It's big, it's bold it's unbreakable - it's industrial chic!

No need for coasters or dainty cups and saucers with the heavy duty industrial furniture trend thats getting bigger by the day and is even in my high street mecca - John Lewis which means it's more than just a passing phase! - it's the perfect solution if you're a bit on the careless side and tend to break things as this style statement is solid sturdy and beefy - lovely!

 surprise surprise - H&M home!! - fab

 - John Lewis - loving the stools..http://www.johnlewis.com/

 elemental uk - great for weird and wonderful vintage finds

http://www.elemental.uk.com/antique/category

Pedlars -  a fab mix of vintage and clever copies

http://www.pedlars.co.uk/

Spring Bedding..

It's been grey and grim outside with horrible early morning starts scraping ice off the car but - all made worthwhile with a lovely job styling the new spring summer bedlinen ranges for Christy which are soon to be on the high street -http://www.christy-towels.com/Bed-Linen-p-1-c-250.html along with a special collection in conjunction with English Heritage featuring designs inspired by the wonderful historic houses Down House and Eltham Palace.  It was great to get to know the Christy team and see how their talented designers Rachel and Dominique come up with their inspiration for the designs - 

 Hydrangea - from the spring summer range

 Emma - a design inspired by Charles Darwin and Down House  - 

some pretty details from the shoot

Clarice - inspired by Eltham Palace

Crafting it

 Rummaging through Etsy as you do and I came across this cushion from All the Luck in the world http://www.etsy.com/people/alltheluckintheworld?ref=ls_profile but what caught my eye were the vases on the wall - really quirky  and a great idea too - papier mache here I come...

Feeling Folksy

Folk art is one of the latest trends on the high street and i'm loving these naive handmade artworks by Chicago based artist Dolan Geiman.  Made from old scraps collected from his surroundings he recycles, mixes painting with collage and are then gives the pieces his unmistakable weathered look -  -http://dolangeiman.com/artwork.php

Michelin Magic..

My trip to the Conran Shop on Friday not only proved fruitful  snapping up some of the sale items at bargain prices perfect for a shoot I am working on  but meant I could also have a good look at the 100 years of Michelin House exhibits in the store which are lovely and definitely worth celebrating such a fab building which has to be one of my favourites in London. . - The Michelin prints are just amazing too - the 100the birthday one is designed by Marta Dlugoleckla from The Royal College of Art - i'm adding one of those to my wish list and while I'm at it one of the original ones too -
http://whatsgoingonatconran.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/conran-a-poster-to-celebrate-100-years-of-michelin-house/

Junkofiles unite..

I'm always taking a sneaky peak at Sibella Court's amazing website http://www.thesocietyinc.com.au/category/gallery/ (she's a brilliant Australian stylist - so do have a browse if you haven't heard of her yet as her site and shop TheSocietyInc has plenty of pics to drool over)  -As a stylist myself it's great to see that i'm not just the only nutter to collect shells, stones, keys, cotton reels, string, bits of old paper and the list goes on and on much to my other half's amusement- so if you do have a penchant for finding the 'odd' bit of stuff then take a look... 

Admiration with a capital A

I've always been a fan of Andrew Martin http://www.andrewmartin.co.uk/home.php?page=home from their fab shop in Walton Street  where you can always find something truly aaa-maa-zing and unexpected for a shoot as well as they always have the most dramatic showstopping stands at all the trade exhibitions which really do take some beating.

 I seem to have been featuring wallpapers constantly on the blog lately so thought it the perfect opportunity to add these Andrew Martin ones to my list of favourites. Wallpaper not surprisingly, as a backlash to all those plain pastel walls of recent years is seeing a mass revival.   Designers have just gone wallpaper crazy with fantastic inventive and unique designs springing up all over the place - so... keep watching and i'll keep looking.

Time for a Stitch or two..

Although i'm rather biased when it comes to Tapestry as my friend Emily Peacock http://www.emilypeacock.com in my opinion is the Tapestry Queen - i just couldn't resist these amazing designs from Elizabeth Bradley inspired by works at the V&A http://www.elizabethbradley.com/index.php/kits/ - i'm loving the country house style -bring back the Victorian era - at least then i'd have the time to get stitching. 

Sightseeing without the crowds..

After the glamour and glitz of Christmas I'm loving this refreshingly cool  'Festival' wallpaper by Mini Moderns which celebrates the 1951 Festival of Britain with its fab geometric and abstract designs showing the iconic Skylon, The Royal Festival Hall and the Dome of Discovery. -so you can sightsee from your armchair -  http://www.minimoderns.com/products/-festival-wallpaper

Luxury at your feet

When it comes to choosing flooring, I've always championed carpet as the most luxurious and comfortable surface  to have underfoot,  and being my flooring of choice what could be better than carpet made from our very own home produced British Wool.   I was delighted recently when asked to come up with some images on decorating trends for the  British Wool Marketing Board Look Book - so looking ahead to spring Chalky Pastels are making their mark on the flooring front in a big way.   For carpet inspiration take a sneaky look at the new (just up and running)  image gallery..http://www.aboutwool.com/lookbook/...  watch this space for more ideas on the way..

Deer Deer..

I've always been one to try my hand at any craft going and get a bit of an adrenaline rush just from going through the doors of a Hobbycraft so with tapestry being a big trend at the moment you can imagine my delight at seeing these ingenious products made using vintage tapestries by Frederique Morel.  As well as the fab furniture and accessories they have a range of eye catching sculptures including this Stag head that i love- this one is called 'Jeff"but at nearly £2000 he's quite dear. (sorry!).. or take a look at their website for ingenious tapestry covered furniture and sculpture -just amazing..http://www.frederiquemorrel.com/

Dreaming of that lottery win..

 I just can't resist  mentioning my favourite shop of the moment Anthropologie yet again as i return from a bit of late night shopping (well window shopping - can't actually afford much in there - just wander round touching everything longingly)  ...it's full of all sorts of weird and wonderful things that you don't see in any other shop around it's a real treat.  Next time you're in the vicinity of Regent Street go and have a drool..http://www.anthropologie.eu

Super Store 21

Forget Primani and check out the latest high street store to offer bargains galore - If you haven't heard of Store 21 then now's the time to get in the groove for some great home accessories at a snip - these lanterns are £7 each, cushions from a fiver and xmas decs from £1.50.. prices to brighten up even the most bah of humbugs..

Next Big Colourscheme

I spent a freezing evening in Manchester last week for Living Etc magazine at the Next store in Barton Square demonstrating Christmas decorating ideas for tablesettings, gift wrapping and all sorts of Christmassy things.  The range of products this year is fab and i've got my eye on a few bits and bobs myself -i'm usually one for trad colourschmes but this seasons teal and green is stunning - quite fancy grouping together a whole load of the glass candlesticks on my table... http://www.next.co.uk

Christmas Scene..

I do like a nice nativity scene and until recently had an ancient but treasured family set until baby Jesus had a mishap and got broken ..(note to self must replace!!) ..  I saw these fun Nativity Russian dolls on My Deco.com (from John Lewis) - time to get creative with that cardboard box and some straw..

http://mydeco.com/p/john-lewis-nativity-russian-dolls-set-of-6/GB00001CH5POESPG5YZRTQCAFIQBXM5U2R2IBTGK/