Light and colours of St Tropez

I'm currently staying with friends in north Italy and we have just returned from four days on the Cote d'Azur. We went in their camper van and camped about 30 kilometres from St Tropez at a campsite near Frejus.  It's my first ever trip to the south of France and I loved it - the light and colours in particular which are quite breathtaking.  The views, the vegetation and the colours they paint the houses - all divine.

The campsite where we stayed is on the edge of a river and a ten minute walk through a stunning nature reserve to the beach where the river widens into the sea.  My friends and I enjoy good food so we didn't slum it with the food we ate at the campsite! The local supermarket sells wonderful oysters, bread, pastries, cheeses ........ and it all tastes so much better outdoors.

The flora in the nature reserve was exquisite - some tiny delicate flowers and the huge broom bushes smothered in bright yellow flowers were quite spectacular and some were over 8 feet high.

The maritime pines are a feature of the Cote d'Azur and we saw many of them on the coastal road.

On Wednesday we took a bus into St Tropez for the day. It's impossible to take a car there let alone a camper van. It's a single lane road that winds along the coast hugging the sea through large towns and beach resorts.  In the summer the road is a nightmare and there were a couple of spots when the bus was actually unable to move due to a long line of stationary traffic so the scheduled 1 hour journey took 1.5 hours.

The population of St Tropez is only 5,000 but in the summer it increases to over 100,000 !! Lucikly it wasn't too busy when we were there, however the place was swarming with Vespas for Vespa World Days from 2-5 June in St Tropez to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Piaggio.

We had lunch in a local restaurant, Un Jour a Peyrassol, recommended by a lady in a shop who I stopped and asked, near the bus station. I'm always of the opinion that one needs to ask locals where to eat and this was an excellent recommendation. If we had eaten in one of the restaurants in or around the port it would have been double the price and probably not as good. We were the only non French people in this restaurant so that has to be a good sign! The food was very good (small menu of traditional dishes), the service friendly and efficient. We even returned there later in the day for coffee and ice-cream. We managed to sink two bottles of the beautiful blush rose wine, Chateau Peyrassol, which went down rather too well !

These calamari were to die for!

Tarte Tropezienne (local delicacy)

After lunch we wandered through the streets towards the older part of the town.  An interesting mix of hotels, luxury boutiques, food and wine shops and ice-cream parlours.

Hotel de Paris

Hotel de Paris

The gorgeous jasmin covered Auberge des Maures

More of the Auberge des Maures

House of Chanel

House of Chanel

After lunch we wandered through the narrow streets of the town which were quiet and cool after the baking sun of the port.

Then we decided the best way to see St Tropez and its surrounding area was by boat so we boarded one of the boats that takes you out for an hour and shows you the bay. The port is awash with huge "gin palaces" which look incongruous against the old buildings of the town.  Then the huge private villas around the bay which are usually accessed by helicopter to avoid the road traffic - the guide on the boat told us who some of them belonged to (if he was to be believed!).

Yacht belonging to owner of Zara

Owner of this monstrosity is the owner of Vauxhall. You can rent it for 50,000 Euros a day!!

Brigitte Bardot's house

Back on dry land we headed around the waterfront to a little beach to rest in the shade.  The houses are right on the edge of the beach so get a hammering from the waves in a storm.

We caught the 7pm bus back to the campsite and luckily it only took the scheduled hour as the traffic was fairly light.  It was a long day but a very happy one. I could quite happily return there in fact plan to do so very soon. I want to go to Antibes and I'd like to go inland to Aix en Provence. 

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Chelsea in Bloom - inspiration from spectacular floral displays

It was the Chelsea Flower Show last week and the shops in the Sloane Square and Kings Road area embrace the Show by decorating their shop fronts.  These are spectacular displays and quite inspirational in both design and colour.

I thought you would like to see a selection of the best ones.  My favourite display was Links of London. They had flowers out front as well as in store and they were spectacular.

Another stunning display was Hackett in Sloane Street which had the real wow factor in reds and oranges.

And here are some of the other displays that deserve a mention. Obviously this is only a small part of the whole Chelsea Fringe during the Flower Show and it's a bit of a whistle stop tour but I thought you would be equally inspired by the colour and style of these displays.

I'd love to hear if you have seen any of the Chelsea Fringe this year. Do share some images with me.

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Inspiration from the colours at the Isabella Plantation

It's that time of year when the azaleas and rhododendrons are in flower and what better place to see them in all their glory than the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park.  For those of you who aren't familiar with this London landmark, the Isabella Plantation is a 40 acre woodland garden set within a Victorian woodland plantation planted in the 1830s. It was first opened to the public in 1953 and it's best known for its azaleas which line the ponds and streams and are at their best in late April early May.  Given the bad weather we've had recently they are a bit behind schedule and should be at their best about next week.  The Plantation also is home to a wide variety of rhododendruns and many other rare and unusual trees and shrubs.

It's amazing how much inspiration for interior decoration you can gain from looking at nature and what better than a display of colour from acres of azaleas and rododendruns!!  Their colours are simply mind-blowing when seen in a condensed area as they are in the Plantation.

When we arrived, we immediately entered the bluebell wood which had this sea of blue beneath the canopy.  I was pleased to note that the bluebells are English bluebells and not the pesky Spanish bluebells which seem to be invading our woods.

It had rained heavily in the days leading up to our visit and also the night before so everything was heavy with rain and there was a lovely mist across the Plantation. However it was warm and the paths were not too soggy. I actually preferred to be there without direct sunlight as it's better for photography and also the azaleas and rhododendrons were only half out which made them a lot more interesting to view.

There is a huge variety of trees in the Plantation and some very beautiful trunks, especially after the rain.

Before I get to the azaleas which are obviously the star of the show, there are so many other features of the Plantation, not the least the pocket handerchief tree which my sister is totally obsessed with!!

The rhododendrons are also a feature of the plantation but had only just started to flower.

There are other interesting plants in the Plantation (I'm keeping you in suspense with the azaleas!)

And now for the star of the show, the azaleas. They were only 50% in flower but actually I preferred to see them like this than in full bloom

If you are in London in the next week or two, take the time to visit the Isabella Plantation as it really is a very special place.

