BIID Annual Conference

Yesterday my work colleagues and I left the Hampshire countryside for the day to attend the inaugural BIID Annual Conference - what an interesting event! 

The theme of the conference was 'Celebrating British Design' and a really interesting line up of speakers took part.  It was held at the offices of the Royal Institute of British Architects' building in Portland Place, which is a beautiful building and where my graduation ceremony was held 2 years ago, so it brought back memories for me!  The current President of RIBA, Angela Brady, welcomed everybody and spoke briefly but passionately about the throw away society we live in today and how she believes that all designers, architects included, have a duty to design for sustainability - very inspirational!

The first speaker was Glen Adamson, Head of Research at the V&A and co-curator of the recent exhibition 'Post Modernism: Style and Subversion: 1970 to 1990.  He gave an insightful talk about the position of the British interior within museum practice today.  There is an exhibition celebrating British Design at the VA& which runs until 12th August.

There then followed a really interesting talk by Kathy Lithgow, Head Conservator of the National Trust who looked at how the future is shaped by the past using lots of photographic examples from National Trust houses, some of which I've been to, including Kingston Lacy (which has fantastic interiors) and Avebury which was also the subject of a recent BBC TV series following the National Trust's journey of restoration of the house.

Kingston Lacy

Avebury Manor

After a break for coffee and networking, Rosie Millard was in conversation with Sir Paul Smith and for me, that was the highlight of the day - he was so down to earth and very entertaining.  

Sir Paul Smith

Before lunch Diana Yakeley (President of the BIID) presented a number of Honorary Fellowships to a number of figures who the BIID believe have helped shaped the interior design profession.  They were presented to Dr Paul Thompson (Rector of the Royal College of Art), Graham Watts OBE (Construction Industry Council), Andreas von Einsiedel (Photographer), Zandra Rhodes who unfortunately was unable to be there, and Sir Paul Smith.

After lunch there was a panel debate, the subject of which was "What makes British design worth celebrating?"  Chaired by Paul Finch, the panel members were Dr Paul Thompson, Christine Losecaat (Creative Industries Adviser to UK Trade and Investment) and Sue Timney (Vice President and President Elect of the BIID).

Last to speak was Deyan Sudjic (Director of the Design Museum).  His talk included the challenges of transforming the Commonwealth Institute building into the new home of the Design Museum which is scheduled to open in 2014.

Interior of the Commonwealth Institute building

Diana Yakeley closed the conference and we just had time to grab a quick coffee before the BIID AGM which saw Sue Timney elected as President of the BIID for the next year.

Finally, it was time to party!  We made the short walk (in the sunshine which was a pleasant surprise!) to the fantastic Fritz Hansen showroom in Margaret Street for a welcome glass of something fizzy!

  

My Own Home - Master Bedroom

I thought it was time for a bit of an update!  As is usual for us, we started a project leading up to Christmas.  At the beginning of October last year we de-camped to the guest bedroom, cleared our room completely and ripped out the old fitted wardrobes (something I've been longing to do since moving in 13 years ago!)

So, with the old wardrobes gone, we had quite a lot of (boring) preparation to do/organise such as electrics, plastering the ceiling, coving and fitting new skirting boards.  On the plus side, we do now have underfloor heating in our en-suite bathroom! With the new wardrobes fitted, it was time for the fun bit!

We'd replaced the bed a couple of years ago with an oak bedstead and couldn't justify a new one so, working round the bed, we had new wardrobes fitted which gave us so much extra storage.  I wanted a room which felt more 'grown up' and elegant.  I knew what colours I wanted (that was the easy bit) and collected lots of samples before making my final choice.  I really believe it's much easier to design for other people than for myself - sometimes you can have too much choice!

A selection of the samples I was considering .......

Having decided which fabrics, wallpaper and paint colour to use I had a bit of a selling job to do on my client (ie, my husband!).  I put together a small informal sample board with a couple of rendered sketches to illustrate how I thought it would look.  Visualisations are a great way of communicating a design to a client (including husbands!).

Here is my 'vision' of the way the new room would look, together with a reminder of the old ......

This room really needed dragging out of the 80's!

Having spent ages taking wallpaper off all the walls when we first moved in, I am now slowly re-introducing it, although not on the same scale as it was before and with wallpaper designs which are easier to live with!

It's all in the detail ........

