Top tips for buying & arranging flowers for your home

Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of blog posts recently; I’ve been manically busy with client work.  Can’t complain, quite the contrary but something has to give and it’s usually my blog.  I am continually asked by friends and clients to write a blog post about how to arrange flowers in the home so here goes.

There are so many places to buy flowers – florists, markets, outdoor stalls, petrol station forecourts, local shops etc – but it’s the supermarkets that have usurped most of these outlets. How many of you are regularly tempted to buy flowers when you are in your local supermarket? I for one am guilty of it – the flowers are so reasonably priced and always fresh so it’s hard to resist the temptation. However the selection is limited and there are always so many awful mixed bunches of flowers (even worse in petrol station forecourts) where they mix one of every colour and every variety.  Avoid these like the plague and NEVER give them as gifts to someone who loves flowers!

But what do you do with the flowers when you get them home?  So many people just jam a bunch into a vase with some water and hope for the best.  No wonder they never look good and don’t last as long as they should.

Here are my top tips for flowers in the home:

1. Best shaped containers have a narrower opening than the base - try to buy containers like this as they allow the flowers to fan out better. However for flowers like daffodils, narcissi and tulips a straight sided container works well as it will emulate how they grow, straight!

2. Monotones work best – buy flowers that are one colour as monotones create the most impact. Of course there are exceptions to this rule - mixed colours of the SAME flower, for example, tulips are rather lovely in mixed colours though I still prefer them in monotones or two colours (as you can see in the images below). 

3. Prepare your flowers well before putting in a vase - strip off a lot of the foliage on the stems so that it isn't sitting in the water getting smelly!  Also, the foliage takes nutrients so if there is less the flower will have a better chance of survival.  With roses, remove any thorns as they also take nutrients.  Always cut the stems on a diagonal and with any woody stems (stock, hydrangeas, blossom, pussy willow or any other hard stemmed flowers or greenery) cut a slit vertically up the stem as well, about half an inch (see image below).

4. Don't waste anything - when stripping the stems of foliage there are often offshoots. Don't throw these away, put them in little vintage bottles on a window ledge or a small vase. I waste nothing!  Freesias and hyacinths are classic examples where they have a lot of offshoots that look like they will never flower but usually they will.

5. Keep the vase clear of water marks - I add a drop of bleach to the water AFTER I've filled the vase (if you do it before you add the water it will create a lot of froth) and this stops the water smelling and any water marks on the vase (crucial with glass containers). I also add a sachet of flower food.

6. Keep it simple! - Don't always feel you have to add foliage to flowers that have their own foliage as it just detracts from their beauty.  Less is definitely more! Flowers should look as if they are growing especially spring flowers like tulips and daffodils. You would never see Eucalpytus growing in the middle of a clump of daffodils! Same with roses, they have beautiful leaves so don't add anything else.

7. Try and buy flowers that have their own foliage -  They look so much more natural in a vase with their own foliage. I'm particularly fond of spring flowers and dahlias with their own foliage.  Unfortunately most of the retailers sell them without leaves but I've managed to find them in my local florist and local market stall.

8. Use flowers to style a room - flowers are a great way to add colour to a room but don't forget they can also add texture, height, scent and of course to create a focal point.  Here are some examples of how I've used flowers in my home this week:

Here you can see vases of tulips and blossom in the sunlit sitting room.  It's like bringing the outside in !

The pussy willow adds drama, texture and height to the mantlepiece

I just had to capture this gorgeous blue anenome in this little blue vintage jug bathed in winter sunlight. 

This vintage preserving jar of boughs of white blossom adds texture and a focal point. The blossom is nearly over but the green shoots are appearing so I'll leave it for another month.

This is a little vintage jug of anemones enhanced with off-shoots from long stems of wax flowers and Ericas that I bought to fill some vintage bottles

9. Do it on a budget - it doesn't have to cost you a lot of money to style your home with plants and flowers. If you buy carefully and look after your flowers you can create multiple containers of beautiful flowers, some large and some very small, that will last you several weeks (or even longer).  Here are some that I have in my home currently, both inside and outside.