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What better than a quintessential English pub

Today a friend and I headed to Surrey for an antiques sale at a private home.  We wanted to find a lovely English pub for lunch and boy, did we find a cracker of a place - The Duke of Cumberland Arms in a small hamlet called Henley in Surrey.  It was raining but that only added to the depth of colour of the countryside.

The Duke of Cumberland is a beautiful 16th century pub perched on the side of a hill with breathtaking views. From the gardens, on a fine summer’s day, it’s just possible to see Leith Hill, the highest point in Surrey. Today’s Duke still retains a lot of its original charm. Inside, there are flagstones, brick floors, wooden scrubbed tables and local ales served straight from the barrel. Outside, you will still find fresh trout in one of the many garden ponds. The pub is hidden up a hill with a handful of houses around it. It dates back to the 17th century and it is definitely the perfect English country pub. You approach it up a path where there is water cascading down the side of the path from various ponds and the recent rain only added to the volume of water but the sound of the water was like music your your ears.  On the left they have an open fire where there as an elderly gentleman sipping a beer alone and not really in the mood to engage in conversation with some random Londoner!!

The inside of the pub is old and atmospheric. There is a modern extension for the restaurant but chose to sit in the old part. The food really is excellent. I chose six raw oysters which were Irish and absolutely enormous. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven !!  A glass of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc to wash them down and then on to an oven-baked walnut & seed crusted goat’s cheese, honey & thyme roasted root vegetable, croutons, mixed leaf, mustard dressing. I much prefer to order a couple of starters rather than a large main. My friend had the fish and chips which were fantastic and so large she couldn't finish them - lovely crisp chips and very fresh haddock covered in a crisp batter!!

The gardens are absolutely beautiful and despite the rain I continued to take photos both on my Nikon DSLR and my iPhone. The photos below speak for themselves

There really is nothing better in this world than a quintessential English pub.  I'll challenge anyone to find something better !!

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Messing about on the river in Richmond

Hi All, London is experiencing some unseasonably hot weather after a month of cold miserable days. The least two days have been around 23C and today it is supposed to reach 26 degrees!  

Yesterday I met a friend, her four year old daughter and her mother-in-law and we headed for Richmond on the train. Armed with my trusted Nikon D5500 I waited for my friends at Balham station.

 While I was waiting for them, I saw this guy on a motorcycle - he had made a hole in the top of the storage box on the back of his bike for his dog!!

We strolled around the shops initially, especially the charity shops as we adore a bargain!  We bought picnic food in Marks & Spencer and headed for the river and sat on the grass eating our lunch and watching the world go by.   The place was a hive of activity - the man on the bridge painting the river, people in all sorts of boats doing all sorts of activities and people like us just chilling out on the river bank.  Londoners always maximise the sunny days as we don't get many of them and everyone always looks so happy when the sun shines.

Check out the sign on this pub which is by the river.  The Thames is very tidal and spring tides can bring the water level up and over the path to the terraces of some of the pubs. In fact yesterday and today are spring tides - the water was rising fast as we left but we didn't see the flooding which was after 4pm

Now which glasses do I need?!

A trip on the river is a must and if Jane and I had been on our own we would have hired a rowing boat. But a more sedate trip was in order so we took a round trip to Teddington Lock and back.  As you can see from the images below, there was a lot of activity on the river - a boat with a wedding party, rowing boats hired out to people having fun but with not much of a grasp on rowing techniques (!), the Richmond yacht club's lesson of novice yachtsmen (watch out for these as they are unpredictable!) and on the way back we passed four barges heading up towards Oxford.  It was going to be a very high spring tide yesterday and today where the water covers the tow path and even reaches as far as people's gardens and some of the pub courtyards!

In Richmond you are never far from the flight path to Heathrow

 I love London and when the weather is lovely I can't imagine a better place to live.

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Back to Petersham for inspiration and sourcing

Hi everyone.  I went back to Petersham Nurseries this week armed with my Nikon D5500 camera.  It was a sunny but cold day and I decided to take a walk along the Thames before lunch (Petersham Nurseries is a stone's throw from the river).  There was even someone launching a boat and taking a jaunt up the river, despite the cold.

You're never far from an airport in London (flightpath to Heathrow!)

Here's the guy who launched his boat

Along the river bank I found some pretty delicate wild flowers

I branched off the towpath along the river into the woodlands of Petersham Lodge.  Signs of spring were everywhere:

The woods led to a pretty iron gate that separates the gardens of Petersham Lodge (which are private) from the woodlands. 

The Belted Galloways are back in the Petersham Meadows by Petersham. Dogs are banned during the grazing season, April to October.

I returned to the Nurseries and spent time before lunch taking photos in the cutting garden where there was a superb display of tulips.

There were so many beautiful flowers to photograph

And of course the highlight of my visits to Petersham is the shop. I love the way it is styled with plants, flowers, furniture, accessories etc.  And I am always tempted to buy something!

These two beautiful bowls of flowers greeted you as you enter the restaurant

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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Pistachio and Pink Grapefruit Cake

Hi Everyone, here's a fantastic cake recipe from a recent weekend newspaper's magazine - simple to make and it has no dairy or gluten so very healthy. However that doesn't compromise the flavour because it is absolutely gorgeous and the cake will last for a week as it has a syrup drizzled over it.

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Pistachio and Pink Grapefruit Cake

It makes a 20cm cake

150g shelled unsalted pistachios

1 and a half pink grapefurits

200g golden caster sugar

50g polenta

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Pinch of salt

4 eggs

200g extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons honey (I use Australian Orange Blossom honey)

10g shelled salted pistachios (about 20) roughly chopped to decorate

1. Grease a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base of it

2. Whizz the unsalted pistachios in a food processor until fairly finely ground.

3. Finely grate the zest of the grapefruits (I actually grate 2 grapefruits) and add this and the sugart to the processor, whizz briefly to combine then stir in the polenta, baking powder, cardamom and a pinch of salt

4. Whisk together the eggs and oil and stir these into the dry ingredients. Scrape into the tin

5. Put in to the oven and turn it to 180C (200C non-fan) - you don't need to preheat the oven for this cake!! Bake for 40-50 minutes, until set on the top.

