May 2023 - Fleet, Hartley Wintney, Odiham McCarthy Holden Estate Agents

11 stylish ways to kit out kids’ bedrooms

May 30, 2023 by Sam Holden

From play areas to bedtime bliss, check out these cute ideas for children’s rooms, says Sam Wylie-Harris.

Everyone loves a summer refresh, especially tots and tweenies with playtime high on the agenda.

To capture their hearts and set the scene for after-school projects, reading hour, bedtime stories and imaginary beings, here’s what’s on our kiddies’ wish list…

1. Vipack Kiddy Tipi Desk, £209, Cuckooland

A centrepiece and workstation with a sense of wonder, think how much fun your littlun will have laying out their favourite things. With two open compartments for consoles, colouring pens and books.

2. Habitat Kids Mermaid Bookends, £18, Habitat

Ideal for kids of all ages – and child-like adults – this sweet mermaid has found a place in our hearts. Beyond the bookshelf, she’d look just as enchanting bookending dolls and soft toys.

3. Kids Prehistoric Dinosaurs and Friends Reversible Duvet Cover and Pillowcase Set, from £24, Next

When they know their brontosaurus from their T-Rex, and want to learn more, this larger-than-life bedding is just the thing.

Teddy Bear Rattan Easy Fit Shade, £57, Next

This teddy shade loves the spotlight – and will add charm to any ceiling.

5. Habitat Kids Grey Stars Bean Bag, £32, Habitat

We all love stars and this brilliant bean bag is perfect for cosying up with in front of their screen.

6. Dino Alphabet Wallpaper in Multicoloured, £12 per roll, I Love Wallpaper

A feature wall full of wonder, look a little closer and this alphabet wallpaper is a riot of fun with teeth, scales and claws to up their learning skills.

7. Children’s Rocket Night Light, £16.99, Lights4fun

The only light to launch, every spaceman dreams of a rocket.

8. Bella Floral Pillowcase, £25; Bella Floral Fitted Sheet, £50.50 (Single); Bella Floral Duvet Cover, £75 (Single); Bella Floral Kantha Quilt, £149; rest of items from a selection, Camomile London

A little bit special, this cottagecore-inspired vintage rose print imbibes thoughts of Little House On The Prairie. With sprigs of pastel blue and green flowers, it can be mixed and matched with other favourite finds.

9. Bear Basket, Large, £15; Simply Everyday Throw – Sage, £5; Plush Lion, Small, £6, B&M, in-store

A best-loved bear basket deserves their hero toys.

10. Kids Concept Neo Mammoth Animal Head Wall Decoration, currently £29.95 (was £44.95), rest of items part of room set, Cuckooland

This handsome fellow with curved tusks brings wall art to life – and who wouldn’t want to stroke his soft fur if you can reach? One to stand the test of time, you’re never too old for a furry friend.

11. Bloomingville Kesa Storage Box, £135, Sweetpea & Willow

Wheels of fun, this charming crate can be stacked high with goodies and parked in their special play space.

3 of the best new BBQ cookbooks to try this summer

May 26, 2023 by Sam Holden

Fire up the grill, because BBQ season is upon us, says Prudence Wade.

Few things are more satisfying than cooking up a storm on the BBQ.

Whether you’re catering for a crowd or firing up for a quick midweek dinner – as the weather starts to warm up, so do our grills.

BBQing used to have a somewhat basic reputation for chucking unseasoned steaks on the grill and calling it a day. However, there are worlds of possibilities when it comes to cooking over fire – for example, did you know you could even whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies outside?

New BBQ cookbooks released in preparation for summer take us all over the world with their recipes, and could even convince to you to build your own grill from scratch…

1. DJ BBQ’s Backyard Baking: 50 Awesome Recipes For Baking Over Live Fire by David Wright, Chris Taylor and Christian Stevenson

Think BBQs are just for hunks of meat? Think again.

DJ BBQ’s Backyard Baking proves baking doesn’t have to be an indoor, rainy day pursuit – and can be just as delicious and as much fun over the open fire outside.

This book is a collaboration from three foodies – Christian Stevenson (better known as DJ BBQ), his regular co-author Chris Taylor and baker David Wright.

The trio argue both cooking over fire and baking are often seen as overly complicated pursuits that are easy to get wrong – but in this book, they set out to prove this misconception wrong.

The book starts with the basics – the equipment and set-ups you’ll need, with a baking focus – and then launches into a host of technicolour recipes.

Dishes range from simple crowdpleasers, such as campfire bread and chocolate chip cookies (which yes, you can bake on a BBQ, you’ll discover) to the more adventurous, including lamb kofta sausage rolls and a full Moroccan-inspired chicken dinner.

There’s even a recipe for charcoal ice cream – which isn’t black like you might see on Instagram, but is full of those beautiful, smokey flavours.

With DJ BBQ’s signature brand of wit and irreverence, this book will open up the worlds of possibilities within outdoor cooking.

Quadrille, £20. Photography by David Loftus. Available now.

