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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Learning to bond with my DSLR camera!!

Hi everyone.  Recently I purchased my first ever DSLR camera.  Don't get me wrong, my Panasonic Lumix compact camera is superb (it's 12 years' old and still in perfect working order) but I wanted something better to take photos of my clients' homes (before and after). I also am developing a real passion for photography. 

It seems that you are either a Canon person or a Nikon person.  Most people I know seem to be Canon people.  I did loads of research and then went to a very reputable camera shop, Jessops, where I probably drove the shop assistant nuts while I ummed and ahed for ages before I finally chose a Nikon D5500.  It's pretty daunting when faced with a shop full of cameras but luckily the staff at Jessops are very knowledgeable and weren't trying to influence my decision which I really appreciated.

I got the camera home and basically "stalked" it for the first few weeks as I found it quite intimidating having been used to a point-and-shoot type of camera.  Then I plucked up the courage and started to use the camera but only on Auto. It seemed to take fantastic photos on Auto but I knew I had to learn how to use it on manual or it defeated the purpose of buying it. I don't have an aversion to manuals, quite the opposite, but I found the manual terrifying!

So I bit the bullet and signed up to a four hour course through Living Social on how to use a DSLR camera.  There were 8 of us booked on the course and we met up with the tutor, Joshua Bareham,  at London'sFestival Hall on the South Bank.  As you can see from his website, he is a very talented photographer. We started off with introductions which made me realise that I wasn't the only one with little or no knowledge of how to use my camera. One lady had been given a fancy Canon by her husband and she hadn't even worked out how to turn it on!! After some basics we were outside along the South Bank by the Thames river learning how to take action shots, closeups, panoramas etc.  

I thought I'd share with you the best of the photos that I took that day. I'll let you be the judge of whether my photos are any good!  

Our tutor, Joshua Bareham, jumping so we could learn how to take action shots. I had loads of blurred photos but finally got it right .......... at least I think I did!!

I call this 'an urban puddle' !!

I was practising close-ups!

There's always a cigarette butt wherever you look !

Skateboarders are a feature of the South Bank as are the graffiti artists

Me photographing the guy photographing the graffiti artist!!

Gloomy day in London and luckily it wasn't too cold to be outside taking photos

Pedro, one of the students in the class.

Beautiful hair of one of the students

Urban pigeon !!

Using my moped helmet to practise closeups

Beautiful streetlamp

Closeup of part of the streetlamp

I'd love to hear from you if you own a DSLR and any tips you can give me on how best to use it.  Are you a Nikon or Canon person?

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Another inspiring day at Petersham Nurseries

Well, I'm not sure what season this really is as it's nearly as warm as late summer and we are already at the end of October. Talk about Indian Summer - it's last way beyond the end of September. This weather is unprecedented - warm (up to 20C) and no wind or rain. The trees are the most incredible colours, the best autumn colours in many years due to this late warmth. 

It was a stunning, sunny day up to 19C last week so I decided it was time for another pilgrimage to Petersham Nurseries which is one of the most inspiring places in London for me.  I get trigger happy with both my iPhone camera andmy compact Panasonic camera as there are so many beautiful things to photograph.  The shop displays are styled so well and the use of plants and flowers in the styling is superb.

And of course the food in the cafe is wonderful so my friend and I arrived in time for morning coffee and a huge slab of cake, browsed the gardens, glasshouses and shop for two hours and then returned to the cafe for a tray of lunch dishes to share. 

I've decided to devote most of this blog post to images, a veritable optical feast.  Most of the images speak for themselves.  I hope you derive as much pleasure and enjoyment from the images as I did seeing everything in person.  There's lots to learn about styling in the home from these images so take note!!

I'll start with a selection of photos of how they styled some of the public spaces - the cafe where you queue to get your food, the loos (!) and the glasshouses where you can take your food on trays to eat. 

Trough of plants on the counter in the cafe. Did you notice the lovely white French soup bowls on the shelf behind?

My friend Nick in the glasshouse where we were having coffee and cake.  I am not a lover of marigolds but a terracotta pot of them on the table looked gorgeous

These gems of vintage framed prints are actually in one of the loos!!!  I so want to have them in my house!!!!

This beautiful trough of plants is outside the loos to welcome you! Look at the stunning mix of greens including the silvery greens and the way they complement each other and work so well with the purple violas

An urn of my favourite combination of colours - purple and orange - which sits in the glasshouse where you can sit and eat

This is a Plectranthus and was grown from three tiny plants back in May !!!  It is absolutely beautiful

The zinc-topped tables in the glasshouses are beautifully and simply styled with a mixture of plants, cut flowers and a few Halloween pumpkins. See also next two images

Note the cyclamen plant at the bottom of the image. Its cleverly been wrapped in sphagnum moss and chicken wire. Very effective.

Another group of images follows:

This is the garden where they grow vegetables for the kitchen and also some of the flowers used to decorate the restaurant and glasshouses

Ginormous lemons growing in a tub!!

The most enormous dahlia flower in their gardens.

These are the gorgeous rustic vintage tables and chairs that they have in the glasshouses and outside where you can sit and eat

I love these mini carafes that they use to serve a glass of wine (really equivalent to two glasses!)

I bought these two small Heucherella Tapestry plants and a red one also (separate image)

The other Heucherella that I bought. Isn't the colour amazing?

Clever display of plants which are wrapped in Sphagnum moss and chicken wire or twine to hold the soil and moss in place.

And the most mouth-watering photos I'll leave until last - the shop which is my favourite part of the whole Petersham experience. Check out the vintage chandeliers, they absolutely gorgeous.  It is so beautifully styled and full of items/objects that I covet. I never leave empty handed!

A wall of Christmas decorations

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Meet an inspirational Kiwi - Charlie McCormick

I had the great pleasure this week of meeting Charlie McCormick and his partner Ben Pentreath at Charlie's pop up shop next to Pentreath & Hall in Rugby Street, Bloomsbury, London.  Charlie is a very talented, fellow Kiwi who grows magnificent flowers at their home in Dorset,  is an excellent cook and has a superb eye for styling interiors. He also runs a supper club. Ben Pentreath, Charlie's partner, is a charming, well-known and highly talented architect and interior designer and he and another fellow Kiwi Bridie Hall, own the beautiful home products shop Pentreath & Hall.

I've been following both Ben and Charlie on Instagram for some time and am always inspired by their photos on Instagram and Ben's superb blog.  I own a copy of Ben's stunning book English Style which shows the best of English Style. 