6. Towards the end of the cooking time, juice the half grapefruit and heat this together with the honey in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and take off the heat. Put the cake, still in its tin, on a plate with a rim and pour over the syrup, a little at a time, adding more once each lot has been absorbed. Leave to cool, then turn out and sprinkle with the chopped salted pistachios. 

It is delicious served with half fat creme fraiche and even as a dessert.

Upcycle with Annie Sloan paint

As many of you know, I love upcycling furniture with Annie Sloan paint. I use this paint because it doesn't involve sanding or undercoating - you just slap it on and away you go!

I have recently had a bit of a binge of painting pieces of furniture that I've been procrastinating about for nearly a year. 

My favourite Annie Sloan colours are Graphite and English Yellow.  This 50s cabinet was first up - English Yellow at the back and Graphite everywhere else.  I was given this piece of furniture by someone who was getting rid of it and I was going to sell it but I rather like it now that it's painted. No distresssing on this piece, just Annie Sloan clear wax.

Next up was this little vintage Hungarian table which I use for my printer. It was already painted in a hideous yellow gloss paint (sorry no "before" image) so I decided to give it a dousing in English Yellow with distressing.

While I was on a roll with the English Yellow, next up to get a dousing was a gilt mirror that I bought in a second hand shop two years ago for £20.  I fancied something different and fun so it certainly scores on both these points. I may add more dark wax into the crevices but for now it gives a lovely sunny warmth to the kitchen.

Next up, my workstation. This is a cupboard that I use for my work and the yellow mirror sits on top of it.  It was painted in a dark grey gloss paint and I prefer a chalk paint finish. Once again I used Graphite.  However this colour can look a bit dull on some textured furniture and that's what's happened here. This can be resolved with a coat of dark wax over the clear wax.

The biggest success was the next item, a gilt mirror that I have had for 5 years and never really liked.  Sometimes it's all about trial and error when painting furniture so do have a go. Mix colours together, put one colour on top of another, use a wash (diluted 50/50 paint/water) etc etc.  On this mirror I've used Aubusson Blue and Old White then clear wax and dark wax.  It is a stunning transformation and the shape of the mirror is really enhanced (sorry no before pics).

The jury is out on the next piece -  I don't like the finished look.  The table was originally a light grey/green colour when I bought it (first image below), then I painted it Graphite. I should have left it at that because now the effect doesn't suit the elegance of the table.  So it's back to the drawing board with this piece. As I say, trial and error!!

I'd love to hear about pieces of furniture that you have painted in Annie Sloan and see some images so do share them with me.

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Make a statement with your table lamps

Hi everyone.  Firstly I must apologise for the lack of blog posts in the last few weeks; in fact since 5 March when I posted the last one.  I've had a manically busy few weeks having taken on a number of new clients. Also, I am preparing for a photo shoot of my flat in mid April which has been stressing me out somewhat.  So I've been furiously upcycling some of my furniture with Annie Sloan paint (separate blog post shortly) and changing lampshades on all my table lamps.

Table lamps can be so boring and serve no other purpose than to provide a lighting source. Gone are the days when you only had a limited choice of shades, mainly 50 shades of beige or cream!!  Now you can buy the most divine shades and make a real statement, a wow factor, even if the lamp base is a bit "meh".    The reverse is a statement lamp base with a plain shade that doesn't compete.   However, beware as you can spend hundreds of pounds on a lamp shade and even thousands of pounds on a lamp base.  It's a matter of finding something affordable and you really love.

There is a great shop in London called Pooky Lighting which sells affordable and fun lamp bases and shades so I popped in and bought three pairs of lampshades for the bedrooms and kitchen.  What a difference they have made to the rooms; the lighting has transformed the spaces from "meh" to "tah-dah" !!!

Neutral lamp bases and shades. I painted the bases in Annie Sloan 'Aubusson Blue' and changed the shades to these gorgeous pleated ones with a delicate fern pattern

Before the lampshades were just beige linen. Now they are a pleated shade with a funky gold and purple pattern

In the kitchen I changed the shades from plain taupe coloured silk to these gorgeous silk Ikat pleated shades by Pooky Lights.  In the sitting room I replaced a pair of beige linen shades in the alcoves with black & white Ikat ones which really draw the eye in.

Before

Before

After

And finally, I bought a rather expensive but absolutely divine lamp base from Nicholas Haslam designed by Paolo Moschino.  It is my piece de resistance but one of those items that you see and just have to have!!  It is solid handcarved brass and it was the way it opened up like a flower and had such beautiful flowing lines that made me fall in love with it.  The jury is out on whether any of my friends like it !!

I would love to hear what sort of table lamps you have and would be happy to offer some advice if you are thinking of changing them so do contact me.

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Inspiration for home styling

As regular followers of my blog know, one of my favourite haunts is Petersham Nurseries which is about 20 minutes from my home. It's somewhere I go for inspiration and to take photos. It gets my creative juices going and all I want to do is take loads of photos and buy lots of plants and items for the home!  I've become quite obsessed with photography since I invested in my first DSLR camera, a Nikon D5500. Macro photography is my passion so Petersham is the perfect place to go as I can take closeups of flowers, plants and the gorgeous items for sale.

The way they style the shop and the glasshouses with plants and flowers is absolutely superb. And there is the added bonus of great food and coffee in the cafe or if I want to treat myself, the other end of the glasshouse where the shop is located is a Michelin star restaurant!  The floors in the glasshouses are just earth, even in the Michelin star restaurant but that's what makes Petersham so unique. 

If I have some free time and the sun in shining my first thought is to head to Petersham.  I could bore you with loads of superlatives but I'd rather stimulate your creative juices with a visual feast. It's not the same as being there in person but it gives you a good idea of why I love the place so much.

Some advice when looking at the photos below. Look at the way they style the items in the shop as this should help you when you style your own home - the way they group items, colours they put together, textures etc.  This is one of the things that I really find helpful when I go there. I hope you enjoy my photography; don't all budding photographers aim to take the perfect photo?!

I'll start with some closeups of the flowers

I have a passion for vintage chandeliers and Petersham always has a range of the most beautiful ones (in fact I bought a small antique French chandelier from them a few weeks ago which is being wired up currently and will then have pride of place of my kitchen table). 

