Category Archives: Design Favourites: Sourcing & Inspiration

Best of the artisan ceramics trend

August 24, 2016

best hand thrown artisan ceramics, interior design trends 2016

 

Since London Design Week last year, beautifully crafted ceramics have barely been off my radar, there seems to be a real vogue for beautiful handcrafted artisan pieces at the moment and I can’t get enough of them. I have a post in draft at present on kitchen updates for little investment and this is certainly one very pleasing way to do it – a well placed beautiful ceramic in the kitchen can detract from a multitude of sins! As I seem to have been pinning and saving ceramics for most of 2016, today I’m sharing my favourites from around the world. From the painterly to the abstract via the gold leafed and pastel here are all my favourite pretties for your perusal. Enjoy!Read More

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10 Best Botanical Leaf Print Wallpapers

August 8, 2016

best botanical and tropical leaf print wallpapers

Image: Design Soda

If you have eyes and ears I’m sure you’ve noticed tropical palm and banana leaf prints are a massive trend in homes and fashion at the moment, all over the catwalk (sometimes head to toe outfits, I’m looking at you Dolce and Gabanna!), homewares, fabrics, paper and I’m totally seduced by them. I think our new obsession with leaves in the home started with our acceptance en masse of succulents and cacti into our homes a few years back followed by the adoption of larger house plants, last year was definitely the year of the cheese plant, looks like this year may be the fiddle leaf tree, both of which are beautiful but utterly toxic to cats. We have one very shady border in our garden so I’ve been looking at all of the beautiful different leaf patterns Mother Nature has created in quite a lot of detail over the last few months and all of these leaf prints make my heart sing.Read More

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New Designers Show, 2016

July 11, 2016

New Designers Show, interiors textiles round up 2016

Image: Design Soda

Last week I was lucky enough to be given some tickets to the New Designers shows 2016 by a crafter & designer who’s work I really love (more on that in a post soon!). I really love design shows, the atmosphere, the creativity, the inspiration, I always feel pulled in a thousand directions all at once as my eyes glance something new at each turn. With an event like Decorex you expect to be wowed by the presentations of design houses at the top of their field, but what’s really special about platforms like New Designers is the wealth of talent out there waiting to become the future mainstream. I was excited to see quite a few of the designers in One Year On which was curated this year by the founder/owner of Luna & Curious which I’m a big fan of. It’s amazing to see the output of businesses which have been going for a year. Perhaps even more inspiring is the work of graduates (both BA & MA) some of whom displayed work with a truly stunning attention to pattern & detail, form and purpose. So, here is my photographic rundown of the things which really caught my eye, I include contact details of all designers under each piece.Read More

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Design Crush #9

June 13, 2016

Roar & Rabbit for West Elm Marble geometric jewellrey box

Sometimes when X meets Y the result is utterly perfect. Say gin and pink lemonade, or Pecorino & honey. In the field of home design, as in fashion, when a brand collaborates with the creative energy of a unique output the results can be truly swoon worthy. Some of you may say Lenny Kravitz for CB2, or Henry Holland x Habitat, or maybe one of the zillion cutting edge collabs Liberty have done. My personal fave was always French company I-Bride’s collaboration with Habitat about 5 years ago. Until now. I’ve been coming across pieces that I love named Roar & Rabbit over at West Elm since the start of the year when I bought this so stunning geo inlay jewellery box (pictured above). But I only got round to looking into what it was last week.

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Brass Hardware – A love letter and sourcebook

April 13, 2016

Vintage fittings - Brass Vacant Engaged toilet lock

 

I blame Emily Henderson for my obsession with brass, hell maybe American styling in general, but I’ve become a bit of a Hollywood Regency enthusiast over the last year or so. In the past I happily tripped along with pewter and pewter effect as a more stylish alternative to silver (which seems to be my families metal of choice and style) but the warmth of brass has really captured my imagination in the new house. I’ve used it in loads of places and totally love it, it brings a bit of sunshine to a door or a light fitting and when done well adds lots of class. We luckily bought a house with no plaster work needed so, not only have I been able to merrily paint away in our new home, I’ve also been able to buy and install the fittings that I want without having to wait for boring things to be done first (have I mentioned I’m naturally impatient?!). So, today, as it’s Milan Design Week, I’m celebrating by focusing in on one small area of design and sharing my top picks for places in the UK to pick up classy brass.Read More

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