The fashion of knocking through and extending our houses has meant that the way our homes are configured is radically different from the way they used to be. This has seen the death of the dining room, the waning use of the living room and the birth of the mega kitchen.

Why is it that everyone at a party ends up in the kitchen?

I experienced this firsthand on New Year’s Eve this year. I desperately tried to corral my guests into the lounge; after all it is a good-looking room and also has comfortable seating. But would they go? Apparently not.

It is undeniable that we have an emotional connection to our homes. For most of us, they are comfortable, safe and full of memories which promotes that warm, woolly feeling.

The living room is becoming the lost room of the house! So many times I get the desperate call to come in and design them and as the conversation proceeds the prospective client says “We just don’t go in there and we don’t know what to do with it.”

Comfort. We all know what makes us comfortable, right?

It’s the squish in a sofa, the snuggle in a blanket, the “arhh” when we climb into bed.

There are a few questions in life we are asked that we feel are meant to define who we are: “What’s your name?”, “Where do you live?” and “What is your favourite colour?” But why is whether we like red or green important?

Have you ever looked across a room at someone who just looks effortlessly cool? From the haircut, to the clothes and the swagger. What’s their secret?

It’s Saturday and you have decided that you are going to paint the bedroom this weekend. You know you want it light blue – so how hard can it be to choose a paint?

A beautiful room design is a “work of art” and lots of different things are working in it to build a space with interest and personality.

Over the last few years there have been a few buzz words that have started to really infiltrate our culture. One of them is “wellness”, another “self-care”. We have all become alert to the hype around wellness and how we should be shaping our lives to take our mental and physical health into account. But how many of us are asking if our homes or workspaces are supporting our wellness instead of just supporting our Instagram likes?

When I first came home from the hospital cuddling my bundle of joy, wondering if I would ever experience sleep again, I could never really envision the journey I and my child would set out on. I really couldn’t get my head around how it would affect my life, let alone my home. But the passing years have made me wise, my friend!

As well as being an Interior Designer, I am a mother! Even more intense, I’m a mother of two crazy full-on boys with two very different characters; they’re now 9 and 12. So not only do I design children’s bedrooms for my clients and can look at them with a professional approach, I know what a child’s bedroom goes through. I know that the beautiful pictures last a moment before their stuff explodes all over the room. That is how it should be!!!

Have you ever noticed how your spirits are lifted when you are outside? Maybe it’s a walk on the beach or through the woods. At home you can get extraordinary pleasure from being in your own garden. Even your humble potted plants can bring you joy! This “feeling” is what makes the building blocks of “Biophilia”, a concept Edward O. Wilson introduced in 1984 which describes the relationship between humans and nature. But it’s not just about how we relate to nature; it is about how having contact with nature makes us happier.

Read estate agents’ details and a house is broken up into rooms with functions: reception rooms, family kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. We know what all these rooms do and often guess at how we will live our lives in them. The bedroom speaks to us of life’s simple pleasures.

Kitchens, we all lust after them as we scroll through Pinterest or flick through design magazines. They are huge status symbols in the home, with a big price ticket to match. It would be very easy to start by asking what you want it to “look” like and think of all the gorgeous finishes first but aren’t we forgetting what the purpose of the kitchen is?