As you can see this is a long review. If you are researching places to stay, read only PART 1, which is a medium length normal review. PART 2 is a bonus part about aesthetics, which is optional reading, but that some of you may nevertheless find useful.
PART 1: PRACTICAL AND FUNCTIONAL
My stay at Tom&Dom's was very pleasant. I personally found that the house was extremely well taken care of and had a lot of beautiful objects in it. I have been in a handful of AirBnB's and I found this one to be very nice. I took a little look at the back garden and even in December there was a lot to admire in it, in terms of plants and other decorations. Their front garden is also very beautiful and nicely designed.
Tom&Dom were very nice. It was easy to communicate with both of them, and they were very helpful. In general, they helped find solutions that worked for everyone for different situations. The place was extremely well taken care of and clean. Tom helped me extend my booking before I arrived. He also helped me near the end of my stay when I needed to book a few extra nights. They also arranged things so I could check in a little earlier and not have to wait, which was nice.
It was nice to get to know Bella&Luna as well. Luna is a puppy and being trained and she is full of joy and happy energy. Bella is an older dog and she has the same happy energy in a more subdued way.
They are also very well equipped in the kitchen for cooking. I am not a good cook by any means, but I noticed that they really had all the equipment you need. It is also easy to use the kitchen because of its layout and where things are.
I also timed my use of the shower around the times that they used it so I would not intrude on their schedule. Personally it worked quite well for me.
There were also a bunch of practical things that helped me a lot. Tom let me use the clothes washer and they let me hang the clothes to dry on a rack by the garden door. He also gave me extra fridge and cupboard space for my above-average-length stay.
I would note that in terms of distance to Central London by public transit, you have to consider the time it takes to get to the train station. Without a car, it is a bit of distance to get to the train station. If you take the bus/tram, I think it should usually take about 15mins to get the station. It is quite a pleasant ride once you get onto the train that goes into the city though.
PART 2: AESTHETICS AND DESIGN
I know not everyone shares the same appreciation of the following, but the rest of this review will be dedicated solely to my personal appreciation of the aesthetics and design of their place, so if you are reading only for functional purposes, you do not need to read on.
I'm not sure if it was by accident or by design, but the aesthetic aspects of all the rooms really come together to make a very beautiful and pleasant space. If you notice in the picture of the outside entrance, the red door is surrounded by a white frame which contains windows with red diamonds. The light through the door in the morning is super nice, and the outside lamp and the plants below it make for a pleasant entrance if you are arriving when it is dark.
The decoration of the frame around the main door are also somehow in harmony with the beautiful tiling in the bathroom. There is a beautiful Moroccan plate in the middle of the kitchen island. There were small and medium orchids behind the kitchen sink in front of a window that looked onto the back garden. You can't see it in the pictures in the posting but the ceiling lamp in the room is quite nice too. There is a yellow bug decoration with big eyes on the fence in the garden. The living room is off limits but I did get to see it and it has a beautiful aquarium, and its walls are an interesting color and the walls are covered in nice paintings. In the kitchen there are some magnets above the stove that include pictures of some sponsored guide dogs.
Beyond the aesthetics, the spaces were very well designed. They felt very comfortable to use. I think the aesthetics and the comfortable spatial design are not unrelated. It seems to me that there is some higher design consideration which both the aesthetic and spatial aspects serve together, which may be beauty or comfort or something even higher than those things. As you can see, just being there made me think about beauty and its design, which is something I don't often think about much at a conceptual level.
There was also a stuffed dog on the furniture outside my room that was not only facing my door, but was looking right at my face as I opened the door. Apparently it was just a coincidence that the dog was there because Luna had been chewing toys and Tom had to put the stuffed dog somewhere she couldn't reach. It was actually very nice to be greeted by that stuffed dog upon opening the room door. It kept the "nice dogs" theme going and reminded me of Bella&Luna.
Thank you Tom&Dom and Bella&Luna for the very nice stay!