Articles written by Simon Temprell

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About me - Simon Temprell

I am a British interior designer living in the Washington, DC area since 1992. In my free time I write articles on interior decoration, appear regularly on the radio and have appeared on HGTV's Designers' Challenge. I am also a published novelist and have

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Health & Fitness > Diet & Weight Loss The facts about obesity in American adults: 3 of 10

Through all of her adult life my mother has battled her weight. Unfortunately for her there exists a genetic propensity towards obesity and although it has never been an extreme physical handicap she has never been entirely comfortable with her body. She has taken most of the popular trails towards salvation: Weight Watchers...
Home & Garden > Home Interior The right choice of interior decorators: 1 of 3

There is something of a veiled mystique about employing an interior designer. It's like going in to one of those fancy stores where nothing in the window has a price tag and you have to ring the doorbell to get in. It is almost as though the mere mention of money is considered vulgar and if you have to ask then you obviously...
Home & Garden > Home Interior How to get the best from window blinds: 1 of 3

When I first started decorating homes in London in the mid eighties the status symbol of the well-dressed window was the Austrian blind (sometimes called a festoon blind or, in the US, a balloon shade). Huge, ruffled, interlined monstrosities sometimes edged with frills and usually married to a massive pair of tied-back drap...
Home & Garden > Home Interior How to decorate your home with budget artwork: 4 of 11

An arrangement of favorite, framed photographs, wall art, and collectibles can add personality and warmth to any room. When done correctly, wall art can change the focal point, or, the entire look of any room. When done incorrectly pictures can appear to be floating' and unanchored on a wall that is just too expansive for th...
Home & Garden > Furniture The psychology of the use of coffee tables: 1 of 2

If your home decoration is a religious experience then the coffee table has to be the altar. No other piece of furniture in your living room illustrates to your guests just what kind of person you are, and it's not just the coffee table itself it is the objects residing there that tell the story. I honestly think that if I s...
Home & Garden > Home Interior Creating a professional color-board for decorating: 1 of 1

If you are planning the re-decoration of a room any time in the near future you might want to take a tip from an expert and first create a color-board. This is something that I do for all my clients as part of the initial blueprint' stage when we are choosing fabrics, floor coverings, wallpaper and paint. A color-board is a ...
Home & Garden > Home Interior Interiors: Distressed effects in your home: 1 of 1

Some things in life are an acquired taste; olives, bitter chocolate, experimental jazz. In the decorating world the equivalent to such things as anchovies and Japanese animation is a deliberate process called aging. Aging isn't something that only happens to living things, it happens to all manner of home furnishings from fa...
Home & Garden > Home Interior Shag carpet as an option for the home: 1 of 1

In the 70's when shag carpet was all the rage there were no end of double entendres by those saucy Brits (me being one of them!) who thought it amusing to make jokes about having a shag on the floor! The most outrageous shag carpet I ever witnessed was in my aunt's home in Sarasota, when I visited the US for the first time i...
Home & Garden > Home Interior Interiors: Tackling a simple makeover: 1 of 1

I just returned from a week in London where I was dazed each morning by an endless array of home decorating makeover' shows on TV. Although the format of each show is slightly different the main principal seems to be; revitalize your rooms for under $500.00. Is this a realistic goal? My advice on this particular subject is s...
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie review: Look Back In Anger: 1 of 1

I watched Look Back in Anger last night. It is a brilliant play but rather difficult to watch due to the uncomfortable scenes of verbal abuse involving Richard Burton's character and his down-trodden, upper-middle-class wife who seems to spend all her time ironing and looking beautiful but down-trodden. Apparently John Osbor...