Saturday, 17 March 2012

Homebase Goes High Rise

Yes this is an amazing creation - and blowing my own trumpet I had a hand in helping to create this fifty container ten story home for Homebase which includes three gardens, three kitchens, living rooms, bedroom and bathroom.   I've always had a fascination with unique houses stemming from a love of Tracey Island's uber contemporary home as a child so when asked to come up with ideas for the interiors of the Container House I was thrilled and so excited - how could you not want to get involved in this dream challenge??
I had numerous late nights drawing up scale drawings for the interior rooms and trawling the Homebase store in search of the right  sofa or wallpaper to include in the very narrow container rooms and make them look real lived in interiors - a challenge when decorating long thin containers but take a look at the advert and check out the finished results (and take a sneak peak at how it was all made http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomebaseStaticPageSecondLevel?langId=110&storeId=10151&includeName=HBCreateTheLook/homebasetv_makingof.html) and as Homebase say - 'with a little imagination you can create anything!!http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomebaseStaticPageSecondLevel?langId=110&storeId=10151&includeName=HBCreateTheLook/homebasetv.html

Friday, 16 March 2012

A splash of sunshine...

Back in dull dark December in fact just the week before Christmas I styled this shoot for Period Living magazine hoping to turn probably one of the darkest days of the year into a bright spring setting.  With photographer Mark Scott we really went to town on turning up the sunshine..and here are some of the results.    I love this combination of soft yellow, green and white - it's fresh and pretty and a splash of instant sunshine. I fancy the idea of adding some colour to the floor and what better way than one of the Rug Company's amazing creations.  Ok they are a little on the pricy side but then they are a statement piece on your floor and you can take them with you if you move home - so i'd say that was an investment and money well spent.  http://www.periodliving.co.uk/?gclid=CLG1soqN7q4CFQ1lfAodXQgXJg





Monday, 27 February 2012

It's all White..

I've raved about Bodie & Fou many times and here I go again but.. they never fail to please with lovely styled pics and for the ability to feature a  bit of inspiration, fab gift ideas or treats for yourself to ooh and aah over.

 These pics are right up my street - i do love a bit of white - its just timeless effortless chic - and as for the ladder -instant styling idea and shed salvage chic - so i'm off to rummage in the shed.http://www.bodieandfou.com/?gclid=CMjnjenuvq4CFcwTfAod_Ed5XQ







Monday, 20 February 2012

Passion for Prussian

 I'm banging on about it again but that deep dark shade of blue is still showing up topping the fashion stakes and i just can't resist it's inky loveliness in that watercolour favourite Prussian blue - Textile design expert Fi Douglas from Bluebellgray has introduced these delightful painterly patterns into her latest collection - http://www.bluebellgray.com/gallery.php

TASSEL TREND ALERT

I've always been fascinated by trims and trimmings and have spent many happy hours rummaging in the tantalising VV Rouleaux shop http://www.vvrouleaux.com/productcart/pc/web_index.asp stroking the tassels, feathers and all things pretty pretty so I was thrilled to find these amazing trims by passementier Jessica Light.  Her oh so beautiful trimmings have adorned the Sultan of Brunei's throne room as well as she's made belts and bracelets for Vivienne Westwood - pretty cool credentials for starters - Her collections are just stunning and this Nevada collection full of Tribal glam is spot on for the hot tribal trend of the season -  http://www.jessicalight.co.uk/nevada.html.  See Jessica's work at Craft London in March http://craftcentral.org.uk/exhibition-of-emerging-new-talent




Monday, 6 February 2012

A trip up the M1

Birmingham beckoned recently as I was asked by UBM the organisers of Interiors UK  to style the entrance halls at this years exhibition at the NEC. With my team of amazing styling assistants and setbuilders we ate our hearty fry ups in preparation for the hard slog of completing the marathon circuit at the NEC to get all the hall entrances decorated in time for the show opening...
Each hall was styled with a quirky spin on a British theme with items loaned from key exhibitors at Interiors UK who I am extremely grateful to for coming up trumps with my rather large request lists.   A big thanks to India Jane, Content by Conran, Artefact, Nordlux, Halotech Emporium, Bluebone, The New English, Aleal and Illuminati - all items shown in these pics also to Mindy Browns, Libra, Genesis, Original Bookworks (i'll put up some pics for all to see soon...)  Also a big thanks to Wallpaper Direct for supplying some show stopping wallpapers, DoShop for the brill skulls and Ayres & Graces for some fab glitzy picture frames.http://www.interiorsuk.com/








A final and rather large slap on the back as well as a huge thank you has to go to  lovely Beryl Miller for making up the wholly unenviable task - a suit of armour made from fabric.  Beryl slaved over a hot needle and threads and the result was stunning - meet Gaylord, Knight of Interiors UK - Beryl has said - never again!

Fab Fakes


This weeks You magazine heralded the talents of Abigail Brown who makes amazing feathered birds from scraps of fabric.  http://abigailbrown.bigcartel.com/products/   Needless to say I am a big fan of hers and am very jealous of her oh so detailed creations (i fancy having a go but know they would look rubbish!) and not only love her magical creatures but am also loving the whole 'faux' thing going on.   There's a whole host of clever faux finishes around  from clever wallpapers that imitate concrete, wood and metal, fabric imitating croc skin or zebra and those quirky fakes that add a fun touch such as animal heads made from papier mache - so out with the white walls and in with the safari animal print and the trophy head.. go with the faux...

