Bringing the outside in

I've been looking into contemporary furniture for a project I am doing and came across these cool pebble chairs, called Livingstones by Smarin Design.

Such a fun idea - I can see these working as individual pieces in a modern living room or in clusters in a large spacious area with big windows; blurring the border between inside and outside!

Bedroom inspiration

I have been asked by my friend Clare and her fiancé Andy to help with the design of their flat once it has been extended, which is an honour and also gives me a great opportunity to put into practice what I have been studying for the past year.

The extension they are having means the layout will change completely so there is the potential to do the whole place, however I'm starting with the bedroom to make sure they like my ideas!

First off, I have put together a questionnaire that will form part of the initial consultation. In this, I will ask general questions about the intended use of the room, how they want to feel when they spend time in it etc. There will also be some initial questions on colour.

In addition to the questionnaire I have put together inspiration boards based on three design styles. There are lots of different styles, but I have picked the three that I think will be most suitable for their personality and property. My inspiration for these styles are based on themes covered in Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick's book Decorate (which is an amazing read - highly recommended!).

So here are my inspiration boards:



All images via 10 Rooms, House to Home, Daily Express or Elle Decor

My personal favourite is the Simple theme, especially for the bedroom as for me it is a place to relax and be calm, although I also love Modern Glamour. It will be interesting to see how Clare and Andy feel about them - I will keep you posted on my progress.

Small changes

Oh how lovely it has been to have two back to back bank holidays! Made all the more lovely by the fact I had the three days in between off work! In my time off I did some home improvements on our games room (not quite a games room but it is where the TV is as well as my boyfriend's guitars and boys toys).

I bought this table at an antiques fair in January. I love the embossed brass top - so unusual.

However the embossed brass also means it is a pain to polish. The previous owner had tried and failed, and my attempts weren't much better. And so, I gave it a makeover by spraying it gold and painting the legs black, giving it a much more modern look.

Spray painting is fun! I got a bit carried away after this and gave an ikea desk a bit of bling...

before



after

I also added a picture shelf as the walls were looking too plain.

It's amazing what a difference these small changes make to a room.

Exterior improvements

For the last couple of weekends my boyfriend and I have been decorating (although I prefer the term "transforming"!) the exterior of our flat. This is before:

 

Firstly we painted the front of the house. Unfortunately our budget wouldn't stretch to rendering the window ledge or reshaping the mouldings, but a splash of paint did wonders.

Chosing a colour was a decision that took a while. I wanted a colour that was unique but at the same time, wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. We spent a long time walking around the local area and taking in the colours our neighbours had used on their houses. We found that there were very few brightly coloured houses, and white or magnolia appeared to be the colour of choice. We decided on Dulux Clouded Pearl 01.

There are a couple of things we learned during this process. The first thing is that you are not limited to the exterior paints that are on the shelf at DIY stores. Dulux can mix any of their colours, as well as match any that you find elsewhere.

Secondly, always get sample pots. Just like interior paint, the paint on the charts differs once on the wall. We picked a few colours, painted two coats and checked them at different times of the day (when the wall was in shade and in direct sunlight).

After this was the front wall; the owners before us had added some cut out blocks on to the original wall and as fashionable as this may have been at the time, it was looking very dated and untidy.

An old image from Google street view as I forgot to take a before pic

And so we (well my boyfriend provided the muscle) knocked it down and painted the original wall to match the house.

Finally, we dug up the concrete paving slabs to add more attractive features. I am not the most green-fingered of people, so we were looking at low maintenance decor. And decided on slate and pebbles for the coverage and a monochromatic colour scheme in the window boxes.

Here is the final product, we are very pleased with the results, it is now finished to the same standard as the interior - all this in two weekends!

Next is the front door - hmmm, what colour do we go for?

Modern mouldings

The River Island store on Oxford Street has an imaginative display of plaster ceiling roses:

I love this modern twist on the use of a ceiling rose, although the traditional use is still impressive:

Image via dpmouldings

I am a big fan of the way plaster mouldings can transform a room, creating instant sophistication.

Image via lionheartdesign

Image via hellolovelythings

 And whilst mouldings are usually found in traditional room designs, painting them a different colour to the wall will create a modern look:



Image via sophisticating



Image via mydeco

There are also other less traditional ways to use plaster mouldings. Such as to frame your favourite wall art:

Image via mydeco

Or to add a sense of grandeur to your bed:

Image via dailyexpress

And finally, my favourite is this room, where plaster corbels have been used to create a modern mantelpiece:


Image via housetohome

Life in colour - spring time!

I love this photo - taken at a park near Buckingham Palace; it makes me feel happy and optimistic - just the way spring should make you feel!

Life in colour - Kylie at the O2

Kylie was brilliant and the set was fantastic - apologies for the blurred photography but this doesn't take away from the vibrant colours!