The Flare Journal

How-to

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Showing: How-to

Flat Flare illustration of an open-plan room with a sofa, a dining table and a kitchen island in three zones under pendant lights

14 min read

How to Zone an Open-Plan Room

Zone an open-plan room by giving each job a place and an edge: the sofa back, a rug of the right size, separate lighting and one change of...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a row of paint swatches in warm whites beside a plaster wall light on a cream wall

14 min read

The Best Warm White Paint Colours in the UK

The best warm whites sit between LRV 75 and 87 with a little yellow in them. For a dim or north-facing room choose 83 or above (Crown Cream...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Illustration of five building fronts in a row: Norman keep, Gothic window, Georgian terrace, Victorian gables and a Brutalist concrete block

History17 min read

How to Recognise British Architectural Styles: A Field Guide from Norman to Brutalist

To recognise British architectural styles, read three things in order: the openings (round arch, pointed arch, sash or ribbon window), the roofline (parapet, gables, flat roof) and the...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a small bedroom with a pale ceiling, wall-hung shelves, a bed on legs and a large window with tall curtains

14 min read

How to Make a Small Room Look Bigger: What Works

To make a small room look bigger, work in this order: clear the floor (furniture on legs or wall-hung), raise the eye with high curtains, paint the ceiling...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a cosy living room in the evening with a lit wall light, a table lamp, a sofa and a rug

17 min read

Cosy Winter Living Room Ideas for UK Homes

A cosy living room is warm (at least 18°C), softly lit and soft underfoot. Seal the draughts, swap to warm white 2700 K bulbs and use several low...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a dark charcoal wall with a glowing plaster wall light and a cream armchair below

14 min read

Dark and Moody Paint Colours Without Losing Light

Dark and moody paint works when you add light to match: pick a colour at LRV 5 to 30 (Crown's Never Ever is 5, Andesite 16, Bowling Green...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a cutaway period house showing loft insulation, a wall section and a thermometer

13 min read

Insulating a Period Home Without Ruining It: Breathable Insulation, Moisture and PAS 2035

Repair first, then draught-proof while keeping ventilation, then insulate the loft and floors with breathable materials, and treat walls last. Historic England warns that unsuitable insulation can trap...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a herringbone parquet floor beside a Victorian encaustic tile border and old floorboards

13 min read

Period Floors: Parquet Patterns, Encaustic Tiles and Floorboards (and the Asbestos Caution)

Keep old floors and repair them gently. The SPAB advises against machine sanding old boards, recommends beeswax polish rather than varnish, and says wide boards generally mean an...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
a rented living room with a sofa, a plug-in wall light, a shelf and a tick showing a change that can be undone

14 min read

Decorating a Rental Without Losing Your Deposit: What to Ask and What to Change

Read your tenancy agreement, photograph every wall, then ask your landlord in writing before painting or fixing anything. Shelter and Citizens Advice say a landlord cannot deduct for...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a Georgian fireplace with a lit grate, a mantel and a vase

13 min read

Period Fireplaces and Reopening a Chimney Breast: Flues, Sweeps and Safety

Before reopening a period fireplace, have a sweep clean and inspect the flue, keep the stack capped but not sealed, provide the combustion air Approved Document J requires,...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
a plaster wall light with a lead running to a plug, beside a remote control and a small battery

14 min read

Plug-In Wall Lights: A Buyer’s Guide to Cables, Switches, Safety Marks and Battery Life

Before buying plug-in wall lights, check the lead length and the fused UK plug, how you will switch it, the lumens and bulb colour, a UKCA or CE...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a Georgian sash window with a half-open lower sash and a plant on the cill

14 min read

Sash Windows: Repair, Draught-Proof or Replace? A Guide for Period Homes

Repair first, draught-proof second, add secondary glazing third, and replace only if a sash is beyond repair. Historic England says traditional windows can usually be repaired for significantly...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
a staircase with small lights glowing on each step beside a handrail and a landing wall light

