things but if they've got the same feel so you can mix and match sort of terracotta with beautiful sort of zinky grades if they all feel they're kind of from the same era a bit like your bookcase Jojo I think if they feel like they belong together it works if you've got like a really modern

blue pot and then you've got a terracotta and then you've got a brown and a green and it feels a bit nuts then I would say that that feels quite unedited so the theme is exactly the same they have to have the same material design language if that makes sense that they need to be either all rustic or all modern or all traditional and the sizes can vary I quite like it when you do say a really really big pot and then two babies i guess it's a bit like you and the cushions jojo again it's sort of you do the big mummy cushion and then you do the two baby cushions but when i say baby i do not mean something you could fit in your kitchen cupboard if you can fit a pot in your kitchen

cupboard it's too small the only place they belong is on a table or on like a sort of shelving unit where you're doing a sort of pot theater so i would say to avoid clutter less is more bigger is better go against your instincts and have big pots in small spaces right my darling thank you very much that was wonderful um now what is in and what is out this week, my darling? I really want to talk about red shoes. Have we talked about red shoes? Do you know what? I don't remember. Let's talk about them again.

What are your thoughts on red shoes, Paul? My thoughts on red shoes is that I fought this trend for a solid year now. And now, as is true of every single trend that comes around, I then fall in love with it when it's when it's almost on the on the outs you have to see something seven times apparently that's it isn't it like I need it I want it I want it are you talking those little um velvety numbers with the strap across them yes but also the just red red ballet shoes in general the velvet was but the thing is velvet ballet shoes in this country at this time of year it's just a terrible idea not to mention all I wear is blundstones because all I do is I'm in gardens for god's sake

I have no opportunity to wear red shoes and yet I want them so that's my in okay so your in is red shoes yes what's yours my in at the moment is is um putting all the kids uniforms out the day before uh the night before and it's really i tell you what it is game changer i'm telling you i know it's the last thing you want to be doing before you go to bed but if you get all their little shoes and their socks and their pants and everything and put it down by you know in the kitchen yeah so one day instead of having their breakfast you're literally getting them changed game changer i'm telling you that's my in this week love that okay what's out what What is out?

Me out the door, because I've got to go. I've got meetings to get to and I'm running late. That's me. Oh dear. What's your out? You're on the clock, love. My out this week is a garden one. And it's your garden rake in that you need to get it out of the shed.

Because you need to start looking after your lawn. So now's a great time to sow a new lawn, lay a lawn but also scarify which we've talked about which is when you kind of take the thatch out so a bit of lawn care is what should get you out in the garden this weekend out in the garden I like it very clever very clever all right darling thank you so much go and have a lovely day love you all very much Thanks for sending in all your questions. Polly's just got one last little request for you. Oh, if you wouldn't mind, I'd love it if you would like subscribe and share this podcast with every single person you know. And don't stop until you've told every single person in your life. We have also, can I just say, you've been giving us some shares this week. It's been really fun. Oh my gosh. I get so much joy.

It makes a real tickle, actually, when you guys share our podcast and you give us these little comments and what you think about it so thank you so much we love you dearly yes we see you we love you you're the best um okay my darling i love you very much i gotta go i gotta go bye bye love you Bye. Farewell. Love you. Bye. Bye.