2. The DIY BBQ Cookbook: How To Build Your Own BBQ And Cook Up A Feast by James Whetlor

This is one for the DIY enthusiasts – anyone who really wants to their hands dirty when BBQing, from start to finish.

While it’s all very well and good to use a regular, shop-bought BBQ, food writer James Whetlor is a huge proponent for making your own.

Why? Because shop-bought versions are often expensive, and near-impossible to cart with you on a jaunt to the beach or a day in the park.

But Whetlor predominantly highlights how fun it is to make your own BBQ. You don’t have to be a DIY wizard or a building maestro to do so – some of the simplest set-ups will be hugely effective.

You’ll need a few basic bits of kit for a DIY BBQ – including breeze blocks, pots, planks and chains – all of which Whetlor says is available at your local DIY store. He also urges safety – wearing work gloves and goggles when building.

Whetlor gives a comprehensive guide on building your own BBQ – covering all the different options, from small versions to one that can smoke a whole pig – and there’s even an ingenious step-by-step guide for building your own tandoor oven out of a flowerpot.

If you’re tentative about building your own BBQ, Whetlor’s guide is so comprehensive he’ll put any nerves at rest – and then he follows up with the best bit: what to cook on your new creation.

Dishes range from vibrant veggie options – mushroom tacos and miso-marinated aubergine steaks – to meaty dishes (coconut hot wings, tandoori quail, spicy pork ribs and more).

Quadrille, £20. Photography by Sam Folan. Available now.

3. Big Green Egg Feasts: Innovative Recipes To Cook For Friends And Family by Tim Hayward

While this book is predominantly geared towards people with Green Eggs – a specific type of ceramic BBQ – don’t be put off, because the recipes will suit anyone, with any type of BBQ.

The beauty of a Green Egg is it covers so many different types of cooking – you can slow-roast, wok-fry and cook pizzas on there – but you’ll just as easily be able to do that without one, be it on stove or in your oven, if it’s not a recipe that specifically calls for BBQing.

If you’ve got a Green Egg, food writer Tim Hayward will take you through the best ways to use it, making sure you get the most out of this (admittedly expensive) piece of kit.

But the real strength of this cookbook lies in the sheer range of recipes included from all over the world. You’ll get step-by-step guides on how to make lobster rolls from the US, Indian chicken curry, a whole rack of spiced lamb from the Maghreb region in north-west Africa and Mexican taco recipes to feed a crowd.

Dishes are vibrant, colourful and will be everything you want to make this summer – with or without a BBQ.

Quadrille, £30. Photography by Sam Folan. Available now.

Highlights and trends from RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023: sustainability, wildlife and weeds

May 26, 2023 by Sam Holden

This year’s show gardens let nature do the talking, as gardening editor Hannah Stephenson discovers.

Gardens featuring more weeds and less formality have taken centre stage at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, placing more emphasis on letting nature take control.

Native plants and trees, nettles, dandelions and a predominantly green palette of planting feature in many of the 36 show gardens, along with salvaged and upcycled materials. Elsewhere, huge bursts of colour remain in the Great Pavilion, while first-time exhibitors include mushroom growers the Caley Bros.

This year’s show is likely to spark controversy, reckons garden designer Andrew Duff, co-chair of the Society of Garden Designers and managing director of the Inchbald School of Design.

“There’s a clear message about sustainability and environmental factors in an aesthetic way. There’s a loss about actually, what is a garden supposed to do?” he says. “Right across the show, the inference is that nature’s taking control… maybe that it’s OK to let weeds grow and let things get a little bit ruinous.

“But at the end of the day, people like a lawn, they like to look after a space – that’s part of being in a garden – and it’s time that we need (to address) that controversy,” Duff adds.

Reflecting on the topic, Matthew Pottage, curator of RHS Garden Wisley, says: “We are having a climate crisis. We do need to garden environmentally sensitively. Is this the place to be showing that? It’s arguably the world’s best flower show, so this is the place.”

5 highlight gardens from this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Centrepoint Garden

Love it or hate it, this garden is likely to cause a stir with its partly demolished house, so-called ‘weeds’ and a fallen tree. Designer Cleve West has admitted it’s a ‘Marmite garden’ – people will love it or hate it.

“There’s a sense of abandonment, which is so clever. Cleve West has done a partly demolished ruined house with the idea of nature taking over,” Duff observes. “He’s saying it’s a metaphor for what it is to be young and homeless. There are nettles and dandelion seedheads. It’s really going to question what beauty is in a plant – and I think we need to have that discussion.”

Nurture Landscapes Garden

If you’re looking to take home some plants with you, be inspired by the beautiful Benton irises in rich shades of pastels and deep yellows which you’ll see in designer Sarah Price’s Nurture Landscapes show garden, inspired by the artist and plantsman Cedric Morris.

Memoria and GreenAcres Transcendence Garden

Designers Gavin McWilliam and Andrew Wilson’s garden aims to deliver an uplifting spiritual space, reflecting the emotional experience at the end of life (it’s going to a bereavement site after the show).

