"How do I make sure it won't date?"

It might be the question we're asked more than any other.

Whether someone's investing in a bespoke kitchen, renovating a period property or designing what they hope will be their forever home, there's almost always a quiet anxiety underneath the excitement. What if I spend all this money - all this time - and hate it in five years? What if I look back at the photographs and cringe?

It's a very human fear. And when you're making decisions that involve real money and real commitment, it deserves a real answer.

So let's get into it properly.

If you're highly capable in almost every other area of life but feel completely stuck when it comes to decisions around your own home, I promise you're not alone. It's rarely about taste. It's about carrying too many decisions at once, and I see it every single day, including in my own home.

I know, because I feel it too, and that might surprise you. Interior design isn't just my job, it's my passion. Yet when it comes to my own home, I struggle with exactly the same things you do.

Right now, I desperately need new bi-fold doors in my kitchen. Thirteen years ago, when we had an extension done, money was tight, so the doors to the garden had to be the cheapest I could find, or we lived with a gaping hole. They were cheap. A composite, laminated "wood" that did the job until water got into them and they slowly reverted to soggy sawdust. Not a great look, and definitely not secure.

That unloved room has been on your list long enough. Catherine, co-founder of The Living House, on why The Complete Design is the expert online interior design service that finally gets it done - with two dedicated designers, a full room plan, and a curated shopping list from £2,400. author: Catherine, Co-Founder, The Living House category: Interior Design Advice tags: online interior design UK, interior design service, room transformation, living room design, The Complete Design, The Living House

As interior designers, we love using pattern to add interest to a room, which is why we’re so pleased to see stripes making a comeback. More than ever, people are feeling braver about introducing pattern into their interiors, and stripes are the perfect place to start thanks to their timeless appeal. They’re also incredibly versatile, pairing beautifully with other patterns such as florals and checks to create a layered, well-designed look. With that in mind, we’ve put together a roundup of our top 10 striped sofas, featuring a mix of brands and price points so there’s something for everyone.

Families come in all shapes and sizes, and no family is the same, just like our homes. When designing for our customers, we create a room that works for the whole family and that is truly bespoke to them. Living rooms are the most common spaces we design for families, they are one of the rooms in the home that everyone uses.

After years of experience when it comes to designing living rooms for families, we wanted to share our expert interior design tips with you.

I don’t know about you, but for me, January always feels quite bleak with the cold and wet weather and, of course, the dark evenings. If I’m out and about for the day, I can’t wait to get home to hibernate and be all cosy! Once in and settled by this, I mean instantly changing into my comfy pyjamas and oodie, all I want to do is chill out and relax in my living room. In the winter, you start to look around your living room and think, how could I make this space cosy?!

Well, if this is exactly what you’re thinking, the good news is that I have shared 5 tips to make your living room feel like a cosy haven!

Choosing a paint colour for your living room can feel overwhelming, because there are so many different decisions you need to make. Your living room is most likely one of the main hubs in your home, a place you enjoy as a family and to entertain guests, therefore, you want to get it right. We have shared our expert paint ideas and tips that you can use for your living room.

We’ve shared with you our interior expert tips to nail your living room alcoves and make them work in your living room.

At The Living House, we have to admit we are HUGE rug fans. Rugs feature in almost all of our design schemes. When used in the right way, a rug makes your living room feel complete, cosy and it brings it all together beautifully. But it can be tricky to know how to choose a rug and even harder to find THE rug that’s going to work perfectly in your own living room.

This is a really common problem with these shaped rooms, especially in new builds. We get asked for help with layouts often and for good reason. It’s tricky to get right!!

Many years ago, when I first moved into my home I was stumped as to what colour to paint my Victorian living room. It was all white, and although a light blank canvas it lacked something extra.

When it comes to small living rooms, it can be challenging to know how best to arrange the furniture and find a place for everything. Getting the layout right in any living room can be tricky, but it is especially important when it’s a small living room. At The Living House we always begin by exploring different layout options when we are designing rooms for our customers, to see what the possibilities are and what will work best for the space.

We’ve been working with a lovely customer this week who has a new build house with a long rectangular living room. She was desperate to get away from the corridor effect in the room - lining up the sofas and TV on the long walls, but didn’t know what else to do. She was feeling seriously stuck.

Everyday we meet lovely customers and chat to them about their homes, and their design problems and dilemmas. And although every customer and every home is unique, there are also themes to the questions that we get asked. Below we have answered 5 common questions that have cropped up recently.

How we used layout planning to successfully design a huge open plan kitchen/dining/living room to create a multifunctional family space.

There are many, many different rugs on the market - every colour, shape and size imaginable. So how do you go about choosing the right one?

2020 was a challenging year for everyone. It pretty much changed the way we live overnight and the effects have had a huge influence on the home trends we are now seeing.