Anne-apolis

  Natural light in a room can be a truly wonderful thing, especially if there is just enough light, of the right intensity and coming in at a good angle - it is far better for your eyes and mood than artificial lighting. But what can we do when we have too much light, or the light is too intense? From the 1960s to the 1990s, there was a tendency for rooms to be designed with floor-to-ceiling glazing, often for the full width of one wall. While this can be pleasant in winter, it can be quite oppressive for the rest of the year, and undesirable if you are a shift-worker or like to lie in on the weekend. Fortunately, the solutions can be relatively simple and inexpensive if the problem is to reduce the amount of light entering a room. If you need to block out the light completely, there is an excellent selection of blackout fabric that can be used for curtains or blinds, or you can buy ready-made ones. You will see in my photo that the daylight is still 'leaking' on the sides and ...

  If you are thinking of embarking on construction work in your home, it is essential to have a clear idea of how long it will take, whether you plan to live with the chaos surrounding you, or whether you are going to move out and stay at an AirBnB or with friends or relatives for the duration. If you are using a small contractor, their time management can be excellent, or quite the opposite. I was recently overseeing a small wood restoration project that the contractor assured us would take five days and ended up taking nine working days!  Time management becomes even more important if you are project managing your alterations yourself and have several contractors coming in to do demolishing, bricklaying, plastering, plumbing, electrical and cupboard installations. You need a clear time map so that you can sequence the work and arrange for each group to start when the project has reached the right stage and to make sure you don't have too many people at once, falling over eac...

  While packing to move house, my daughter found some sketches that I had done several years ago for a pergola outside her living room. The room has full-height glazing across the entire width of the east-facing room, making the whole flat very hot in summer. Pergolas are an excellent way of adapting your indoor temperature, especially if you use deciduous plants to cover them, providing shade to the window in summer and letting the winter sun into the room when the plants lose their leaves. They are one of the most cost-effective and environmentally sensitive ways to adapt indoor climate, on any sun-facing side of your home. In the southern hemisphere, pergolas or awnings can be quite narrow on the north side of the building - the sun angle at mid-day is about 70 degrees on the equinoxes, so the depth of the pergola should be about half the height of the window or glazed door so that the sun is not blocked through the winter.  The angle of the sun in summer, winter and at the...

  Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. (William Morris) Morris was born in 1834 and lived through one of the most profound changes in design and manufacture of everyday objects, brought about through the industrial revolution. His rejection of the over-elaborate designs of this first generation of industrial design is seen in his passion for hand-crafted work, something of a luxury in his own day, but even more so now. The question is whether we can still uphold his philosophy, but capitalising on the wide array of industrially produced goods that are now available. Wallpaper design by William Morris We live in an era of overwhelming choice, ranging from the most tawdry or over-elaborate to extremely beautiful pieces, the latter often very reasonably priced. I find my own taste will be met either by the cheapest or the most expensive item on offer, perhaps an indication of my Modern Movement upbringing! So what should we be looki...