The sun was shining on one particularly large chandelier this time, and I was mesmorised by the colours in the crystals so became rather "trigger happy" with my camera. These images come with a health warning - you may need your dark glasses on !

There was a lot of new stock in the shop since I was last there a week ago and quite a number of ceramic pots with incredible shapes and textures. You can see from the scale of the small items next to these pots the sheer size of some of them.

Petersham always has a good selection of vintage mirrors. I have bought quite a few over the years and recently have been buying some of their convex mirrors in various sizes.  And then there are so many other interesting items on display which you think "I want that" but then "where can I put it in my home?" and then "oh heck, who cares, I just want it" and you go ahead and buy it !!

I hope you enjoyed these images and that they have given you some fresh ideas about how to style your own home. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me.

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Top tips for buying & arranging flowers for your home

Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of blog posts recently; I’ve been manically busy with client work.  Can’t complain, quite the contrary but something has to give and it’s usually my blog.  I am continually asked by friends and clients to write a blog post about how to arrange flowers in the home so here goes.

There are so many places to buy flowers – florists, markets, outdoor stalls, petrol station forecourts, local shops etc – but it’s the supermarkets that have usurped most of these outlets. How many of you are regularly tempted to buy flowers when you are in your local supermarket? I for one am guilty of it – the flowers are so reasonably priced and always fresh so it’s hard to resist the temptation. However the selection is limited and there are always so many awful mixed bunches of flowers (even worse in petrol station forecourts) where they mix one of every colour and every variety.  Avoid these like the plague and NEVER give them as gifts to someone who loves flowers!

But what do you do with the flowers when you get them home?  So many people just jam a bunch into a vase with some water and hope for the best.  No wonder they never look good and don’t last as long as they should.

Here are my top tips for flowers in the home:

1. Best shaped containers have a narrower opening than the base - try to buy containers like this as they allow the flowers to fan out better. However for flowers like daffodils, narcissi and tulips a straight sided container works well as it will emulate how they grow, straight!

2. Monotones work best – buy flowers that are one colour as monotones create the most impact. Of course there are exceptions to this rule - mixed colours of the SAME flower, for example, tulips are rather lovely in mixed colours though I still prefer them in monotones or two colours (as you can see in the images below). 

3. Prepare your flowers well before putting in a vase - strip off a lot of the foliage on the stems so that it isn't sitting in the water getting smelly!  Also, the foliage takes nutrients so if there is less the flower will have a better chance of survival.  With roses, remove any thorns as they also take nutrients.  Always cut the stems on a diagonal and with any woody stems (stock, hydrangeas, blossom, pussy willow or any other hard stemmed flowers or greenery) cut a slit vertically up the stem as well, about half an inch (see image below).

4. Don't waste anything - when stripping the stems of foliage there are often offshoots. Don't throw these away, put them in little vintage bottles on a window ledge or a small vase. I waste nothing!  Freesias and hyacinths are classic examples where they have a lot of offshoots that look like they will never flower but usually they will.

5. Keep the vase clear of water marks - I add a drop of bleach to the water AFTER I've filled the vase (if you do it before you add the water it will create a lot of froth) and this stops the water smelling and any water marks on the vase (crucial with glass containers). I also add a sachet of flower food.

6. Keep it simple! - Don't always feel you have to add foliage to flowers that have their own foliage as it just detracts from their beauty.  Less is definitely more! Flowers should look as if they are growing especially spring flowers like tulips and daffodils. You would never see Eucalpytus growing in the middle of a clump of daffodils! Same with roses, they have beautiful leaves so don't add anything else.

7. Try and buy flowers that have their own foliage -  They look so much more natural in a vase with their own foliage. I'm particularly fond of spring flowers and dahlias with their own foliage.  Unfortunately most of the retailers sell them without leaves but I've managed to find them in my local florist and local market stall.

8. Use flowers to style a room - flowers are a great way to add colour to a room but don't forget they can also add texture, height, scent and of course to create a focal point.  Here are some examples of how I've used flowers in my home this week:

Here you can see vases of tulips and blossom in the sunlit sitting room.  It's like bringing the outside in !

The pussy willow adds drama, texture and height to the mantlepiece

I just had to capture this gorgeous blue anenome in this little blue vintage jug bathed in winter sunlight. 

This vintage preserving jar of boughs of white blossom adds texture and a focal point. The blossom is nearly over but the green shoots are appearing so I'll leave it for another month.

This is a little vintage jug of anemones enhanced with off-shoots from long stems of wax flowers and Ericas that I bought to fill some vintage bottles

9. Do it on a budget - it doesn't have to cost you a lot of money to style your home with plants and flowers. If you buy carefully and look after your flowers you can create multiple containers of beautiful flowers, some large and some very small, that will last you several weeks (or even longer).  Here are some that I have in my home currently, both inside and outside.

I hope these tips will help you to enjoy buying flowers for your home.  If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always happy to help!

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Look at the outdoors to inspire your interior style

Hi everyone. We've had the most amazing few days in London rather like in the Nordics - freezing temperatures, clear blue skies, no wind and the most incredible sunrises and sunsets.  It's been such a mild winter until recently so a proper cold spell was long overdue.  However it only lasted until yesterday and today it rained and the temperatures rose to a balmy 11 degrees Celsius!

I took full advantage of the glorious sunny days being out and about with my Nikon D5500 DSLR camera. I'm still a total novice with it but it's less intimidating now and I'm actually starting to enjoy using it.  It is my first ever DSLR camera hence the trepidation.   But the photos you take on a DSLR (and NOT on auto setting I stress!) are fantastic compared to a compact camera aka point-and-shoot.

On Tuesday I'm sitting at my kitchen table working away when I suddenly felt the urge to be out in the sunshine taking photos so I donned layer after layer of warm gear (I ride a little Vespa moped so keeping warm is always a challenge) and headed to the Chelsea Physic Garden as it's snowdrop week there.  I am a member of this wonderful little garden which is older than Kew Gardens. It is a walled garden in the heart of Chelsea, founded in 1673 by the Worshipful  Society of Apothecaries for its apprentices to study the medicinal qualities of plants. It became one of the most important centres of botany and plant exchange in the world. It really is an oasis in the heart of Chelsea, flanked by the Embankment (constant traffic) and Royal Hospital Road which is quite a busy road, but you are hardly aware of the traffic once you are inside the walls of the garden.

