Liam Treanor

2. The second on my list of favourites from the Smiths Row exhibition is Liam Treanor. He creates beautiful hand produced furniture. Each product is designed by Liam and produced in-house at their London based workshops.

I particularly love the Homemaker Bookcase with it's nod to mid-century styling. It's even available in two beautifully cheerful colours, pale blue or primrose yellow.

11am sales on Made.com

If you are fan, like me, of designer furniture but not of the often ridiculous price tags, then check out made.com. There prices are usually very reasonable but over the next 2 weeks they are holding 11am sales with different products reduced everyday. 

I posted a few weeks ago about there Fonteyn Desk and I am crossing my fingers and toes that it appears in the sale, but knowing my luck it won't. Why is it the things you really like never get reduced in the sales?

My favourites so far are the Bergman Cabinet and the Bergman Coffee Table both in Chalk White.

All Images from made.com

Top Drawer & Home at Earls Court

On Monday I visited the Top Drawer and Home Exhibitions at Earls Court in London. I was on a research day for work but wanted to post on here about the wonderful and inspiring things I found while there.

1. Ary Trays are introducing a new collection of trays using the wonderfully pretty prints of Fiona of Bluebellgray.

Image from Ary Trays

2. Clare Nicholson was founded in 2004 and creates textiles, home accessories and stationery. With influences ranging from vintage textiles to patterned paper, it;s hard not to fall in love with the beautiful patterns.

Images from Clare Nicholson

3. Ferm Living is a Danish design and manufacturing company of interior products with a graphic touch. They produce wallpapers, wall stickers, textiles and accessories for the home. I particularly like their harlequin wallpaper (perfect for a nursery). Their Black board style Calendar Wall Stickers are also pretty cool, especially as I'm terrible at planning.

Images from Ferm Living

4. Jonathan Adler had some wonderfully colourful textiles and accesories on his stand. What really caught my eye were the wonderful blue hues used on this Cube Throw and the Carnaby Scale Vase. They are the kind of colours that make you look forward to the summer.

5. Marimekko were displaying their selection of Spring fabrics. I really loved the Helsinki-Helsingfors fabric which is available in tow colours 590 (Blue) and 690 (Lime Green).

Images from Marimekko

6. Pappelina is a Swedish manufacturer of household textiles. What really interested me was their plastic rugs in fantastically simple graphic designs. Shown below are Hugo, Mose and Mira

All Images from Pappelina

7. Last but certainly not least is Places and Spaces who sell the products of some of the best international interior contemporary brands. The Acapulco outdoor chair is the product I fell in love with though, created by Oficina Kreativa, it is available in this zesty lime yellow as well as Petroleum Blue, Light Blue and Black. Can't wait for summer!

Image from Places and Spaces

Image from Nest

Beautiful Day Bed from Another Country

I was flicking through Elle Decoration and started to dribble over a page that featured the 'Day Bed One' from Another Country. I've told you before I have an irrational love of furniture!

This day bed is just begging to be laid on, perfect for reading your favourite book on don't you think? It even comes in a choice of fabrics that include this 'Red Bird Garden' by Mark Hearld for St Judes.

Images from Another Country

The curved features and solid European Oak are so warm and welcoming and it is all made here in the UK. Even the organic wool and latex mattress is made in Devon and the Bute fabrics in Scotland.

If you love the clean lines of this piece, check out there other products which include everything from coffee tables to benches. I am particularly loving the console table and bench, they would look great in my new hallway.

All Images from Another Country

Herringbone Chair

I was looking on the How about Orange blog this morning and noticed the post about re-inventing chairs. There was a fantastic idea from the people at Martha Stewart on how to create a herringbone pattern on an Eames Chair. There is a really simple and easy to follow video to show you the technique and materials needed.

Image from Martha Stewart

Personally I'm not sure I would re-decorate such an iconic chair, but this technique could be used on a less expensive chair. For instance this Ikea Nordmyra chair could do with jazzing up a bit. 

Image from Ikea

You could even use a similar technique to make your own fabric with fabric paint. Now there's an idea waiting to be used in the new house!

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!

