January started with a vengeance from a work perspective but I managed to squeeze in some outings. First up, a day of sourcing for clients started with a visit to the Decorative Fair in Battersea Park and then to one of my favourite haunts for client sourcing, Golborne Road.
Read moreOpen house event at mine
Recently my home was opened up to members of the Decor Cafe for an evening event. The DecorCafe Network, of which I am a member, is a collaborative community of those of us whorun our own businesses in the interiors industry and those who just need inspiration and help to decorate their homes. These home tours bring members together to connect, learn and share ideas.
Read morePrivate Home Tour !
Do you like noseying around other people's homes? I love it ! If you would like a nosey around my home, there will be a Private Home Tour on Wednesday 16th August organised by The Decor Cafe.
Read moreDecorex 2016 here we come!
On Tuesday my friend Jane Fitch, also an interior designer, and I made our annual pilgrimage to Decorex at Syon Park. Decorex is internationally renowned for being THE event to discover the very best and most coveted products from 400 exhibitors. Decorex has been running for 39 years and this is the third year that I have been.
We were not blown away by much this year as it was very much the same exhibitors as last year. However some new blood gave a much needed injection of interest. I've included below a few newcomers as well as some highlights.
Naomi Paul beautiful crocheted lampshades were a feature in the VIP lounge as well as on their stand. Their ethos is to create beautiful functional textile objects by highly skilled craftsmanship and they certainly have achieve this. The lampshades are simple, stylish and elegant.
Bert and May are another newcomer to Decorex. They are committed to raw materials, natural pigments and fine craftsmanship which they certainly have achieved in their products. They launched a fabric range at Decorex which were beautiful subtle colours and bold geometric designs.
Santorus is another exciting newcomer. Brother and sister, Fabian and Tara have a rich cultural heritage of Indian and Italian parents and their products certainly reflect this. I adore the patterns and colours of their fabrics and wallpapers.
Tom Raffield is a relative newcomer to Decorex. Their beautiful wooden lighting and furniture are made in a woodland workshop in Cornwall where the company is based.
Tom Faulkner is not a newcomer to Decorex but I am always interested in visiting their stand and seeing their exquisite handmade furniture.
No visit to Decorex would be complete without a vist to the Ochre stand. I am always in awe of their celestial pebble light!
There is always the obligatory over-the-top glitz and these Murano chandeliers by iDogi were no exception!
I always look forward to the floral displays on the exhibition stands but they were few and far between this year and very disappointing. The one that stood out for me was on the Sir John Soane Museum stand which was designed by Ben Pentreath and the magnificent display of dahlias was grown and designed by Ben's partner Charlie McCormick. This stand stood out from all the others for its design and colour.
To finish this whistlestop tour, here are a few more shots that I took.
I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of the highlights of Decorex. It was a long day as there were over 400 stands to see. A few glasses of bubbly in the VIP lounge with canapes helped to keep up our energy levels!
Did you go to Decorex this year? What did you think of it and what were your favourites? I would love to hear so do drop me a note.
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An invite to an exclusive blogger event
Hi everyone. I had the pleasure of being invited by India Jane to an exclusive blogger preview event today, Tuesday 1st December, at their flagship store in Kings Road, Chelsea, London. For those of you not familiar with India Jane, it's a family-owned home interiors business which was founded in 1992. Their signature style embodies the understated elegance of updated classics and sleek lines of contemporary sophistication. They have ten stores in the UK but none abroad, at least not that I'm aware of. There were five of us (all ladies!) handpicked discerning bloggers of interiors!! We were given a talk by their head of Marketing and PR, the very charming James Neil, on the key trends and latest products of India Jane while being offered bubbly and nibbles. We were also offered 15% discount on everything we purchased and it was very much the embarrassment of the choice as to what to buy as it all looked so incredibly inviting, beautiful and luxurious. And if that wasn't sufficient, they offered us a goodie bag when we left which I discovered this evening when I got home, contained a selection of gorgeous India Jane homewares. I know Christmas hasn't come yet but I felt as if all my Christmases had come at once!
I adore this time of year when the shops are dressed and styled to the hilt. Indian Jane is certainly no exception! I'm no stranger to India Jane; I have a house full of their furniture, mirrors, soft furnishings, accessories and lighting (I have no less than five of their chandeliers in my home!). However I never tire of browsing one of their stores as they are styled within an inch of their lives but with the utmost taste. Glitz and glamour but understated and refined. What more could you want?!
I took some photos on my iPhone but they aren't the greatest quality (says the gal who has just done a course in DSLR photography!) so do excuse the poor quality of some of the shots. I think I was overcome with the emotion of trying to decide what I could afford to buy when all I wanted to do was transport the entire shop to my home!
India Jane is one of those shops, you have to buy something. I've never left empty handed! I'd love to hear about any interiors local shop that you frequent and the things they sell that you cannot live without.
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Read moreStyle inspiration at The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair 2014
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The Decorative Fair at Battersea Park is a thrice-yearly specialist event for the discerning decorator looking to source unusual English and European antiques, original 20th century designs and works of art from all periods to the present day. Check out some of the things you can see at the fair.
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