Top Tips For Making Your Home Warm & Inviting In Colder Months
What are your top tips for making a room feel warm and inviting during colder UK months? How can seasonal colours, textures, and materials be used to create a cosy autumn-winter atmosphere? Colour temperature makes an enormous difference to the mood of a room, warmer...
8 interior designer approved ways to brighten up your home after Christmas
After the Christmas decorations have come down and the world goes back to normal, life can feel a bit bleak and bare. It is possible to brighten and freshen up your home while maintaining warmth and comfort. Here, interior designer, Ann Marie Cousins, owner of AMC...
Top Tips For Making Your Home Warm & Inviting In Colder Months
What are your top tips for making a room feel warm and inviting during colder UK months? How can seasonal colours, textures, and materials be used to create a cosy autumn-winter atmosphere? Colour temperature makes an enormous difference to the mood of a room, warmer...
Considered interior design allows Guernsey coastal views to take centre stage
Considered interior design alongside statement architecture allows the views off the coast of Guernsey to take centre stage Ann Marie Cousins, founder of AMC Design, was tasked with enhancing this stunning coastal property by adding warmth and style. Her goal was to...
How can you make your home feel luxe as you welcome guests over the Christmas break?
Creating a luxurious, festive atmosphere in your home to welcome guests this Christmas doesn’t have to mean overspending. With a few clever design tips, you can elevate your space and make it feel more elegant and refined. Here, award-winning interior designer, Ann...
10 reasons to choose an interior designer for your next project
On the face of it a renovation or redecoration project might seem like something to take on yourself. However, it is no simple task. There are so many design decisions to be made and questions to be asked and it can feel overwhelming and stressful very quickly. An...
5 ways to change a room with colour
A clever combination of colours in interior design can create harmonious spaces which look and feel great. Colour can also change the sense of space, amplitude and dimension of a room. For example, low ceilings can appear higher and long spaces can be transformed into...
Period homes and how to celebrate them
From the townhouses of our spa towns to the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian properties abound across the UK, such properties hold a special place in the nation’s affections. Each represents a different period in architecture, a different era in society and all hold...
AMC Design is shortlisted as finalist for design award
We are thrilled to announce that AMC Design has been shortlisted as a finalist at an internationally recognised awards programme celebrating design excellence across a broad range of interior sectors. AMC Design’s ‘North House’ project has been shortlisted for the...
Bringing Victorian Splendour into the 21st Century
THE BRIEF This project is an extended Victorian property in the middle of a beautiful Yorkshire village. It has five bedrooms, three reception rooms and a conservatory. Though the traditional exterior remained intact, a prior owner had removed almost all of...
Bespoke Interior Design Done The Right Way
In the next in our series of guest blogs, we welcome bespoke upholsterer Emma Patchett to share some of her wisdom about the best way to go bespoke. Who to talk to, which questions to ask, and what she loves most about her job. Yorkshire born and bred; Emma Patchett...
Inspiration from London Design Week
As an interior designer, I am so lucky to have colleagues and associates with an abundance of talent from whom I continuously draw inspiration. Each year, I take the time to venture away from my Yorkshire roots to meet and reacquaint myself with my industry delving...
Why should I use an interior designer for my project?
STREAMLINING THE REDESIGN: WHY SHOULD I HIRE AN INTERIOR DESIGNER FOR MY PROJECT? Hiring an interior designer offers numerous advantages when it comes to streamlining the redesign process. Their expertise ensures a cohesive and professionally executed outcome,...
What Does 2024 Have In Store?
As every new year begins, we inevitably turn our thoughts to what are set to be the key trends of the next 12 months. But I hear your ask - why should our interiors be led by an annual mood shift? At AMC Design, we believe your home should reflect your personality for...
How do I cosy up my home for winter?
Though the snow has temporarily passed, it is absolutely winter outside. Here in Yorkshire, the wind is whipping up the moor, frost is on the ground and we are all wrapping-up warm against the cold. Inside, however, is our haven away from the winter chill and it's...
AMC Design Wins Award
News update! AMC Design has been awarded the overall winner award of the Residential Budget Up to £50,000 category at the prestigious SBID International Design Awards. Receiving the accolade at the awards ceremony held at the five star Landmark Hotel in London on...
AMC Design Shortlisted For Awards
We have been shortlisted as a finalist in the Interior Design Practice category of the coveted 2023 Northern Design Awards and in the Residential Budget Up to £50,000 category of the SBID International Design Awards. Having received a record number of entries, the...
How to incorporate family heirlooms into your home
Incorporating family heirlooms into your new home adds a touch of timeless elegance and sentimental value. These cherished possessions, passed down through generations, hold stories and memories that make your house truly feel like a home. Embrace the tradition and...
