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Living with an interiors addict (by my fiancé)

February 18, 2013

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In a very brave move, today I gave my fiancé Damian the chance to blog about what it’s like living with me. I must be crazy…

damian

I used to have a collection of interiors books which I kept in my Ikea Expedit bookcase in my bedroom. I was quite proud of them, from Terence Conran’s Storage to collections on small spaces. Sydney property prices being what they are, I was realistic about the size of my first property. I felt like I was in touch with interiors. An interest beat out only by Formula 1… and cars… and travel… and planes… OK, it was a distant fifth, but just go with me here.

In the middle of 2010 (I think – the last few years have been a bit of a blur), I moved in with Jen. We lived in a small two-bedroom Mosman apartment next to the local school. Handy if you had kids. We don’t. I had it in my mind that I was going to turn that apartment around and add New York and Paris inspired minimalist touches that would revolutionise what was quite a bland little pad (Jen hadn’t been there long enough to put her mark on it).

How clueless I was (and arguably still am).

It turns out that Jen’s distant fifth passion was Formula 1. You don’t need me to tell you what her number one is. As time went by it became obvious I was losing my passion for interiors just as quickly as she was losing her passion for Formula 1. But that also may have been because Jenson Button was progressively proving his 2009 World Championship win was a flash in the pan… bloody Poms. I digress. I was losing my passion because Jen’s was so strong it swept mine up and carried it away far out to sea. But that’s not a bad thing at all. Quite the opposite. It allowed me to find my place.

The point is that when you live with someone with an intense passion, unless you share that same intensity, it’s unlikely that you will have equal say in matters relating to it. I command the TV for all live F1 coverage, and there is little to no talk about Jenson Button during telecasts. It’s all about Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg. It will also be about Valteri Bottas this year too, but I’m yet to break that to Jen.

She’ll be fine with that though, because on the flip side, as I quickly found out, when you live with an interiors addict, you strap in and go for the ride or you get severe road rash from the ordeal. Road rash in the form of an impossible number of cushions kicking you off the sofa, that classic Formula 3 poster you picked with her turning out to be a little bit “wrong” when you both saw it in person (you don’t really know why though) and your prize Sony Bravia LCD TV being too “fat” for the space. I certainly wouldn’t choose as many pink and green accessories as Jen has, but that’s okay because she assures me our “forever home” (the one for when we grow up) will be very monochrome with touches of industrial. Hmm…

At the end of the day though, after all the trial and error (and there is a lot of it), the results are often pretty damn good. No amount of interiors books would be able to help me sort out an apartment in quite the same way. It’s the passion that puts the icing on the cake.

But that doesn’t mean my interest in interiors has vanished. Instead, it’s been refined. Some readers might find this has happened in their relationship too, but Jen turns to me for help in areas she may not know a lot about. Which laptop to get (yep, that MacBook Pro was my idea – it goes well with my Air), the connection solutions in our apartment and the entertainment system (after the fat TV was killed off) are all my department.

Rather than feeling like that’s placed me in a stereotypical corner, it’s given me a way of controlling a significant amount of the design that will directly affect my usage of our space. The entertainment unit dictates the flow and colours in the living room. Win. That new TV, component stereo system and PS3 aren’t going anywhere. Win. The size and shape of the laptops will also play a part in the desk size, shape and colour when the new office goes in. Win… I think. Let’s see.

That’s about as much input as I need. I’ll roll with the rest of changes. It’s worked well so far. After all, it’s pretty damn easy to look at a lot of pretty interiors books and assume you could do the same. But in practice… 

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Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than F Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than French onion?

I think not!

Grab the recipe on the blog this morning via link in bio.
Get to know me! I haven't done one of these in YE Get to know me!

I haven't done one of these in YEARS so there's possibly thousands of you who don't know my back story. Here's a few things you may not know about me!

✔️ I'm English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and I moved here (just for one year) back in 2008😆 

✔️ I can't end the day without a bath, even if I get home really late or on a really hot day. It's a mental health thing and my happy place. 🛁 

✔️ Before becoming a blogger and running my own small business, I was a journalist from the age of 18. My favourite news gathering times were as a newspaper crime reporter (bit different to interiors!) 📓 

✔️ I once worked at New Scotland Yard in London 🚔 

✔️I had an interview at Oxford (didn't get in!) but chose not to go to uni at all after being offered a job on the local paper #universityoflife 😁

✔️ My mum died when I was 3, I have an excellent dad and one sister (younger) in the UK ❤️ 🇬🇧 

✔️ At school, my favourite subject was French 🇫🇷 and I was head girl 🤓🤓

✔️ I'm addicted to ☕️ , long hot baths and💄 (been wearing it since I was about 14!)

✔️ I'm not a phonecall person and will never ever pick up an unknown number. Ever. They can leave a message 😁

✔️ My favourite cuisine is Japanese 🍣 🍜 and Damian and I honeymooned in Tokyo and Venice 

✔️ I have zero design qualifications. I just started blogging about my passion, which is trying to persuade everyone to #heartyourhome That was 11 years ago...

