Coldness to current interior design

I have no idea where we got the word from, but we are essentially from North Bucks and South London respectively, but I had a peripatetic childhood with a father in the forces.

However it is in regular use in our household and is now spreading to Yorkshire with DS and his family.

I did the dictionary search and the general agreement is: Marmalise means “utterly destroyed” or “totally demolished”. It's still known in Britain, though less than it was when the renowned Liverpudlian comedian Ken Dodd popularised it in the 1960s. It's long-established Liverpool-Irish slang, said to be from marmalade plus pulverise.

Now that I never knew, but I am delighted I have had a reason to find out!

Musicgirl

MOnica, what a wonderful word marmalise is. My dad used to say it quite a bit but I have never heard it anywhere else. He was from Cumbria and I always thought it was a regional word.

I think it was a word that Ken Dodd used to use?

MOnica, what a wonderful word marmalise is. My dad used to say it quite a bit but I have never heard it anywhere else. He was from Cumbria and I always thought it was a regional word.

I think if you weren't prepared to have your living room totally marmelised, you would never put your name forward for this programme.

I always assume that the house owners only volunteer for the programme to have their hour of fame, or however long the programme is, and have a decorator standing by ready to obliterate the makeover the day after the tv company move out.

And they were such beautiful houses, too!

No, I wasn't keen MayBee70 what were they thinking? The yellow/pink combination at least wasn't 'in yer face' but the bright blue?
I wouldn't let these people through the garden gate, would you? I'd have to set the dogs on them!

lovebeigecardigans1955

You're right Aveline Many of us like some of the arts and crafts movement - the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife are very stylish but don't look comfortable.

'Granny chic' will always be my favourite, but each to their own.

They did a version of granny chic on tonight’s Changing Rooms ( new series…just as bad as previous ones) but I don’t think you would have liked it!

Thought I was the only ‘Decor rebellion’ around! I object to all rooms being a plain white, grey or beige box. I like the homely look and to have a splash of colour and/or texture in the decor (not just via accessories). I also like my country kitchen so much that I’ve insisted on keeping my coloured patchwork tiles, which pick up the original red brick floor. I’ve got light oak varnished worktops, which seem to divide opinion, & the cabinets are white. I sometimes do worry about my daughter having trouble selling the place after I’ve gone - but I can’t pay now for the next inhabitant’s preferences.

Perfect!

These days at least you can cover a comfortable sofa in William Morris fabric instead

The granddaughter said the seats were like concrete to sit on. I'm sure 'Arts and Crafts' movements mutated to ensure a degree of comfort!

William Morris's country home, near Lechlade in Gloucestershire has just reopened after a major conservation project. Going round it what struck me about it was, how incredibly comfortable it looked, espcially the arm chairs. It was relaxed, well lived in, but not shabby.

With stone flagged floors, deliciously cool in summer, but with fires lit and lots of wall hangings gloriously warm in winter.

You're right Aveline Many of us like some of the arts and crafts movement - the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife are very stylish but don't look comfortable.

'Granny chic' will always be my favourite, but each to their own.

How about these polished concrete floors that seem to be so popular in 'Grand Designs'? Those houses must be so hard edged and echoey.
I remember reading a book by the granddaughter of Burn Jones. Their house was a fine example of arts and crafts movement architecture and design yet the grandaughter said how uncomfortable all the furniture was. Like sitting on concrete. Style over comfort seems nothing new!

missdeke

What I can't understand is the current trend for putting stylish before comfort, so many of the sofas they use on the interior design programs look as uncomfortable as a dentist waiting room furniture!

I find this in restaurants as well.

It's all about a minimalist warehouse look, regardless of the fact that it's noisy and echoey and it only takes one loud customer or shrill toddler to intrude on everyone's peaceful conversations.

Alot of my style is mimilist and modern though I do like my photo's and colours.

I can't stand grey. It's not a colour I use. I have mainly shades of white/cream walls and black skirting. I hate white skirting. Black keeps it neat.

I don't do wallpaper anymore. I can't stand it. I haven't done wallpaper for at least 25 years.

You can have far more fun with paint, with textures, shades, mixing etc. There no prep needed with paint unlike wallpaper.

Our living room fireplace is teal and our bedroom back wall a deep burgundy so not all white shades of

I pop the colours in with accessories like cushions and throws etc. You can change accessories when you want cheaply with no mess.

I do have some nice wall art around the place as well as family photo's

We have laminate flooring also. I'm not into rugs

Gabrielle56 I can guarantee that no one uses ‘glory hole’ to mean that anymore. It has a very, very different meaning now.

One colour especially on walls I absolutely adore is pale blue like a summer sky.

"Doodledog" yes... hideously expensive (sadly)!

Gabrielle carpetted bathrooms went out about 30 years ago. I cannot remember when I last saw a bathroom, or kitchen with a carpet in it.

Fitted carpets fill a very good purpose, in older houses where there is a suspended floor and air bricks, carpet with thick underlay provide insulation and contribute to reducing fuel consumption and on upper floors, where floors are usually chipboard, they provide sound insulation. This is particularly important when stairs are alongside party walls.

As for cleaning, the amount of time you have to devote to it for clinical perfection rather suggests a life lacking other more interesting occupations. I always work on the 'good enough' principal. No one has ever become ill visiting, eating or doing anything else in or around my home, so what further cleaning is necessary, other than for ones own personal satisfaction?

Gabrielle56 how's your immune system? What rude comments you make. I'll happily live in the filthy squalor of my home in preference to a sparkling laboratory.

My sofa is very square and boxy. It's also 15 years old and very comfy. I've fallen asleep on it many times.

What I can't understand is the current trend for putting stylish before comfort, so many of the sofas they use on the interior design programs look as uncomfortable as a dentist waiting room furniture!

Grey is undoubtedly chic and a good neutral colour, as you can put almost any bright shade with it to liven it up, but a house near us has had dark grey window frames and doors, which look awful against the red brick of a 1920's house. A tin of paint to alter a grey wall is a change that can be coped with easily, but there are now so many grey kitchens, fitted bedrooms - I wouldn't buy a house that had such dull colours that would cost a fortune to change.

AmberSpyglass

Carpets are hideous and frankly unsanitary. The brilliant writer Meghan Daum has an essay called ‘Carpet is Mungers’ which encapsulates a lot of my life philosophy, for better or worse!

There should be better insulation to stop noise travelling, though. I think it happens in new builds.

There’s an increasing trend towards maximalism, which I adore. Rockett St George is one of my favourite online shops, but I can’t afford to shop there as much as I’d like!

Carpets that are not cleaned properly are unsanitary as you say - usually in a typical British house!! And the habit of bathroom carpet???? , vom- inducing.....
As a being originated and brought up with other (Germanic European)sensibilities and cleaning habits I find the lack of cleanliness in the houses I've visited over the last 60 years appallingly bad! Hate saying it but Brits appear to be on the grubby end of spectrum! And I never ever did or will get to grips with the'glory hole'?!?!? Why tolerate a messy junk area that's never cleaned or cleared out? Wasted space and seriously yukky!