Team Spotlight: Karen Lilleyman
AMC Design’s creative team has expanded, with new designer Karen Lilleyman. A Yorkshire native, Karen has an unmatched creative passion, and like AMC Design founder Ann Marie Cousins, she began her career practicing law. She originally studied French at Nottingham...
Taking The Hassle Away
There is nothing more exciting, and daunting, than the renovation of a home. We all dream of the perfect Eden, our idyll of personal creativity behind our front door, which perfectly reflects each aspect of our personality. Whilst for some, the thought of actually...
The psychology of colour and why brown gives me the blues
How we react to the colour brown Colour plays an inherent part in the human psyche. There are widely held beliefs that colours can evoke emotions ranging from the anger of red, to the pacifying tones of green, but I feel there is another force at play – the psychology...
Realistic Costs For 2022
A few weeks ago there was an article in The Guardian about building projects and the costs which might be involved. It was great to see a national paper talking about how prices for materials continue to fluctuate, and how to mitigate the risk of further price...
Happy Christmas and New Year
Merry Christmas! It’s been one heck of a year, hasn’t it? If I Iook back though, I can honestly say that I just feel so lucky to have worked with so many amazing clients, homes and trades. I’ve loved seeing clients embrace bold design ideas, happy to be nudged and...
Northern Design Awards Finalists
November celebrations and teenage bedrooms November isn’t usually a month associated with words like fun and celebration, that’s December’s job, but we’re making an exception this time round. Not only have we welcomed Erin to the AMC Design team, but we’ve been...
The Roaring Twenties In Interiors
Time to get the creative juices flowing How are things in your part of the world? I’m ignoring the wind and rain outside; clinging onto the memories of a cracking weekend in London a couple of weeks ago. From an awards evening on the Friday to a wedding anniversary...
Colourful & Vibrant Office
How to bring colour and vibrancy into the office Is it just me or are we are hurtling towards the summer and the end of another school year? Add in the lifting of Covid restrictions in a few weeks’ time and it feels like we’re heading into another period of adjustment...
Interiors News: A Riot Of Colour
Interiors news: a riot of colour June? Really, we’re at the end of June already? I mean thank God for the blue skies and sun after a dismal May but I’m struggling to work out how we’ve ended up here. Swapping God's own for the big smoke One thing I definitely remember...
Dressing Your Windows With Style
How to balance style and function to create a beautiful window Hello! How are you? How have you been these past few weeks? We’ve had glorious sunshine and warmth in Yorkshire, perfect timing for the latest round of lockdown easing, followed by weather that would be...
A master bedroom makeover
How to create a haven of peace and tranquility Is it me or did March disappear quickly? I mean daffodils are springing up everywhere, Easter’s round the corner and the children have had three weeks back at school. Add in the vaccine roll-out and there definitely seems...
A Social Life & Awards Season
Tour my Interior Design UKshortlisted house - an Edwardian conversion near Ilkley Put the champagne on ice! The children are heading back to school, it won't be long before we can meet friends for a drink (or two), the clocks are changing and yes, awards season is...
Behind The Scenes A Family Refurb
Design details bring character tothis modern home I think if I had to sum up this interiors project, I’d say it was a complete marriage of minds. A marriage between my clients who naturally veer towards calm neutrals but wanted to embrace more colour in their new home...
How To Create A Lighting Scheme
Let's shine a light in all the right places How are you? What a weird, tough start to 2021. New Year really feels like a lot longer than two weeks ago doesn’t it, but you know what? I don’t want to dwell on the headlines because this blog is a distraction. It’s an...
Merry Christmas 2020 Style!
Merry Christmas, 2020 style! By this stage in December, I’m normally packing for our annual Christmas trip back to Ireland, but like so many, our plans are different this year. For those whose Christmas plans have been thrown into disarray by the change in rules and...
The Power of Paint
The Power of Paint In a bid to bring some cheer to our lives, this month’s blog is all about being brave with colour. From beige to green: a living room transformed Colour is something that I’m known for in my interiors design schemes and my clothing. I mean, I’m sat...
Gallery Walls – Part 1
Gallery walls- part 1 Also known as how to do a gallery wall without driving yourself potty. My guide to gallery walls Choose pictures you love This might seem obvious, but gallery walls are all about you. This is where you get to show off your child's treasured...
Gallery Walls – Part 2
My top tips for gallery walls- part 2 Also known as how to avoid driving yourself crazy when creating a gallery wall Gallery walls 101 Which gallery wall? In my first blog I talked you through the first steps in putting your gallery wall together. This is where I go...