If you are redecorating or doing up a new home, one area where you can really save your money rather than blow the budget is on the lighting. There are some incredible lighting pieces out there that look designer, but have a very pocket-friendly high street price tag. Since this blog is all about getting a designer look for less, I couldn't resist sharing my recent list of top budget floor lamp finds.
Read MoreBlue is my favourite colour, and it is definitely my favourite colour to decorate with (see my new maximalist blue bedroom here, and my blue living room here). I spend a lot of time fawning over the blue pieces of furniture and home ware that I find, so I'm going to share a few of my current faves, available to buy now, on the blog:
Read MoreHoliday House London is two ginormous Maida Vale mansions, right next door to each other, which have been completely transformed inside, top-to-toe, by some of the worlds leading interior designers. The mansions act as showhouses for the elite designers, plus some of the best lifestyle brands, to showcase their product and talent. The houses are then opened up to the public, and all money raised goes towards the prevention and cure of breast cancer. You'll agree that this is an excellent idea and a very worthy cause, but I am going to be completely honest here - I had heard of Holiday House London, but it wasn't something that I thought I would be interested in. I totally wrote it off as a big rich fundraiser for big rich people to showcase the sort of interiors and design that decked out a Kensington pied-à-terre, or a home in upstate New York.
Read MoreThere are a lot of press releases that come into my inbox each day about new homeware collections, and even though I open them all, it really takes something amazing to grab my attention. Well, say a big, fat HELLO to one collection that did such a thing - the brand new Bangle collection by hand-blown glassware specialists LSA International.
Read MoreIt has only been in the past year that I have become aware of JD Williams. My first introduction was discovering a really great pendant light while trying to source one for a porch project that I was working on. The light was really well designed and incredible value for money, and I was super surprised to learn that it was actually by TV personality Lorraine Kelly as part of her collection for the brand. As it turns out, JD Williams is actually the UK's leading direct home shopping company, with a 6 million customer database, plus 3,500 employees.
Read MoreSo there are a couple of reasons as to why I decided to write this post. Obviously, I was lucky enough to have a few days break away in New York City last week (sans children), so I took the opportunity to fill the days absorbing as much interior inspo the city could throw at me. Yet secondly, before I visited I was trying to research where to go in NYC that had great interiors. There appeared to be no post or article that gave an overview of the best places to visit for decor drooling (unless I missed it?) The best I could find was a Time Out round up of all home decor stores (I visited all apart from two), and guides to things like the 'best places to visit with great NYC city views'. There was nothing that said "this place is all dark velvet and brass lights you must go if you love interiors!". Therefore, I'm going to do a little round up just incase you are about to visit the city and are craving some tops tips for beautiful hotel bars to visit, or a guide to some great home stores (and the ones not to bother visiting).
Read MoreDramatic pendant lighting hung over the dining table is an interior look that is both stylish and functional. A low-slung statement pendant light or two creates a real focal point as soon as you walk in the room. Positioned centrally above the dining table, or a few lights clustered together in a line the length of the table, really defines the rooms purpose.
Read MoreIt's my utmost belief that even the smallest space can be impeccably stylish. You do not need to own a mansion to create a glorious living space - which is lucky as apparently the average size of a family home in the UK has shrunk by two square metres over the past 10 years. If you rent, chances are that you are currently renting or have rented a flat in a converted property that was once a whole house? If you own your own place, let me guess that you shed a little tear when you saw the average cost of 'price per square metre' of a home in your area, and you had to purchase a smaller space than you had origionally intended?
Read MoreLast week was the press preview for Tom Dixon's new collection for Autumn/Winter 2017. If you follow me on Instagram stories you'll know I attend a ton of press previews for new interior items - so what makes this one so special? The answer to that is that Tom Dixon is THE pioneer in design for the home. You know whatever he does everyone else will follow. What is seen at this collection will filter down to high street home ware a short while later. When he started doing his Oil Slick range, the following season there were oil slick bowls and vases and plates; and lets not even start on 'copper'. His round copper pendant lights indisputably started the trend for copper in interiors.
Read MoreThe guest room in our house has been somewhat neglected compared to the other rooms. The furniture that has been in there the past couple of years since we moved in was furniture from our old house that I didn't really like anymore. The sofa bed had seen better days and was on its last legs. This room has been on the re-do list for ages, but I was really struggling trying to decide what design would suit the room best.
Read MoreWall lights seem to be a bit of a controversial issue - people either love them or hate them. For some, they are a stylish way to add lighting in a room. For others, wall lights are super-dated, and ceiling lights with floor & table lights for atmospheric lighting are preferred. For me personally, I love wall lights. The space-saving properties of them alone make them a winner in my book. By having a wall light as opposed to a lamp on my bedside table, I have more space for magazines / flowers / half-drunk cups of tea and so forth. I think they also can add a real feature to a wall, the same as an artwork or styled shelf can. A beautiful wall light will create a focal point.
Read MoreChelsea Flower Show 2017 begins on the 23rd of May. The annual flower show is always a highlight for me as I find it a huge source of inspiration. I do not visit it every year, but I always absorb myself in the TV coverage to find out what's the new 'it' flower for 2017, and who has designed the best show-garden.
Read MoreA well designed room really comes down to the finishing touches. Those last pieces that pull the whole look together. If you do not add in finishing touches, a room will lack depth, texture, and that 'cosy' feeling will just be absent. I've therefore listed my top five finishing touches below for you that my home would just not be complete without!
Read MoreIf you have been witness to my Instagram Stories recently, you'll see that I have been redesigning and redecorating the home office that myself and my husband share. As previously mentioned, the home office that was once promised to my husband as solely his room when we brought this house, has now also been taken over by me with the launch of the blog! The home office therefore needed a complete overhaul to accommodate all his work stuff, plus all my blog and interior design bits (mainly consisting of paint charts from every paint brand know to (wo)mankind).