Anyway, this blog post is about Charlie's pop up shop which is open for the month of October. I read about it online and just had to pay a visit. I really wanted to meet Charlie as he comes from the same part of NZ that I do, though he grew up on a farm north of Christchurch and I was a city girl, from Christchurch.  I was lucky enough to meet not only him but also Ben Pentreath on Monday so I felt very honoured.  And of course, Charlie and I did the requisite selfie!

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The pop up shop from the outside is very inviting thanks to the vibrant colours, textures and Charlie's superb styling touches:

The inside has a stunning yellow dresser as the focal point laden with vintage items, Charlie's home baked cakes and a huge container of Charlie's homegrown vivid pink dahlias. There are several other containers of the beautiful dahlias dotted around the shop and in the window, a feature above the fireplace of stunning 19th century framed prints of pressed plants, rustic watering cans to die for and a huge basket of apples from Ben and Charlie's orchard just outside the door. I wanted everything in the shop but first I wanted to chat with Charlie.  He is very down-to-earth, laid back and friendly like all of us Kiwis (!!) and he is incredibly multi-talented.  I'm a massive foodie myself, as some of you may know from my tried & tested favourite recipes that I include on my blog so a note to self to book a place at one of his supper clubs so I can sample his renowned cooking.

I left the shop having purchased so many things that I wasn't sure if they would fit on my little Vespa moped. Note the dahlias squeezed in a bag on the right!!  Charlie kindly gifted me one of his homemade Afghan biscuits for the road, to remind me of home. It's a traditional Kiwi biscuit made with cocoa powder and cornflakes, topped with chocolate icing and then half a walnut.  I managed to demolish it a bit at a time at each traffic light where I had to wait!!

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And my purchases, well, plenty of them and I am going back for more on Friday!  I bought two of the 19th century prints, four vintage containers and some dahlias.

The dahlias in situ on my mantlepiece. Aren't they divine?

Beautiful vintage bowl I purchased

The little vintage bowl I purchased has found its place on a tray I recently painted in Farrow & Ball 'Brinjal'

The two 19th century pressed plants prints that I purchased. I'm going back on Friday to buy two more as I plan to hang two either side of the bed in the guest room

I couldn't resist buying these Portuguese dishes as they reminded me of my grandmother who had a several similar

If you are lucky enough to live in London do try and visit Charlie's pop up shop.  It's only there until the end of the month.

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Transform a wooden tray with Farrow & Ball paint

It's way too long since I last painted something for my home so I've lined up several items, the first of which is this wooden tray that I purchased from Petersham Nurseries a couple of years ago.  Don't get me wrong, it's a nice wood but it had lost its appeal so I wasn't using it so I fancied a change. Actually these are the trays that they use at Petersham Nurseries in the cafe when you buy your coffee, cake or lunch and they suit that environment as it's very rustic but it doesn't suit my home. 

I usually paint with Annie Sloan paint as you don't need to key (rub the surfaces with sandpaper) or undercoat, you just slap on the paint, on any surface! However the Annie Sloan range of colours doesn't include a purple/aubergine colour (something I think they need to address) and I couldn't be bothered to mix the appropriate colours to create purple, so I decided that this time I would use Farrow & Ball 'Brinjal' which is a gorgeous aubergine colour.  I ummed and ahed about whether to distress the edges of the tray to bring through some of the wood but decided it would be too much of a vintage look so I opted to paint it all over. 

I painted three layers of the colour (I used less than two of the small sample pots)

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and then used Annie Sloan clear Soft Wax which is a wonderful wax and way superior to any other clear wax I've ever used.

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And voila, here is the finished article.  Isn't it stunning?!  I love the way it works so well with the colour of the cyclamen and the vintage bowl which I purchased this week from Charlie McCormick's popup shop.

I'd love to hear about things that you are painting for your home, what paint you use, what colours and paint finishes you like so do email me with your comments. I'll create a separate post for some more items that I'm currently painting.

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Inspirations from Design Week (Sept15)

Hi everyone. The last two weeks have been manic, firstly there was Design Week in London so I was absorbed in Decorex 2015 and Focus 2015, I had a "significant" birthday which involved organising a dinner for 45 of my closest friends and family. Then on Monday I came down with a bout of 'flu.  All in all, pretty busy two weeks but no excuse really as I should be able to squeeze in an hour to write a blog post, you are probably thinking!  Anyway, here's a visual feast for you from Design Week to stimulate your creative juices!!

First up, Focus 2015 at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour.  It's twice a year and an intense week of visiting the showrooms and chatting about any new launches or just generally catching up and usually over a drink and nibbles (better not to drive!). I also attended a talk by the wonderful India Hicks who took us through a visual feast of slides from her new book Island Style  I am always drawn to the floral displays as they are spectacular. My friend Jayne Copperwaite Flowers .  Here are some of them

Turquoise and White Theme

Stunning white delphiniums

Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam showroom

Sanderson and Zoffany Showroom

Sanderson and Zoffany showroom

Pierre Frey showroom

Fantastic display of gladioli

View from Pierre Frey showroom

This is a wonderful view but soon to be ruined by a building on the site right in front of the window

GP&J Baker Showroom

Beautiful flowers by Jayne Copperwaite Flowers

GP&J Baker Showroom

Beautiful flowers by Jayne Copperwaite Flowers

Colefax & Fowler showroom - flowers by my friend Jayne Copperwaite Flowers

Beautiful flowers by Jayne Copperwaite Flowers. Don't you just love the rosehips and crab apples?

Porta Romana Showroom

I couldn't resist a photo of these stunning lights

India Hicks giving a talk about her new book, Island Style. 

The following day, my friend and I headed for Decorex 2015 which was being held in the grounds of Syon Park again this year. For those of you who don't know what it is, Decorex is internationally renowned for being THE event to discover the very best and most coveted products from a collection of 400 hand-selected exhibitors. Here are some of my favourite photos that I took on the day. A veritable optical feast.  Enjoy and be inspired!!

Mineheart eclectic light with tiny chandelier inside

Mineheart eclectic light with tiny chandelier inside

Mineheart wallpaper and light

Harlequin London exquisite tableware

Love this sputnik shard chandelier from Charles Burnand Lighting

Temple & Ivy lights which are based on Indian and African birds

Temple & Ivy lights which are based on Indian and African birds

Temple & Ivy lights which are based on Indian and African birds

Vervloet Belgium - funky door handle!

Beautiful lighting from Pooky

Beautiful archway of flowers in the foyer at Decorex

Inside the arch of flowers

Amazing alabaster lights

Volevatch - incredible and enchanting handmade and hand painted bathrooms with the wow factor!!

Love this shower from Volevatch

and there's me, queen of the shower!!

Phew, a lot of photos but I hope you enjoyed them.

I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog so do get in touch.