13 min read

Staircase Lighting: Safe Light for Stairs and Landings, Glare and the Rules

Light every tread from the side or below, shade bare lamps, and make sure you can switch the light on at both the top and the bottom of...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a trowel, bucket and a half-plastered lime wall with visible laths

14 min read

Lime Plaster vs Gypsum Plaster in Period Homes: Breathability, Damp and Repair

In a period home, lime plaster lets a solid wall dry; dense gypsum or cement plaster can trap the moisture. The New Forest National Park Authority calls gypsum...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
a kitchen with pendant lights over a worktop and a glowing strip under the wall cabinets

16 min read

Kitchen Lighting Ideas: Layers, Worktops, Zones and What Needs an Electrician

Light the kitchen in three layers (ambient, task and accent), each on its own switch. Put under-cabinet strips toward the front edge so they light the worktop, hang...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
a home desk with a monitor beside a window, with a task lamp lighting the desk from the side

18 min read

Home Office Lighting: Beat Screen Glare, Choose a Task Light and Plan the Layout

Turn the desk so the window is to one side, put an adjustable blind on the window, keep a shaded ceiling light on for background, and add a...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a period fireplace with a green garland, LED candles, two wall lights and a Christmas tree

18 min read

Christmas in a Period Home: Lighting, Garlands and Plaster

Christmas in a period home works when you decorate with the architecture: greenery on the mantel, stair and door, warm layered light, and plaster ornament framed rather than...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of three paint swatches in matt, satin and gloss beside a roller and tin

16 min read

Matt, Eggshell, Satin or Gloss? Choosing Paint Finishes Room by Room

Choose paint finishes by two tests: how much wear and moisture the surface takes, and how many flaws it has. Ceilings take flat or full matt (0–4%); bedroom...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a house with a blue plaque-style tag and a magnifying glass over a register

12 min read

How to Find Out If Your House Is Listed: And What Listed Building Consent Covers

Search the National Heritage List for England with your address. An entry means the house is listed, and 92% of listed buildings are Grade II. The listing covers...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a room half painted, with a ladder, roller and numbered stages

15 min read

How to Paint a Room in the Right Order: Prep, Ceiling, Walls, Trim

Paint a room top to bottom: prepare, ceiling, walls, woodwork, then touch-ups. Ceiling first because drips fall; two coats each, about four hours apart; cut in with a...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
A sunlit room with the light falling from a window, beside a compass showing north, south, east and west

11 min read

Paint Colours for North-, South-, East- and West-Facing Rooms

A step-by-step guide to choosing paint for rooms facing north, south, east or west: find your aspect, read the light, check LRV and bulbs, and test large samples....

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a gallery wall of framed pictures above a sofa with a wall light

14 min read

How to Hang Pictures and Plan a Gallery Wall: Heights, Gaps and Fixings

Hang a picture, or a whole gallery wall treated as one, with its centre at about 57 inches (145 cm) from the floor: a gallery convention, not a...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of four tile layouts on a board: herringbone, brick bond, straight stack and basketweave

12 min read

How to Choose a Tile Layout: Herringbone, Metro, Stack and Basketweave

Choose the layout first (brick bond for small tiles, herringbone for movement, stack for a modern grid), then order the right allowance: about 10% extra for stack and...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
A living room with a calm dominant wall colour, a secondary sofa colour and small accents, beside a 60-30-10 swatch bar

12 min read

How to Build a Colour Scheme with the 60-30-10 Rule: A Step-by-Step Guide

A step-by-step guide to the 60-30-10 rule: choose dominant, secondary and accent colours, check value with a greyscale test, and test samples in your own room. Includes a...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a Flemish bond brick wall with a magnifying glass and a trowel

14 min read

How to Read Brick Bonds and Pointing: And Why Lime Beats Cement

Read one course of brick. Header and stretcher alternating in each course is Flemish bond; whole courses alternating is English; long faces only is stretcher bond, mainly for...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a window with floor-length curtains on a pole

