Essays on decorating by Sophie Dahl

'A soundproof door suddenly feels like the answer to many of life’s conundrums', says our columnist Sophie Dahl

Our columnist reflects on the etiquette of hosting over the festive season, and how to treat your guests as you would wish to be treated

Our columnist reflects on the bittersweet nature of the festive season and the radical optimism it can engender

A youthful experience of illness in a friend's house in New York convinced our columnist of the need for a really perfect squashy sofa

As renovations on her house come to an end, Sophie Dahl reflects on how to get the best out of a building project

Over the course of a peripatetic life, Sophie Dahl has taken inspiration from any number of real and imagined rooms, as she dreamed of a room of her own (and the life that would go with it)…

Our columnist Sophie Dahl reflects on her memories of sun-drenched summers spent outdoors and the enchanted gardens of English literature

In her parting essay, columnist Sophie Dahl looks back on the past three years. This piece first appeared in the June 2023 issue of House & Garden

Our columnist Sophie Dahl on her lifelong love for collecting books

If you value privacy – and warmth in the winter months – then well chosen curtains are essential

For our columnist Sophie Dahl, urban life brings “an immediacy – to transport, to eating, to walking to the cinema, and the simple act of seeing Sophie Dahl Notes from Home On city living other humans while doing it, which you just don’t get living in the middle of nowhere.” 

"One of the many beauties in a good story is the landscape and the freedom it offers, for free," says our columnist Sophie Dahl 

Our columnist Sophie Dahl reflects on 'rooms drawn with light' and how a well-designed lighting scheme can bring a room to life

Our columnist Sophie Dahl on the madness and joy of hosting at Christmas

September is here and with it, the wistful feeling that the holidays are over. Sophie Dahl reflects on a time of initiations and the sadness and magic of growing up

Looking back on her life so far spent in the great outdoors, our columnist Sophie Dahl charts her growing love for the garden

Our columnist Sophie Dahl reflects on the art of decorating a child's bedroom, remembering the nostalgically-decorated bedrooms of her own childhood along the way

Continuing her series of columns on decorating, Sophie Dahl finds out about the process of making eco-friendly paint, and settles on a classic shade for her boot room