Read MoreWe have a small guest bedroom in the basement of our home with an en suite, which is basically my mums room as she stays every other week or so. When we moved in, the room was painted the same shade of magnolia every other room in the house was painted, so I gave it a couple of coats of Teresa's Green by Farrow & Ball. Even though I still love this paint colour, the room seems, well, so boring. When I go into the room it is completely uninspiring. It doesn't help that the furniture in the room is all 'left overs' taken from different rooms we brought with us from our old house. These are 'make do' items that the room needs functionally, but haven't been brought to complement the room, or the other items in it.
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A little while ago my lovely friend Jenny from the award-winning Seasons In Colour blog got in touch and said "You're crafty, fancy a styling challenge in collaboration with the VITA copenhagen Silvia Mini Create?"
Now the VITA copenhagen Silvia is quite iconic. The fanned 'leaves' create that globe artichoke effect that is unmistakably Danish in design. VITA copenhagen have manifested this design from it's original white form to also be available in a choice of metallics and a 'mini' version for table/floor lamps. The latest version is a DIY project, whereby the leaves are made from watercolour paper that can be drawn or painted on to create your very own lighting design.
So, how could I resist Jenny's offer? Apart from being convinced she will wipe the floor with me in the styling challenge (the woman just oozes style and creativity), this was right up my street. You can find a link to Jenny's creation at the bottom of this post!
All the parts of the kit to get started - the shade, table stand and VITA lightbulb
VITA delivered to my door everything I needed for my Mini Create - the table lamp base (which just clicks into place easily in seconds), a VITA bulb, and the Mini Create itself, which was packaged as an adorable flat carry pack. Inside the pack was the shades structural elements, along with the leaves that you popped out of the watercolour paper. You get extra leaves in the pack in case some leaves go wrong or you decide to start again. You can also buy a new complete pack of the leaves for £39 if you decide to change your lamp later further down the line.
As I had recently decorated my living room blue with elements of pink, I decided that I was going to create an ombre pink effect on my Silvia Mini Create. This would mean my lamp would fit in with the scheme of the room, while the ombre effect was a bit modern (I've been wanting to ombre my hair for ages but chicken out as I think I'm too old now to pull it off!)
I purchased a rose pink watercolor from my local craft store, then set about testing how I would ombre each leaf.
Using a small brush, I added a tiny amount of the pink paint to the tip of a leaf, then gradually added water, working the paint upwards so that it got lighter and lighter and the top was a very pale pink. I repeated this for all the leaves, which I was actually relaxing and enjoyable to do. Perfect for a lazy, crafty Sunday.
While my leaves were drying I put together the structure of the shade, which was a simple slot-in process.
I then slotted in my ombre leaves as per the instructions. This was also simple and they held perfectly.
So this is my pink ombre DIY VITA Copenhagen Silvia Mini Create! It is quite effective in front of the blue walls, and is totally bespoke as it has been created by me!
If you like the sound of the Silvia Mini Create, but don't feel completely 'crafty-confident', you can download ready-made templates from the VITA copenhagen website which you can then print directly onto the watercolour paper and then colour as you wish. There are a number of patterns available from geometric triangles to doodle designs.
So that's mine, come on Jenny show me yours!
* I was gifted all the items to make up the Silvia Mini Create by VITA copenhagen in order to write this post, to which I am super grateful! Massive huge thank you to Jenny from the continuously brilliant Seasons In Colour for letting me be a part of this challenge with her, and for always supporting me and this blog.
Two fun facts to start with - did you know that Habitat is now part of the Sainsbury's group? Did you also know that it will now have mini stores within larger Sainsbury's supermarkets? No? Neither did I! As Habitat's products will now be more readily accessible to consumers, I was interested in what Creative Director Polly Dickens and her team had up their sleeve for Habitat SS17, so popped along to their press show at the Kings Road store this week.
Read MoreThis week I was lucky enough to attend the press shows for both Marks and Spencer and Next Home, to get a sneak-peek at their new furniture and homeware collections for Spring & Summer 2017. If you are a regular reader you'll know I love scouring the High Street for interior pieces that look designer, but come with a High Street price tag!
First up was M&S. When I saw the invite to the Marks and Spencer show I knew it was going to be good:
Read MoreI am a complete sun worshipper, but uncomfortable summer nights all humid and sweaty with no air-con are definitely the worst thing about summer. That's why when Autumn kicks in it feels extra lovely to snuggle down all warm and cosy in your bed. Autumn is therefore the perfect time to update your duvet covers and pillow cases for snooze-season (or, if like me you have a small child, dream about being in your bed rather than it being a reality...) There are some pretty cool duvet cover designs out there at the moment, so I've picked my favorite reasonably priced bedlinen available to buy online right now....
Read MoreIf you rent unfurnished, or if you are just starting out in your first home, it can be a really daunting prospect buying all the furniture that you need. You can see why a lot of people go the flat-packed route so they don't plunge into the overdraft; but it is possible to get well made, individual pieces of furniture and homeware at a fraction of the cost. Unlike flat-pack, you will probably still love it in years to come, rather than chuck it out as soon as it needs replacing/you can afford something better.
This week I thought I would share my absolute top 5 tips for sourcing great furniture and homeware at really affordable prices. Unless there is something particular that I REALLY want from the high street, I will always try and source what I need from these five places first. I usually visit each place once or twice a fortnight to see what's new. I also get a total buzz from finding something amazing and unique that costs hardly anything! It's a feeling of being really lucky that it was you who found it, taking total pleasure in what you found, and having absolutely no guilt that it cost you most of your months wages!
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