I hope these tips will help you to enjoy buying flowers for your home.  If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always happy to help!

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Look at the outdoors to inspire your interior style

Hi everyone. We've had the most amazing few days in London rather like in the Nordics - freezing temperatures, clear blue skies, no wind and the most incredible sunrises and sunsets.  It's been such a mild winter until recently so a proper cold spell was long overdue.  However it only lasted until yesterday and today it rained and the temperatures rose to a balmy 11 degrees Celsius!

I took full advantage of the glorious sunny days being out and about with my Nikon D5500 DSLR camera. I'm still a total novice with it but it's less intimidating now and I'm actually starting to enjoy using it.  It is my first ever DSLR camera hence the trepidation.   But the photos you take on a DSLR (and NOT on auto setting I stress!) are fantastic compared to a compact camera aka point-and-shoot.

On Tuesday I'm sitting at my kitchen table working away when I suddenly felt the urge to be out in the sunshine taking photos so I donned layer after layer of warm gear (I ride a little Vespa moped so keeping warm is always a challenge) and headed to the Chelsea Physic Garden as it's snowdrop week there.  I am a member of this wonderful little garden which is older than Kew Gardens. It is a walled garden in the heart of Chelsea, founded in 1673 by the Worshipful  Society of Apothecaries for its apprentices to study the medicinal qualities of plants. It became one of the most important centres of botany and plant exchange in the world. It really is an oasis in the heart of Chelsea, flanked by the Embankment (constant traffic) and Royal Hospital Road which is quite a busy road, but you are hardly aware of the traffic once you are inside the walls of the garden.

I spent two hours wandering around photographing the plants.  It's winter so you wouldn't expect to see much in flower.  However, there were spring bulbs in flower and two of my favourite plants in full bloom and creating both a visual and sensual impact - Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) and Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill'. 

I always use the outdoors to inspire my interior design and styling.  Here are a few tips to help get you started:

1. Look at the way the colours of flowers work together in gardens. For example, you may not dream of using purple & orange or pink & orange in a colour scheme but they work brilliantly outdoors.  If you are afraid of colour, do some "interior gardening" and bring indoors plants and flowers in bright colours (even clashing colours). This is an inexpensive way of introducing colour and if you can't cope with the colour you can just remove it!!

2. Look at the textures and layering in a garden as these add so much interest.  Most people never think of this when styling their homes so everything is very one-dimensional.  Stimulate the sensesby aiming for at least three different textures - introduce these with cushions, throws, rugs, lighting etc. For example, glass, wool and velvet - a chandelier, a sheepskin rug and velvet cushions - and voila, you have textures and layering.

3. Never stop looking at the outdoors and visually framing scenes as if they were rooms.  This can really help when you are trying to decide how to style a room. For example, different heights are really important - try using floor lamps, tall vases of flowers or plants on a mantelpiece and compilations of artwork and furniture of different heights. 

4. And don't forget weights of colour. We are environmentally conditioned to think that darker colours should go lower down, something to do with the earth beneath our feet and the lightness of the sky and air above. so we are subconsciously emulating the outdoors with which we are both familiar and comfortable. However, it doesn't have to be the rule of thumb and there are a lot of people bucking the trend and painting walls & ceilings in dark colours and having a lighter coloured flooring.  Either way, remember to mix up the shades of colour.

Enough said, and now I want to share with you some of the photos I took at the Chelsea Physic Garden, the best of them. It's a visual feast of colours and textures and hopefully will stimulate you to look at your interiors differently. Please note that these photos are all unfiltered, not Photoshopped, exactly as I took them on my Nikon.