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Hot tips for cleaning chandeliers

Happy Monday everyone!  Sorry for the lack of blog posts; I was working all day every day last week and was out most evenings.  Back to normal this week so I have more time to devote to writing on my blog.

Much as we all love a chandelier or two in our homes they are an absolute nightmare to clean. I'm not sure which I enjoy less, cleaning silver or cleaning chandeliers, probably the latter.  I have a chandelier in every room of my home except the bathroom so cleaning them is the bain of my life.

Chandeliers seem to attract dust and spider webs or is that just an illusion?!  I have tried all sorts of quick and easy methods of cleaning them e.g. blowing on them (!!), feather duster and even the vacuum cleaner but to no avail.  There is no quick and easy fix.

However, there are some things you can do regularly to stop dust clouding the crystal drops.  Give the chandelier the once over, lightly, with a feather duster every couple of weeks as it really does help to minimise the the accumulation of dust which then solidifies on the drops and bulbs.

When the chandelier really does need a good clean here are a couple of methods (remember to turn off the chandelier first!!!):

1. Drip dry method is the easiest method. It involves using the best glass cleaner you can buy. Remove the bulbs (give them a good clean) and plug the sockets with paper so they don't get wet.  Cover the floor underneath the chandelier to catch the liquid. Spray the chandelier generously with the cleaner and let it fall from the chandelier. It should take the dust and dirt with it when it falls!  Then just leave the chandelier to dry, remove the paper from the sockets and replace the bulbs.

2. Cotton glove method - More involved but less messy than the drip dry method. Using white cotton gloves and a small bowl of glass or chandelier cleaner, dip your finger tips in the solution and clean each crystal drop very gently all over.  You will have to change the solution if it starts to get dirty.

3. Removing all the crystal method - If your chandelier has been neglected for several years and either or both of the above methods don't work, you will need to use this method. First and most crucial piece of advice, make a note of where the drops go or you may not be able to reconstruct it afterwards!  Dismantle the chandelier and wash every crystal droplet and strand by hand in warm water with a little mild detergent. If you want to use vinegar instead of detergent, make sure it doesn't come in contact with metal or brass pieces as it will corrode them.  This method is a nightmare job but the reward of seeing a beautiful sparkling chandelier makes it worthwhile.  Hot tip: when you put the chandelier back together work from the inside out starting with the centre pieces.

I'd love to hear what method you use to clean your chandeliers.  I'm sure there are some tried and tested methods handed down the generations so do let me know.

I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog.

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Are you a passionate collector?

Hi everyone.  Last week was manically busy - working hard but also very exciting as I bought my first ever grown-up camera - a DSLR !!  I've had a compact Panasonic Lumix for 11 years which I've used to take all the photos, including those on my blog, and frankly it's a pretty amazing little camera. It's never let me down and the quality of the photos is superb.  I'd prefer to buy another Panasonic as they have the most fantastic Leica lenses but they don't (yet) make DSLRs, just Bridge cameras.   In the DSLR range there are really only two brands to consider, Canon and Nikon, and from what I understand you are either a Canon person or a Nikon person.  I'm neither, I remain brand agnostic and am more influenced by price and reviews.  I ended up buying a Nikon (D5500) so I guess I'm now a Nikon girl!!  So I've been stalking my new camera for four days now as it sits on the kitchen table, quite intimidated by it.  I've managed to charge it and take a couple of pics but that's about it.  I need to bite the bullet, read the manual and start to use it.  Enough of that, this blog post is supposed to be about collecting items so here goes!

Do you have a passion for a particular type of item and are amassing a collection?  For example, a type of china, all things "owl" related, teddy bears (hope not!), glassware, mirrors ....... the list is endless.

Some people collect a certain type of china.  The photos below are the home of a florist who (obviously) collects Wade china vases.  She has cleverly, to great effect, made a feature of them in a living room and also in one of the bathrooms. 

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By nature I'm neither a hoarder nor a collector but I do adore mirrors and have over 15 mirrors in my home so technically that could class me as a collector, no?!  Recently I've developed a love of small vintage tins and whenever I see one that I like, I buy it.  Currently I only have six tins and I don't plan to avidly search them out just to add to the collection as and when I find them.  I usually pick them up in junk shops, second hand shops or markets and the rustier the better.  I've never parted with more than £22 for a tin and that's in a shop; if I am at a market or junk shop I can buy them for a couple of quid.

I'm all for collecting items but I think it's really important to display them in such a way that they become part of your interior styling, rather than just build up a clutter of them on a shelf to gather dust or in a cupboard where you can't see them.  I'm also very practical by nature and a time management freak so I use most of these vintage tins for storing useful items like pen, paper, reading glasses, TV remote, stapler, post-its etc.  The pretty tin on the pile of books (makeshift side table!) next to the chair I sit in to watch TV is particularly useful. Means I don't have to get up to find a pen and paper if I suddenly have a brain wave which often happens when I'm watching some mind-numblingly boring programme on TV! And being of a certain age where my eye sight is no longer perfect, if I can fit a pair of glasses in the tin all the better so they are strategically placed in each room, hidden in a tin where possible, so out of sight. 

Here are the vintage tins I currently have.  They may not appeal to everyone but I love the age of them, the old-fashioned design and subtle colours. The larger ones are old biscuit tins. They certainly don't make such beautiful biscuit tins these days, do they?  Anyway, here are my tins and how I've used them as part of my interior styling.

I'd love to hear about what items you are passionate about and that you collect - what quantities you have, how you store or display them, where you find them to buy etc.  Do let me know and I'm sure my subscribers would enjoy reading about your collections.  I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog.

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Styling with flowers and plants - in and out

Gosh, I've just realised that it's two weeks since I did a blog post.  Really sorry. It's been a mad sort of two weeks and I don't know where the time has gone.

I did however get some time on Thursday to replace flowers in my house and buy a few flowering plants to replace some of those that have finished flowering.  It's been a pretty awful August with low temperatures, grey days and rain - what's new, that's a typical English summer after all !!  My plants haven't flourished as well as I would have liked from a flowers perspective, due to the lack of sunshine.

Anyway, as you all know, I'm an ex florist and I can't live without being surrounded by flowers and plants so every room in my two-bedroom home has either a vase of flowers or a flowering plant in it.  My budget has decreased dramatically since I took voluntary redundancy from my job in the financial services last July so I have to make the most of the flowers that I buy.  I even will them to live longer!!!!

