An interior design journalist living in London, Katie Burt writes over at Your Home Lovely, where she keeps us updated about her home and latest DIY projects. I stumbled upon her site the other day and instantly loved her style advice and creativeness - so much so, I asked Katie to say a few words about her work and inspiration. Check out the interview below.

Please introduce yourself

My name is Kate Burt and I'm from London.

What do you do?

I’m a journalist who specialises in interiors and design. I wrote an interiors column for the Independent on Sunday for several years and currently am acting editor at AchicaLiving.com. I also write my own interiors blog, www.yourhomeislovely.com, which offers affordable inspiration for your home.

What got you interested in interior design?

I’ve always been a little bit obsessed – my mum was the same and I guess it rubbed off (all those Saturday afternoons spent sitting in her mini, watching out for traffic wardens while she ducked into the antique shops of south London…). But the thing that got me writing about interiors was buying my house. I’d only been interested in doing the superficial stuff myself before but suddenly I had no money to pay anyone to do a lot of stuff – and so I suddenly had to learn a lot of new skills and uncover many new resources. That’s how my blog came about, as a record to begin with.

What's your favourite interior design style?

I love adventurous interiors – homes where you’ll come across something a bit unusual or odd.

Any interesting design stories?

I wrote about this on my blog in a post that had started out as a before and after – but the after went so wrong I just wrote about what a disaster I’d had. I tried to use a grout reviving pen in the shower room, which is tiled with matt mosaic tiles. The instructions (in my opinion, of course!) weren’t clear and I pretty much covered the entire floor with this grout reviver, and then couldn’t get it off the tiles (the instructions were focused on shiny, easy-to-wipe-clean tiles) which took on a milky top-coat. Lovely. After much scrubbing it has nearly all gone…

What's your proudest moment?

I’m proud of the risk I took in painting my downstairs loo entirely black, ceiling, skirtings, door and all. It could have looked like a tiny dungeon. Luckily it looked lovely once all the accessories were in situ.

Where can we find you?

Find me at www.yourhomeislovely.com and @kate_burt on Twitter and @yourhomeislovely on Instagram – which I am shamefully late to, so come and encourage me!

You’ve gotta love electric fires. Inexpensive, efficient and easy to set up, nothing beats electric fires in terms of ease of use. Alright, so they don’t have a real flame, but you’d be surprised at how real a simulation modern day technology can give. Proof? Well just check out this list of top electric flame effects!

Ribbon Flame Effect

Despite being the most low-tech of the flame effect options, you’d be surprised by how realistic this flame effect is. Basically, the fire contains strips of plain red ribbon that have air blown at them, making them raise up and dance in an accurate representation of a fire.

Glow Effect

If you’re looking for a softer, more atmospheric fire simulation, a glow effect might just be perfect for you. Glow effects simply consist of a yellow light at the bottom of the fireplace, with stacks of loose coal and pebbles stacked above. Light shines through cracks in the bed, creating a snug glow that is perfect to relax in front of in the evenings.

LED Flame Effect

An LED flame effect is a more high tech option, and is capable of producing some spectacular flame effects. The effect works by tiny LED bulbs shining onto a revolving mirrored surface at the bottom of the fire. The light is reflected upwards, and is stretched and warped to resemble real moving flames. Best yet, the bulbs last up to 50,000 hours, meaning they will never need to be changed!

Opti-myst

Optimist is the single most realistic fire effect on the market, although the downside of this is a higher price tag. Developed by Dimplex, the effect basically consists of water that is turned into mist by an ultrasonic wave. The mist rises, combining with an orange light to create an incredibly accurate simulation of dancing flames.