Frozen Pond

Frost on leaves

Frozen lily pond

Dried Artichokes

Wintersweet reaching for the sky

Heavenly scent

Wintersweet

Icy paving stones

Daphne bush

Daphne

Heavenly scent

Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill'

Absolutely spectacular and you should have smelt the heady scent

Just look at the mass of flowers on the Daphne bholua

Native fern from my country (NZ)

Native fern of NZ

Mimosa (wattle to us Antipodeans!)

This was a plant for sale. Mimosa isn't in flower currently but I had to photograph it as it reminded me of home. We never brought it inside when I was growing up as it was supposed to bring bad luck!

Kowhai (New Zealand native)

This was a plant for sale. There is a huge Kowhai tree in the gardens but it's not the time of year to flower. I had to photograph this plant as it reminded me so much of home

Friendly robins everywhere

Icy pond

Resident cat - great tail light!

Dusk in the garden

Beautiful houses overlooking the garden

Beautiful houses overlooking the garden

Battersea Bridge at dusk

I hope you enjoyed looking at these photos and that they have inspired your interior styling.  If you are London based and would like some help/advice, give me a call. I offer an initial free consultation and then I charge by the hour so you can use me as little or as much as you wish.

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Make your New Year's Resolutions enjoyable!

Happy New Year everyone. As you may have noticed, I took a couple of weeks' break from blog posting over the festive period.  This was due a busy social calendar and also I was helping my older son pack up his life in London and move to Sydney to live, where my other son has been living for over two years.  It's a weird feeling to have one's children all living on the other side of the world; now I know how my parents in New Zealand felt with all three of their children living 12,000 miles away. However technology has moved on from when we left home and communication was restricted to letters, faxes and (land line) phone calls. With Skype, Facetime and free calls via tools like Whatsapp and Viber, the distance feels much smaller especially when you can see your children on your phone or computer.  Hey ho, at least I have a good reason to visit Sydney regularly!

I'm sure many of you have made serious lists of new year's resolutions.  There are all the usual things that people have on their list of new year's resolutions, the self-flagellation things like no alcohol for January, joining a gym, losing weight, not spending any money and so on.  I'm of the opinion that our new year's resolutions should be about doing things we enjoy especially creative things, stretching ourselves by getting out of our comfort zones.  For example, I'm going to learn how to dance salsa even though I'm a lousy dancer.  I know I'll enjoy it even if I don't master all those sexy hip movements!!

Below are five suggestions for some new year's resolutions that are both enjoyable and creative and will also develop you by making you push the boundaries:

1. Learn how to paint furniture - up-cycle your own items, those already in your home or ones you find at junk shops, markets or auctions. Find your nearest Annie Sloan stockist and sign up to an Annie Sloan Workshop to learn how to paint furniture with confidence and to achieve a professional finish.  I did the workshop three years ago at Phoenix on Golborne which is a fabulous shop and one of my regular haunts. I love the fact that you just slap on the paint - no sanding or undercoating - and eureka, you have transformed a piece of furniture!  You can paint any surface including silver, ceramic, wood, metal, walls etc. The day after I did the workshop I was so inspired I painted my mahogany sideboard which I had actually planned to get rid of.  I started with a coat of Aubusson Blue (my favourite colour) and then a coat of Florence - I adore both of these colours.  Then distressed it with a coat of clear wax, then dark wax and finally another coat of clear wax. It was so much fun transforming the sideboard and gave me a warm fuzzy feeling when friends and family paid me a lot of compliments!!  At the end of this blog you will find links to other items I've painted. Please sign up to an Annie Sloan workshop; you won't regret it.

Before

After

2.  Transform a room in your home with a strong colour - most people are terrified of colour and stick to decorating rooms with neutrals.  If you are one of these people, be brave and have some fun - transform a downstairs loo or walk in pantry or cupboard in a bold, strong paint colour or fabulous extravagant wallpaper. Loos are great places to have real fun with decorating.  Here are a couple of ideas: Farrow and Ball 'Stiffkey Blue' is a stunning darkish blue paint and looks stunning on walls.  You can also paint the ceiling and skirtings in the same colour or contrast these with white to complement the white loo and basin.  Or paper the walls with one of the divine Cole and Son Fornasetti II Acquario wallpapers (several colourways though I'm partial to the black background one).  Both these ideas can be seen in the two images below. 

