No, I’m not going to talk about my husband or let him tell you abut how difficult living with me might be! This is a quick one today to introduce you to my other companions – Lottie, Dillon & Charlie – For me living without pets just isn’t on. I was brought up with a menagerie & I just couldn’t imagine life without a dog at the very least. This is Charlie. Sadly she didn’t stay this cute – she is 4 now but my companion when I’m drawing, thinking, walking & sometimes visiting clients. She is a Briard & …

We bought the place three years ago with lapsed planning permission for a conservatory leading from the kitchen. We loved the architectural detail of the house – all it’s panelling & large rooms etc. but the chance to make our mark too was perfect! I do love a project!! This is how it was – what a mess! The only access to the garden was via this dreadfully ugly (& unsafe) deck built by a previous DIY enthusiast. It was not what we wanted at all & really let the house down. The plan was to extend the kitchen out …

The story of our Knot garden starts in June 2010. We had a really grotty small courtyard beside the house full of ground elder. I’ve done loads of knot gardens for my clients but have never had one myself… Here was my chance! I absolutely love knot gardens & the possibilities are endless. They suit all styles too – contemporary & classical. Knot gardens were first created in Medieval times & they were known as Embroidery for the earth – how fab is that? My initial sketch – it’s very simple as the area is small & I didn’t want …

I love to decorate the place at Christmas although I’m not massively traditional & tend to go more minimal than maximum! We dragged in an old branch to form a quirky christmas ‘tree’ in the hall which I’ve decorated with little birds made of tweed & linen. Little pears add the colour – lime green – my favourite which I’ve echoed elsewhere in the house too. As it’s quite a tall hall I’ve used quite a big branch to reach the ceiling. My husband thinks I’m mad but seems to think that’s what living with a designer is all about! …

As I was trained at Art College initially, drawing is my passion & I find it so much more satisfying to sketch out all my ideas on my board than on a CAD system (I do have that too however). I create doodles & work on an A2 sketch pad & tracing paper over the top of a printed site survey to get a proper sense of space, scale & what’s actually possible. Proper proportion is essential in every scheme – be it tiny or several acres & that’s what really counts. If it works on paper it will look …