Sourcing simply – The Rug Company

Last week I spent a very happy couple of hours in one of favourite sourcing spots - The Rug Company in Notting Hill. I like working with them because their selection is incredible, service outstanding and their rugs are made by hand and great quality. They are also a member of GoodWeave and committed to ending illegal child labor in the carpet industry.

I was there to take part with a couple of colleagues in a CPD.  As a member of the British Institute of Interior Design it is a requirement (and I agree essential) to participate in a number of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) events and professional practice seminars in a year. As an interior designer it is imperative to keep up to date in this increasingly regulated world.

Monday Inspiration – be true to yourself

It’s only when we let loose and perform for only ourselves that our true passions come to the surface. It’s not about a studied performance under the gaze of an appreciative audience. If you dance like no one is watching you’ll be silly and free and try new things. Good design is like that, you need to give yourself time for fun and frivolity so that you can honestly say “this works best”.

Happy Thanksgiving - Today over at Heart Home

Today you can also find me over at Heart Home where I’m sharing a great thanksgiving recipe and also a fantastic kitchen essentials guide for the holiday season. 

Monday Inspiration - Sunshine on a chilly day

A sunny Autumnal day is so reviving. I love a crisp day with bright sunshine it makes my heart beat faster and brings a smile to my eyes. When it’s unexpected it like you’re numbers have come up in the lottery.

I have the luxury of living close to the sea and also in a vibrant city. So for me, access to light and big skies is something I take for granted. 

In order to maximise natural light architects and designers often look to increase the amount or size of glazing.  I really love the approach in the below examples – so much light and truly amazing views in some of these too... Now I just need to move my home so I have a sea view.

Today over at Heart Home

Today you can also find me over at Heart Home where I’m sharing Christmas gift Inspiration for men.  It's seems men are just as anxious as we are about getting great gifts. I know a guy who creates a Christmas list so he doesn’t just end up with socks and gifts with golfing motifs. Kind of takes the spontaneity out of the season though I think, so I never follow it!

However if you want to find some great gifts for guys head here

Something for the weekend – MADE11

MADE11 is Brighton's annual design and craft fair held at the Corn Exchange in Brighton. Now in its fifth year the fair showcases over 100 designer/makers across all disciplines selling their work direct to the public. This is the perfect opportunity to buy unique gifts for Christmas with items starting at a wallet friendly £20.

MADE11: 18th – 20th November 2011
Friday 11am – 7:30pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10am – 5pm

Venue: Corn Exchange, Church Street, Brighton, BN1 1UD

Entrance £6, under 14s free.

For more information visit MADE11 – www.made11.co.uk

Timeout Tuesday – is a trip to Stockholm or Berlin on the cards?

Today’s Timeout Tuesday is a little break from the usual. We’ve (me and the DH) been thinking about a little winter trip, a short break to refresh the batteries and to inspire. So which one gets your vote? Stockholm or Berlin?

Top of the list at the moment is Stockholm. I’m a fan of Scandinavian design so I feel a call to the visit Svenskt Tenn and Carl Malmsten stores. We’re both keen to visit a city that sprawls across so many islands with such rich cultural heritage and I’m up for a visit to Gamla Stan (the Christmas market should be open – ohh some glögg) and the Royal Palace. It might be fun to be there for the Midwinter solstice celebration and if we have the time a venture northwards could also be interesting too.

Images from Elle Décor, Visit Stockholm and Svenskt Tenn

To find out more visit:

http://www.visitstockholm.com

http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden

http://www.cntraveller.com/guides/europe/sweden/stockholm

Another option is to head to Berlin. I’ve never been but my DH has and he’s been promising for quite some time to take me. Given my interest in architecture I’d want to see the Norman Fosters work on the Reichstag, Berlin Central Station, Gendarmenmarkt and the Brandenburg Gate obviously. Then of course there are the Christmas markets and maybe a trip to Potsdam.

Images from  Elle Décor and Visit Berlin

To find out more visit:

http://www.visitberlin.de/en

http://www.timeout.com/berlin

Wallpaper city guide

Monday Inspiration – all that glitters

Maybe its because Christmas is just around the corner, maybe its because I watched the new Duran Duran video or maybe its just my magpie eye BUT I am being totally inspired by metallic’s and sparkles at the moment.

It makes me want to use mirrors and crystal to reflect light, particularly candlelight and it makes me want to use metallics to bring shimmer and drama. I’d love to do a project with these elements right now… here’s hoping I can find a client who also shares my dream.

My new spot at Heart Home Magazine

I’ve been missing in action due to a lack of internet access. It’s been very alarming and I kind of felt like the world had disappeared. Thank goodness after my 6-day (felt like a lifetime!!) technical crisis I am back.

So in the hiatus my first post for the ever-lovely folks over at Heart Home magazine has gone live.  They have asked me to write weekly for their new blog  and first up it’s a Christmas shopping guide for the females in your life picking up on the must have products on the High Street and online. Soon to be followed by a men’s guide and one for the kids. So if you are in need of some inspiration pop over for a look.

Also joining the Heart Home family and putting me in great company are the following:

Arianna Trapani, Carole King, Daniel Nelson, Ana Aguilar-Corney, Kate Baxter, Jenny Voyce, Michaela Mildenhall, Rona Wheeldon, Katie Treggiden, Jo Thornhill, Emily Blunden, Ellie Parker, Kelly Fannon,  Stuart Wilson and William Matthews

Each of us will be writing regularly for the new revamped Heart Home magazine blog, so do stop by.

image via Holly Becker at Decor8 - Carole King, Kate Baxter, Arianna Trapani, me and Ana Aguilar

Monday Inspiration – The Brighton Veteran Car Run

Those magnificent men and their flying machines… no wait those early automobiles genius’. The 2011 Veteran Car Run is a homage to the great, the good and the downright strange early car inventions. This weekend saw the annual November Veteran Car run come to Brighton – the historic 60-mile run from Hyde Park to Brighton seafront. It attracts hundreds of owners of pre-1905 vehicles from all over the world. Many of these cars rarely ever take to the road and it is a real opportunity to see these extraordinary automobiles up close.

Now if I could just get a tweed get up just like this guy I’d be made up.

LDF: Tent 2011 - my top 5 favourites

Tent London is one of the design trade shows that takes place during the London Design Festival each September. It’s a phenomenal show that predominately showcases smaller makers/designers and often has new to market products. It’s one of the reason’s I always make time to head to Tent – you are bound to see something new. This year it was bigger than ever and just as good.  You can see some of my favourites from this years show below;

Degas and the Ballet Picturing Movement- Exhibition

Last week I went to the Royal Academy of Arts to see the Edgar Degas Ballet Exhibition.  Not only is the Royal Academy a lovely place to visit but the exhibition is quite something – known as the ‘Painter of Dancers’ Degas was a founding member of the impressionist group.

The exhibition explores Degas’ fascination with movement and the grace of ballet dancers, through the most wonderful pictures and sculptures created during his career.  What is remarkable is the sheer volume of paintings, sculptures and sketches most showing the motion and range of movement the dancers were put through in dance classes and rehearsals.

Degas’s most famous sculpture, the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is at the centre of one of the galleries. Surrounding the sculpture are the 20 sketches he created from different viewpoints to make the sculpture. Degas effectively circled round his model sketching whilst she remained still in her pose.   The whole exhibition is truly inspiring and definitely worth a visit if you are in London.

These two pictures of dancers in Blue (via www.edgar-degas.org) I find particularly alluring and in person the blue tone is incredibly striking.

Which reminded me of the below interiors

Images via Elle Decor, Eclectic Revisited and Architizer