Come and join me in my new home online!

April 28, 2024

Hello, and happy last few hours of the weekend!

I haven’t posted for the longest time! And my first post back is a significant one as some changes are coming. Without holding out for too long, I want to start by saying that posting here over the last 11 years has always been the loveliest of jobs, I am so grateful to each and every reader, commenter and sharer who have enabled me to continue to sharing my ideas over on Design Soda. But, 18-months-ago, I began to loose focus around where I wanted the blog to move with me, and after a lull in posting due to some changing personal circumstances, I am looking forward to being back. You can expect to start receiving more regular posts again, they will be weekly, and expanding in scope to include new things too (without creating a drumroll, my first post later today will lay out my weekly article themes).

I have news though, things are going to look a little bit different because – I am moving house! Not physically, but online. The blog will remain open as it currently is, and I shall still post the odd update here, but all new articles will be published to my newsletter on Substack.

If you haven’t heard of Substack before, it is essentially a magazine curated by you, where you opt in to subscribe to the newsletters of people whose content interests you. There are lots of bestselling authors, well known journalists, public figures and experts, alongside a host of really interesting people you may not have come across before. I have been reading Substack for a long time, and am looking forward to posting my own content there.

I am so grateful to all of you who choose to subscribe to my blog, you will start to receive my articles more regularly again via the Substack email, and I am looking forward to connecting with you over on my new home. We can have fuller conversations via threads and I will be able to post things of interest that won’t disappear as quickly as an Instagram story.

The doors are open, the fire is lit (when will spring arrive?!), please do drop by and say hi!

Love,
Ruth x

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Creating a more Minimalist Living Room with The Mineral Pendant Cluster from Rothschild & Bickers

October 10, 2022

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[ad – post contains a gifted product]

We have lived in this home for seven years now, and I like to think the main parts of decorating and renovating are behind us (unless we win the lottery and extend the kitchen). However, whilst big makeovers grab our attention more immediately, it is the little changes which can have just as much of an impact on the way we live and feel within a space. I guess the story of every home lies in how it evolves and adapts to accommodate the changes in the daily lives of its inhabitants and ours is no different. We have done little more than a couple of simple updates but their impact really does change the purpose and ambience of the space.Read More

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New interiors book ‘Own Your Zone: Maximising Style & Space to Work & Live in the Modern Home’

September 28, 2022

 

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Good morning (or afternoon, or evening, according to time zone!).  This is an equally surreal as it is exciting week for me because, something I’ve been working on behind the scenes, an interiors book, is published tomorrow. So, today I thought I would take the opportunity to show you a preview and tell you a little of what you can expect to find within ‘Own Your Zone: Maximising Style & Space to Work & Live in the Modern Home‘. As the title suggests, it is a book about using zoning to build multifunctional purpose into your home, but I hope you will take a lot more away from it than a manual packed with design rules. Own Your Zone is an in-depth consideration of the way we live, what the home means, and how we can incorporate its modern functions whilst also expressing our style and enhancing well-being. Read More

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Green & Grey Minimalist Luxe Bathroom

September 7, 2022

 

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[ad – this post is a collaboration with Kallums bathrooms]

After many years of making do and waiting, I am thrilled to be sharing our bathroom makeover in collaboration with Kallums Bathrooms today. If you hop back a few posts to our bathroom plans, you will be able to see the sorry state of our previous bathroom, and my plans to create a new space which would give me the feel of a hushed haven of simplicity and elegant minimalist design. I knew that I would be thrilled to have a bathroom without leaks, what I didn’t fully anticipate was how much I would love the new space. It feels very high-end and sophisticated without drawing attention to itself, and the soft new palette and quality bathroom fittings are a far cry from the inky blue bathroom it replaces. Read More

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Design Soda Travel Guide to Lecce, Monopoli & Torre dell’Orso

August 24, 2022

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Part two of my travels in Italy guide takes us on a journey to Lecce, Italys furthest city in the southernmost heal of its boot, via the beautiful fishing town of Monopoli and along to the award winning coastline of the Salento. If you have read part one then you will know that we were looking for somewhere beautiful that Italians themselves holidayed, and without breaking the bank. Read More

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