Latest Ikea Purchase

If you read this blog on a regular basis you will know that one of my mild obsessions is mirrors. So when I saw this beauty called Husnes in our recent trip to Ikea, I just had to have it. It will go perfectly on the landing alcove above the eBay bought toy box/chest. I have been struggling to find a full length mirror and this one with its bevelled edge and curvy features fits the bill!

Image from Ikea

Make a little bird house in your soul!

Don't worry I haven't gone crazy and started spouting early nineties song titles. As it's nearly the start of spring, well I thought it was until it started to get cold again, I thought I would do a post about bird houses.

When I sit at the computer in the the dining room I can here an array of lovely birdsong and thought it about time that I bought a home for one of our feathered friends to use. Also as my maternal instinct kicks in (3 months left until baba is here) I'd rather the chicks had somewhere nice to sleep.

1. First up is this pretty example from Cox & Cox. Although it's only for internal use I felt it warranted a mention just on it's design alone.

2. I realise this Duck egg blue bird table from Cox and Cox isn't actually a house but it would look wonderful in any garden and it still allows them some perching space and somewhere for you to leave food.

3. This handmade Caravan birdhouse from Linleywood is so kitsch it's adorable.

4. This Sylvester Bird Box from Suck UK just made me chuckle when I saw it in the recent issue of Living Etc. Such a clever idea!

5. For those of you who love the old Romany gypsy patterns, this tin Eva bird House from Nkuku on Notonthehighstreet is perfect. 

6. For the more modern of you readers this Canopy Series in Birch by StudioLicious on Etsy is very simple and understated. The Branch perch is a nice touch too.

7. Last but not least if you are not wanting something permanent or even fancy a project for the kids then this cardboard birdhouse by garden boutique on notonthehighstreet is great. You could decorate it exactly how you want and don't have to worry about adding to landfill once you're done with it.

Willow Collection from Bluebellgray

I was recently sent a newsletter about the new Willow collection at bluebellgray. It's a beautiful new collection of cushions and fabrics inspired by the classic blue willow pattern that we all know and recognise but with a modern twist. I remember my grandmother having this original patterned crockery, and even though I didn't appreciate it as a child, it does have a timeless look.

It's a shame we didn't keep any of the original crockery because I am loving the plate collection on the blue wall, maybe I'll have to start re-collecting it.

Tent London 2011

Apologies for not posting yesterday or Monday but I was feeling a bit under the weather so had a day under the duvet and now I'm playing catch up.

On Sunday we visited Tent London at the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, East London. I try to go to at least one London Design Week event a year and Tent is becoming my favourite, especially now as I'm decorating my own house (Just to let you know we have now exchanged on the house so it's all go for the completion on Thursday, getting seriously excited)

Anyway back to topic of the post, below are my faves from the Exhibition that I thought you might like to hear about, enjoy:

1. I couldn't go to an interiors and furniture exhibition without encountering the ever popular Ercol. They were showcasing two new prototypes of chairs, a new bar stool and stacking chair in collaboration with Russell Pinch. The colours used on the stand are a good indication of the new hues for Autumn/Winter in interiors. Loved the use of orange with royal blue.

2. Zoe Murphy was exhibiting her wonderful array of up-cycled mid century furniture again this year. Every time I see her pieces I get so excited, I really would love one but I think they might be a bit out of my price range. However, she does do commissions, so if you have a piece of retro furniture you really love but needs some updating, she's your girl!

Images from Zoe Murphy

3. Ary Trays new products were also really exciting, my husband and I particularly liked their Alabasta Folk Stripe range designed by British textile designer Asta Barrington. They were displayed on foldaway stands to create fantastic occasional tables, they would look great in the garden.

Image from Ary Trays

4. London Timepiece had a great stand. They deal in a huge range of vintage and retro clocks with everything from Industrial to traditional styles. My husband took a fancy to a few of them, maybe a birthday pressie possibility.

5. Famille Summerbelle was possibly my favourite stand of the day. The company is run by husband and wife team Simon Summerscales and Julie Marabelle. Julie is the very talented artist of ridiculously intricate, personal and lovely papercuts of their favourite cities, London Paris New York and San Francisco. She studied Fine Art and Theatre Set design at St Martin's College in London and her inspiration comes from bringing up their young family between London and Paris. The original papercuts have been vectorised into prints and laser cuts that you can purchase in limited numbers in particular colours. They also produce Paper banners, family trees, cushions and wallpapers all with Julies signature illustrations.

Images above from Famille Summerbelle

6. Bluebellgray by Fiona Douglas is a company I have posted about before, but she had something new and exciting to show at Tent this year. She has now released her signature prints in fabric that can be bought in panels. Simply beautiful!

Image from Bluebellgray

7. Finally last but certainly not least is Mini Moderns. As well as being nominated for an Elle Decoration British Design award this year for Best British brand, their stand was one of the best on show. Showcasing their ever increasing range of wallpapers, cushions, fabrics tea towels and much more. My husband was particularly taken with the Whitby Wallpaper below, featuring a wonderful pattern of waves and boats in the Lido colourway, a lovely mid century Turquoise tone. 

Image from Mini Moderns

Personally I'm a big fan of their Festival Wallpaper in concrete below.