I spent two hours wandering around photographing the plants.  It's winter so you wouldn't expect to see much in flower.  However, there were spring bulbs in flower and two of my favourite plants in full bloom and creating both a visual and sensual impact - Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) and Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill'. 

I always use the outdoors to inspire my interior design and styling.  Here are a few tips to help get you started:

1. Look at the way the colours of flowers work together in gardens. For example, you may not dream of using purple & orange or pink & orange in a colour scheme but they work brilliantly outdoors.  If you are afraid of colour, do some "interior gardening" and bring indoors plants and flowers in bright colours (even clashing colours). This is an inexpensive way of introducing colour and if you can't cope with the colour you can just remove it!!

2. Look at the textures and layering in a garden as these add so much interest.  Most people never think of this when styling their homes so everything is very one-dimensional.  Stimulate the sensesby aiming for at least three different textures - introduce these with cushions, throws, rugs, lighting etc. For example, glass, wool and velvet - a chandelier, a sheepskin rug and velvet cushions - and voila, you have textures and layering.

3. Never stop looking at the outdoors and visually framing scenes as if they were rooms.  This can really help when you are trying to decide how to style a room. For example, different heights are really important - try using floor lamps, tall vases of flowers or plants on a mantelpiece and compilations of artwork and furniture of different heights. 

4. And don't forget weights of colour. We are environmentally conditioned to think that darker colours should go lower down, something to do with the earth beneath our feet and the lightness of the sky and air above. so we are subconsciously emulating the outdoors with which we are both familiar and comfortable. However, it doesn't have to be the rule of thumb and there are a lot of people bucking the trend and painting walls & ceilings in dark colours and having a lighter coloured flooring.  Either way, remember to mix up the shades of colour.

Enough said, and now I want to share with you some of the photos I took at the Chelsea Physic Garden, the best of them. It's a visual feast of colours and textures and hopefully will stimulate you to look at your interiors differently. Please note that these photos are all unfiltered, not Photoshopped, exactly as I took them on my Nikon.

Frozen Pond

Frost on leaves

Frozen lily pond

Dried Artichokes

Wintersweet reaching for the sky

Heavenly scent

Wintersweet

Icy paving stones

Daphne bush

Daphne

Heavenly scent

Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill'

Absolutely spectacular and you should have smelt the heady scent

Just look at the mass of flowers on the Daphne bholua

Native fern from my country (NZ)

Native fern of NZ

Mimosa (wattle to us Antipodeans!)

This was a plant for sale. Mimosa isn't in flower currently but I had to photograph it as it reminded me of home. We never brought it inside when I was growing up as it was supposed to bring bad luck!

Kowhai (New Zealand native)

This was a plant for sale. There is a huge Kowhai tree in the gardens but it's not the time of year to flower. I had to photograph this plant as it reminded me so much of home

Friendly robins everywhere

Icy pond

Resident cat - great tail light!

Dusk in the garden

Beautiful houses overlooking the garden

Beautiful houses overlooking the garden

Battersea Bridge at dusk

I hope you enjoyed looking at these photos and that they have inspired your interior styling.  If you are London based and would like some help/advice, give me a call. I offer an initial free consultation and then I charge by the hour so you can use me as little or as much as you wish.

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What sort of relationship do you have with social media?

Hi everyone. I have the urge to communicate my thoughts about this whole social media malarkey.  I can't imagine I'm alone in my opinions about it so here goes. 

I appreciate that social media is crucial, even critical, to businesses especially fledgling businesses like mine.  I started my company, Angela Bunt Creative, in November 2014 as an interior decorator after working for 15 years in the financial services. As an employee of a large financial company, I dabbled in Facebook and Pinterest purely for fun and it was actually quite pleasurable to communicate spontaneously with family & friends on Facebook and to save images of things I liked into aptly named boards on Pinterest purely for the hell of it.   I didn't do Instagram, Twitter, YouTube or any of the other channels.

But that was to change once I started my own business.  The worst thing is that all the pleasure of using social media evaporated and it suddenly became a necessity, a chore, at times bordering on an obsession (sometimes I'm on social media in the middle of the night if I can't sleep!).  Don't get me wrong, I totally get why social media is so important to businesses but boy does it take the fun out of so much that we do spontaneously.  For example, once I signed up to Instagram I found myself wanting to photograph every meal that I ate in a restaurant or cooked at home, every nature scene, urban scene, cute baby/child/animal, water, buildings, nature and on and on.  It is ridiculous, you can't look at anything without thinking "Ah ha, that would make a great photo on Instagram and might bring me new followers!".   And Pinterest, well I use it for my clients and it's great - I set up a board (protected so that only the client and I have access) and we can share images which saves time and ultimately saves the client money.  But filling up boards with photos just for the hell of it or to get followers and/or likes is crazy.    And Twitter,  I love this form of social media but I'm so rubbish at it and I find it really difficult to learn how to be clever, humorous and concise. It's like a whole lingo that you have to learn.  I speak and write fluent Italian plus basic French and Spanish but Twitter, well I'm exhausted just thinking about how to learn the lingo!!

Social media is all about manipulating it in your favour to gain recognition and ultimately, hopefully, business or at a minimum, kudos.  At worst it's a way to be worshipped and adored which a lot of people crave or need.  But the majority of us just want to be normal people where we can be ourselves.  I've learned a harsh lesson since I started my own business i.e. you can't be spontaneous and not always yourself as you are constantly thinking what you can do to promote yourself.  I love my blog, Flair Fairy, as it's the one place in all of the social media channels that I use where I feel I can truly be myself. If I want to post a recipe of something I've just cooked then I do just that; if I feel the need to recharge my batteries by spending a few hours at Petersham Nurseries savouring the surroundings and food, photographing the beautiful styling in their glasshouses and then sharing that with you on my blog, I do it;  or just posting something spontaneously that is dear to my heart or about which I'm passionate I feel I can do so. Unfortunately it is never the same on social media channels as there's always an ulterior motive.  

