Design Soda Travel Guide : Lisbon

July 4, 2016

We’ve just had 3 days KID FREE in Lisbon. It was bliss, Lisbon was magical, welcoming, pretty, hilly, hot & inspiring. It’s a great city for design lovers, a town of typography and tiles, pretty paving, colour, great food and a really convivial culture. We packed so much into a short time, I knew I had to see beautiful Sintra and also to escape to the beach for a few hours so fitting in all the cultural sights and the things highlighted in the fabulous Wallpaper* guide was a bit of a squeeze but well worth aching feet for. Today I’m sharing the top things we saw, did & ate in the city and on trips around which I think you could comfortably squeeze into a long weekend, wherever possible I have included a google map for directional purposes.Read More

labeled : Travel | 4 COMMENTS

Through the Aperture

July 1, 2016

Pink Architecture - Bayswater. Splendid Urban

I have seen so many amazing things over the last month, I love how London and summer come alive together, so I am reintroducing snaps through my aperture. There are so many places I want to go right now, think Palm Vaults in Hackney is next on my list. How about you?

labeled : London Sights | LEAVE A COMMENT

Simple Life Hack for your closet

June 20, 2016

I am a little too hard wired to cynical to be someone who can open heartedly embrace self help or lifestyle fads. I like the idea of slow living and of daily rituals that make you feel good but I’m not the type to throw my faith out to the universe and see what comes back. So this article really isnt The Life Changing Magic of Tidying. I love things to be organised, taken care of, easy, but if I’m honest I think the main pleasure of a tidy home is to enjoy it and mess it up again. I have perused The Life Changing Magic of Tidying and house cure’s on Apartment Therapy, I’m happy for any tidying tips that make life simpler, but I think I wasn’t the target market. As a new mum who had a long maternity leave, clutter and cleaning are now dealt with on turbo charge and we are never going to have a sterile, uber organised space even if I wanted one (which I don’t, I think houses have to breathe to feel homely) with a rampant toddler. Moreover, when it comes to clothing, past the 6 monthly clear out and vacuum bag packing of out of season clothes, my wardrobe is a bazaar of haphazard semi-chaos which I like. But something that gives me space in the most unashamedly cluttered part of my life? Yes please! So with this in mind, I am sharing the kind of tip that will not change your life but may solve a problem we share.

labeled : Lifestyle | LEAVE A COMMENT

Design Crush #9

June 13, 2016

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.

labeled : Design Crushes - Design Favourites: Sourcing & Inspiration | LEAVE A COMMENT

A lesson in Colour: masterclass on colour and styling with Karen Haller and Ashlyn Gibson

April 18, 2016

Image: Copper Blush sample and pink objects I love

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to an event on colour psychology and styling led by colour psychology expert Karen Haller and super-stylist/author/shop owner/Clapton laundry and location house owner, Ashlyn Gibson. The event was put together by Get Living London, as part of their Make Yourself at Home Campaign, they formed with the aim of offering a new kind of rental to Londoners and creating a true community in the East Village in Stratford. One of their unique offerings is that they encourage tenants to be creative in their homes, to design them to feel like their own spaces, painting walls, putting up shelves, mirrors etc. without fear of losing deposits. I rather like this idea and would have been glad of it when I was renting. As a part of this campaign, the event took place in Ashlyn’s new Olive Lives Alfie store in the East Village on the Olympics site, and I relished the excuse of being on the other side of London to follow my nose (getting a little lost!) and seeing how the planners and architects had built a new city within a city that was in some places quite beautiful and very tranquil and, dare I say it, not very British in feel, which I really liked.Read More

labeled : Colour - Home Design | 7 COMMENTS