✔️ My favourite tipple is a good GnT or🍷 

✔️ Cheesy as it sounds, 💁‍♀️being a mum is my absolute biggest joy in life 🧒👦

✔️ I will never give up my old school paper diary! Has to be A5 and week to view 📖 

✔️ My official surname isn't Bishop. I kept my maiden name for work after I got married but changed it for everything else. Often confuse myself!

✔️ I didn't get my Ps until I was 37 and I'm still a terrible parker 😯 🅿️

Hope you feel like you know me a bit better 😘

📸 @vanlowvanlow
Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 @nood_co coloured con Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 

@nood_co coloured concrete basins is a great Aussie business success story. Although co founder Matt Di Costa first found fame as one half of Matt and Kim on The Block, he hasn't relied on this to build his brand.

“We are very honoured to have been a part of The Block, and all they have done for us. I am, however, a believer in letting the product take centre stage,” he says.

Read our interview with Matt via link in bio now.

🙏Share your favourite colour basin in the comments!

#colouredconcrete #noodco #colouredbasin #blockheads #the block #bathroomtrends2022

Pic 1 by @naibudesign_ and 2 by @twostyleinteriors
I'd love to see more colour in Aussie interiors! I'd love to see more colour in Aussie  interiors! 🎨 

At the end of the day though, it's a matter of personal taste. I love pops of colour but it's not for everyone. 

We couldn't resist featuring this Canadian house tour today. The amazing Kelly Green  hutch (swipe) was an upcycled $200 find 🤗

Head over to the blog via link in bio to see the rest including one of the best playrooms we've seen in ages!

Project by @in.house.design
📸 @philcrozier
Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis o Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis on light and nature.

That was the brief for the conversion of a corner shop and a warehouse bakery into a luxury family home in Sydney's Newtown. And how about the library?!

Take the tour of this very special @annacarindesign project on the blog now, via link in bio.

Pic: @justinalexanderphoto
The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭 N The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭

None of us enjoy laundry (OK, there are a few of you out there who do. Weird!) but we have to do it. And often. So if your laundry bin can be as good looking, functional and space saving as this, then why wouldn't you?!

I've lost track of how many baskets I've thrown out because they've gone soggy or mouldy. They look pretty, sure, but they're not fit for purpose and they're often messy and overflowing.

Here's what I love about his @brabantia_australia one:

✔️ ventilation holes
✔️ no need to remove the lid for small items plus it hides your dirty laundry from view
✔️ easily removable and washable inner laundry bag that velcros back on 
✔️ corrosion resistant so fine in bathroom or laundry 
✔️ Brabantia make things as sustainably as possible
✔️ compact, sleek, European design
✔️ 10 year warranty
✔️ tall and skinny so takes up less floor in my tiny laundry

The Rolls Royce of laundry bins? I think so 👌🏻

TOLD you this was going to be exciting!

Now I need to know, do you have your laundry basket in the bathroom, the laundry, every bedroom? We used to have one in each bedroom but moved to the laundry-only situation which I much prefer (one for colours and one for whites). My boys know to put their used clothes in the bin in the laundry each night and they're 7 and 3!  #raisingfuturehusbands

#gifted
"Living rooms are important spaces where our publi "Living rooms are important spaces where our public and private lives intersect."

So says stylist @nataliewalton in her gorgeous new book Style, the Art of Creating a Beautiful Home.

"They are where we gather to welcome guests and entertain. But they are also where we decompress and relax at the end of the day. Increasingly, they are open-plan spaces and need to work within a greater scheme. Bringing all the elements together cohesively requires care and consideration. And, if you want a space that lives up to its true potential, make it personal and create with conviction."

Read an extract, the chapter on elevating your living room, on the blog today via link in bio.

Published by @thamesandhudsonau Pix by @chriswarnes 

#livingroomdesigns #nataliewalton #coffeetablebooks #designbooks #interiorsbooks #livingroominteriors #elevateyourspace
Kids and husband messing with my vignettes again🤨

PS. The coaster was RIGHT THERE 🤪
#weatherforit 🥶 Need a new blanket? Look no fu #weatherforit 🥶

Need a new blanket? Look no further than these gorgeous South African blankets from @baobabcollective, sustainably sourced, ethically crafted and imported by a Southern Highlands couple.

On the blog now via link in bio.
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About Damian Francis

Damian Francis is Jen's husband and a former consumer technology journalist for T3, GQ and Men's Health

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarCamilla says

    February 18, 2013 at 9:22 am

    Great read! Seems like a perfect match!

  2. AvatarVic @ Cush & Nooks says

    February 18, 2013 at 11:01 am

    Brilliantly written. My husband, who’s passions are surfing and mountain biking, definitely has to take a back seat when it comes to our interiors. I try to include him, but in the end it’s better if I make the decisions – after all, I wouldn’t tell him which mountain bike to buy! With three daughters fast following in my footsteps he will forever be outnumbered 🙂 x

    • AvatarJen Bishop says

      February 18, 2013 at 1:02 pm

      Haha, he has no chance! 😉

  3. AvatarKate Barnes says

    February 18, 2013 at 11:34 am

    It’s Moto GP and Event Design in our house, but all of the above still sounds familiar! Sounds like you’ve found the perfect recipe to a successful and happy partnership!