Being successful on social media is all about your USP (Unique Selling Point).  You need to come up with a USP that (hopefully) "goes viral" as they say.  Here's a great story, I have a roofer who has been fixing my roof for 20 years. I discovered last weekend that he is passionate about reggae and 18 months ago his daughter started posting 15 second videos on Instagram of him singing along to Reggae tracks.  He now has 16,700 followers on Instagram and over 14,000 on Facebook!! How crazy is that?!!  Check him out OriginalPapaCrook.  He's a normal, regular guy who fixes people's roofs; he's passionate about his family, is really humble and shy and has this magical ability to sing and dance reggae. He has more followers on Instagram than Maxi Priest!!!!!!  So here's a guy that has a defined USP i.e. reggae, and the proof is in the number of followers he has on social media. I told him to ditch roofing and make a career of his music. I hope he succeeds as he's fantastic. Check him out.

As those of you who know me, by nature I'm very spontaneous. I'm passionate about a lot of things having been a national level competitive swimmer,  a semi-professional cellist, a professional florist, a data integrity specialist (in the financial services). Pardon the pun but I have a lot of strings to my bow. Also, I continue to be a passionate cook, a health freak, working out at the gym, doing Pilates and I've always been crazy about style (fashion and interiors), colour and most of all nature. I'm a totally visual person which is why I love photography so much and having recently purchased my first ever DSLR camera (a Nikon D5500) I find myself framing photos in my head purely to be able to take the perfect photo and not so that I can publish it on social media.  But of course I do publish some of my photos on social media (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook) because a) I want to share them with people (that's my spontaneous side) and b) because it's expected of me as a user of social media. 

Then I trained as an interior designer and started my own business, Angela Bunt Creative and everything changed.  Don't get me wrong, I love my new career and feel that finally I'm doing what I truly love, being creative and helping people to transform their homes into spaces they can be proud of.  I cannot avoid bringing the outside in so I always encourage my clients to style their rooms with flowers and/or plants. Sorry I'm getting sidetracked. What I wanted to say is that I'm struggling with this whole USP thingy. I don't consider myself to be a one-trick pony so I therefore struggle to create a USP.  My motto is "you can't take the florist out of the girl".  I haven't worked full-time as a florist since the early 80s (apart from helping out occasionally at my local florist, Jayne Copperwaite Flowers, when she's really busy.  However I find that I cannot live without flowers in my home, I cannot resist clicking "like" to lovely photos of flowers and plants on Instagram or Pinterest, I cannot help myself from photographing beautiful flowers, plants or nature scenes and most of all I always style rooms for clients with flowers and plants.  I'm all about colour. Maybe that should be my USP? Or should it be flowers, styling with flowers?  I just don't know. What do you think?  I would be really grateful for your feedback. Do you identify with any of what I state above? Am I showing my age by ranting about social media?!

Unusually this blog post is bereft of beautiful images; it's all about the words this time! I look forward to your feedback so PLEASE comment.

Cardamom, pistachio & marmalade drizzle loaf

Hi everyone. It's ages since I posted a recipe and that's because I've been so lazy with trying new recipes in the last six months.  However today I decided it was time to bake a cake and use a recipe that I've been wanting to try for ages because the ingredients really appealed to me - pistachios (my fave!), cardamom (another fave!) and marmalade.  And of course the drizzle on the top I can never resist.

It's a BBC Good Food recipe and here it is. I highly recommend you make it as one of the most appealing things about it is that you throw everything in a bowl and mix it up.  I can't be doing with those recipes that state you must cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and then the dry ingredients. With our busy lives and fast pace of life there's no time for that!!

Cardamom, pistachio & marmalade drizzle loaf

Serves 10 -12; prep time 10 minutes (yeah!!); Cook 1hr - 1hr 15min

Ingredients

Seeds from 8 cardamom pods

200g shelled pistachios

150g soft butter, in pieces plus extra for greasing

125g golden caster suga

3 large eggs

100g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp. of your favourite marmalade (I used my LA sister's as she makes the best)

2 tsp orange blossom water

FOR THE DRIZZLE

2 tbsp. marmalade (see above)

Juice of one lemon

50g caster sugar

1 tsp orange flower water

1. Heat over to 170C/150C fan/gas 3 and prepare a 19 x 7cm loaf tin - butter the inside and line the base with non-stick baking paper, or use a non-stick loaf liner

2. Crush the cardamom seeds in a pestle & mortar. Whizz half the pistachios in a processor or blender until very finely chopped.

3. Using an electric hand whisk (or an electric mixer), beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, marmalade, orange blossom water, crushed cardamom seeds, chopped pistachios and a pinch of salt in a bowl until combined. Roughly chop the rest of the pistachios and stir them into the cake mix.

4. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1hr to 1hr 15mins, covering the top of the loaf with foil halfway through to prevent it over-browning.

5. For the drizzle, gently heat the marmalade, then combine with the other ingredients in a bowl and spoon on top of the warm loaf. Leave to cool in the tin then remove from the tin, cut into slices and eat it !!

Make your New Year's Resolutions enjoyable!

Happy New Year everyone. As you may have noticed, I took a couple of weeks' break from blog posting over the festive period.  This was due a busy social calendar and also I was helping my older son pack up his life in London and move to Sydney to live, where my other son has been living for over two years.  It's a weird feeling to have one's children all living on the other side of the world; now I know how my parents in New Zealand felt with all three of their children living 12,000 miles away. However technology has moved on from when we left home and communication was restricted to letters, faxes and (land line) phone calls. With Skype, Facetime and free calls via tools like Whatsapp and Viber, the distance feels much smaller especially when you can see your children on your phone or computer.  Hey ho, at least I have a good reason to visit Sydney regularly!

I'm sure many of you have made serious lists of new year's resolutions.  There are all the usual things that people have on their list of new year's resolutions, the self-flagellation things like no alcohol for January, joining a gym, losing weight, not spending any money and so on.  I'm of the opinion that our new year's resolutions should be about doing things we enjoy especially creative things, stretching ourselves by getting out of our comfort zones.  For example, I'm going to learn how to dance salsa even though I'm a lousy dancer.  I know I'll enjoy it even if I don't master all those sexy hip movements!!