3.  Take classes in something fun and creative - I've signed up salsa classes!  I'm no dancer and I know this is right out of my comfort zone but I am sure it will be really enjoyable (eeek!!).  I'm also going to learn how to play bridge. I've always thought bridge was for the "oldies" as I associated it with my grandma and mother but I'm constantly being proved wrong; it seems to be quite trendy these days and it is great for the brain!

4. Buy more flowers and plants for the home - I bang on about having flowers in the home in many of my blog posts (it's the florist in me!).  Flowers & plants are not only beautiful but they can be therapeutic to have around as they always make you feel happy.  I have them in most rooms and often they actually make me smile when I enter a room and see a vase of beautiful blooms.  They are also a great way to introduce colour into a neutral colour scheme. Be brave, be bold - buy purple and orange tulips and put them in the same vase as I love to do (my two favourite colours); pink and orange roses in the same vase; an orchid plant in the bathroom.  Just three suggestions. I'm not a huge fan of green plants but I do love flowering spring plants like hyacinths and daffodils so buy some of these when they are in season and put them in pretty pots around the house.

5. Be kind to yourself - Have a regular beauty treatment - I have found a local spa that offers a half hour back & neck massage for only £20 and the girl who does the treatment is absolutely superb.  I feel totally "filleted" after the massage and they always encourage me to chill out afterwards on their reclining sofas with a herbal tea for a half hour.  I struggle to get up after that and go home!!  I cannot stress enough how important it is to treat yourself - a manicure, pedicure, massage or other (just not a waxing as that's self-flaggation in my book !!!!!).

I hope you will consider some or all of the above five suggestions for your new year's resolutions.  Just remember to love yourself and you deserve to enjoy life a bit more. So less of the self-flaggation and more of the above tips!!

I'd love to hear of any resolutions that you have on your list that involve enjoyment and creativity as well as pushing you out of your comfort zone.

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Tips for decorating your home at Christmas

Christmas is only three days away!  If you haven't finished decorating your home here are some tips on preparing your home for the festive season:

1. Start the festive feel outside the front door with a Christmas wreath on the door. It's all about curb appeal!  This is a lovely welcome to anyone coming to visit.  Last year I decided to have a different sort of wreath so I bought a dried hydrangea one (see image below). This year I opted for a more traditional wreath made from fresh Norwegian spruce and decorated with real cones, dried oranges and apples to which I added some cinnamon sticks which exude a heady scent of spice.

2. Ensure you continue the Christmassy feel with a ta-dah moment once you enter the front door. I chose to do this with red Amaryllis in a tall vase and coloured lights (battery powered). 

3. Use fresh flowers and greenery in abundance.  I have a huge vintage preserving jar of holly in my hall and a large vase of scented Longi lilies in the sitting room and another in the kitchen. Don't forget poinsettias as they always create a splash of colour if you group them together. I prefer the white ones so have a couple of tiny plants which just one flower on each! 

4. You always need a pièce de résistance, a large Christmas tree. My preference is for a real tree but there's nothing wrong with an artificial one.  It needs to be placed where its beauty is maximised and can be seen from various angles and ideally reflected in a mirror.  As children we looked up at the tree so I ensure that my two sons can always look up at the tree so it needs to be taller than them - we're up to a seven and a half foot tree now!  I tend to decorate my tree in two colours rather than multi-coloured. This year it is silver and glass with pops of purple.

Decoration from The White Company

Purple cone from Designers Guild

I bought five of these beautiful sparkly stars from Petersham Nurseries this year. 