Here are my top tips for buying and arranging flowers in the home:

- I buy most of my flowers in the supermarkets (mainly Waitrose as they have the best selection) as they are cheaper than florist prices. However if you want more interesting flowers and greenery find a good local florist as well as buying from the supermarket

- Don't just buy flowers randomly. You need to plan where you are going to put them in your home and what vase you will use

- Monotones create the biggest impact i.e. flowers of one colour.  Red & white flowers in the same vase is a big No-No (blood & bandages!!). Stick to tones and hues of the same colour.  Or you can have a couple of colours like pink and orange to create a real impact as I've done with the roses in my hall (see photo below)

- Cut all stems on a diagonal and any thick woody stems should also be cut vertically up the stem for a couple of centimetres e.g. sunflowers, stocks, chrysanthemums, hydrangeas. 

- I always add the flower food sachet that comes with the flowers to the water as well as a blob of bleach (it stops water marks on the vase).  Food and bleach don't seem to harm the flowers, on the contrary my flowers seem to last for days/weeks!

- Best vases are those that have a wider base than the neck.  Flowers display better and you don't need so many of them (budget, budget, budget!!)

- Clean the stems of the flowers to remove any leaves or thorns and off-shoots, just save a few at the top.  These need nutrition so the more you remove the more the flower has the best chance of survival.  I always remove anything that will sit below water level and even some above water level.  Off-shoots can be put in small bud vases or vintage bottles as you can see in the photos below.

- If you are lucky enough to have a garden (I don't!) pick some foliage to add to the vase of flowers. This adds, texture and bulks up the flowers so you don't need so many flowers

- Top up the water in the vases regularly (some flowers drink copious amounts of water so keep a sharp eye on the level of water - sunflowers for example drink loads!). Change the water regularly especially for flowers like stocks as the water can get really smelly. Just remember, you like to shower/bath regularly and flowers do also !!

So here's what's in my house currently and a few pics of my three square feet of outside space.

These are blue Scabias and are one of my favourite flowers. They last really well and I love all the off-shoots which I sometimes remove and put in some of my vintage bottles (I was in a hurry but will remove them in the next day or two to give the flowers a better chance of survival). Excuse the gilt mirror (not that attractive is it?!)  it's there for me to paint but I've not had time yet!! Am still toying with what paint colour I'll use to paint the frame. Any suggestions?

Asters, cheap as chips !!  About £3.00 for a huge bunch in the supermarkets.  They have a lot of offshoots and foliage on each stem so cut off the offshoots and strip back the stems as they can make the water really smelly. Great lasting flowers and I love their simplicity.  I only ever have one colour of Asters in a vase though

My vintage bottles with the offshoots of other flowers I've bought. The little jar of white Asters were the offshoots also

In my hall I have this vase of pink and orange roses which I've cut very short and crammed into this glass jar/vase.  Roses last much longer if cut very short. I chose these two colours to complement the 60s flower print that sits behind.

The white Asters whose offshoots are in the vintage bottles.  Note the vase as a small neck but wide base which means you can splay the flowers out better

Glass vase of white lilies to add scent to the sitting room. Remember to remove the pollen from each flower as it opens or you could end up with horrible stains on your furniture or carpet.

This is one of my favourite vases and you will probably remember it from previous posts.  These are like mini Delphiniums but am sure there's a botanical name for them but I'm not great on botanical names!  These last for ages but drink loads of water. There are a lot of offshoots which I've put in the vintage bottles

My staple in the bathroom is always the orchid plant as they last for months and months and require little or no water (there is no soil in the pot). I never feed them either.  This one is four months old!!

Good old Sunflowers, cheap as chips and last forever. Remove the leaves as they take too much sustenance from the flower. Cut vertically up the stems as well as the usual diagonal.  Beware the drink loads so you need to top up regularly

My vintage bottles on the kitchen window ledge enhanced by the hanging basket outside the window!  I stick anything in these bottles that I remove from the stem of a flower or bits and bobs from my tiny outside space. I don't mind the green mould that forms in the bottles; it's asethetcially beautiful !!

And here are the latest photos of my limited outside space - three square feet and the steps down to the garden belonging to the owners of the flat underneath mine. I have tried to keep to blues, mauves and pinks but I've also included a soft orange at the bottom of the steps.  Bees love blue and mauve flowers which is why I tend to go for this colour palette

I hope these photos have inspired you to create some gorgeous displays inside and outside.  I cannot live without being surrounded by flowers (you can't take the florist out of the gal, as I always say!).

I'd love to hear about how you use flowers to style your home and also about your outside space and if limited, how you maximise it.  Do let me know as I'm always keen to hear from my readers.  I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog.

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Upcycling a couple of trays with Annie Sloan paint

Happy Sunday everyone!  It's a gorgeous morning here in London (for a change) so I'm up early, had my usual hearty Sunday breakfast of eggs cooked with garlic, chilli, spring onions and tomatoes washed down with a pot of tea and I'm ready for the day.

I've been pretty slack in the last 12 months with my up-cycling with Annie Sloan paint.  I have so many small items that are waiting to be painted so I thought it was time I got out my brushes and paint and worked on them.  I started with a couple of small, quick and easy items - two wooden trays.  My default Annie Sloan colour is Graphite so I decided to paint both trays in this colour. 

One tray was already painted in an Annie Sloan colour 'Old Violet' but I wanted to change the colour to Graphite and use it to display all my Cloth Shop Swedish linen napkins on the kitchen table.  That's the great thing about Annie Sloan paint; you get tired of the look of an item so you paint another colour on top of it - no faffing around with sanding or undercoating, just paint directly on to any surface, be it wood, metal, china, glass, walls etc etc.  You can distress the paint finish with either sandpaper or just by rubbing hard with the Annie Sloan Clear Soft Wax. Youtube is full of short videos of how to paint and wax with Annie Sloan so if you've never used the paint before, have a look at some of the tutorials on Youtube.

I now love watching my guests choose a napkin to use at the table - they um and ah for ages because all the colours are so beautiful they can't decide.  No-one ever picks the beige napkin though!  The tray of napkins makes a great centrepiece for my table, don't you agree?

The other tray is an Edwardian wooden tray with metal and wood handles that I picked up for a tenner in a second hand shop. I painted a layer of Annie Sloan English Yellow first and then a layer of Graphite so that I could bring some of the yellow through on the rims of the tray for a more interesting finish, as you can see in the images below.  I didn't paint the handles as they are too nice to paint.  This tray is a gift for one of my clients. I was seriously toying with keeping it as I love its shape.

HELP FROM THE PROFESSIONALS

I understand that not everyone has the time or inclination to paint furniture. I am happy to help if you have any questions or concerns, and am available to revamp your pieces that need a new lease of life. Get in touch to have a chat with me. 