Below are five suggestions for some new year's resolutions that are both enjoyable and creative and will also develop you by making you push the boundaries:

1. Learn how to paint furniture - up-cycle your own items, those already in your home or ones you find at junk shops, markets or auctions. Find your nearest Annie Sloan stockist and sign up to an Annie Sloan Workshop to learn how to paint furniture with confidence and to achieve a professional finish.  I did the workshop three years ago at Phoenix on Golborne which is a fabulous shop and one of my regular haunts. I love the fact that you just slap on the paint - no sanding or undercoating - and eureka, you have transformed a piece of furniture!  You can paint any surface including silver, ceramic, wood, metal, walls etc. The day after I did the workshop I was so inspired I painted my mahogany sideboard which I had actually planned to get rid of.  I started with a coat of Aubusson Blue (my favourite colour) and then a coat of Florence - I adore both of these colours.  Then distressed it with a coat of clear wax, then dark wax and finally another coat of clear wax. It was so much fun transforming the sideboard and gave me a warm fuzzy feeling when friends and family paid me a lot of compliments!!  At the end of this blog you will find links to other items I've painted. Please sign up to an Annie Sloan workshop; you won't regret it.

Before

After

2.  Transform a room in your home with a strong colour - most people are terrified of colour and stick to decorating rooms with neutrals.  If you are one of these people, be brave and have some fun - transform a downstairs loo or walk in pantry or cupboard in a bold, strong paint colour or fabulous extravagant wallpaper. Loos are great places to have real fun with decorating.  Here are a couple of ideas: Farrow and Ball 'Stiffkey Blue' is a stunning darkish blue paint and looks stunning on walls.  You can also paint the ceiling and skirtings in the same colour or contrast these with white to complement the white loo and basin.  Or paper the walls with one of the divine Cole and Son Fornasetti II Acquario wallpapers (several colourways though I'm partial to the black background one).  Both these ideas can be seen in the two images below. 

3.  Take classes in something fun and creative - I've signed up salsa classes!  I'm no dancer and I know this is right out of my comfort zone but I am sure it will be really enjoyable (eeek!!).  I'm also going to learn how to play bridge. I've always thought bridge was for the "oldies" as I associated it with my grandma and mother but I'm constantly being proved wrong; it seems to be quite trendy these days and it is great for the brain!

4. Buy more flowers and plants for the home - I bang on about having flowers in the home in many of my blog posts (it's the florist in me!).  Flowers & plants are not only beautiful but they can be therapeutic to have around as they always make you feel happy.  I have them in most rooms and often they actually make me smile when I enter a room and see a vase of beautiful blooms.  They are also a great way to introduce colour into a neutral colour scheme. Be brave, be bold - buy purple and orange tulips and put them in the same vase as I love to do (my two favourite colours); pink and orange roses in the same vase; an orchid plant in the bathroom.  Just three suggestions. I'm not a huge fan of green plants but I do love flowering spring plants like hyacinths and daffodils so buy some of these when they are in season and put them in pretty pots around the house.

5. Be kind to yourself - Have a regular beauty treatment - I have found a local spa that offers a half hour back & neck massage for only £20 and the girl who does the treatment is absolutely superb.  I feel totally "filleted" after the massage and they always encourage me to chill out afterwards on their reclining sofas with a herbal tea for a half hour.  I struggle to get up after that and go home!!  I cannot stress enough how important it is to treat yourself - a manicure, pedicure, massage or other (just not a waxing as that's self-flaggation in my book !!!!!).

I hope you will consider some or all of the above five suggestions for your new year's resolutions.  Just remember to love yourself and you deserve to enjoy life a bit more. So less of the self-flaggation and more of the above tips!!

I'd love to hear of any resolutions that you have on your list that involve enjoyment and creativity as well as pushing you out of your comfort zone.

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Follow me, I'm a guest blogger for Real Homes magazine!

A month ago Real Homes magazine kindly invited me to be one of their guest bloggers and write a monthly blog post.  I adore this magazine as it really is about real homes that readers can relate to and aspire to.

My first blog post was published on 11 December entitled 'Making the most of a Victorian sitting room' about my recent sitting room revamp. I shall be continuing in the new year with further blog posts about this revamp. 

In the meantime, on 21 December, they published my latest blog post entitled 'How to create a woodland-inspired Christmas theme' in my home.

I hope you will take the time to read my two blog posts and share them through the various social media channels. Also, have a look at the Real Homes website; there are lots of great articles and plenty of advice for homeowners. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and happy and healthy 2016.

Tips for decorating your home at Christmas

Christmas is only three days away!  If you haven't finished decorating your home here are some tips on preparing your home for the festive season:

1. Start the festive feel outside the front door with a Christmas wreath on the door. It's all about curb appeal!  This is a lovely welcome to anyone coming to visit.  Last year I decided to have a different sort of wreath so I bought a dried hydrangea one (see image below). This year I opted for a more traditional wreath made from fresh Norwegian spruce and decorated with real cones, dried oranges and apples to which I added some cinnamon sticks which exude a heady scent of spice.

2. Ensure you continue the Christmassy feel with a ta-dah moment once you enter the front door. I chose to do this with red Amaryllis in a tall vase and coloured lights (battery powered). 

3. Use fresh flowers and greenery in abundance.  I have a huge vintage preserving jar of holly in my hall and a large vase of scented Longi lilies in the sitting room and another in the kitchen. Don't forget poinsettias as they always create a splash of colour if you group them together. I prefer the white ones so have a couple of tiny plants which just one flower on each! 

4. You always need a pièce de résistance, a large Christmas tree. My preference is for a real tree but there's nothing wrong with an artificial one.  It needs to be placed where its beauty is maximised and can be seen from various angles and ideally reflected in a mirror.  As children we looked up at the tree so I ensure that my two sons can always look up at the tree so it needs to be taller than them - we're up to a seven and a half foot tree now!  I tend to decorate my tree in two colours rather than multi-coloured. This year it is silver and glass with pops of purple.

Decoration from The White Company

Purple cone from Designers Guild

I bought five of these beautiful sparkly stars from Petersham Nurseries this year. 

