Make your home happy

As the lockdown continues, Cornwall Life editor Carol Burns turns her artist’s eye on her family home

- Carol Burns

One of the things that swung the purchase of our house for me, was the wraparound deck. We’d only looked at two houses but I loved the idea of coffee on the deck. In common with many houses in Cornwall, the house sits on a steepish slope, so the back door is higher off the ground. The deck goes around the whole back of the house and I’ve decorated it with pot plants and climbers and different places to sit. It’s a real suntrap.

Lighting is so important. I grew up in the 1980s when the pendant light reigned. Now we only use lamps. I know that wood burners are hip right now, and we do have lots of working fireplaces, but I use them as light features – my favorite is the lava lamp. I love chairs too – we have really random ones throughout the house. I work from an orange molded plastic 1960 Panton Chair. It looks as good as it is (surprisingly) comfortable.