Unique London Homeware Stores - Places Not To Be Missed.

I am not sure if you are familiar with the fact that I'm a born and bred London girl, yes, I am a true Cockney without the accent. Apparently if you are born within the sound of  "Bow Bells" then you are considered worthy of being a cockney and I was privileged to be born only a short distance away. However, at the age of 6 my parents looking for greener pastures, whisked me far away to other side of the world to New Zealand (Aotearoa, meaning land of the long white cloud). Over my lifetime I have been lucky enough to return to London many times and whenever I'm there I feel like a kid in a candy store. I remember once standing in a side street in Chelsea with my list of "to do's" and so excited I couldn't decide which direction to go first. There are so many fabulous stores in London, many we are familiar with such as Harrods and Liberty's, however there are some amazing smaller stores that are worth visiting and with the ease of the underground its a breeze to get to any of these locations.

Today I thought it might be interesting to take my readers on a mini tour of some of the "Fab" shops around London such as James Smith & Sons with their retro kitchenware, two fabulous Anthropologie stores, Barnett Lawson for their unique trimmings (a must visit if your a seamstress) and Alfie's antiques for authentic Mid Century design are just a few of my destinations. Don't forget, although the design stores might close at night, London is still very much awake and there are 100's of restaurant's and clubs to see. If you visit www.latenightlondon.co.uk you will find a comprehensive list of clubs, bars and restaurants to fill your evenings with.

Labour and Wait, 85 Redchurch Street, London E2 7DJ 

Alfies Antiques, 13-25 Church Street, Marylebone, NW8 8DT

 Anthropologie 139 Kings Road, London, SW3 4PW

Anthropologie 158 Regent Street, London WIB 5SW

Barnett Lawson Trimmings 16/17 Little Portland Street, London W1W 8NE

Ben Pentreath, 17 Rugby Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3QT

Decoratum, 31-33 Church Street,  North West London NW8 8ES

 Do Shop, 34 Short's Gardens, Central London, WC2H 9PX

Little Paris, 39 Park Road, Crouch End, London N8 8TE

SCP, 135-139 Curtain road, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3BX

If your visiting London this year, have a fabulous time and make sure you go with light suitcases as I guarantee you will not resist buying from some of these wonderful stores.

English Country House Style

Whenever I post an interior which evokes "country", it draws a lot of attention, so I am hoping this interior will do the same. The  location is in Cambridgeshire, England, a county full of  little streams, ancient bridges and beautiful old country homes. This gorgeous home is set in 1.5 acres of lovely gardens with an interior mix of  what I would describe, Country/French style, however, it does have its elements of surprise. The fireplaces  in the sitting and dining rooms are antique French stone and the owners are currently restoring a beautiful herringbone parquet floor to the downstairs of the house. 

One thing I noticed in particular about this interior is the lovely vignettes. Vignette styling can be a bit of an art, however, these owners have perfectly mastered it, if you want some tips on how to create a vignette, I have placed a link to my last post, beneath the images below. Mixed in with the English country style, the owners have cleverly incorporated some contemporary pieces such as the mirrored sphere lights in the living area, they are subtle statement pieces, add interest and are most surely are a talking piece for guests. I think what attracts me most to this beautiful interior is the wide use of interesting textures such as the distressed panels on the wall in the hall with the over sized  bleached wood bowl  below, both standing out against the beautifully polished parquet floors. It shows you how a few statement pieces can be combined to create a stunning look in what would have otherwise been simply been a plain corner.  It goes back to my favourite saying, "A 'house' is just four walls, a 'home' is what you make of it". Adding  special touches and textures such as Marble, French stone and velvet, have helped create a fabulous interior I am sure is a joy to live in. 

And of course a home isn't complete without a cute little dog...

All images are from jj Locations, this interior is available for photo/film shoots, please contact them direct.

If you want to know more about styling/vignettes, I have some tips and images to help you on your way, you can read more...here, Creating the Perfect Console Vignette.

We hope you had a lovely weekend, we are basking in Autumn sunshine in Auckland which makes up for the terrible rain last week. Yesterday Poppy and I went for a long walk along the  bays beaches with my friend Kathy and today I plan another walk when I press "publish" :).

I will be sharing this post with the following link parties:

I should Be Mopping The Floor

Rain On A Tin Roof

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Time Travel Thursday at the Brambleberry Cottage
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
 Stroll Thru Life

Creating The Perfect Console/Sideboard Vignette

Most of us have at least one console/sideboard in our homes and they give us the perfect opportunity to add some interesting accessories such as, a beautiful piece of china or glass, photos, artifacts, vases etc to create a vignette. Sometimes it can be hard to decide what you might want to display and often I change my displays introducing new items and placing old ones away.  If you don't have anything special to display, there is nothing more cheering than an oversized vase full of fresh flowers. To help you on your way to creating a perfect vignette, I have put together a few tips and images to inspire you.