Image from Mini Moderns

Norfolk Living, Burnham Market

Image from Norfolk Living

If you ever find yourself on the North Norfolk coast and you are in need of a bit of retail therapy check out Norfolk Living in the the lovely town of Burham Market. We took a trip on Saturday to the coast because my husband was taking part in the Round Norfolk Relay so while he was busy running, I was busy shopping (for the new house of course). This shop is a fantastic emporium for everything you could ever need for the home and garden, including lovely giftware if you are stuck for a birthday pressie. I managed to come out with some imitation white hydrangea stems (seriously realistic) and a lovely Grey/Blue vase to put them in. If you fancy a treat after your shopping, head to the Hoste Arms for afternoon tea!

New products at Papermash

I had an email newsletter from Papermash showing come of their new products so I thought I would share some of my favourites with you.

1. These brilliant banners would add a chicness to any party.

Party Banners

2. I love these Japanese Masking Tapes you can literally decorate anything with them or even make bunting with them as seen below.

Blue Graph Tape

Green Checked Masking Tape

3. I love these designs by Rifle Paper Co especially the use of vintage colours. I've previously posted about a print I bought from Papermash for my husband for Valentine's day, I'm also very tempted by the Ladybug Print below

Bonjour Notecards

Ladybug Print

Merci Cards

 4. These Paper Cups ares so fun and colourful, I probably wouldn't even use them for parties, looking this good they need to be displayed somewhere!

Numbers Cups

Whiteboard - an alternative to Blackboard Paint

I don't know about you but I'm really keen on painting part of the wall in the kitchen in blackboard paint. The only thing is it might be hard to live with once it has been written on a hundred times and starts to look messy. So I was considering painting a large MDF board instead and wall mounting that, so it's not so permanent.

However, I may have changed my mind again as I was reading the HomeShoppingSpy Blog, I noticed this very cute Whiteboard Write Board available from The Contemporary Home. It is even styled to look like a notepad of lined paper and includes a black marker. At 50cm square it is a really good size for note making, I need all the help I can get as I never notice notes left by my husband.

Image from The Contemporary Home

Alternatively a set of four 20cm square boards in different paper styles (lined and graph paper) is available from Rockett St George

Image from HomeShoppingSpy

Inkodye

I was reading Jessica's How about Orange blog this morning and saw her most recent post about Inkodye, a light-sensitive dye for textiles, wood and leather. They had sent her a sample of this brilliant and she decided to test it out. It's a bit like Batik but much easier and less messy (I seem to remember getting wax everywhere when I did it at school)

You simply brush it on evenly with a foam brush onto your fabric of choice (has to be a natural fibre). You then place items/shapes of your choice on top of the fabric and lay it in the sun for 5-6 minutes. The colour will deepen and where you have placed the shapes will remain bleached out. Immediately after removing the shapes from the fabric, to avoid the dye under the shapes from developing, rinse the fabric in the sink and wash with fabric detergent.

Below are a few images of her test, for more examples of how Inkodye can be used check out the website here.

All images from How about Orange

M&S and Conran

I was thrilled to hear about the recent collaboration between Conran and Marks and Spencer. Over recent years M&S has been trying to improve it's homewares offering, making it more modern and contemporary so this collection makes complete sense.

Images from Marks and Spencer

An exclusive preview collection is available from mid-September. It will include everything from rugs to the sofa pictured above in classic mid-century hues and timeless shapes, making them collectors items for the future. I recently bought the Ideal Home magazine and it included a free M&S catalogue containing the rest of the collection, so go take a look!

New Orla Kiely EVOKE Mio Radio

Regular readers will realise I have a mild obsession with all things Orla Kiely. I am in the process of trying to stop myself buying everything I see in her prints but today I spotted her new EVOKE Mio Radio and my best laid plans were dashed to pieces. Isn't it just beautiful! I had previously posted about the Multi colourway here but since they introduced this blue version I'm smitten.

Image from decor8

Image from Orla Kiely

Let me know what you think, which version do you prefer? and if there is anyone out there who already has one maybe share a photo of it in your interior.

Bluebellgray Sample Sale

If you liked the look of the wonderful designs from Bluebellgray on my post on the 5th May then check out there sample sale of cushions. They are all roughly half price, I'm thinking about Big Rose or Secret Garden design or I might just wait until her fabric is available to order. But check it out!

Cute Tape Measures

I was reading today's post from Jessica at How about Orange about this super cute Panda Tape measure. I instantly thought I want one! I found an ebay seller in Birmingham who sells them for £2. They also sell other animal based tapes such as frogs, pigs and cats. There is also another seller based in Sheffield who sells them here and has a choice of pig, frog, panda, brown bear, blue bear, pink bear and a red bear. So you are really spoilt for choice but the panda is probably the sweetest.

Image from How about Orange

Image from ebay

Image from ebay

Finding Fridges!

As we are about to move into our new house we are starting to look for a new Fridge Freezer. Unfortunately I have a mild obsession with a certain Smeg Fridge, but alas they are far tooo expensive so we are having to look at something within our budget. As you can see below, one of my favourite bloggers Nicole of Making it Lovely shares my passions for all things Smeg.

Images from Making it Lovely

Do you have any suggestions for a stylish yet affordable fridge, if you do let me know.

If we can't stretch to the Smeg maybe we should go for something in stainless steel as they can look quite stylish and would go with all our other electricals in the Kitchen. That would be the sensible thing to do, but who wants to be sensible!

http://www.smeguk.com/

Mini Moderns for Magpie

Mini Moderns, the creators of fantastic wallpaper inspired by the 1951 Festival of Britain, have teamed up with homeware brand Magpie to create a selection of mugs, plates, and cups and saucers under the same theme. Using lovely mid-century colours the geometric patterns illustrate London landmarks such as the Royal Festival Hall. Mix and match the colours for an fab eclectic look!

Image from Homes and Gardens