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A dull & drizzly summer's day in my three square feet of outdoor space

Hi All.  Apologies for the lack of blog posts in the last week or so.  My younger son, who lives in Sydney arrived back in London last week for a week's visit and it's been full-on since he arrived. It's wonderful to have him home though briefly and I'm pleased that up until today, the weather has been excellent. It's drizzly and dull today but certainly not cold (very muggy).  I am amazed how my three square feet of outdoor space can still create an impact today despite the lack of sunshine.  Also, some of the plants have finished flowering and some are yet to flower so you there is always something new to see.

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London has been basking in high temperatures recently and the warmth and sunshine have certainly helped the gardens. However we have had little or no rain so the parks are expanses of dry grass and we have to water our gardens every day. No hosepipe ban threatened yet thank goodness. 

As those of you who have been following my blog, my flat is on the first floor and I have no share or access to the back garden, just the tiny space outside my back door and the steps leading down to the garden belonging to the flat below. However this limited space provides me with a lot of pleasure turning it into a bank of colour.  The plants on the steps obviously grow towards the light so I do lose a lot of the impact of them, especially the trailers, unless I go down to the garden and look up. But my neighbours downstairs can appreciate it so it serves both flats!!

When I work on my tiny outdoor space, I use the same design principles that I use indoors. It's important to create "rooms" or areas of interest in your outdoor space with focal points. I learnt when I studied floristry that monotones are more effective (or shades of the same colour).  I have picked a colour palette for my outdoor space of blue, purple, mauve and pink which are all very similar tones and this palette has quite an effect on my very limited outdoor space. I then introduced a gentle orange as a contrast but complementary colour.

I'm a huge fan of blue-based colours, in particular purple and its hues.  Years ago I had my colours done by one of those colour consultants and I'm a 'Summer' so should wear blue based colours i.e. cool tones. I remember the consultant took ages to decide between Spring or Summer as a lot of blondes are Spring.  It seems I've transferred my cool blue-based colours into my interior and exterior decoration, but certainly not deliberately.  In fact I really dislike yellow-based colours; they really jar with me. For example, I love blue-based red but not a tomato red; I love emerald green but not olive green.

Here is a selection of photos I took this morning in the drizzle.  It was a joy to see so much colour.

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In my kitchen I also have a bay with two windows.  I've had lavender in the window boxes in the past and last year I grew basil which reached about three feet tall. I had so much basil I ended up freezing it and it lasted most of the winter.  This year I bought Cornflower and Nigella seeds from Petersham Nurseries thinking that they wouldn't grow too tall. Well, the photo below says it all. The cornflowers are nearly three feet tall and the Nigella, still to flower, is over a foot tall.  I am hoping the NIgella will produce its beautiful soft blue flowers while the Cornflowers are still in flower but I may be disappointed. 

I'd love to hear about your outside space and if limited, how you maximise it.  Are you a blue-based or yellow-based person?  What colour palette do you have in your garden?  Is it a reflection of what you have inside? Do let me know as I'm always keen to hear from my readers.  I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog.

SEEKING STYLE INSPIRATION INTERNALLY OR EXTERNALLY?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project, either internally or externally and looking for some inspiration and help, please get in touch; I offer an initial free consultation.  

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Flowers flowers flowers!!

Hi everyone.  I wanted to tell you about last Friday morning as I had a really lovely thing happen to me. My local florist and friend, Jayne Copperwaite Flowers sent me a text message to say she had a lot of flowers left over from a photo shoot and would I like to come and help myself.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  How kind and generous of her is that?! .Thank you so much Jayne.

All of the flowers!

Can you believe that I managed to get all of these home on my little moped?!!

As most of you know, I am a qualified florist and worked as a florist for two years when I first came to London back in the late 70s.  I also help out at Jayne's shop when she has a busy period.  I just love being back in a florist shop surrounded by the heady scents and colours of flowers and plants.

Anyway, I whizzed around to Jayne's shop on Friday morning on my moped and scooped up as many flowers as I could comfortably fit on my moped.  The flowers were all pretty pastel colours.  My kitchen suddenly transformed into a florist's workroom when I laid out the flowers on my kitchen table. I  thought you might enjoy seeing how I styled each room with the flowers.

As an interior decorator I think it's so important to have flowers and/or plants in a room. It's a good way to add pops of colour and different textures to an interior.  It's an integral part of my room styling for clients; I always encourage clients to include something live in their rooms.  I love pots of herbs in the kitchen. Some flowers work better than others in a kitchen, for example, I'm not a fan of roses, orchids or other formal flowers in a kitchen, rather more country-style flowers.  A sitting room, dining room or hallway are perfect spaces to use more formal flowers or formal flower arrangements. I've labelled each photo so you can see in which room I placed each vase.  Enjoy them and hopefully be inspired!

Hall table

I've placed these pale orange roses in front of a 60s vintage print and a large red vintage Christmas bauble.

These roses were very long stemmed but they last so much better if you cut them very short and cram them into a vase with a narrow neck

Kitchen

I've filled some of my vintage bottles with these tiny spray chrysanthemums in front of a Victorian fan light that has had mirror put in it  The pop of colour is provided by the vintage Indian wooden cow! 

Kitchen

This vase sits on a vintage painted cabinet that I use for my work.  Another of my favourite flowers is Alchemilla (Lady's Mantle) and I love the way the lime green of the Alchemilla complements these soft pinks.

Kitchen

On my Annie Sloan painted sideboard I placed this vintage Hungarian enamel container with soft pink heather

Guest bedroom

More of the mini chrysanthemums crammed into a sweet little glass vase on my grandmother's silver tray in the guest bedroom.  I love yellow as a pop of colour in this room which is predominantly turquoise as you can see from the chest of drawers they are sitting on which painted in Annie Sloan 'Provence' 

Sitting room

Delphiniums are one of my favourite flowers. They merit being given a lot of space around them for maximum impact so I've placed them on the desk behind the sofa.  Aren't they beautiful?

My bedroom

These divine pink roses were crying out for a vintage setting so what better than in my favourite vintage vase and placed on this gorgeous little vintage chair. The satin fabric on the chair is the original and I was loathe to remove it as it is so beautiful.  The wall colour in my bedroom is Farrow and Ball 'Teresa's Green' which is a very calming yet fresh & cheerful colour.

Hall

And lastly, this vase of flowers in a vintage glass jug is placed in the hall on my vintage metamorphic chair  as I think the chair offsets them so well. Not the most practical place to have flowers but hey, a sacrifice I made in the name of beauty!!

SEEKING STYLE INSPIRATION?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project, need help with your outside space, home staging if you are about to put your home on the market or just some de-cluttering/organising techniques, please get in touch and see how I can help. I always offer an initial free consultation with no obligation; if you would like to book one, email or call me.