• Start with your main piece. eg. a special vase, bowl or sculpture etc, this will be the"anchor" to work around, it will help if this is your largest piece.

• When creating a vignette using an odd number of items is far better than using an even number. Three items on a small narrow top will work better than four. If you look at image one, you will see they have used four items on the top of the console, however with the mirrors above and the stool below they total 7 items and all combined create the overall look. It is not just about the vignette on top of the console in this example but the complete look.

• Group smaller items together but make sure you don't add too many pieces as the idea is to create a little piece of art with your display not a lot of clutter...remember less is best. There are exceptions to the rule though.

• Work from back to front layering your items. Think about colour, texture and pattern, although they don't always have to compliment each other, sometimes a contrasting statement piece can look stunning. 

• Make sure you stand back and view your vignette from different angles, have a play around with the display until it looks and feels balanced.  If one item doesn't work then try replacing it with another item or remove it altogether and take another look.

• Using different textures can create interest such as a beautiful piece of glass and maybe something else in wood.

• Using a large mirror behind your console or a piece of artwork can add instant drama to a plain wall. 

• If you hang a painting above your console, make sure you hang it at least a foot above so that your vignette doesn't impose upon the art, unless you want the item to become part of the art as can be illustrated by the beautiful transparent glass vases in image 4 below. The delicate glass vases are a perfect match in colour for the artwork above and almost appear to become part of the painting. If you are interested in learning more about art for your home, you may be interested in reading this post "How to select the perfect artwork for your home".

Image sources:

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I hope you have a little inspiration from this post to help you create your perfect vignette. Have a wonderful weekend, mine will begin with a trip to La Cigale French market (my weekly veggie shopping and latte treat) and  if it's not raining then maybe a long walk along the seafront with Poppy.

I will be sharing this post with the following link parties:

I should Be Mopping The Floor

Rain On A Tin Roof

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Time Travel Thursday at the Brambleberry Cottage
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
 Stroll Thru Life

Take One Mink Sofa - How To Be Creative Around This Colour

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called "Take One White Sofa" and discussed how to creatively introduce colour into your home by way of accessories. One of my readers responded to this post, "but what if you don't have a white sofa, what if it's shade of mink, what colours could be introduced?". I have created some Olio Boards and sourced some interiors using this colour either in furnishing or paintwork, to hopefully help with this dilemma.

Mink can be various shades from brown to grey with a slightly mauve or pink tinge so depending on your shade, from light to dark, this can greatly affect the colours that will work with it. Mink is considered a neutral, cool colour and works well with earthy neutrals, however, without introducing various textures and pattern this colour can appear flat.  A neutral interior can go from ordinary to fabulous by layering textures and patterns as can be seen in my mood board below. Different materials and textures can create a more interesting monochromatic interior.  An example of a fabulous neutral interior can be seen in another recent post sharing a fabulous Manhattan apartment.

So, your not a "neutral" kind of gal/guy and you want to introduce colour or warmth to your mink sofa, you might want to explore the use of other colours such as subtle shades of yellow, pale blue, pink, deep lilac or even lime green. Remember if you are introducing pink with blue undertones then your adding a cool pink, a warm pink will have peach/ blush undertones.

What are your thoughts on the second image below. The sofa is mink with grey/brown tones but the designer has introduced soft pastel colours and striking pattern into her design. A pale shade of Aqua blue is on the painted walls. The rug introduces strong pattern, however, it is softened by some of the more subtle shades in its design.

Image three is probably my favourite, the matching mink chairs work beautifully with the reflective glass coffee table. A soft blue/grey has been introduced by way of the cushions on the white sofa adjacent and a touch of gold can be seen to the right, overall the design has a formal but comfortable feeling.

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As you can see by the images above, mink comes in many different tones and shades. However, If you have an item of furniture or walls in mink, I hope in some way I have been able to help. I think my personal choice  would be to take the neutral approach and go mad layering with textures as illustrated in my mood board above.

We hope you have had a great week, we had a burst of  Autumn sunshine again and Poppy and I have
been soaking it up on long walks along the beach.

I will be sharing this post with the following link parties:

I should Be Mopping The Floor

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Time Travel Thursday at the Bramblerry Cottage
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
 Stroll Thru Life