The Everything design heroes I chose for my living room that have helped me survive the long months of renovation madness

Strategist and content creator Francesca Swan is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on the concept of 'Everything' and what makes a home special to you. See the rest of her articles here.

Ah, the inestimable joys of the never-ending renovation. It’s a badge of masochistic honour amongst fellow renovators, isn’t it? Usually something along the lines of:

“How long has yours been? A year? Hah. That’s nothing. Listen to this…”

Offer accepted March 2023. Completed March 2024. Yes, a year, largely thanks to seven months of conveyancing hell. We cracked on with phase one of the renovation and moved in July 2024. We finished the primary suite of bedroom, walk-in wardrobes, vanity and bathroom, and half a living room by November 2024.

In the background, we applied for extension and summerhouse planning permission in April 2024. We finally got it in December 2024. Nine months later. Then came months of delays with party wall awards. We finally started the extension and summerhouse in July 2025…

Just when we thought things were on track, enter stage left, a fiendish, yet tiny change to drainage, essentially ceasing work and requiring a new planning application. Another six months.

Planning finally came through early December 2025. Thankfully, by that point I’d given up any hope of a kitchen for Christmas. Come January 2026, we are still not finished. No kitchen. Nowhere to work. Things are still very much in full flow and work is happening all around us.

I remember putting the offer in and us confidently celebrating the fact that we would be moved, renovated and finished in eighteen months. Around the same time, a very experienced renovator friend asked whether the timeline was fixed or more of a moving target, like theirs.

I smirked and said, with the blind confidence of a total fool: “Absolutely fixed. I will make it happen.”

Ahhhh. Bless.

Clearly, I’ve now had no choice but to resign myself to reality; it’ll happen when it happens. But there are two things people never tell you about renovating.

Firstly, the mantra “Just Keep Going” becomes a little tricky after a while… There comes a point, when what you really want to do is “Just Tell Everyone To Sod Off, Ditch The Whole Thing And Buy A New Build”.

Secondly, how do your designs stand the test of time? If, like me, the first thing you do in any project is jump straight onto Pinterest and fully design the property you have not yet completed on, then three years later… what happens to those designs?

Do they still work? Are you constantly redesigning? Or do you get to the point of pulling the trigger, look at them, then freak out and change it all in a flurry of self-doubt, decision fatigue and exhaustion?

The answer to avoiding both of these potentially perilous pitfalls is simple: you need to latch onto something really strong to feed your motivation, anchor your vision and keep you on track.

My Everything design heroes

Focusing on Everything design is the answer to both these challenges. Find those features that make you smile and your heart sing. It’s a very special apartment, deserving of features to honour and celebrate that are unique to both us and the property.

I dreamt up many beautiful, original, often quirky designs in the early days. In truth, they were already there in my creative subconscious and just needed an outlet. They did, and still do, give me heart-stoppingly strong Everything vibes. And here comes the payoff…

Firstly, time has passed – but the majority of these ideas still work. My Everything feeling and designs are totally individual to me, so on reflection, are perfect for swerving trend overload.

There’s nothing wrong with trends. Hello? I’ve got a plaster-pink bedroom. But I want things to feel ownable and distinct to me. Not like it’s been lifted directly off everybody else’s Instagram feed. These big, personal design moments are perfect to slot trends around, yet it still feels like your home. Trend becomes an accent, not a centrepiece.

These ideas have also helped me stay confident and committed to my designs over such a long time. Every time I have a moment of indecision, I take it back to my Everything ideas and it helps me re-centre quickly.

Secondly, these Everything design features have REALLY kept me going. Whenever I questioned my life choices and what the hell I was doing, I could stop and think: no, remember the end game. Look at the moodboard.

I held it firmly in my head: I am creating a home that is truly ours, something that stands out and feels special. For me, this meant something extraordinary, not just a broad idea of a kitchen with mod cons. It became a North Star. Motivation during the moments where it honestly felt like, “I can’t do this anymore. It’s just too much”.

So that’s my humble advice to anyone undergoing a project – big or small. Fixate on the aspects that give you major Everything vibes. They are key to keeping your motivation and design on track through the worst of the worst.