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You might also like to read previous blog posts about flowers in the home

Nosing around other people's homes

We Kiwis are very curious by nature and we just LOVE Open House days/tours.  In NZ estate agents have open house days and I remember going to these even if I wasn't looking to buy a house, but out of pure nosiness! There's nothing better than checking out someone's home -  how they live, their interior style, how they use colour, what accessories they have and how they style the rooms with them etc.  And not forgetting the outside space which is equally important for me.

I subscribe to Living Etc magazine and I discovered last year that they organise House Tours which are an opportunity to see inside some of London's most stylish homes.  The head of marketing at the magazine is a Kiwi and she brought the concept over from NZ where she worked for NZ House & Garden and implanted it within the Living Etc magazine. Thank you Kate!!  I signed up last year for the tours and absolutely loved it. You get to see some extraordinary homes that you would not normally ever see - some owners are well-known people, some are architects, property developers or interior designers and some are just regular people.  But they all have stunningly beautiful interiors (and exteriors) be it the architecture, interior design, style (contemporary, vintage, quirky, minimalist, monochrome, multi-coloured ........  Some are mouth-wateringly divine and some not so interesting; it depends on your individual taste. But there's something for everyone.

This year Living Etc. extended the House Tours over three separate days with access to up to 22 homes in North, West and Northwest London. There was the opportunity to volunteer to "guard" one of the homes for half a day and then get free entry to all the other homes as well as six months' extension on your magazine subscription so I signed up to be a volunteer for two of the tours. I absolutely loved being a "guard", getting to know the owners and talking to the people coming to view them. 

I thought I'd post some photos I took on these tours without identifying who are the owners or where the house is situated, out of respect for the owners' privacy.  So apologies if these photos seem a bit random.  The first set of photos are of my two favourite houses in the West London House Tour. House 1 is contemporary and built on a very small plot alongside a railway line. The owner is an architect and this house has some mind-blowing features including a disco in the basement which also houses the master bedroom. 

House 2 belongs to a well-known florist and is very eclectic and stylish. It is packed with interesting items, beautifully styled and really "packs a punch" . It was my favourite house.

House 1 - Master Bedroom

Purple lacquered wardrobes reflect the bed opposite

House 1 - Master Bedroom & Ensuite

House 1 - Master Bedroom Ensuite Shower

House 1 - Disco Dance Floor!

This is on the lower ground floor where the master suite is also located.

House 1 Disco - Sauna!

House 1 - Disco Seating Area

House 1 - Disco Wall Feature

House 1 - Kitchen

House 1 - Outdoor Space

You walk directly from the kitchen into the garden which gives a real indoor/outdoor feel

House 1 - From Garden into Kitchen

House 2 - Kitchen Artwork

Large kitchen/diner on the lower ground which is the same level as the patio garden

House 2 - Kitchen Shelves

Love this accent wall of yellow shelves displaying a selection of quirky items

House 2 - Kitchen Island

How to style a kitchen island with fruit, veg and flowers

House 2 - Kitchen/Diner

House 2 - Kitchen Lighting

Quirky downlighter in the kitchen

House 2 - Patio Garden

Love the fake blossom tree which is full of fairy lights

House 2 - Formal Dining Room

House 2 - Lighting

Funky candle sticks in the sitting room

House 2 - Lighting

This pendant light in the formal dining room is just fabulous

House 2 - Formal Sitting Room

This first floor room has the most gloriously subtle colour palette. The styling on the shelf under the artwork is inspirational

House 2 - Formal Sitting Room

Love the styling on the coffee table

House 2 - Formal Sitting Room

Fabulous artwork highlights the fireplace

House 2 - Styling a Shelf

House 2 - Formal Sitting Room

Love the abundance of cushions on this chair and the lamp behind it

House 2 - Stair Landing

I love the way a feature has been made of a landing area

House 2 - Lighting

Simply but stylish lighting on the stairs (walls are Farrow & Ball 'Cornforth White')

House 2 - Sitting Room

This divine wallpaper was custom made. Love the ceramic beetles!

House 2 - Sitting Room

The owner is an avid collector of these vases

House 2 - Sitting Room

Two beautiful vintage vases

House 2 - Master Bedroom

A sumptuous bed enhanced by a wall of artwork and photos.  Superb.

House 2 - Master Ensuite

The vase collection continues in the bathroom but to great effect

House 2 - Master Ensuite

A beautifully styled table in the bathroom with the subtle colour of the sweet peas adds a touch of romanticism to the room

House 2 - Master Ensuite

House 2 - View to the rear

Typical London row house where the gardens back on to each other

I also volunteered to be a "guard" for the North West London House Tour (House 3 below).  I was allocated a fantastic house which was built a few years ago on a tiny plot behind some Victorian houses.  The owner is a developer of custom build homes.  This was a family home and quite open plan yet did not feel too open.  The interior was mainly concrete walls and gorgeous oak flooring. It was the best use of a small space that I've ever seen.  House 2 was my favourite of the North West London House Tours. It was a two floored apartment in Hampstead and was the most eclectic interior I've ever seen yet incredibly stylish, practical and homely (House 4 below). 

House 3 exterior

House 3 stairwell

All the walls are concrete

House 3 Kitchen

This house has a great mix of contemporary and vintage furniture

House 3 Stairs from Kitchen to Sitting Room

Note the beautiful oak flooring

House 3 - stair well

View from sitting room up to first floor landing.  Fabulous large artwork and part of the walls have been painted a pretty blue which contrasts beautifully with the concrete walls

House 3 Master Bedroom

Huge picture window to the street but only one way so you can't see in from the street but can lie in bed and look at on to this great urban view

House 3 Master Bedroom

View from the master bedroom

House 3 Stairwell

Concrete walls with industrial lighting

House 4 (Hampstead) - Bathroom

Love this style of loo !!!

House 4 (Hampstead) - Bedroom

Beautiful old painting over an original fireplace

House 4 (Hampstead) - Garden

Small but perfectly formed courtyard garden.  Incredibly stylish with a great selection of plants

House 4 (Hampstead) - Glass Roof Extension

House 4 (Hampstead) - Glass Roof Extension

Stunning wall of plates

House 4 (Hampstead) - Kitchen

The table is actually an old New Zealand wool press

House 4 (Hampstead) - Artwork

House 4 (Hampstead) - Feature Wall

A great example of wall art

House 5 in the North West London House Tour was an Arts and Crafts house in Brondesbury Park which the owners were still in the process of renovating. They only live in a house for two years before buying another, renovating and moving on.  This house is huge and has five roll-top baths in it !!  It is a shrine to Farrow and Ball shades of grey!! It's not really my taste but it definitely has the wow factor therefore should be commercially attractive.