Decoration

Walls painted in Zoffany Sheepskin flat emulsion 

Wallpaper - Zoffany Tours (calico)

Window Treatment

Curtain fabric - Wemyss Heti (Dusk) Silk/Linen
Elephant grey roller blind for privacy and to protect the curtains from sun damage

Trim on roller blind - Wemyss Houles Opaline bead trim

Wemyss Houles Opaline bead trim

Interlined curtains with French pleat heading

Cushions
Square (22") - for the front of the cushions I used Larsen Allure in mineral, and for the backs and piping I used Zoffany Ketti silk in aubergine

Oblong (16" x 20") - Larsen Mood velvet in plum trimmed with Wemyss Houles Opaline bead trim along 2 sides

Mirror

Raines and Willow mirror 

And here's the finished result ......

A few final comments ........





My preference for curtains would always be to have them to the floor, especially in an adult's bedroom, as it just creates a more elegant look.  However, this is not always practical and not a view my husband shares "because the radiator would be behind the curtains when they're closed".  As it happens, if we'd used full length curtains in here (including dress curtains with Roman blind which is another option I was considering), we wouldn't be able to open the drawers on the bedside cabinet so my husband won the argument - this time!  

As for bed linen, I love white but in here I wanted the room to feel warm, so went for ivory which also looks better with the wardrobe doors.  The chenille throw at the end of the bed is really for the cat's benefit!  Cats love to sit 'on' things and I'm trying to get him to sit on the throw and not the bed linen!

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Whilst I'm at it, we do have a blind in the Family Bathroom (finally!)

The fabric I chose for this blind is Romo Quintus in Rocoto from the Fougere collection.  It's a lovely heavy cotton/linen blend, which is also suitable for upholstery. 

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Thanks for visiting! 

Next on my list is my son's bedroom, followed by the guest bedroom - and both by Christmas.  Although with the way this summer's going, they'll both be done by the end of June!

Best of British

As many people in the UK are celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this weekend, here are a few British inspired bits and bobs!

Lovely vintage style Union Jack Bunting from Vintage Amethyst.

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London Eye Pop Up Card, Denim Union Jack notebook and Pink Merino Wool Throw, all from An Angel At My Table

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Enslow three-seat sofa in Mojo in cerise and Spring Tide by Linwood and Naunton in Granite.  

Sofa from Wesley-Barrell.

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Linwood recently introduced a new children's range of fabrics which includes this London's Calling design available in 3 colours.

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The cushions above are made to order and available from Not On The High Street.

These cushions are both from William Yeoward.  Endellion Rose cushion (left) and one especially created to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - hand embroidered Jubilee - Poppy cushion.

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Vintage Style Union Jack Chest from An Angel At My Table.  

Other pieces are available such as waste bin (shown), storage boxes and coasters.

Further similar products can be found on my Pinterest Best of British Board

I hope you've enjoyed our extended weekend, despite the weather - 

but it wouldn't be England without a rainy Bank Holiday weekend!

PINTEREST - I'm addicted!

If you're familiar with Pinterest, you will know what I mean.  But if you've never heard of it, you will wonder what I'm talking about!

Pinterest is a 'virtual pinboard' where you can post images onto 'boards' which you organise into whatever topics you choose.  Not surprisingly, mine are (almost) all to do with interiors but people 'pin' all sorts of things from recipes to shoes including hairstyles, favourite places and craft activities.  You can pin images from the internet (and you own images from your PC) and you can repin images which other people have posted.  

If you're planning a new room scheme, you can pin all your inspirational images onto one board.  You can also browse boards created by other people and use the search facility, so if you're looking for a table lamp for instance, you can search for it in Pinterest.  Clicking on the image will take you to the website from where the picture was originally 'pinned'.  You just need to bear in mind that Pinterest is worldwide and therefore, the original websites may not necessarily be from your home country.

There is an etiquette to follow, and to start pinning you need to request an invite which you can do via the Pinterest site.  You just need a Facebook or Twitter account to set it up but once you're up and running, it can become addictive!

One of my boards

Happy pinning!

London Design Week March 2012

Yesterday I went to Chelsea Harbour with a couple of colleagues from work for the start of London Design Week.  Following a very interesting lecture entitled "Trade Secrets: The Lightbulb Moment" we had a quick visit to a few showrooms before heading back home.

We've seen most of the new Spring collections as the reps have been out to the showroom but the highlight for me yesterday was the new Zoffany Arden collection and we were lucky enough to meet the collection's designer Melissa White.  It's a really lovely collection of wallpapers and fabrics which takes its inspiration from Elizabethan wall paintings of the late 16th century.

Photo by kind permission of Melissa White

In the image above, the painted stripe covers all four walls, including doors, hinges, and the stone fireplace.  It was found in the Merchant's House, Marlborough, Wiltshire and was the inspiration behind Zoffany's Merchant House Stripe wallpaper (shown below in Norsk Blue).  The house was built by Thomas Bayly, a prosperous silk merchant and the painted stripe is thought to represent striped silk hangings. (The Merchant's House is open to the public - for details and opening times please see their website - I shall definitely be making a visit!)

