Can't stop looking at . . .

Each week, I'll be sharing with you something that has caught my eye. It may be a picture, blog, product or website.

I mentioned here, that I was wowed by Ben Fogle's house after seeing it featured in the February issue of Living etc magazine. Well, I have now managed to get hold of some images from that feature, and thought you might like to see them. Fogle lives in his beautiful Victorian house in west London with his wife Marina, their son Ludo and their two dogs.

The airiness of this kitchen is brilliant - I would love to extend our kitchen into our side return and add a glass roof. I think it would be wonderful to look up and see the sky while you were cooking! I also like the fact that although this is a sizeable kitchen, they have created the feel of a a cozy cottage parlour by having a comfortable seating area so close to the run of cupboards.

I love the relaxed feel of this area, as well as the bespoke unit they had made to house their SMEG fridge. Their use of bright colours is really refreshing - wish I was brave enough to have a sofa like that!

Everything in this photo works. The brickwork looks amazing (and so it should - Fogle took months and travelled all over the UK to find the perfect bricks); in the Living etc interview, he says, "I went through thousands of reclaimed bricks to get the 500 we needed." I really like how the bright glassware sings out next to the calm neutrals of the units, the brickwork and the stainless steel of the work surface and range.

What I wouldn't give to have a claw-foot bath! I think they look great painted too. The bath is painted in Farrow & Ball's Down Pipe, which is actually grey, even though it looks quite blue in this picture. Just looking at this picture makes me feel calm - it must be the perfect place to have a relaxing bath.

Their bedroom also has a laid back feel to it. The juxtaposition of the masculine and feminine elements of this room works well - the solid wood of the sleigh bed marries beautifully with the pretty wallpaper. I also really like the casual cosiness of the stack of books (on a Ptolomeo 215 bookshelf - available here) and the blanket on the bed. I think however, that if I tried to achieve this look, I would have to make do with just a simple stack of books - the Ptolomeo comes with a rather hefty price tag!

All images from here.

At the end of the Living etc feature, Fogle says, "this house is definitely somewhere I want to hurry home to." I can certainly see why.