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Lucy Watson

@lucywwatson

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Commissioning editor @ft_houseandhome @financialtimes

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Goodbye to our lovely flat. Five years ago we had just moved in. It was all mouse droppings, water-damaged laminate and a sort of Pritt-stick-ed patchwork of peeling wallpaper inside, and several inches of concrete outside — and the gas supplier came round to fit a smart meter but ended up condemning our boiler and cutting off our supply, citing an “immediate headache” and suspicious black fumes. Which did actually explain a lot, thinking about it now.

We’ve done so much and learned so many things here (how to sand floors, sanding floors sucks, i hate sanding floors, why am i sanding floors again etc). After being completely miserable for a while we ended up loving it so much that we have moved about 200m away.

On to the next place. Moving is tough, but having heating and not being poisoned is a good omen I think.

Pics by @themodernhouse by @lucywwatson

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10 months ago

When we moved here I had zero practical gardening experience (beyond giving a succession of B&Q kentia palms root rot) and zero budget. Which I now admit is not ideal when your garden is covered in six tonnes of concrete (pic 2) with a driveway under the concrete and soil filled with old bricks under that. But what we did have was a sledgehammer and a complete disregard for our personal safety. It’s taken a while and I’ve killed a lot of plants, but I think I’ve built a slightly nicer place to sit now — mostly thanks to delusion and dumb luck. Anyway, my main takeaway is that if you have to lift six tonnes of concrete just suck it up and pay somebody else to do it. Also, check where the cat is before you start watering. Last two pics are last year and the year before. by @lucywwatson

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a year ago

“A world of its own” is how @fahadmalikarchitect describes Stepwell House (the very first commission that @studiowadhal took on!). And it really is.

Wadhal has somehow, magically, transformed a dank old basement flat beneath a shop into a home centred around a cavernous gallery space. It has elements inspired by ancient Indian stepwell reservoirs, traditional jali screens, utilitarian motorway gabions, and a 1981 work by artist Zarina Hashmi. Interiors are by @m_r.a.a.d (just look at that goat skin leather bedspread).

The steel mesh bridge is also very good for feeling like you’re in Goldeneye.

In @financialtimes this weekend. Link in bio.

Huge thanks to @salt_press.

Interior pics by @genevievelutkin, exteriors by @lorenzozandri. by @lucywwatson

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3 days ago

Last week with @calicowallpaper @ahluwalia and @camronglobal at @thenomadhotel

Portrait @jasonlloydevans by @lucywwatson

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9 days ago

Dragons and pasta shapes and wall-mounted rocks and big trousers — I loved visiting the home of @ashleylawl, founder of @flawk__ . So many thrilling, inventive and surprisingly budget-friendly details. In @ft_houseandhome this weekend. Link in bio.

Pics by @jasperfry by @lucywwatson

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17 days ago

In @ft_houseandhome this weekend. Ahead of the new @jungle4eva album, I take a tour of @tromcf’s soothing Shepherd’s Bush home, designed by genius @rachel.aisling.walker. He loves his job! And mine’s not too bad either.

Pics by @alexbingstagram by @lucywwatson

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2 months ago

If somebody invites you to a haunted 19th century watch house with no plumbing or electricity, only accessible by tiny boat or a long hike up a remote beach, do NOT go. They’re are in the pocket of big nature and it is a ploy to make you have a nice time and become outdoorsy. taken in Blakeney Point by @lucywwatson

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2 months ago

Not to be all “nature is amazing” but these are nature and I was amazed enough to SHELL OUT on them (joke ha ha). Conus Textile, reminiscent of an ikat weaving, and Conus Litteratus, which looks like printed text — and all made by a gross snail that has never seen a book. Bought from oddities outlet @deyrolle.officiel. I’m not normally a beautiful shells gal, but I do like disgusting venemous bugs and pretending I know what semiotics is. by @lucywwatson

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3 months ago

A very restorative trip to Paris to do nothing except spend time with some gorgeous stunning friends and not freak out about anything for a few days.

It’s been a horrible month for the credit card. But sometimes you just have to give it a taste of its own medicine. For your health.

NB Do not look at the last slide if you know what’s good for you by @lucywwatson

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3 months ago

Barcelona 💒 by @lucywwatson

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3 months ago

The results of The Carbuncle Cup are here — the most unfortunate buildings from a selection of disappointments. It was a great privilege to be on the judging panel with some brilliant people — thanks to them and @thefencemag , and to Channel 4 for announcing. But it’s not all about having a laugh, despite how comically demonic some of the nominations were, as Cath Slessor has excellently explained here. Can we humiliate developers into not profitmaxxing half-arsed buildings at the expense of local communities? I dunno, but it’s worth a shot.

Also thrilled that my first appearance on national news isn’t because I’ve done something embarrassing. by @lucywwatson

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4 months ago

A bundle of eight manky non-matching Victorian shoes we found hidden under our house.

Hiding shoes in the fabric of a building was a practice that started centuries ago and lasted until the Victorian era. The predominant theory seems to be that they were placed there to dispel evil influences.

Pretty spooky. Thankfully a few years ago I had edited a piece about concealed shoes, so wasn’t too freaked out. But I had only ever heard of a single shoe being found, so maybe the original owner thought our home just had extremely bad vibes? The Northampton Museum keeps a register of found shoes, so I asked the concealed shoe curator (what a job!) why there were so many. The answer wasn’t very exciting: “It may have been an act of ‘I was here’ though it may have been hidden because it was rubbish.” She dated them to the 1880s.

Still, unexpected surprises during building work are normally the kinds of things — dodgy wiring, asbestos, creative approaches to removing load-bearing structures etc — that will destroy either your budget or your life expectancy. So this was a fairly pleasant one on balance, even if a witch does live in them.

Some of our Instagram followers did beg us to put the shoes back so the bad vibes wouldn’t escape (which we did, you’ll be glad to hear). We are taking suggestions for the funniest modern shoe to add to the pile for somebody to find in 140 years time.

Bonus: last slide is Hector after investigating the shoe hole. by @lucywwatson

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5 months ago