    • AvatarDamian says

      February 18, 2013 at 12:40 pm

      MotoGP gets a pretty good run in our house as well!

  4. AvatarEmma - My Bespoke Chair says

    February 18, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    Great post Damian! Good to see you trust Jen (obviously – we all do!) but when I had the shop, the amount of times the husband/boyfriend would influence the wife/girlfriend, nearly convinced me to write a “No Husbands/Boyfriends Allowed” on the door. As if they knew or truly cared whether the slipper chair would fit their bedroom decor…. Like Vic @ Nook & Cushions wrote, they wouldn’t be dictated to which bike/PS3 game/surfboard to buy!

    • AvatarDamian says

      February 18, 2013 at 12:39 pm

      Thanks Emma. I tend to take the stance of “if you want to look inside that shop it’s cool, so long as there is somewhere for me to sit and enough phone reception for me to read Autosport.com on.”

      Jen’s too head strong to seriously take my advice on interiors anyway!

      • AvatarJen Bishop says

        February 18, 2013 at 1:03 pm

        I’ll remind you of this next time we are shopping and you are sulking 😉

    • AvatarJen Bishop says

      February 18, 2013 at 1:01 pm

      Thanks Emma!

  5. AvatarEmma - My Bespoke Chair says

    February 18, 2013 at 12:17 pm

    Apologies Vic – I meant to write Cush & Nooks. Just hopped on your site and noticed my error!

  6. AvatarJacqui Fink says

    February 18, 2013 at 12:58 pm

    Oh come on Damian. You can’t deprive Jen the chance of talking about Jenson Button. He is so darn cute.

    • AvatarJen Bishop says

      February 18, 2013 at 1:00 pm

      THANK YOU Jacqui! Mark Webber’s not bad either mind you 😉

    • AvatarDamian says

      February 18, 2013 at 2:01 pm

      Can and will. Sorry Jacqui but there is no moving space on that one 😉

  7. AvatarNatasha says

    February 18, 2013 at 4:42 pm

    Oh I wish it were that simple…! My husband and I are both interior designers and I have to say HE makes most of the design decisions in our house. It was decided that I would design our new kitchen as I’m at home most of the time with our girls, but did I get it right…? Not a chance…! Ah, well, lovely to ‘meet’ you Damian…:)

    • AvatarDamian says

      February 18, 2013 at 4:52 pm

      I can relate, Natasha. Jen and I are both journalists with somewhat different ways of getting things done in our profession. It lead to some interesting ‘discussions’ when we talked about each others magazines. Hope you at least got part of the kitchen you wanted!

    • AvatarJen Bishop says

      February 18, 2013 at 5:02 pm

      Oh wow, that would be tricky!!

  8. AvatarAnna says

    February 18, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    Hahaha…what an awesome read…Damian ..interiors coming a distance fifth..is pretty darn good…if it were my husband I would have added a zero onto that !! I love how it allowed you to find your place ; ) …but dont even think about shifting that “place”…or you too will be far out at sea! lol . Best advice before marriage…Continue to roooooooll with it! Jen is super awesome at what she does, her passion comes through in every post she writes, she believes in what she does, the words she writes, and the people she shares them with…THAT is what makes Interiors Addict so amazing..and stand out amongst so many others. She’s a golden good egg! 🙂

    • AvatarDamian says

      February 21, 2013 at 5:24 pm

      Thanks Anna. Yeah, she does OK… Jenson Button aside! Believe me, I’m rolling, and picking up some considerable speed!

  9. AvatarKerry says

    February 19, 2013 at 6:12 am

    haha! This has made my evening 🙂 Fab post Damian!

    Myself and my boyfriend are both due to move in together in 4 weeks time, and i have to agree with Natasha on the comments…when it comes to sharing space with another interiors-lover it’s quite a challenge! What could’ve been a 2 hour trip around some furniture stores this weekend turned into an entire weekend of moving from store to store, sitting, standing, sitting, standing, sitting standing… and learning that we both have very different interiors tastes (mine’s just the right one!) May have finally found one that we agree on, but i had to compromise on my Downton Abbey-esque button backs…i should’ve moved in with a girl!

    xx

    • AvatarJen Bishop says

      February 19, 2013 at 8:56 am

      I can’t imagine not making all the decisions Kerry, I would seriously struggle! Although Damian does have good taste and sometimes I wish he would be more interested (but not too interested!). Good luck in your new home!

    • AvatarDamian says

      February 21, 2013 at 5:25 pm

      Congrats on the move, Kerry. Hope it all goes well. Just switch on the TV and open a bag of chips, he’ll then never notice what you are changing. That works on me anyway…

  10. AvatarDavid Wang says

    February 19, 2013 at 10:52 am

    Haha what a clever post. Also nice to hear from Damian 🙂

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