House 5 - Kitchen/Diner

This room is painted in Farrow and Ball 'Mole's Breath' and has beautiful original parquet flooring

House 5 - Kitchen/Diner

Love the red Angle Poise lamp

House 5 - Kitchen/Diner

Farrow and Ball 'Moles Breath'

House 5 - Office off the kitchen

Glass on two sides with stunning views

House 5 - Stairwell

The house had oak flooring except the stairs which were in grey Sisal

House 5 - Garden

Love the turquoise subway tiling

House 5 - Sitting Room 1

House 5 - Sitting Room 2

House 5 - Sitting Room 2

House 5 - Daughter's Bedroom

House 5 - Daughter's ensuite

House 5 - Guest bedroom with bath in bay window

House 5 - Guest Bedroom

House 5 - Shower Room

I like this bathroom but it needs colour. I would have added towels in a strong colour e.g. orange or lime green

House 5 - Master Bedroom

House 5 - Master Bedroom Ensuite which is part of the bedroom

House 5 - Master Bedroom Shower Room

This marble shower is absolutely gorgeous!

House 5 - Landing

Beautiful original Arts and Crafts window flanked by the contemporary chair and cowhide and enormous Angle Poise lamp

House 5 - Another Bedroom in Converted Loft

House 5 - Bedroom in Converted Loft

House 5 - Child's Bathroom Converted Loft

I hope you have enjoyed "nosying" around these houses as much as I did, though I was at the distinct advantage of seeing them in person.  You may have picked up some useful tips of what you could do in your own homes and/or it made you realise what you really don't like in an interior. Either way, I hope it's been an enjoyable whistle stop tour around these houses.

Seeking style inspiration?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project and looking for some inspiration, please get in touch and see how I can help.  I do an initial free consultation which usually lasts an hour to an hour and a half. My rates are a very reasonable £30 an hour.  I'll re-style your rooms, de-clutter your wardrobes and cupboards, advise on your outdoor space, source furniture, fabrics, accessories etc. Whatever is required to transform your space into your dream home, I can help.

Route marching around London

Morning all !  I've one more post about the walks that I did with my friend, Jill, while she was staying with me. As per the previous two posts, Jill was in training to walk for a week on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route.  She comes over from NZ every year for five years to do a week of the route and this is year two. 

Having done a day's route marching around Richmond Park (see post dated Tues 9 June) we decided to spend several days route marching around London and finding lovely places to have lunch - not difficult in London if you know where to go and I used a book I recently bought called London Design Guide by Max Fraser I highly recommend this book if you want to find interesting places to visit and good eating/drinking spots.

I've highlighted in this post some of the places we visited or ate at along the way, in no particular order.  If you are not living in the UK but planning a trip to London, I hope these places will be on your to-do list!!

First up, the most amazing chocolate shop in Brick Lane called Dark Sugars (they don't yet have a website but their Twitter tag is @DarkSugars).  They have the most incredible selection of handmade chocolates with some unusual flavours like orange & cardamom, gin & lime, cider & cinnamon, pear & raspberry etc.

The day we went to Brick Lane we had lunch at the most fantastic restaurant, Rochelle's Canteen,  on the very quiet, leafy Arnold Circus. My friend Jill had heard about this place back in NZ and it was well worth getting lost to find it! It's actually a cafe/restaurant in the bike shed of a school turned arts & media complex which is behind a high Victorian brick wall and you have to ring a bell in the wall in order to gain entry. They grow all their own vegetables in large raised up beds as you can see in the photos below. Check out these reviews as they are worth a read. We sat outside as it was a warm day. The food was absolutely superb. It's not licensed but you can take your own wine. I was impressed with the fig leaf ice-cream from the leaves of their own fig tree. Never heard of ice-cream made from the leaves but it was sublime.

The next day we walked down Portobello Road after Golborne Road  the latter being my favourite shopping haunt; it's full of antique shops, second hand stalls, interesting boutiques and great Moroccan and Portuguese shops.  From there we route marched walked to Marylebone High Street via Paddington Basin which is the centre of major redevelopment. 

We had lunch in the wonderful La Fromagerie on Moxon Street, just off Marylebone High Street.  This is a deli with the most incredible cheese room, yes a cheese room not a cheese counter!!  Their fresh produce and other items for sale are second to none and they have a small but discerning lunch menu with wines where you sit at the few tables in the shop or outside.  Each day their are different dishes from which to choose.  The grilled octopus I had was superb and Jill's gazpacho was so good we actually returned to La Fromagerie the next day so she could have it again!  La Fromagerie is a haunt for the rich & famous to buy their food and while we were there, we spotted Jude Law choosing come cheeses!

On another day we walked from home (Balham) go the top of Sloane Street and had lunch at Ottolenghi's Belgravia shop which is really a takeaway deli but there is a large round communal table at the back of the shop so we sat there and ate a plate of delicious salads.  The food is excellent in his shops and full of flavour. I'm a huge fan of Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes and have all of his books.

I hope you've enjoyed this whistle stop tour around London.  It's a bit like coals to Newcastle for any Londoner reading this post but I'm sure not all of you Londoners have eaten at Rochelle's Canteen - make the effort to go; you won't be disappointed.

SEEKING STYLE INSPIRATION?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project and looking for some inspiration, please get in touch and see how I can help.

A lesson in flower arranging at Perch Hill, Sussex

It's been a crazy week and I'm behind in my blog posts, still catching up on posts relating to my friend's visit - she's been gone over a week!  My friend from back home who stayed with me for two weeks (see previous post 'Route Marching Around Richmond Park) very kindly paid for the two of us to attend a Sarah Raven course with the charismatic and charming Juliet Glaves of Thoughtful Flowers. The course was at Sarah Raven's inspirational garden at Perch Hill in Sussex which is in the most glorious setting.  For those of you who don't know Sarah Raven, she is a well-known gardener, writer and television presenter and she runs a garden and cookery school at Perch Hill.

Juliet Glaves had a pop-up florist in The Designers Guild during the Chelsea Flower Show week. You can see the beautiful displays of flowers and arrangements she had in the Designers Guild in my post 'Designer's Guild Embraces Chelsea Flower Show' dated 25 May.

It was wonderful to head out of London in the car on a glorious sunny day and head into the countryside.  Everything is very green and lush at present so it's the perfect time of year to appreciate the English countryside.  I don't get out of London enough but have made it a resolution this year to escape London more often. It's so good for the soul!

