It’s my birthday soon and I do so like to buttrape my husband’s wallet on birthdays and at Christmas because I don’t feel like I ask for that much the rest of the year. She said defensively.
So if I don’t ask for a wide-angle lens for my camera, I will ask for this, which is a spot on Rita Konig’s 1-day interior design course.
Don’t laugh at me! I’m not a cliche, you can all fuck off.
I was given some years ago a small red book called Domestic Bliss, by Rita Konig – who is an interior designer and also the daughter of Nina Campbell – and it was life-changing. A sort of Interior Design for Idiots book. I cherish my copy.
Generally, in life, I hate feeling like other people know things that I don’t. I spend most of my time wondering what it is that thin people know that I don’t, or what good cooks know that I don’t, or what well-dressed people know that I don’t, or what people with beautiful houses know that I don’t.
If Domestic Bliss was a glimpse into the interior life of the interior designer, surely this one-day course will be a key to the inner sanctum. Konig runs it from her house, her actual house. I could be inside her HOUSE! Not to sound insane or anything… But I could be in her house.
Spaces are limited – at £312.50 per spot I can see why – but she promises to de-mystify everything! Colour, lighting, room layout, electrics, bathrooms, kitchens. These are all things that bother me. Not you, perhaps – but they bother me. And with only and handful of other participants you can ask some really obsessive questions, bring fabric swatches, ask advice. It would be like the best university seminar ever – and actually useful!
If you are not in a position to ask for this for your birthday or even attend a design seminar in London because you don’t live there, but you are interested in the subject, you could do much worse than read Domestic Bliss, which you can buy here.
March 21, 2016 at 8:57 am
I would love to do this what a great idea, particularly the bit about humanising your bathroom (I live with three teenagers) and also advice on hanging pictures. I struggle with this. I do live in London but work full time so time poor. Please do share any tips you get I need all the help I can get!
March 21, 2016 at 9:11 am
Love this post! So funny thank you. Will def buy the book…I’m wondering what sofa to buy and I’ve bought the wrong curtains as I did everything in a rush and regret it.
March 21, 2016 at 9:35 am
Thin people know portion control, good cooks know to season well, well dressed people dress for their shape, people with beautiful houses….. you can tell us after you’ve been on the course!
March 21, 2016 at 10:49 am
I just checked the publication date of Rita’s book – 2002. Which means that I was 22 when I got it. Which means that I’m even more of a weirdo than I thought for loving it as much as I did (still do). I was living in a rented student house in Liverpool, eating cheese toasties whilst reading Rita’s tips on picnics (tying your sandwiches up in brown paper with string I seem to recall.)
She even made bathroom cleaning seem like a luxurious experience.
I think her chapter on gift giving is excellent and has stood me in good stead.
Over the years I’ve googled those pictures of her living room so many times – the room with all the photographs stuck on the wall. Which sounds totally naff and Pinterest-y but when Rita does it is nothing but chic.
http://www.1stdibs.com/introspective-magazine/rita-konig/
Hope you enjoy the course. Please report back!
March 21, 2016 at 1:58 pm
Rita used to write a column in a newspaper about keeping house (was probably excerpts from the book thinking about it) and I loved it and still do some of them (bathroom cleaning related tips mostly) – I’d just love to come along to this, but being stuck on an Island isn’t useful. I will order her book though as a birthday present to myself! Thanks for reminding me how great she is. (And those pictures in the post above are EXACTLY how I’d like my house to look)
March 21, 2016 at 10:14 pm
Oh my goodness it ‘s uncanny to read this! That book was so inspiring to me too and to be inside her house – it would be crazy! Please do a worryingly long and detailed post on this.
March 22, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Love Rita! She now writes a monthly column for House & Garden magazine. If you google “rita konig and house and garden” you can see all the previous ones on their website – sofas, curtains, bathrooms, etc. (Full disclosure: I used to work there, apols for spamming!). I must hunt down her book published in 2002, it sounds excellent. And Esther, hello, it’s Alaina. I interviewed you yonks ago for Easy Living’s website. The Spike is terrific. I read it every day. Keep on keeping on, lady friend! xxx
March 22, 2016 at 12:41 pm
Hello! Great to see you here, thanks for being so kind. That is a great tip about Rita’s back issues of columns on the H&G website. It’s nice to be able to save £300 wherever possible xxxx
March 23, 2016 at 10:16 am
Advice on electrics? What don’t I know? I’m panicky, I’m 49, for god’s sake, time’s running out! Book ordered.