About Me

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Hampshire, United Kingdom
In July 2010 I graduated from KLC School of Design in London with a Professional Diploma in Interior Design (please see the tabs below for course details and project portfolios). Since September 2010 I've been working for a local interior design practice just outside Alton in Hampshire. Through this blog, I hope to share with you products which I like and things which inspire me - together with the odd post about my own home which is a working project. A good home is never finished!

Tuesday 20 September 2011

French Chic

I can't help noticing the current level of interest in French style furniture, particularly bedrooms, and thought I would have a look around to see what there is and share my findings!

Starting with bedrooms, the obvious statement piece is the bed and the options are endless!  From the quite plain to the elaborately French Rococo inspired pieces, they all share one thing in common - soft, flowing lines.

Sweetpea & Willow do beautiful French style furniture and will be featuring a lot in this post!  Firstly, here are a few beds in different styles .......
Colonial Rattan Bed
Sweetpea & Willow

Classical White Upholstered Bed
Sweetpea & Willow



Cream Upholstered Bed
Sweetpea & Willow





















Leporello also have a range of highly decorative French style beds taking inspiration from a bygone era.  The bed featured below is the Elysian Painted Bed:


Elysian Painted Bed

The bed below was featured in Good Homes magazine, May 2011 and is upholstered in a raw silk.  The bed (made of mahogany) has been finished with double piping. 

The Pearl Silk Bed
Sweetpea & Willow




Detailing on the Pearl Silk Bed (left)








Another upholstered bed is the Gustavian carved bed from Chelsea Textiles.  Shown here in the single size, it's also available in double and king sizes.  It's beautifully detailed as shown in the picture.

Gustavian Bed
Gustavian bed detail





















The elegant Louis style Lucian Middle Bed from Leporello (below) is painted in French Grey with classic double curve headboard and low end foot board with tulip finials.


Lucien Middle Bed


Elvie Silver Rococo Bed

If you're looking for over-the-top decadence, this ornate Elvie Silver Rococo Bed from Sweetpea & Willow could be just what you have in mind!  Hand carved mahogany covered in silver leaf.


To go with your bed, you will need a bedside cabinet or two ....



The bedside table above is from the French Bedroom Company and Sweetpea & Willow do a similar (if not identical !) table as shown below. 

                      
For cleaner lines, the three drawer bedside table below from Chelsea Textiles' Gustavian range would work well in a French styled room.  Hand carved and hand painted.



We recently took delivery of two of these for a client and they are beautiful!

A perfect partner is the Small Bureau ....














Sweetpea & Willow have this lovely Pure Grey Pearl Bedside (also available in pure white).



A larger chest is this 18th Century Commode by Julian Chichester shown here in an antique green finish (it's also available in a light limed oak finish).  In the right environment this looks stunning! 


18th Century Commode



A similar chest to the Julian Chichester one above (and more affordable) is the Manon chest from The Sleep Room


Of course you would also need somewhere to hang your clothes (and somewhere to put all those shoes), so here are a few Armoires with painted finishes, glazed doors and in different sizes:

Halcion White 2 Door Armoire
from Sweetpea & Willow

Sweetpea & Willow
Narbonne Armoire
Karelian Armoire from Leporello





The Karelian from Leporello is also available in a 3 door version with painted (rather than glazed) doors:




Karelian 3 Door Armoire from Leporello




















Finally, a few chairs - not necessarily to sit on, but just to look nice!


Provencal Lady's Chair by The French Bedroom Company
Chantal Chair by Oka







Gold Gilt Emanuel Ribbon Chair from Sweetpea & Willow







If you have the space, how about a chaise .......

Classical White Victoria Chaise by Sweetpea & Willow

Finally, and particularly relevant to this post, as William Morris said:

 "Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".

Sunday 17 July 2011

Lovely Lampshades!

One thing I love about working in the interior design industry is access to so many products I never knew existed - it's just one big shopping trip!

Here are just a few lampshades I've found, from those which children would love through to classical elegant designs - and a few quirky ones along the way!

Lampshades for Boys
In my experience, boys are harder to find things for than girls but here are just a few of my discoveries from The Old Lamp Shed (who also do bespoke fabric covered lampshades):



Lighthouse Lampshade
Aeroplane Lampshade

Rockets Lampshade
Lampshades for Girls
In keeping with the current popularity of cupcakes (certainly in our house!), why not consider cupcake lampshades?  A small selection from Hunkydory Home:


Pink Cupcake Lampshade
Mini Cupcake Lampshade       












Each with matching cushion!

   

                                    

Other shades to suit little girls include these:

Gorgeous pink giraffe lampshade!


Red Hearts Lampshade

Something a little more elegant!

Here is a selection of elegant shades in plains and patterns .......

Asuka Lampshade


Asuka and Sylvana are both available from Graham & Green

Sylvana Lampshade

















If plain is more your thing, (and you want to push the boat out) you can't go wrong with an elegant silk lampshade like these from Porta Romana:

 Tall Cylinder Shad
Top Hat Shade





Slim Straight Oval Shade


Or, if you secretly long for a bit of pattern but you're not quite bold enough, you could always opt for a lampshade which is patterned on the inside .......

This is available from Not On The High Street (great website full of ideas for presents!)

Silver taupe fabric on the outside with flower detail on the inside

 Maybe 'Retro' is more your thing .......

Here are 2 geometric designs, also from Hunkydory Home for starters
Blue Morp
Retro Diamond Yellow

Or, maybe a bit of 'flower power' is more up your street?  These lovely lampshades are both from The Old Lamp Shed:



Retro Primrose Shade
Retro Arabesque Shade

 Staying with flowers, this will add a splash of colour and a feminine touch:

Drum lampshade in Betty Boyns Bostraze Rose fabric is from The Old Lamp Shed.


Kate Forman (who also has a new shop in London) has some very feminine fabric and wallpaper designs which she has appplied to lampshades (as seen below), waste paper bins, cushions, box files, lever arch files and furniture (all of which will appear in later posts).

A selection of Kate Forman lampshades

A little bit of Vintage Style - these two shades below from The Old Lamp Shed have a certain kind of charm .....
Cavillini Vintage Nest Lampshade

Ephemera Lampshade


















How about something with a bit of personality ......



Union Flag lampshade by Sophiei embellished with co-ordinating handmade flowers (from Not On The High Street)



'Lovely Day in Paris' lampshade from The Old Lamp Shed 




Vintage Airmail Lampshade from
The Old Lamp Shed


And finally, we mustn't forget the man of the house ...... perfect in any study (not just for men!)


Map Lampshade from
The Old Lamp Shed
Newspaper fabric covered
lampshade from
The Old Lamp Shed
               
That's it for now!  Next time, French style furniture .......