June 11th, 2010
I’ve just returned from a few enjoyable days in London where I attended Pulse, one of the many UK Trade Shows that we try to visit as often as possible.
I thought that I’d show a few items that caught my eye.
Wonderful distressed frames from Luna Rustic Frames
These are made from reclaimed wood and each one is unique.
I bought some wonderful prints from Clare Cutts http://www.clare-cutts.co.uk/
Wonderful Print "2 For Joy" by Clare Cutts
I bought some huge platters for a wedding that we are dressing next year. It will have a rural feel and be held on a farm in large tents.
A porcelain platter with an ash spade handle.
Tags: Accessories, interiors, Trade shows
Posted in Accessories, Interior styling | 72 Comments »
June 11th, 2010
I actually quite like watching football ….. just not 24/7 which is what I feel it’s going to be like here in the UK for a while.
So…. I have a plan.
I’m working on the assumption that many of the normal shopping mall attendees will be glued to the TV leaving wonderful quiet malls to explore.
I am going to hit the malls that are usually the busiest and spend some time researching fabrics, furniture, accessories and notice any Trends that seem to be prevelant.
Where will I go to do this? I thought I’d share a selection of stores ….. TK Maax and it’s sister Home Sense, Habitat, Heals, John Lewis, Dwell, Lombok and many more. Oh, and not forgetting Muji for some new pens and notepads and great business card holders.
Aluminium card case
Posted in Accessories, Shopping | 37 Comments »
June 2nd, 2010
The sun is shining and although I love the way it makes me feel, I am not so sure about what it shows up in the home.
This old home could be in need of some modernisation!
Windows that previously only reflected grey wet days now need cleaning.
The extra light that floods in shows every imperfection.
Cushions, throws and even curtains that were chosen to make us feel warm and cosy now need to be swopped out for lightweight versions.
My wardrobe could be culled and winter clothes consigned to the loft.
Gardens that were covered in snow now look empty and need colour to make them sing.
The walls in some rooms are looking a little tired, where are those paint charts?
Many of our friends, family and clients often ask us to help them choose new colours for their homes.
It seems to be a scary activity for many, right up there with giving talks and presentations, which, weirdly, I love to do!
I hope the sun is shining down on you and you are enjoying your home.
Posted in Accessories, Colour, Interior styling | 57 Comments »
May 14th, 2009
I really don’t know anyone who doesn’t like flowers, I’m not keen on Dahlias (earwigs like to live in them – enough said I think!) but all flowers bring joy and life to any room.
Last week, whilst in Florida, I went to a Pottery Barn class on flower arranging. Not only did they show us some creative ways to arrange large branches of cherry blossom, spring flowers and tropical greenery but the store also pulled in an outside speaker who, as a florist, showed us some great ideas for using fresh flowers in a creative way.
Flower sushi anyone? This looked so much better in real life than my photo shows below!
Good enough to eat
We use flowers when we can in some of our staging and design work. I would love to use fresh flowers and plants in every job but it’s just not practical.
To be able to have fresh flowers in a staging project we would need to ensure that the real estate agent would be willing to top up the vase water for us as well as the client agreeing the costs to refresh the display as and when needed.
Below is an arrangement that we used in a recent project. Luckily the staging was near by so I was able to pop in and make sure the flowers weren’t thirsty. They actually lasted for 2 weeks, I just replaced the roses with white tulips, everything else lasted another week or so.
Simple arrangements are the best, here is an example that I saw in my hairdressers window. I think most of us could do this.
The purple material in the vase was coloured cellophane crumpled into the vase with a few gerbera heads placed inside.
Keep it simple
Tags: flowers, home staging
Posted in Flower arranging, Interior styling, home staging | 69 Comments »
May 5th, 2009
Pantone Mimosa
There is nothing mellow about the Pantone colour Mimosa. Yellow was chosen as the pantone color of the year. They chose this shade to represent optimism in an uncertain economy (MIMOSA 14-0848)
Michelle Obama chose a more mellow shade for her inauguration outfit.
Michelle Obama
Yellow combined with grey is a lovely combination. Look at the Marley range from Sanderson, I love the addition of black within this range of fabrics.
Sanderson Marney range
Yellow is happy, light and vibrant. Think of daffodils, sunshine, lemons and sunflowers. It’s a lovely colour to use to brightening up your hall or entry.
Where have you used the colour yellow? Let us know.
Tags: Colour, decorating, home staging, interiors, real estate staging
Posted in Colour, Interior styling, decorating, home staging | 101 Comments »
April 7th, 2009
Yesterday, whilst trying out how comfortable certain sofas were at a large furniture store, I got a classic comment….”this sofa will be fine without all these cushions”.
How often have you heard that?
We were recently staging a Show Home and we had so many comments about the amount of cushions we had bought with us that I started to feel a bit defensive. We knew we were not going to use all of them BUT I wanted to have a choice when we got to adding the finishing touches to the living room and bedrooms.
I love cushions, they are one of the easiest ways to change the colour and feel of a room especially if your larger pieces are neutral.
Remember you do not need to buy the innards more than once, just make sure that you buy the same size outer cushions each time.
Bright turquoise linen cushions from Pottery Barn in America are my newest purchase that I’ll use for the summer. These replace the orangey/red set that I used throughout the winter which helped me to bring some warmth into the room.
Mixture of colourful cushions
Pottery Barn Linen cushions
By the way, Pottery Barn are now shipping to the UK . Here is some information from their web site … http://www.potterybarn.com/cust/faq_int/content.cfm#r1a
How do I place an order to ship to the United Kingdom?
To place an order to ship to the United Kingdom, please contact Customer Service. To contact Customer Service from the United Kingdom, please call 0808.234.2668 (toll free from land lines, please check with your mobile phone provider for applicable rates) 7 days a week, 2:00 pm – 2:00 am (GMT/BST as applicable)
These cushions below are a great way to add a different texture to your room. They are available in many stores at the moment, here are a few that are available from John Lewis.
Camela £29
Tescia £29
As Property stylists we buy from many stores, some of our favourites for cushions include Dunelm Mill, TK Maax, John Lewis, Matalan, Habitat, Sainsburys Home range, Homebase and Trade suppliers.
I’m sure I’ve missed some out….where do you buy your favourites?
Tags: cushions, decorating, home staging, interiors, John Lewis, Pottery Barn, property styling, property stylists, real estate staging
Posted in Accessories, Colour, Interior styling, Show Home Styling, home staging, property styling | 69 Comments »
April 2nd, 2009
We are so excited that our new website is ready and we finally have a blog, even if it is without any pretty bits or themes added yet. Yippee!
Both Kath and I will be contributing and we welcome comments from everyone.
I’m singing the flat pack blues
Hands up anyone who has started to assemble a flat pack without reading the instructions or checking that every last screw is present and correct.
I am convinced that you can work out personality types from the way you tackle flat packs.
What's wrong with this picture?
In mitigation I have to explain this picture because I am one of those sad people who actually line up all the screws and allen keys that come in that little plastic pack.
It was late and we had come straight from another staging job.
This was the last chair out of 8 in total and it was the final item I had to complete before going home to the comfort of a few hours sleep.
I obviously zoned out and didn’t actually realise that there was something wrong until I tried to put the chair under the table!
Kath, when she had picked herself up from the floor, whipped out her camera and my faux pas is preserved for evermore.
Do you have any funny flat pack stories?
Tags: flat pack furniture, home staging, property styling, real estate staging
Posted in flat pack furniture, home staging, property styling | 66 Comments »