January can be such a cruel month. With the festive season behind us and all those cold and dark days ahead, it’s little wonder hoardes flock to spas for a much needed boost. The spa industry is burgeoning. There are oodles of fine establishments out there eager to get their healing hands on your tired little bod. For an indulgent getaway, head to the Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne. A historical gem, it is one of Switzerland’s most opulent hotels. Overlooking Lake Geneva, it boasts incredible views of the Swiss Alps. The award winning Cinq Mondes Spa focuses on ancient health and beauty rituals merged with cutting edge design. Founder of...

In our troubled times, where the fear of losing ones job or threats of terrorism can get you down, there is much comfort to be found in escapism. An Englishman’s home is his castle.  Whether you inhabit a bungalow or a stately home, it should offer respite from daily worries. Us Brits are known for our eccentricities, our sense of humour. Your surroundings should reflect this. Your home should not take itself too seriously. A great starting point in realising your fantastical vision is to look to the past for inspiration and meaning.  Several leading interior designers and creative forces have employed this approach to great effect....

The mere mention of the word party gets me excited, despite some bad ones I’ve attended in the past. The best ones for me always involve some silliness or dressing up. It really does break the ice in a way that nothing else can. A particularly memorable party of mine was a Cowboy themed birthday bash. A bale of hay and a saddle were borrowed from a kind farmer. The saddle provided a striking centrepiece and the bale of hay, neatly intact for most of the night, was later dismantled and strewn all over the floor, with partygoers rolling around in it gleefully. There is so much fun to be had with a good theme.Throwing a good party is one of...

A larder appeals to the hoarder in me. I love the idea of having a massive cupboard full of food that I can walk into and admire at a glance, then shut away out of sight. Before the advent of the modern day fridge, every home had a roomy larder. Filled with supplies, this built in cupboard had a stone shelf to keep food cool and hooks in the ceiling to hang meat from. Then along came the fridge and the larder was no longer required, so it became a rare breed. Until recently, that is. With a revised interest in home cooking and more people eating-in, larders are making a comeback as extra storage for food. There is something irresistibly...

If I had to lose one my senses, it definitely wouldn’t be my sense of smell. Scents are very evocative of memories and emotions. The mere whiff of a familiar scent and you can travel in time and space at the blink of an eye. A scent can completely change the atmosphere of a place. For instance, entering a kitchen that smells of good cooking immediately makes you feel nurtured and comfortable. Who doesn’t like the smell of bread baking or onions frying on a hob? One of my favourite smells is that of an open wood fire. A few years ago, my husband and I spent a wintry weekend at the Star Inn in Yorkshire. Arriving in the dark after a long...

It’s that time of year, the party season is upon us, social calendars are filling up and I am, quite frankly, preparing to retox. Many of us Brits have an affiliation for all things vintage, from lamps to tea dresses, we lap it up. When it comes to booze-filled entertainment, old world decadence is the word on the street. The latest trend is for cocktails and concoctions of yesteryear. A new crop of bars across London and other British cities is mixing old and new to glorious effect. Newly opened in King’s Cross is the VOC, a 17th century style punch house which takes its name not from volatile organic compounds but translates from its...