My big bro's cool home

A corner of one of the Sydney siblings' homes

While on the topic of the far-flung relatives with style - thought I'd finally post up a couple of snaps I wrestled out of one of my (two) brothers who live in Sydney. 

I think that Anglepoise came from the house we grew up in in south London. Aw. Nice things. Hoarding and compulsive arranging of piles of stuff, also passed down from mother.

The kitchen/diner. Nice.

Cool packaging and other collectibles

What do you collect?

I have a canny friend with a knack of collecting gorgeous art for not very much money (I'll be featuring her soon), while my stylish but freaky neighbour is obsessed with Victorian vibrators.

Collecting things (or, as my father likes to call it, when talking to my mother, "Oh no, not more rubbish we don't have any room for...") runs in my family. On my mother's side, clearly. My brother has been through unmanageable configurations of antique tins, obscure old beer bottles and vintage lighters, my mum - hard to know where to start -long cherished her ancient teddy bear collections, and has a glorious arrangment of mismatched, elderly plates.

Me, I've got far too many versions of most things, but always find it hard to resist a nice bit of packaging (like this lot, which lives on a kitchen shelf). Can't leave a secondhand bookshop without a new/old paperback with a sexy cover, either...

But never mind all that - what do you collect? I'm compiling a series of themed reader galleries. Send me some snaps and details of what you can't resist... kate_burt at yahoo.co.uk

Real homes gallery: we need YOU!

I'm putting together a Your Home Is Lovely gallery - of your lovely homes. Want to be part of it? Send photos to kate_burt at yahoo.co.uk

I know get heaps of inspiration from looking at how other people have made their places sparkle - whether with car-boot treasures, clever use of colour, or brilliant on-a-budget ideas that I'd never have thought of.

So you don't need to have a super swanky designer-y house: I'm simply after real homes with nice touches that might inspire other people.

So what should you send? Photos of whole rooms or just details or objects - along with a bit of information about where you got it/did it/came up with the idea. What are you waiting for: show us what you got!

My friend Rose makes a good cup of tea, in a proper pot. She's also good at finding stylish things in charity shops - she just sent me photos of this lovely Thomas China coffee pot (but you could use it for tea!) and matching cups which she snaffled in a place in Kent for a bargainous £8. Puts my rather extravagant £12 espresso cup find to shame.

Inspired, I just spotted this lovely red and white Thomas China coffee set on Ebay, for £29.99. Let me know if you buy it...