Surrey Homes | SH31 | May 2017 |Restoration & New Build supplement inside

Previous pages: The sitting room is mostly used in winter, when the fire is lit. Original Anaglypta lines the ceiling
Above: The kitchen. The cricket ball lamp-base was from Tobias and the Angel, made by Angel’s brother Shaun. The
ostrich egg was brought back from South Africa – one of Trudi and Guy’s favourite places
There’s something about this time of year that not
only inspires a good spring clean but also prompts
many of us to have a serious ‘de-clutter’. Is there
anything as cathartic as attacking an area of the house that
has been taunting you for months, joyously separating items
into ‘bin’, ‘charity shop’ or ‘eBay’. Even if you don’t enjoy
the process, once it’s all done and you can admire your
efforts, it’s hard not to feel the stress melting away. But,
there are still some things you have to keep whether you like
it or not... We need a place for everything and then, as the
expression goes, we can put everything in its place. Ideally.
The reality, for most of us, is that after a few days
things start to creep back to their old resting places...
The solution? Take a leaf out of Trudi Savin’s book, and
have a decorative box file for everything. As we sit in her
kitchen I am free to admire various well-chosen artifacts and
design features, free from the distraction of household bills,
catalogues, Bic biros, letters and all the other detritus that
51 wealdentimes.co.uk