This vintage decoration is from local shop Quirky Dovetail

Another beautiful glass bauble from The White Company

5. If you have children around over Christmas make sure there are decorations that can be appreciated by children. I have a little faux tree from The White Company that I place on a table in the hall and all the decorations are geared to children.  I also have five little straw angels with musical instruments that I bought in a Christmas market in Bratislava that children love.

My snowy owl is from Jayne Copperwaite Flowers, my local florist. I have another one on the main Christmas tree.  I love the expression on his face!

This comical little felt bird is a new addition on this tree from Petersham Nurseries

I bought this rooster at Daylesford

Little felt robin from Daylesford

Petersham Nurseries

Another cute decoration from Petersham Nurseries

Little straw angel musicians from the Christmas market in Bratislava

5. Continue the festive theme by decorating your mantle pieces, stair rails, mirrors and other available surfaces.  I bought a lovely metal tree with glass tea light holders from Petersham Nurseries which I placed on my mantelpiece with sprigs of fresh spruce at its base.

These stems of faux leaves and pearls are from William Yeoward

The little metal tree with glass tea light holder that I bought this year in Petersham Nurseries

I'd love to hear how you decorate your home for Christmas so do send me some comments.  May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

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Find inspiration for Christmas at Petersham Nurseries

Hi everyone. I guess you are all frantically preparing for Christmas - decorating your homes and trying to decide what gifts to buy and what food you will eat.  I got off to a late start this year so on Friday I decided I needed some inspiration. So I headed to my favourite mecca for inspiration and soul soothing, Petersham Nurseries.  For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, I'm a sucker for Petersham and I've done quite a few blog posts on it. They are usually highly visual posts i.e. few words and loads of images, because Petersham is all about visual stimulation.  I therefore have decided that what you all need is few words and loads of gorgeous photos to feast your eyes on.  Hopefully they will inspire you on how to decorate your homes and your Christmas trees and also what gifts to buy. If you are lucky enough to live in London or the surrounding area, jump in the car and head over to Petersham.  Take a tray of coffee and cake into one of the glasshouses or a tray of lunch depending when you arrive.  Here's my coffee and delicious apple cake. Don't you just love these vintage painted distressed metal tables & chairs?

I took my new Nikon DSLR camera this time and spent three hours practising my photographic skills. I hope you are impressed with some of them; I'm very much a beginner but I'm really enjoying the learning curve!

I hope you enjoyed that.  Now it's back to the grind of lists and shopping. Bring on the festivities! 

I'd love to get some feedback from you about how you prepare your homes for Christmas so please write to me and I promise to respond!

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Inspiring locals with my 'Colour in the Home' talk

Hi Everyone, I guess you are in the throws of starting to decorate your homes for Christmas and furiously buying presents. It's a lovely time of year; I love all that anticipation. 

Last week I gave a talk on 'Colour in the Home' at the local interiors shop where I work two days a week, Quirky Dovetail.   This is a lovely local interiors shop where I've been working (running the shop) part-time for the last three years.  We specialise in up-cycling old furniture and painting it in Farrow and Ball neutral paint colours as well as selling antique and vintage items and homewares.  The event at which I spoke was our annual Christmas shopping evening which is always well attended by regular clients, new clients and friends.  Given that I am an interior decorator and colour consultations are a crucial part of my services, and also I'm absolutely passionate about colour, I decided to give a half hour talk on how to use colour in the home.  The majority of our clients are afraid of colour so I wanted to show them how they could inject some colour into a neutral colour scheme.  Grey is definitely the trend currently and many people paint rooms grey, add grey flooring and furniture but then wonder why the room looks bland and insipid.  I hope I inspired them enough to introduce some colour; the feedback after my talk certainly gave that impression!

Given that Quirky Dovetail paint furniture in Farrow and Ball paint, I used the six Farrow and Ball neutral families as the basis for my talk.  There are so many colour brands and each paint chart has way too many colours but I like the fact that Farrow and Ball have created these six neutral families to make our lives easier when selecting a colour scheme. And Farrow and Ball paint is particularly lovely with such high levels of pigment and such depth of colour.

I know the word 'neutral' can sound really dully and boring, even a bit of a cop-out to some of you, however neutrals are easy to live with, elegant and un-demanding if they are used correctly.  It's all about how you put the neutral shades together as to whether the effect is sophisticated or insipid.

I prepared a board for each of the Farrow and Ball neutral families and I included some accent colours and also a couple of fabrics to create a sort of mood board so that the audience could imagine how these could work in a room.

For those of you are not familiar with the Farrow and Ball neutral families, they are:

Traditional Neutrals - Soft grey-green tones, sophisticated - Lime White, Old White, Slipper Satin, Off White. Suggested accents: Light Gray, Mouse's Back, Pigeon

Yellow-based Neutrals - Creamy undertones, prettiest group, country feel - White Tie, New White, String, Matchstick. Suggested accents: Cord, Cat's Paw, Tanner's Brown, Mouse's Back or for a country scheme try Cooking Apple Green, Cook's Blue and Rectory Red

Red-based Neutrals - Red undertones, warmest group - Pointing, Dimity, Joa's White, Oxford Stone. Suggested accents: London Stone, London Clay, Eating Room Red

Contemporary Neutrals - Lilac undertones, appear grey, add edge but retain warmth - Wimborne White, Strong White, Skimming Stone, Elephant's Breath. Suggested accents: Dovetail, Charleston Gray, Pelt

Easy Greys - Neither too warm nor too cool, delicate gauzy appearance - Wevet, Ammonite, Cornforth White, Purbeck Stone. Suggested accents: Mole's Breath, Railings, Stiffkey Blue

Architectural Cool - Cool with blue undertones, have architectural edge - Blackened, Dimpse, Pavilion Gray, Plummett Suggested accents: Down Pipe, Railings, Stiffkey Blue

Here are my boards of the six neutral families and accents:

I also created some separate colour schemes on smaller boards again with a complementing fabric and these were pinned to the reverse of the presentation board for viewing after my talk.

We had a full house for my talk and the evening was animated and sociable fuelled by plenty wine and food and lots of shopping!  Never the most flattering when you are being photographed talking animatedly and passionately and waving your arms around but here goes .......... !1

I would love to hear how you have introduced colour into your home and what paint brand and colours you have used. Or if you have any questions you would like to ask me, don't hesitate to get in contact.

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