Category: Bedroom
Mini Morris! x
So William Morris – who will always and forever had a piece of my heart – has teamed up with Swedish brand DockATot to produce some of the most edible nursery soft furnishings I’ve ever seen. Which is mind bending on several levels – 1. why has no-one thought of this before? and 2. No-one has because we compartmentalise everything away, with Morris floating under Victorian in big letters, and masculine in little. Which means should we throw all conditioned thinking under the nearest bus? And 3. If you’re thinking pah! I have no need for nursery whimsy – I would further highlight the perils of conditioned thinking, because their floor cushions are any-excuse-for-any-room-to-die-for.
(All pics Pinterest and DockAtot)
Dog bed. Anyone?
Laters, Kate x
Re-entry x
I made a discovery yesterday. In fact I made several. Firstly, I am genuinely getting old – the proof came in an unexpected moment when I found myself looking for and using a different attachment for the hoover.
Afterwards I needed a full fat caffeine filled coffee to recover: I’d taken it upon myself to have an autumn-clean; a cathartic move to put away the summer and embrace the coming cold. Part of this meant pulling everything out from under the bed and doing a proper job, because our bedroom has exposed floorboards and the brass bed sits on a vintage rug, provided as a welcome mat to any hungry moths in the neighbourhood. Discovery no.2: There is a Dust Monster, and this is where he lives, along with his neighbour, the Sock Monster. (I believe these are the protectors of said moths)
But none of the negatives will stop my meshed love and appreciation of the aesthetic quality of a perfectly placed rug, whether in a bedroom or partnered with a sofa.
(All pics Pinterest)
There’s something about a rug that pulls a room together, anchors the furniture and solidifies all the opposing elements. I was reminded of this whilst watching the latest interior design competition (Interior Design Masters) on the BBC. The joy of these programmes is considering what you’d do in their position. And often I find myself shouting ‘rug’, and sometimes other words, at the screen. But the truth is, seeing where contestants go wrong is easy, particularly with the addition of retrospect. The hardest thing is always to narrow the choices and come up with original ideas in the first place. And that’s without cameras and a time limit.
Laters, Kate x
Smile x
Borastapeter wallpaper take classic designs and interpret them in a contemporary way.
Because there’s great joy in taking an accepted pleasure spot and moving the boundaries just enough to find the riches inbetween.
The joy moves up a notch further when the price point is a sensible one.
(All pics Pinterest)
Then the heat it attracts is both warming and thrilling.
Laters, Kate x
Majeda Clarke x
Part of the surprise of life is what captures the eye and why; I suspect there was an unconscious element of appeal for writing this post – I’ve just finished Circe by Madeline Miller, a book grounded in the love of the Greek myths and gilded in gold. Circe has her own loom, made by the legendary Daedalus from sweet smelling cedar, a combination to delight the senses even in the imagination. Majeda Clarke is also a weaver of magic, she says ‘There is something abut the act of making cloth by hand that connects me to a long line of weavers through history who have sat in from of a loom. It is an ancient tradition that is vanishing in a world of mass production and manufactured perfection.’ Her textiles are a celebration of colour, craft and creation.
Majeda also weaves delicate, cobweb like muslins.
(All pics Majeda Clarke and Pinterest)
Objects to lust after, save for and appreciate.
Laters, Kate x
Bella’s room x
Bella’s bedroom has been painted, but that’s about it. It means it’s at an ugly transition stage when it’s a hybrid of essential bits from the past and colours from the present are all colliding to create a visual clash of cultures. There are still big decisions to be made: colours for the blinds, what colour to paint the bed, rugs to source, a new wardrobe. But in the frantic hell that is the start of the September term, the pull for peace is outweighing all of this…this weekend we’re just going to paint some art for her room. Together, with music and large cups of tea. Nothing complicated, but hopefully bold and aiming for beautiful…these are our inspirations.
The idea is to hang them over the half wall line: There’s something so appealing when art hangs over a paint line.
No idea why. But somethings in life you don’t need to question. Like tea and creating.
Laters, Kate x
Linen
It was our anniversary a few days ago, in fact it was the first one in eighteen years we’ve ever spent apart – here’s to the next 18 being similarly fortunate. But how to mark it? The best idea seemed to be something that could stand the test of time, age gracefully, be enjoyed by both of us….and was suitably low maintenance: A complete linen bed set is an investment, but for me, it ticks all the special boxes….a bit like my husband…
Laters, Kate x
Haru x
Feeling the long days of summer stretching out in a creative dessert? Brain cells fried and inspiration running dry? Let me introduce you to this intriguing little video, particularly if you’re contemplating decorating a kids bedroom in the near future..
Basically it’s a Japanese art form made modern in a fun, accessible way. As much in the world is shrinking, these glorified Washi Tapes have grown and the plain colours can be baught in the UK for a pocket pleasing £11 for a 10m roll. The patterned ones are considerably more, which is a shame, at £63 a roll but both seem easy to use..and simple to remove. I can’t do a link on my iPad, but google, Haru..
Time to get stuck in?!
Laters, Kate x
Revelation x
There are many things that science can still not explain so maybe I have died and gone to heaven, such is my delight at discovering the designer and maker of this wallpaper and her treasure trove of work.
Marthe Armitage graduated from Chelsea School of Art after World War 11. Faced with the problem of juggling young children, she started designing and lino-cutting her own wallpapers. After sketching the design she uses the hand-cut lino blacks and a century-old offset lithographic printing press that she has owned for over 40 years to created custom-printed rolls of wallpaper.
Not only does she create an object of desire but a lifestyle, a passion and a calling.
Maybe she’ll adopt me?
(Link here, all pics Pinterest)
Before my idol was William Morris, but it’s the seductive meanderings of Marthe’s work that pull at the heart strings and make eyes glow.
When my boat comes in, this is the wallpaper that will adorn my walls.
Laters. Kate x
Apricots x
The barmy temperatures of 29 degrees from last week have been swallowed whole by dark, rain sodden clouds and whipping winds. Todays predicted temp for London is a glove grabbing six degrees – it’s no wonder we crave straight forward, simple, understandable normalities that we can always rely on like apricot is an interior design colour to avoid.
(All pics Pinterest)
Damn.
Laters, Kate x
Freedom x
It’s pictures like these that blow conventional interior design out of the water, standing proud as the complete antithesis to pulled together design, complimentary colours and agonised decisions.
Maybe because they all have something that many modern rooms lack: Soul.
Maison Bentley Style 