The Lollipop Shoppe

Just wanted to let you all know that The Lollipop Shoppe has an offer available on Eames chairs, If you by 6 Eames plastic chairs you get 2 of them free. I'm not really in a position to take advantage of this offer but some of you may have been waiting for them to come into the sale, so snap up the offer while it's available because it's a huge saving.

Real or Fake?

I freely admit I have an obsession with designer furniture, in particular chairs. However, they are often way out of my meagre budget and I spend forever saving various cheques from generous family members ready for the time when they are on sale.

I'm a true believer in investing in originals, even when my husband can't understand what the difference is between the real one and the copy. But as you start to decorate a house you realise how much even a couple of chairs can add up and how many other things you have to pay for like broken boilers or a leaking roof. I'm not saying I will definitely go out and buy copies, even if they are every good, but I just wanted to point out they are out there.

Bluesuntree apparently make very good reproductions of design classics at a fraction of the price. From the Eames DSW chairs to the Hang it all coat rack they stock pretty much of the classics and many other designs. I am particularly tempted by the marble topped tulip side table, at £150 it's a snip compared to the original, well they do say imitation is the best form of flattery!

Images from Bluesuntree

Graham & Green Dream Ottoman

I've always wanted an upholstered ottoman or blanket box in the bedroom and when I noticed this very aptly named 'Dream' Ottoman on the Graham and Green website in Raspberry Velvet, I fell in love. It's available in a choice of 12 fabrics or can even be upholstered in your own fabric. Unfortunately our budget won't stretch to this version.

I have 2 metres of bright pink velvet that I bought about 2 years ago and haven't found a use for it yet, so I was thinking this could be used to cover one if I found it cheap on ebay or if I got someone to make it for me. The research begins!

Finally!

After spending 4 weeks searching and driving around Cambridge and London we have found our bed and sofas for the new house. On Saturday we went all the way down to north west London for the Sofa.com clearance sale. We came close to buying something because it was a bargain but we had to sit and think for ten minutes is it really worth buying something just because it's a deal, as you have to live with it for a long time if it's not right. So after some musings we decided to go back to John Lewis and get the sofa we really loved, a medium and snuggler Bailey in Duck Egg. I love the tapered legs!

(Images from John Lewis)

As we couldn't quite stretch to the snuggler in the fabric below, which we both loved. We have bought a piece of the Lorton Ebony fabric by Villa Nova on ebay to make numerous cushions. 

(Image from John Lewis)

Now we thought buying the bed would be simpler but again in sofa.com clearance we found a fantastic bedstead with the most beautifully upholstered headboard in a Mustard yellow Velvet. It was gorgeous and an absolute bargain but would we still love mustard yellow in a year let alone ten, probably not! so we decided against it. We went back to the Feather and Black sale and bought this Manhattan style in Pebble grey which is definitely a colour that will stand the test of time and the headboard still makes quite a statement.

(Images from Feather and Black)

So now all we have to do is decorate before they arrive in August!

Parasols

As we have bought our garden furniture (it will need work before we actually use it) but at least we are half way there. Now my attentions have turned to a parasol. If you read this blog often you will probably realise my husband and I have a thing for Moroccan gardens, so I have been looking for a parasol that fits into this theme. I found a great selection on not on the high street by The Indian Garden Co a company based in Henley-on-Thames who work with skilled artisans, whose families have been traditionally making these products for centuries.

Bridal White

Bali Spa

Monsoon

Raj White

Raj Pink

Their Cream Pearl Parasol has also been used in the Alice in Wonderland film.

All Images from The Indian Garden Company

I Think We Have A Winner!

After lots of searching around pretty much every sofa retailer in the UK, I think we may have found the one! We happened to go into John Lewis with my mum and a style we had originally dismissed suddenly looked quite appealing. The reason we had initially ignored the Bailey was that it looked too low in the seat height, but my husband tried it and said it was really comfortable. Another bonus is it also comes with removable covers. Even better John Lewis' sale starts in a couple of weeks and I'm hoping it'll have at least 30% off which means we could also get the snuggler sofa which was really cosy and looked particularly good in this Lorton Ebony Tree Pattern Fabric by Villa Nova. I can't actually believe we may have found a sofa that fits both out requirements stylish yet comfortable!

(Images from John Lewis)