Perch Hill is off the beaten track down a long winding road. The entrance to it is stunning - the lichen covered gate and the purple and white wallflowers flanking one side of the driveway: 

There were about 30 of us on the course, all women, and all passionate about flowers and flower arranging. Even as an experienced florist there was plenty to learn from Juliet Glaves, whose style of flower arranging is much less formal than the way I was taught.  She and her husband grow all their own flowers as well as picking wild flowers from the hedgerows so all the flowers she used in the two arrangements she made were home-grown.

When you first enter the Perch Hill building,  you walk through the small shop (full of lots of fabulous items to buy) to a large glasshouse/conservatory which has the most spectacular view of the countryside. Coffee and delicious cakes were served here while we soaked up the view.

Juliet began her first masterpiece in a large metal horse's trough. She uses chicken wire rather than oasis which she attaches with tape.  Chicken wire is a lot more effective and versatile in large containers especially if using tall and/or heavy stems.   Juliet chatted to us as she created her masterpiece and answered all of our questions.  We all took copious notes!  I've shown below the progress as she added more and more gorgeous flowers that she had grown. It was amazing to watch the way the arrangement transformed.  Right at the end she decided to add a few red peonies and there were gasps from the floor as  these pops of red suddenly transformed the whole arrangement and it took on another dimension. 

Sarah supported Juliet's presentation by providing the botanical names of each flower and how they are best cultivated. They were a great double act!!

The second arrangement that Juliet created was much smaller but equally as stunning. She used a smallish glass vase and it's incredible the size of the arrangement that she put in it.

After a delicious lunch made from vegetables produced on the farm we had the chance to wander around Sarah's magnificent vegetable gardens and cutting gardens.  They really are absolutely stunning. The vegetables and flowers are mainly used for the courses that Sarah runs. For some of the flower workshops you get to go and pick your own flowers from her gardens. Now that really would be a treat!!  I've split the photos into the flower gardens followed by the vegetable gardens.

And here are some photos of the vegetable gardens. I love the way some of the vegetables have been interspersed with rows of flowers or beds of lavender.

This is Sea Kale

After we left Perch Hill we decided to return to London via the village of Chiddingstone in Kent. This is where the movie, Room with a View, was filmed and it's one of my favourite villages in the South East.  It was one of those limpid afternoons and the village was sleepy with hardly any cars passing. We parked up next to the church and sat on the wall of the church yard listening to the birds. I wandered through the gate that leads to Chiddingstone Castle into a wooded area thick with cow parsley. It was truly magical.  What would have made it even better would have been a pint in the village pub but given I was driving that wasn't an option!

I hope you have enjoyed the feast of colour and texture from the photos above.  Always remember that what works in nature also works in the home. Don't be afraid to use colour(s) in your rooms, be they pops of colour or painting/wallpapering whole rooms or walls in strong colours. Take another look at Juliet Glaves' arrangement above with those pops of red peony colour in that huge masterpiece of hers.  I would never have thought to introduce red but then I always say "be brave, follow mother nature in your interiors and you can't go wrong".

SEEKING STYLE INSPIRATION?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project, need help with your outside space, home staging if you are about to put your home on the market or just some de-cluttering/organising techniques, please get in touch and see how I can help. I always offer an initial free consultation with no obligation so contact me to book this.

Route marching around Richmond Park with a friend

Apologies for not having posted anything for a couple of weeks; I've had my dear friend Jill Neame staying with me from my home town, Christchurch (NZ). She comes to stay each year for five years (this is year 2) to walk another section of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route in Spain.  She needs to get some serious walking practice during her two week stay in London so it's a great opportunity to see London on foot and to get some more exercise.  I am always surprised how much more you see when you walk - I'm used to zipping around London on my 50cc Vespa moped or getting exercise by jogging around Tooting Common opposite my house!

I also had some painful surgery on my thumb nail on 29th May and have spent the last 10 days with a fat bandage on my thumb and my arm in a sling for the first four days to relieve the pressure so typing on my laptop has been nigh impossible! You don't realise how much you need/use your thumb until you can't use it.  I had to get Jill to wash my hair, attach my necklaces, chop vegetables ..... but I could unscrew the top of a wine bottle!!!  

Both Jill and I had wedding invites (hers last w/e and mine in July) so here we are modelling our new hats from Petersham Nurseries - these gorgeous Italian made hats made from 70% straw, are just perfect, not too formal and just enough flippancy to counter any formal attire!!

The first day of Jill's visit we decided to route march around Richmond Park. I'd visited the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park a few weeks ago (Bedazzled by Colour) to see the spectacular azaleas and rhododendrons but I wasn't disappointed when we visited the Plantation again, despite the azaleas being well past their best; on the contrary I found their faded glory much more appealing.  You have to forgive me for yet another blog post on Richmond Park; it never ceases to inspire and enthral.  It's hard to believe you are actually just outside the centre of London and if the planes weren't on the flight part to Heathrow airport which crosses the edge of Richmond Park, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the countryside. Entering from Roehampton Gate, the first thing you notice are the deer which is always such a wonderful sight of peace and tranquillity.  Sometimes a deer will saunter into the road and all the traffic has to stop while all the other deer decide to follow suit. They definitely have their right of way!!

Unusual bark

After route marching around Richmond Park and the Isabella Plantation, we returned to Petersham Nurseries for a much-needed cup of tea and slice of cake

White wisteria over outside seating area at Petersham

Petersham's vegetable garden

Petersham's vegetable garden

Belted Galloway Cattle in the Water Meadows

See subsequent posts for further route marching around London !!

SEEKING STYLE INSPIRATION?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project and looking for some inspiration, please get in touch and see how I can help.

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Designer's Guild embraces Chelsea Flower Show

Every year during the Chelsea Flower Show I visit Designers Guild in the Kings Road, Chelsea as I love the way they embrace the Flower Show by having a florist pop-up shop in the internal courtyard.

This year the florist was Thoughtful Flowers  and I had the pleasure of meeting the owner Juliet Glaves in the shop. As you can see from the photos below, she creates natural and creative arrangements to enhance the beauty of the garden-grown flowers and some  harvested from hedgerows. I am actually doing a course on 3rd June Really Romantic Flowers at Perch Hill Farm with the wonderful duo Sarah Raven and Juliet Glaves. This should be a fantastic day and it includes lunch made with fresh produce from the garden at Perch Hill.

I love the way Juliet's flowers complement the beautiful surroundings of the Designers Guild showroom. The Designers Guild is  bit of a mecca for me as I always find inspiration especially on using colour and of course I usually end up buying one or two things! Below I've included a mix of images of Juliet's gorgeous flowers and Designers Guild items including fabric and wallpaper.  I hope the colours inspire you as much as they do me.

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