Photo by kind permission of Melissa White

To read more about the inspiration behind 'Merchant Stripe' (and other designs in the collection) please see the April edition of The World of Interiors.  You can also read more on-line on the House & Garden website.

London Design Week opens to the public on Wednesday 14th March and runs until Friday 16th March.

The best bits of this month's magazines

As it's a horrible day outside today, I've decided to spend the day drinking coffee and catching up with the latest interior design magazines.  I'm sure our postman dreads the beginning of the month when all the new magazines come out - and by the time I've finished writing this post, it will probably be summer!

idfx
London Design Week starts next Sunday (11th March) and idfx magazine has an article previewing the spring fabric collections from the more well known fabric houses like Sanderson, Osborne & Little, and Manuel Canovas, together with those which are not so well known like Swaffer, Chivasso, Brentano and Scion (to name a few).

Rainforest by Sanderson

Aurore and Gaspard by Manuel Canovas

Sereno Velvets by Osborne & Little

I've only included images for the new collections of the more well known fabric houses, but it is worth checking out the less well known ones too.  Links below to some of them:

• Brentano
• Chivasso
• Jocelyn Warner
• Sandberg
• Scion
• Swaffer

Also in idfx this month is a feature entitled 'Make Britain Great' asking why we should buy British.  An interesting read, and interesting products too!

The Beardmore Collection has some lovely door furniture for both traditional and more contemporary interiors.



I love these Domino side tables by Somerville Scott:

Original BTC and Davey Lighting have some great lighting products made in the UK.  I'm lucky enough to have the Primo Desk lamp on my desk at work, and we're about to install the Davey spotlights in a project we're currently doing at work.  The one shown has an integral transformer, so it's great for fitting where you don't have a void in which to place the transformer.

Davey low voltage spotlight with  shade
and integral transformer

    

Primo Desk Lamp by Original BTC

Flux Ceramics was established in late 2010.  The ceramics are designed and made by students and postgraduates of the Staffordshire University MA Ceramic Design course.

Cups designed by Flux Ceramics

25 Beautiful Homes

Always good for inspiration, 25 Beautiful Homes showcases some lovely products in its April issue (yes, April and it's only just March!).

The Chandelier and Mirror Company don't just sell mirrors.  They also have furniture, clocks, lighting and other home accessories on their website.  The magazine features the Travolta open bedside table - sadly it's not on the Chandelier and Mirror Company's website yet, but it's worth looking out for.

My favourite thing this month in 25 Beautiful Homes is this Oka rug in gorgeous muted colours.  The Haversham rug measures 180cm x 270cm and is made using a new manufacturing technique to give it an aged look.  It costs £1,895 including VAT.  I haven't told my husband yet, but I have my eye on this for our dining room!

If you're looking for a French style wall light (see my earlier post about French style furniture), the French Wall Light at £64 from Dibor might fit the bill.  Whilst on their site, I found a couple of others too!

Rustic Wall Light

French Wall Light

Silver Wall Light

       

Finally from 25 Beautiful Homes is this 30's inspired Daisy chair from Poltrona Frau.  Shown here in lilac leather, it's also available in different coloured leathers and upholstery fabrics.

Ideal Home

Ideal Home's offerings this month include the Cube rug from Woven Ground.  It's a shaped rug and it comes in two different sizes and shades.

Staying with their colourful theme for the April edition, is this Rasymatto cushion by Marimekko and available from Heal's - and whilst on the Heal's website, I spotted another one!

Marimekko Rasymatto Cushion £58

Unikko Red and Pink Cushion £58

Back to Original BTC, Ideal Home feature the Hector Bibendum pendant lights with coloured cord (shown here with red cord).  These lights retail at £99.50.

Ideal Home are also running an article about Joseph Joseph this month.  If you've never heard of Joseph Joseph, and like bold colours with great, practical design their website is definitely worth a look.  Here are just a few things which caught my eye:

Chopping Boards in case £45

Nest Utensils £25

Bread Bin £45

Ideal Home also found a reproduction Swan chair by Blue Sun Tree.  Originally designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1958 for the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, Blue Sun Tree offer their reproduction in a range of different fabrics and two sizes.  They have just about every imaginable design classic chair (and other pieces of furniture) on their website!