13 min read

How to Hang Curtains: Pole Height, Width and Length

Fit the pole 8–15 cm above the window and let it extend 15–30 cm past each side (the sources differ). Buy fabric about twice the pole width (1.5×...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a fireplace mantel with a round mirror, candlesticks, books and a vase, flanked by two wall lights

13 min read

How to Style a Mantelpiece and Shelves: Seven Easy Steps

Style a mantelpiece with one anchor piece (a mirror or art), then layer objects of different heights from back to front in groups of three or five. Pick...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a living room with a large rug under a sofa and coffee table

16 min read

How to Choose a Rug Size and Where to Place It

A living-room rug should be longer than the sofa, ideally with the front legs on it and 12–24 inches of bare floor around it: 200 × 300 or...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a tall skirting board, a door with architrave and plinth blocks, and a wall light

14 min read

How to Choose Skirting Boards and Architraves: Height, Profile and Fitting

Skirting boards usually run 145 mm high in modern homes, but a supplier's guide scales them with the ceiling: 135 mm for 2,400 to 2,500 mm, 185 mm...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
an elevation of a room with nested golden rectangles and a spiral

12 min read

How to Use Proportion and the Golden Ratio in a Room

Proportion is the ratio of a room’s length, width and height. Palladio (1570) listed seven favoured room shapes: circle, 1:1, 1:√2, 3:4, 2:3, 3:5 and 1:2, and the...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of Shaker panelling on a dark teal wall with a plaster wall light

14 min read

How to Panel a Wall: Shaker and Picture-Frame Panelling, Step by Step

To panel a wall, fix a base rail above the skirting and a top rail with a level, then space the vertical slats evenly. The spacing formula is...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of three houses of different periods seen from the street with a magnifying glass

History11 min read

How to Date a House from the Outside: Windows, Doors, Roofs and Brick

Read four things from the pavement: windows (type, bars, horns), door (panels, fanlight), roof (slate, tile, shape) and walls (brick colour, bond, render). Each gives a range, not...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a bathroom with a bath and shower and dashed zones 0, 1 and 2 marked on the wall

12 min read

Bathroom Lighting Zones and IP Ratings Explained

Bathrooms have three electrical zones: zone 0 inside the bath or tray (IPX7), zone 1 above it up to 2.25 m (at least IPX4) and zone 2 extending...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
a tape measure, pencil and a hand-drawn room sketch with dimensions on a floor

13 min read

How to Measure a Room and Draw a Scale Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide

Measure all four walls corner to corner at waist height, then both diagonals, then windows, doors and heights, writing every figure in millimetres on a sketch. Check squareness:...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a top-down living room plan with sofa, armchairs, coffee table, rug and a curved walkway to the door

14 min read

How to Arrange Living Room Furniture: Focal Point and Walkways

Choose one focal point (fireplace, window, TV or picture), group the seating round it so people can talk, and keep walkways 900 mm wide, never under 750 mm....

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
a floor plan with dimension lines, a north point and a scale bar on a drafting table

12 min read

How to Read Floor Plans, Elevations and Sections: A Step-by-Step Guide

A floor plan is a horizontal slice through a building seen from above, usually cut about 1.2 m up. An elevation is a flat view of one outside...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials
Flat Flare illustration of a living room lit by two plaster wall lights, a pendant and a floor lamp, with a warm-to-cool Kelvin strip framed on the wall

14 min read

How Many Lumens and What Colour Temperature Does Each Room Need?

There is no statutory lux level for rooms in a home in the UK, so room-by-room lumen figures are rules of thumb. A sensible start is 100 to...

By Gregory TireCraft and materials

Who writes the journal

By Joseph van LockeFounder, designer and maker
By Sophia MeredithInteriors and colour
By Gregory TireCraft and materials

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