Thursday, 5 January 2012

CREEPY CRAWLIE COOL

As a lover (and stalker) of then shop Anthropologie, i had come across the work of Lou Rota which I love for it's quirky sense of style and unexpected surprises teaming vintage with bugs and beasties,  so now i'm loving her collection of clever miscellany too.  Check out the 'bug' and 'butterfly' wall stickers -perfect for adding a touch to be oh so on trend this spring.http://lourota.com/index.php?route=product/landing





Thursday, 15 December 2011

 Sofa.com  http://www.sofa.com/ has always come up trumps when it comes to finding the perfect sofa for a shoot (thanks to my mate Gav) and they are really on the ball when it comes to being on the pulse with the latest colour themes and trends.  Their new  collaboration with St Judes -  artist designed and made fabrics from Britain is top of my style stakes as it's one of my favourite sites for finding  beautiful screen printed fabrics and accessories perfect for an ooh or an aah  http://stjudes.co.uk/ so now to see them adorning sofas and chairs is just wonderful.

The snowdrop loveseat is covered in Doveflight designed by Mark Hearld but customers can choose any sofa.com model and have it covered in three St Jude's fabric in three colour ways. - just gorgeous!

Saturday, 26 November 2011

Spring in dull dingy November

I've just spent the last few days styling the new beds and linens shots for Feather & Black's spring brochure which as well as working with the lovely F&B team is also a great chance to see what inspiring new products will be in the shops soon - the Sienna Sofa (see the shot with model below) is such a great looking piece of furniture teaming french style chic with a great high street price and a personal favourite is the new gigantic Fulham upholstered bed which would be just the thing for a bit of wow factor in your bedroom -

Lovely Creative Director Andrew shocked us all by turning up on the shoot with his rather strange looking Movember moustache and beard combo - but after our initial shocked expressions and plenty of laughter we all got down to work... I hope you like reading about Andrew's account of the day on the shoot and try not to stare at his self portrait!

http://www.haloassociates.co.uk/2011/feather-black-spring-shoot





Feather & Black Spring shoot

25/112011
It’s difficult to think of a beautiful warm spring as we race into winter. However, that’s what the F&B team has been upto for the last few weeks. Hunting out new locations, casting models and choosing our favourite products from next seasons new range of furniture and linen.
So at 7.30am on a cold misty morning the team start to arrive at Purley Hall near Reading. Its a stunning location, originally built in 1609 – we felt like we were walking into Downton Abbey.
The first hour is spent frantically unpacking… it’s always a relief when everyone and everything make it through the door. Lots of coffee and cake to kick start the day. Thanks to Di  (super stylist) there is always a tasty array of nibbles.
Then the big work starts; getting the right lighting, the right angles. Each individual element of the lighting is worked on separately.
  
Tim and Jose shout at each other through the windows as they create a little bit of spring sunshine through the leaves outside.
  
The new Fulham bed looks fantastic, its the first time we have really seen it in all its glory and all are agreed that its going to be a great seller.
Carolyn stays warm in the kitchen as she prepares Rebecca for the day ahead… it’s an amazing start to the day by 10.30 the first shot is looking good. There is alot required from the days shoot – we are looking for brochure cover options, contents page options, all the promo shots for the Spring campaign and if all goes well we would like to squeeze in a new mattress shot.
The secret to getting great shots is a fantastic team, great products and lots of fun. The constant distraction of Andrew new moustache for Movember fails to distract  many for too long. (they are not his real glasses)
We are trying a new format for the contents spread… the shot is amazing my favourite of the day
Andrew and Laura spend most of their afternoon with their faces glued to the monitor watching a variety of setups pouring in.
Then we open the doors and let in the freezing air as Rebecca pretends to be warm in what is becoming the coldest day of November so far. The shot is lovely, just what we need for our window posters.
   
No time to stop as Tim is shooting Di is setting up the next shot on the other side of the room, the new trunks are very exciting. The accessories range at F&B has really developed over the last 12 months – allowing us to try lots of new combinations.
We get to 4.00pm and now its dark outside… one last shot to do. The feathers are really starting to fly as Rebecca is blowing them all over the place. It takes a few goes to get it just right – but at 4.45 we are done. Now things really get busy we have 15 minutes to pack up and get out before the 5.00 deadline.
Sitting in the car at 5.10pm we made it  – already the conversation slides towards what we are shooting for summer…

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Written by Andrew



Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Hot off the scalpel..



Looking at the Natural History Origin of Style site (see previous post) led me to this amazing work from Helen Musselwhite which really is worthy of a good stare for at least five minutes per image just to take in all the intricate detail and beautiful workmanship.  I do love a paper cut and Helen's work will be on my ever growing wish list of purchases... http://www.helenmusselwhite.com - or perhaps i should be off to Hobbycraft to get a scalpel and paper ....

Autumn Treats


I know we should all be starting (or finishing) our Christmas shopping but I wouldn't mind a sneaky purchase  for myself (or loud hint for xmas prezzies) from any of the beautiful things on the Natural History Origin of Style Collection  From cushions to wall hangings and notebooks (could almost inspire me to pen a Period Drama) - each item is just beautiful  - good for a bit of ooh factor on a rainy morning.  http://origin-of-style.com/homewares/products.php?section=Home%20Accessories