The main theme for Ideal Homes this month is colour and they have suggestions for decorating rooms in red, yellow, blue green and purple and a black and white monochrome scheme in which they have this chair from Andrew Martin:

Finally, they have a feature on statement appliances.  Smeg are no strangers to colouful appliances but it seems you can now get 'white goods' in all the colours of the rainbow!  Much as I love purple, I don't think I could live with a purple oven! The danger with statement pieces like this is that they will date and if you want your kitchen to stand the test of time, I'd opt for white or stainless steel appliances and inject some colour with decoration!  The only exception, would be an Aga who have been producing colourful cookers since 1956 and it's almost expected that you have anything other than cream!

3-Oven  Aga in Pistachio

  

Homes & Gardens

Finally, Homes & Gardens - full of ideas and inspiration for your home and garden.  Like idfx, Homes & Gardens also features the new collections focusing on "this season's vibrant colours and strong patterns" and have grouped them by colour:

Spicy nutmeg and saffron featuring fabrics by:

Cheveyo by Kirkby Design

• Elenbach
• Watts of Westminster
• Kirkby Design
• Romo
• William Yeoward at Designers Guild
• Zoffany
• Nina Campbell at Osborne & Little
• Brunschwig & Fils at GP&J Baker

African Inspired Motifs featuring fabrics by:

• Mark Alexander
• James Hare

Kasuri by Mark Alexander

Fresh Emerald Greens:

Yukatan by Pierre Frey

• Harlequin
• Northcroft Fabrics
• Pierre Frey
• Manuel Canovas at Colefax & Fowler
• Sanderson
• Scion

Multi-coloured Designs:

Zola Stripe by Linwood

• Christian Lacroix at Designers Guild
• Laura Ashley
• Linwood
• Boeme
• Thibaut
• Christopher Farr

Chic Neutrals:

Bloom by Blendworth

• Larsen at Colefax & Fowler
• Dedar
• Casadeco
• Casamance
• Zinc
• Zimmer + Rohde
• Swaffer
• Blendworth

Blue Hues:

Raphaela by Sandberg

• Ferrick Mason at Tissus d'Helene
• Rubelli
• Ralph Lauren Home
• Jim Thompson at Fox Linton
• Nobilis
• Sandberg

The final category in their review of the spring collections is called "Springtime Brights" in which they solely feature Madame Butterfly by Designers Guild.  It's 100% linen and available in one colour - Peony.  It's part of the Kimono Blossom Collection.

The section on fabrics continues with a look at fabric trends concentrating on pattern, texture and colour with input from Tricia Guild, Emily Mould and Ariane Dalle.  The final article in the fabric trends section is a piece which looks at different styles of blinds from formal to modern and relaxed.

From the Shopping article, I like this Hartford chair by Michael Reeves Furniture for Osborne & Little (very similar to the Julep Chair by Designers Guild).  Shown here in O&L Alvare fabric, it costs £1,340. 

Also in the same article is this bright "No 4 Chair" from The Conran Shop:

(This chair is also in an article in Ideal Home)

At work we've noticed that orange and pink (yes - together!) have featured a lot in this season's new collections and this dhurrie rug from The Rug Company is no exception.  It's in their Studio Collection and costs £120 for a rug measuring 153cm x 91cm.  It is available in other colours if this is just a bit too bright for you!

On the same page as the rug above is a book called I Love Stationery.  As a self-confessed stationery addict, and someone who used to make my own gift cards, a copy of this might be making its way to my bookshelf!

Homes and Gardens are also holding a one hour Masterclass on Wednesday 14th March as part of London Design Week.  During the Masterclass garden designer Stephen Woodhams and interior designer Joanna Wood will discuss indoor and outdoor spaces that will work in harmony.

There are pages devoted to lampshades and tables  - here are a couple of lampshades to inspire you and if you're looking for other ideas, see my earlier post Lovely Lampshades or my pinterest board (link above).

Dahlia from Lush Designs

Baby Bird Summer by Yukari Sweeney

As usual, there are inspirational pictures of real homes and the Designer Secrets this month focuses on Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, a designer based in Los Angeles and best known for creating interiors for clients such as Cher and Elton John.

Finally, there is an article about artist Melissa White who, in association with Zoffany, has produced a range of designs inspired by the Elizabethan style of the late 16th century.  You can read the article here: How I became a Decorative Painter.

There is so much more in Homes and Gardens this month, not included here - such as an article by Tricia Guild on Easter Entertaining, tips for hanging pictures, choosing fitted furniture and inspiration for bathrooms and kitchens.  Oh .... and 15% off at Oka so maybe that rug could be in my dining room after all!!

Well, it's not quite summer but it certainly seems like a different season now compared to when I started this post!  I'm off to Chelsea Harbour now for the start of London Design Week to see first hand what's new this season!