This vintage decoration is from local shop Quirky Dovetail

Another beautiful glass bauble from The White Company

5. If you have children around over Christmas make sure there are decorations that can be appreciated by children. I have a little faux tree from The White Company that I place on a table in the hall and all the decorations are geared to children.  I also have five little straw angels with musical instruments that I bought in a Christmas market in Bratislava that children love.

My snowy owl is from Jayne Copperwaite Flowers, my local florist. I have another one on the main Christmas tree.  I love the expression on his face!

This comical little felt bird is a new addition on this tree from Petersham Nurseries

I bought this rooster at Daylesford

Little felt robin from Daylesford

Petersham Nurseries

Another cute decoration from Petersham Nurseries

Little straw angel musicians from the Christmas market in Bratislava

5. Continue the festive theme by decorating your mantle pieces, stair rails, mirrors and other available surfaces.  I bought a lovely metal tree with glass tea light holders from Petersham Nurseries which I placed on my mantelpiece with sprigs of fresh spruce at its base.

These stems of faux leaves and pearls are from William Yeoward

The little metal tree with glass tea light holder that I bought this year in Petersham Nurseries

I'd love to hear how you decorate your home for Christmas so do send me some comments.  May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

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Find inspiration for Christmas at Petersham Nurseries

Hi everyone. I guess you are all frantically preparing for Christmas - decorating your homes and trying to decide what gifts to buy and what food you will eat.  I got off to a late start this year so on Friday I decided I needed some inspiration. So I headed to my favourite mecca for inspiration and soul soothing, Petersham Nurseries.  For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, I'm a sucker for Petersham and I've done quite a few blog posts on it. They are usually highly visual posts i.e. few words and loads of images, because Petersham is all about visual stimulation.  I therefore have decided that what you all need is few words and loads of gorgeous photos to feast your eyes on.  Hopefully they will inspire you on how to decorate your homes and your Christmas trees and also what gifts to buy. If you are lucky enough to live in London or the surrounding area, jump in the car and head over to Petersham.  Take a tray of coffee and cake into one of the glasshouses or a tray of lunch depending when you arrive.  Here's my coffee and delicious apple cake. Don't you just love these vintage painted distressed metal tables & chairs?

I took my new Nikon DSLR camera this time and spent three hours practising my photographic skills. I hope you are impressed with some of them; I'm very much a beginner but I'm really enjoying the learning curve!

I hope you enjoyed that.  Now it's back to the grind of lists and shopping. Bring on the festivities! 

I'd love to get some feedback from you about how you prepare your homes for Christmas so please write to me and I promise to respond!

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Inspiring locals with my 'Colour in the Home' talk

Hi Everyone, I guess you are in the throws of starting to decorate your homes for Christmas and furiously buying presents. It's a lovely time of year; I love all that anticipation. 

Last week I gave a talk on 'Colour in the Home' at the local interiors shop where I work two days a week, Quirky Dovetail.   This is a lovely local interiors shop where I've been working (running the shop) part-time for the last three years.  We specialise in up-cycling old furniture and painting it in Farrow and Ball neutral paint colours as well as selling antique and vintage items and homewares.  The event at which I spoke was our annual Christmas shopping evening which is always well attended by regular clients, new clients and friends.  Given that I am an interior decorator and colour consultations are a crucial part of my services, and also I'm absolutely passionate about colour, I decided to give a half hour talk on how to use colour in the home.  The majority of our clients are afraid of colour so I wanted to show them how they could inject some colour into a neutral colour scheme.  Grey is definitely the trend currently and many people paint rooms grey, add grey flooring and furniture but then wonder why the room looks bland and insipid.  I hope I inspired them enough to introduce some colour; the feedback after my talk certainly gave that impression!

