Author: News Room

If you’re buying a new-build home, it comes with an unusual opportunity: you can often make decisions about the property before you’ve even moved into it. Depending on the developer and how far construction has progressed, you might be invited to choose everything from kitchen worktops and flooring to extra sockets, fitted wardrobes and garden landscaping. It’s exciting, but it’s also surprisingly easy to spend a small fortune. Once you’ve visited a beautifully finished show home, the standard specification can suddenly seem rather basic. Add upgraded flooring here, better kitchen cabinets there and a few electrical extras, and your original…

For years, marble’s starring role in the home stayed fairly predictable: a kitchen island, a bathroom floor, perhaps a fireplace surround. That’s changing. In the most striking high-end interiors right now, marble has moved onto the walls, not as a subtle accent but as the room’s main event. Sculptural wall panels, three-dimensional textures and even glowing, illuminated stone surfaces are turning ordinary walls into the focal point of a space. If you’re planning a statement room, here’s why marble wallcoverings deserve a serious look. It’s a shift that says a lot about where high-end residential design is heading. Rather than…

Traffic hum, aircraft overhead, a neighbour’s late-night parties. When those sounds start dictating what rooms you use in your own home, most people’s first move is to ring a double glazing firm. That may not always be the best call, because standard double glazing is built to stop heat loss, not sound waves, and the two problems don’t respond to the same fix. The Soundproof Windows work from the opposite direction. It’s a London-based, engineer-led company that builds bespoke timber soundproof windows, secondary glazing and doors, installing across London with supply-only options available further afield. It’s family-run, and it describes…

Rural outbuildings, like a barn shed, were seen purely as utility structures. Often, it is open and drafty, with rusty boxes tucked into every corner. However, that assumption  is slowly changing. Barns, especially those that are customised, are no longer just storage space. They are slowly becoming an aesthetic piece for any home.  When built with intention,  a barn shed can help elevate the visual rhythm of your home and its surroundings.  Traditional or Modern: Find the Right Look for Your Property Whether you choose a traditional or modern barn shed, what’s important is it also matches your property’s overall…

Ask anyone who’s taken on a serious project in a London terrace what surprised them most and it’s rarely the build cost or the planning wait. It’s the moment they discovered that the wall they wanted to cut into is only half theirs — and that the neighbours they’ve barely spoken to now have a legal say in their project. Party walls sit in a strange gap. Homeowners assume the architect handles it. Architects will tell you it’s surveyor territory. Surveyors get the call after notices should already have been served. Meanwhile the loft company has quoted as if none…

As a pet owner, it’s important to consider your pet’s needs when you’re looking for a suitable living space. A property that works perfectly for one animal may be completely unsuitable for another, so finding a genuinely pet-friendly home involves more than simply looking for a large yard or checking whether pets are permitted. It can be particularly challenging if suitable homes are hard to come by in the community you’ve chosen. However, thinking carefully about your pet’s everyday routine, safety and future needs can help you narrow down your options. The guide below can help you find a property…

For UK homeowners shortlisting a heat pump in 2026, Stiebel Eltron is one option to compare alongside NIBE for cold-climate performance and Worcester Bosch for installer familiarity. All seven brands in this guide have distinct strengths and trade-offs. With energy prices still volatile and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme continuing to soften the upfront cost of switching from gas, more households than ever are comparing air source heat pump brands before requesting installer quotes. We’ve compared seven options based on efficiency, product range, UK-market credentials, and after-sales support, so you can move from browsing to a confident shortlist. Stiebel Eltron may…

Two rooms can be almost identical on paper and still feel completely different to live in. One might look onto mature trees, with shifting light and leaves moving outside the window. Another might face a busy pavement, neighbouring buildings or an open stretch of sky. The furniture could be similar, the wall colour could be the same, and yet the atmosphere inside each room would not be quite the same. That is because we do not experience our homes in isolation. What sits beyond the windows, where the front door opens, how daylight enters, whether there is a garden or…

Rich, warm and wonderfully sophisticated, burgundy is a colour that can completely transform a room. It has much of the drama of red, but its deeper wine, berry and brown undertones make it easier to live with and surprisingly versatile. Burgundy can feel luxurious and cocooning when teamed with other deep shades, fresh and contemporary alongside pale colours, or earthy and relaxed when combined with natural greens and warm neutrals. It works beautifully on walls and kitchen cabinetry, but is equally effective on a velvet sofa, upholstered headboard, curtains or smaller accessories. The trick is choosing colours that bring out…

The hallway might not be the largest room in your home, but it has to work surprisingly hard. It’s where coats are taken off, shoes are kicked aside, bags are dropped, keys disappear and unopened post has an unfortunate habit of multiplying. In a busy household, it doesn’t take long for the entrance to become one of the most cluttered areas of the home. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need a huge amount of hallway storage to solve the problem. In fact, adding more cupboards, baskets and hooks without first thinking about what you actually need to…