“Controversially, they’ve used concrete, but with the idea that this concrete is going to be around for hundreds of years,” says Duff. “It’s not a single use concrete.

“It has a simple palette of planting, is cool and calm and you immediately feel rested. The minimal use of materials and colour palette was really special and a moment of calm in the entire show. It was a relief to get to it,” Duff adds.

Myeloma UK – A Life Worth Living Garden

Top designer Chris Beardshaw’s garden has a much more traditional garden feel, with a structured order in the colourful planting against a backdrop of clipped yew, including peonies and salvias, plus inspired woodland planting.

Horatio’s Garden

Putting wheelchair access at the forefront of their design, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg (Harris Bugg Studio), have created the eighth garden for the eponymous charity, which builds gardens to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injury.

The wheelchair-accessible space, influenced by the ways of seeing from a bed or a wheelchair, features tactile stone cairn and a table water feature to encourage wildlife, while a garden pod provides a cocooning place for physical and emotional shelter. After the show it will be relocated to Sheffield’s Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre.

“There’s an incredible depth of planting, which is mind-blowingly beautiful, and beehives of warm cut stone which kind of replace topiary – they’ve made topiary out of stone,” says Duff.

Top trends

These are some of the key gardening trends to emerge from this year’s event.

Wildlife

“Unsurprisingly, there’s going to be the awareness of wildlife-friendly planting,” says Pottage. “There’s lots of habitat in gardens, but hopefully showing that can be beautiful as well. There are lots of logpiles, lots of water, lots of native plants, but also lots of gardenesque planting.”

Reclaimed and reused

Crushed concrete, piles of rubble, bare sand, re-used bricks and other recycled material dominate many of the show gardens’ pathways and form decorative features in several gardens. There’s a message to get gardeners thinking about how they might reuse materials, which formerly headed for the skip.

“All the gardens have a destination, which is really important,” says Pottage – the show gardens are all being relocated after the show.

Award-winning designer Tom Massey, who has this year designed The Royal Entomological Society Garden, predicts: “Reuse of waste materials is going to be a big thing.”

He uses crushed construction waste in his show garden, including crushed bricks and concrete to create a textured, aesthetic backdrop for the planting along with deadwood. “These waste materials are really good habitat for insects,” he points out.

Plants

People will be encouraged to grow native plants, from hazel to cow parsley, while those seeking colour may go for irises, which are prevalent at this year’s show. There’s also a resurgence of common yew (Taxus baccata) and other familiar plants including a cloud pine, Eleagnus ‘Quicksilver’

Drought-tolerant plants are also being pushed – some 55% of perennials in the show gardens are drought-tolerant, almost double that of last year, including fennel, salvia and cistus.

Weeds

Dandelions and other weeds feature in some of the gardens. Chelsea gold medallist Cleve West notes: “People get their knickers in a twist about weeds but they are the pioneer plants that stitch everything together.

“It’s just getting people to understand that all the things we kill with herbicides and pesticides can look quite beautiful,” West adds. “Just be more tolerant, and if you have a space where you can let nature take its course, it’s got to be good for wildlife and insects.”

Massey adds: “Dandelions are an early source of pollen and nectar for bees – and insects are in mass decline, so we need to be more considerate in the way we manage and maintain our gardens.”

Sculpture

“We are seeing nature becoming the sculpture,” says Duff, citing designer Sarah Price’s Nurture Landscapes Garden Mediterranean cloud pine. There are pillows of yew in the Memoria and GreenAcres Transcendence Garden.

Nods to the Royal Family abound, from bronze bust of the King in A Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration, which features some of the Windsor family’s favourite plants including roses and camassia, plus several crowns featuring flora and fauna.

Standing at just under 7m is the biggest driftwood sculpture ever displayed at Chelsea, a Wyvern dragon perched on a tree, the centrepiece of sculptor James Doran-Webb’s exhibit.

And paying homage to the unsung heroines of horticulture at The Monument is the ‘Women in Horticulture’ exhibit honouring the likes of Janaki Ammal, Beth Chatto and Gertrude Jekyll.

Bigging up small spaces

Guy Barter, chief horticulturist for the RHS, says people are likely to be planting bigger trees on their balconies and also using drought-tolerant species. “This year there’s a pollinator section, a wildlife bath, and drought-resistant plants.”

11 stylish ways to kit out kids’ bedrooms

From play areas to bedtime bliss, check out these cute ideas for children’s rooms, says Sam Wylie-Harris.

3 of the best new BBQ cookbooks to try this summer

Fire up the grill, because BBQ season is upon us, says Prudence Wade.

Highlights and trends from RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023: sustainability, wildlife and weeds

This year’s show gardens let nature do the talking, as gardening editor Hannah Stephenson discovers.

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From play areas to bedtime bliss, check out these cute ideas for children’s rooms, says Sam Wylie-Harris.

Fire up the grill, because BBQ season is upon us, says Prudence Wade.

This year’s show gardens let nature do the talking, as gardening editor Hannah Stephenson discovers.

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