My Everything pieces for our living room

The Vogue magazine coffee table

I’ve collected Vogue since August 1996. You do the math on how many copies that is. I love them with a passion, and I’ll never get rid of them, despite what many people have suggested.

Yet, the problem has always remained; what to do with them?

Then I saw a reference on Pinterest – a table with a magazine base and glass surface. Oh, hello lover…

My version will be a huge coffee table centred to the room, cased opening and fireplace. A focal point that doesn’t impede flow – just a huge art piece.

The glass was an initial sticking point: big room = big coffee table = big glass = big £.

Then, bizarrely, an incorrect bathroom measurement left us with a huge £800 shower screen that couldn’t be returned. Leaning awkwardly in a corner, just waiting to be broken.

Then one day I looked at it and clicked: the coffee table!

I’d already sourced a slimline Jasper Morrison for Vitra Carrara marble and white iron low-level console table; an £80 eBay bargain. The perfect base to build the magazines under and place the glass on top.

The stars aligned. When I measured the glass, it was exactly the right size.

I have a suspicion it is going to be the piece to end all pieces. It encapsulates everything I love about design. The components are sustainably sourced. It’s original and completely unique to us and it solves the magazine storage issue, showcasing them in the process.

Not to be dramatic… but I kind of feel that my whole life has been building to this moment! SO excited for this one.

The original carrara marble fireplace

You probably know the story here (if not, catch up here), so I won’t go into detail. It’s a period property and I’m proud to have restored such a beautiful piece to its former glory.

It’s the star of the show – you walk through the double cased doors and it’s right there. Glorious.

The gallery wall

Like most of us, we love a bit of art. Our art collection consists mostly of keepsakes – exhibition posters and obscure prints from artists we love, sourced on eBay or in vintage shops.

Plenty with which to create the ultimate gallery wall; and this time we’re taking it all the way to the ceiling. It will be jam-packed with colour, memories and beauty.

Library shelving

We already have the shallow ledge, front-facing bookshelves in the alcoves – I love being able to showcase my coffee table books properly.

The shelves also work well architecturally; making the most of the ceiling height, yet balanced with cabinets on both sides.

Said cabinets also allow us to hide both the TV and my “work stuff”. Read: shoved full of junk. I will die before I let anyone open that cupboard of shame.

We’ll do the same on the other wall; making good on the temporary kitchen shelving and taking it from floor to ceiling, surrounding the glorious double-width and-depth central cased opening and mirroring the opposite wall.

All my books can finally come out of storage. Weirdly, I am so looking forward to lifting and carrying umpteen heavy boxes, not to mention unpacking them in their new home.

The coffee table, the gallery wall, the books – it’s a melting pot of stories, people, music, films, art, imagery, words, colour, texture and print.

That’s the story of this room: an explosion of my Everything. You cannot help but feel something walking into this space.

The old living room was a tentative step towards this vision. It makes sense looking back; I was still testing the waters and figuring out what I liked…

Last but not least: my Pierre Frey upholstered chair

This one is the full-throated operatic execution. I could not be more excited.

Bought for a tenner on Facebook Marketplace ten years ago. Pierre Frey fabric from eBay for about £20.

I forked out to have it reupholstered before we’d even completed. Priorities. Of course, it’s been in storage ever since.

Soon it will be happily ensconced in the beautiful bay window, looking out onto the garden.

It will lead the gaze gently onto the Arteriors light I scored for a song last July, when we were on holiday and I got locked onto eBay. I was so desperate to have it that a friend’s neighbour had to take delivery for us, and unfortunately I may have underestimated the size. Ahem.

It’s amazing, but needs a very good clean. The decorator will also definitely hate me when they paint the ceiling rose. Such is life.

The true value of Everything pieces

Now, after so long, the dream of a room that has lived rent-free in my head and on my Pinterest boards will soon become a beautiful reality.

Whatever happens in this final stretch – and I am fully prepared for more drama – I know this: these design heroes are the reason I Just Keep Going™.

So, if you’re renovating, big or small, finding just one or two Everything pieces of your own might be the key that pulls you through too.