Million Dollar Decorators

I must say I have really enjoyed this season of MDD, and am so sorry it has been so short. Can't believe we have to wait another year! It's been full of such fun but highly contrived drama, and I have absorbed every little detail of the houses and lives of these larger than life characters.

The stars came back bigger and better than before, minus poor Nathan Turner who was left out as a featured designer but was allowed to appear as Mary McDonald's (or Mums as he calls her) BFF. The budgets were bigger, the houses grander, the personalities more eccentric and the clients more demanding. Poor Lindsay Lohan, never got to see her final reveal as designed by Kathryn Ireland, and from what I read, her new house has been repossessed and all the stuff had to go back!

I have been trying to decide who I would have to design my house if money were no object and I had to pick one of them, and I have found it hard to settle on one. They each have very distinctive and individual looks. So I thought I'd go and do a little refresher to remind myself of each designer's work and style. First up today.....

KATHRYN IRELAND

Kathryn cracks me up. She is such a lush, and reminds me of a particular type of English woman with her big boobs, flirtatious side, chaotic and eccentric nature and taste for all things bohemian, comfortable and liveable (oh and alcoholic!). She reminds me a bit of the witch in the Wizard of Oz, not because she's nasty or green, but I think it's her long hair and profile....

She prides herself on being a "life designer", and her rooms always have a very natural, lived in, approachable, casual elegance to them. She uses a lot of her own fabrics and leans toward an English cottage/ French barn kind of look with hints of Morocco thrown in. Some of her rooms have a very Martyn Lawrence Bullard look to them. She uses predominantly warm colours like reds, yellows, pinks and oranges, with a slightly warn, washed out look, so her rooms never look new or contrived. It is sometimes a bit too much on the Shabby Chic/country cottage/twee side for my taste, but she does do some very pretty, feminine spaces.

I must say I have been delighted to rediscover her fabrics and wallpapers, which are so fresh, pretty and charming. I love all the florals, patterns, stripes and colours, even more so now that she has included a lot more blue in her collection. Here is some of her work and range. If you visit her website here, you can buy some of her range online including cushions and a rather eclectic collection of antiques and vintage finds curated by Kathryn.

Images from Kathryn Ireland.

I'll show some more of the other designers' work in coming posts. If you want to read a really interesting post on the show, and all the behind the scenes gossip, photos and backstory, you must read this post from Cote de Texas blog here.

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day to enter the LOVE TO SWADDLE giveaway. See here for details.