Kitedown Creative

31/10/2026

One of the more expensive mistakes in a renovation is thinking that a simple question will have a simple answer.

One of my clients has been renovating a 1930s house. She didn’t need a full-service interior design package.
But she did want help with the various design choices that open up multiple other decisions. Such as the dining area.

Most people would hang a fabulous pendant over the table.
But she needed to understand how the whole open-plan room would function, how flexible the furniture layout should be, and how the lighting could support all of that without pinning the room to one arrangement forever.

So we explored every function needed of the space - I modelled the room in 3D, tested layouts, advised on beam angles and finishes, and shortlisted suitable fittings.
The final solution was directional ceiling lighting on a dimmer - flexible enough to light the table wherever it was positioned, the artwork, or other parts of the room as this family-oriented layout changes.

That’s the value of Project Consulting.
Five focused days of design and project support, used when and where they make the biggest difference - while you keep control of the parts you’re perfectly happy managing.

That’s the bit I enjoy most: helping someone move from ‘I think this might work’ to ‘yes, this is the perfect solution.’

I have some availability opening up after Christmas, so message me if you think a little help could move you towards your perfect home.

23/10/2026

The Designer Says No series continues, and this week I’m objecting to TVs mounted far too high.

There’s a common tendency to position a TV according to the wall, rather than according to the seated people actually watching it.

Hence televisions hung above fireplaces, or trying to visually balance a 3 metre-high wall, and all creating a recipe for cricked necks.

It may seem counterintuitive - or perhaps even a little ‘distasteful’ - but I suggest you start a room design WITH the TV and the correct position for it. Then you design the rest of the wall AROUND it - rather than designing a lovely room and eventually thinking, “Ah yes, where shall we put the enormous black screen?”

Once the viewing height is right, the rest is simply a styling solution.

You can balance the wall with floating shelves, use artwork above or around the TV, paint the wall dark so the screen recedes visually, or incorporate it into a wall of bookshelves.

And that last option doesn’t have to mean expensive bespoke joinery. Inexpensive flat-pack bookcases, shelves and baskets can create a very convincing built-in effect.

The useful rule is simple: solve the functional requirement first, then make it look beautiful.

👉 Share this with someone about to redesign their living room. If you’re their guest, your neck will thank you for it.

14/10/2026

My break in Norway’s Lofoten Islands was a wonderful reminder of how contrast can be the key ingredient for a successful interior design scheme. Tiny red fishing cabins dwarfed by enormous mountains. Warm autumn grasses against cold grey rock. Bright golden light falling across dark, rugged landscapes.

It’s the contrast between these elements that makes the whole scene so captivating.

The same principle applies to our homes.
We can get so caught up in making everything coordinate that we forget how much interest comes from contrast.

A large, generously proportioned sofa alongside a delicate occasional table. Dark walls that make a beautiful pale piece of furniture sing. A flash of unexpected colour in an otherwise restrained scheme. Soft sumptuous velvet against metal or stone.

Contrast gives the eye something to explore. It creates hierarchy, depth and - critically - a little delightful tension.
Making everything match can actually make a room feel flat. Without variation, there’s very little to hold our attention.

👉 Save this for the next time you’re choosing something for your home, to remind yourself that the question may not be “Does it match?”
Perhaps it’s “Does it make things more interesting?”

08/10/2026

A few days in Lofoten, Norway, to switch off, recharge and enjoy being somewhere completely different.

I am enthralled and inspired by the colours here. Slate-blue water, mossy hillsides, weathered timber, ochre grasses and the occasional brilliant flash of red.

Just looking, hiking and taking it all in. And then a hot chocolate.

The interior designer part of my brain didn’t get the out-of-office memo, but it’s still having an amazing time.

03/10/2026

27/09/2026

One of the ideas I shared in my ‘Small Home for a Big Life’ talk at the beautiful this week:

Downsizing doesn’t mean everything has to get smaller. Don’t think reductions, restrictions or limitations.

In fact, filling a compact room with lots of small furniture can make it feel busier and more cramped.

Fewer, properly proportioned pieces - chosen for how you actually want to use the room and for their generous good looks - can make a smaller room feel calmer, more generous, easier to move around and much more useful.

18/09/2026

This Designer Says No series is proving rather popular, which is fun - although it does mean I have to keep divulging things I object to. Today’s may be controversial!

Drawers within drawers are one of those ideas that look very clever in a showroom.
Until you’re using them every day.
My issue isn’t that they don’t work. It’s that they solve a problem I’m not convinced needed solving in the first place.

If cutlery only needs a shallow drawer, pans need a deeper one and plates sit somewhere in between, then surely the more useful answer is simply to design each drawer around what it actually needs to hold.

That means fewer unnecessary movements, easier access, and less dead space hidden behind oversized drawer fronts.
Good kitchen storage should make everyday tasks feel easier, not introduce extra choreography between you and your utensils.

Maybe it works well for the minimalists who dislike too much external drawer distraction…
Anyway, I am fully prepared for the drawer-within-drawer enthusiasts to disagree.

I

05/09/2026

A badly designed shower is one of those things you can live with - as long as you don’t mind being mildly annoyed by it every. single. day.

My particular objections are:
Controls directly beneath the shower head, so turning it on involves an unsolicited blast of cold water.
One fixed shower head, with no alternative if you’d rather not wash your hair every time you shower.
And fixed position brackets rather than a riser bar for adjustable height.

They’re small design decisions that make something you use every day slightly less comfortable, slightly less flexible and slightly more irritating.

Which is precisely why, when you’re designing your bathroom, they’re worth giving some thought.
In this shower, the controls are positioned where I can turn the water on without getting wet, and two outlets lets me choose between the overhead shower and the handheld - great for the days I’m not washing my hair.
Also bloody useful when it comes to cleaning the shower tray.

Luxury is often just the absence of unnecessary inconvenience.