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Ally 's Articles
About Ally
Ally MacDermot is a New York born interior designer with over 20 years experience working with private clients, developers and landlords across the UK.
Living in a Rented Property
12/04
The biggest problem for tenants is trying to make a rented property feel like home. You want them to avoid painting the walls purple and blue; but whether they are renting for 3 months, a year or longer – for that time you want them to feel that they “own” the property.
For the benefit of your tenant, here are some handy tips. read on
Rental Decorating Tips
11/04
Know your market. Are you targeting students, couples, professional singles, holiday or executive renters? What level of return are you anticipating? Each of these markets will require a slightly different approach to the way in which you decorate your property.
Neutral colours are still the norm for stylish rental properties and a polypropylene carpet which is bleach cleanable on underlay is also a good idea. It’s always best to consider putting a better quality carpet down, although there are some ok looking, cheap, felt back carpets at around £4/ sq metre- they really won’t last or look as good for as long as a better quality one. Light colour carpets can also be off putting as tenants will worry about marks so consider wood flooring or even a vinyl in some areas. read on
Communal Areas of Apartments
01/02
We have all seen the dreaded coir carpet that has shrunk around the edges in trendy apartment blocks. The concrete planters that were bound to fail, the dreary, minimal halls crying out to be broken up with some better lighting and artwork.
But let’s get practical. read on
Stand Out in Rental Market
30/01
If you have purchased a property “off plan”, and intend to let it out, the chances are that so have many others.
Or maybe you have had your property for a number of years and have often found yourself in competition to rent your unit out with others in the same development.
The obvious way to make your property stand out is via the photography. A picture is worth a thousand words and all that. A letting agent is usually good at capturing the space, and a wide angled zoom lens helps. Do submit your own photographs though as you might have a perspective, a view, something interesting that will help rent your property out over others. read on
Buying a New Property
27/10
Having worked for about 20 years with new home builders, there are some things you should know.
NEVER be pressured into moving in by their end of year or half year- everyone from sales to plumbers will be rushing like mad to get homes finished. There are financial targets to be met and the finish of your home is the last thing on many developer’s minds. The stories I could tell- including the one where all sales were delayed because the land they built on wasn’t technically owned by developer. read on
Winter’s a-Coming
18/10
We’ve had our Indian Summer and weren’t some of the sunsets amazing! Now apparently because the berries were on a certain shrub over August , we are in for a hard and cold winter. I always thought that if the berries were untouched till late then it was because they were being saved for winter. Either way we are in for a cold and possibly white Christmas. read on
Is Decorex Losing Its Voice?
03/10
Decorex has always been considered the best of the Design Shows. They have a reputation for finding and steering new talent forward, it’s innovative, cutting edge and full of great ideas- they are the Milan catwalk of the Interiors world.
Or are they now? Is there just a bit, well a lot, of the ”Emperor’s New Clothes” about them.
I didn’t go this year, but I have visited this exhibition in the past. I was desperate to find out what was new, what was hot, who to look out for. So, I did what any socially media aware person does and took to Twitter. Using the hashtag #decorex and following links back- read on
Paint It Red
16/09
"Ally looks at painting your buy to let"
A recent report from B&Q suggested that red was the most popular colour choice in the paint stakes. They, like me, will attribute that to a feature wall colour in homes. The report also suggested magnolia had ceased to be the favourite wall colour.
A few things are apparent here, red isn’t the predominant wall colour, but has always been a fail safe “feature wall” colour – and magnolia bit the dust years ago in favour of shades of white – yes, there is a difference!
Of course this ties in with people not moving home, but actually making their space more personal to them. Red isn’t everyone’s cup of tea! read on
The Art of Wallpapering
05/09
Whether you are wallpapering an entire room or just a feature wall, here are a few pointers.
It is quite straightforward to calculate how much wallpaper is required.
- Measure the height of room, either from ceiling to skirting, or picture rail to skirting for full walls. Add on the pattern repeat.
- Now measure right round the room. Check the width of the paper, most are generally 52 cm but some specialist papers will be wider width. Divide the width of the room by the width of the paper. Now you know how many drops are required, ie pieces of wallpaper.
- Look at the wallpaper roll length. If you have measured 2.9 metres from ceiling to floor and need 31 drops, and your paper is 10 metre roll length- how many 2.90 pieces can you get from roll? In this case it is only 3 full pieces. 31 divided by 3 = 10.33333. So here you need 11 rolls. Some decorators may not require full repeat to work with, but better to be safe than sorry. read on
Want to Splash Out a Little?
24/08
Every landlord wants to maximise their rental. Whatever the circumstances, when people rent it’s not just the number of bedrooms, fitted kitchen and access to train station that are important to them.
It’s the all important lifestyle. read on
Serviced Apartments- the Way Forward?
15/08
"Serviced Apartments a good alternative to hotels?"
Not much is said about the Serviced Apartment rental market. At about the same cost per person as staying in a good quality hotel, this area is a good viable option for both landlords and larger companies who are constantly sourcing hotel accommodation for consultants or staff. An average consultant’s stay can be a week away from home or several weeks, while they will be entertained by co-workers in the evening most of the time, early starts can put some hotels or bed and breakfasts out. And when you are doing that much travelling, isn’t it preferable to allow staff to stay in good, self contained accommodation? A much needed home from home?
There are of course also relocation families. They may require 2 or 3 months in an area before they find the long term property that will suit them. Often they will have their own belongings in transit and will need a fully furnished home when they arrive. This can apply to recent transfers in the football market too!
The standard of furnishing does need to be higher. A complete kitchen inventory, some bric-a-brac and towels/ bedding will all be necessary. The same touches you would find in a hotel- for example take-away menus, a map of the local area, emergency telephone numbers. Free wifi, satellite or cable tv and a complimentary starter pack* should also be included.
(* tea, coffee, sugar, UHT milk, toilet roll,biscuits, washing up liquid)
But with so few units of a good standard offering this service it may well be something to become involved in.
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