Given that Quirky Dovetail paint furniture in Farrow and Ball paint, I used the six Farrow and Ball neutral families as the basis for my talk.  There are so many colour brands and each paint chart has way too many colours but I like the fact that Farrow and Ball have created these six neutral families to make our lives easier when selecting a colour scheme. And Farrow and Ball paint is particularly lovely with such high levels of pigment and such depth of colour.

I know the word 'neutral' can sound really dully and boring, even a bit of a cop-out to some of you, however neutrals are easy to live with, elegant and un-demanding if they are used correctly.  It's all about how you put the neutral shades together as to whether the effect is sophisticated or insipid.

I prepared a board for each of the Farrow and Ball neutral families and I included some accent colours and also a couple of fabrics to create a sort of mood board so that the audience could imagine how these could work in a room.

For those of you are not familiar with the Farrow and Ball neutral families, they are:

Traditional Neutrals - Soft grey-green tones, sophisticated - Lime White, Old White, Slipper Satin, Off White. Suggested accents: Light Gray, Mouse's Back, Pigeon

Yellow-based Neutrals - Creamy undertones, prettiest group, country feel - White Tie, New White, String, Matchstick. Suggested accents: Cord, Cat's Paw, Tanner's Brown, Mouse's Back or for a country scheme try Cooking Apple Green, Cook's Blue and Rectory Red

Red-based Neutrals - Red undertones, warmest group - Pointing, Dimity, Joa's White, Oxford Stone. Suggested accents: London Stone, London Clay, Eating Room Red

Contemporary Neutrals - Lilac undertones, appear grey, add edge but retain warmth - Wimborne White, Strong White, Skimming Stone, Elephant's Breath. Suggested accents: Dovetail, Charleston Gray, Pelt

Easy Greys - Neither too warm nor too cool, delicate gauzy appearance - Wevet, Ammonite, Cornforth White, Purbeck Stone. Suggested accents: Mole's Breath, Railings, Stiffkey Blue

Architectural Cool - Cool with blue undertones, have architectural edge - Blackened, Dimpse, Pavilion Gray, Plummett Suggested accents: Down Pipe, Railings, Stiffkey Blue

Here are my boards of the six neutral families and accents:

I also created some separate colour schemes on smaller boards again with a complementing fabric and these were pinned to the reverse of the presentation board for viewing after my talk.

We had a full house for my talk and the evening was animated and sociable fuelled by plenty wine and food and lots of shopping!  Never the most flattering when you are being photographed talking animatedly and passionately and waving your arms around but here goes .......... !1

I would love to hear how you have introduced colour into your home and what paint brand and colours you have used. Or if you have any questions you would like to ask me, don't hesitate to get in contact.

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An invite to an exclusive blogger event

Hi everyone. I had the pleasure of being invited by India Jane to an exclusive blogger preview event today, Tuesday 1st December, at their flagship store in Kings Road, Chelsea, London.  For those of you not familiar with India Jane,  it's a family-owned home interiors business which was founded in 1992.  Their signature style embodies the understated elegance of updated classics and sleek lines of contemporary sophistication. They have ten stores in the UK but none abroad, at least not that I'm aware of. There were five of us (all ladies!) handpicked discerning bloggers of interiors!!  We were given a talk by their head of Marketing and PR, the very charming James Neil, on the key trends and latest products of India Jane while being offered bubbly and nibbles.  We were also offered 15% discount on everything we purchased and it was very much the embarrassment of the choice as to what to buy as it all looked so incredibly inviting, beautiful and luxurious.  And if that wasn't sufficient, they offered us a goodie bag when we left which I discovered this evening when I got home, contained a selection of gorgeous India Jane homewares.  I know Christmas hasn't come yet but I felt as if all my Christmases had come at once! 

I adore this time of year when the shops are dressed and styled to the hilt. Indian Jane is certainly no exception!  I'm no stranger to India Jane; I have a house full of their furniture, mirrors, soft furnishings, accessories and lighting (I have no less than five of their chandeliers in my home!). However I never tire of browsing one of their stores as they are styled within an inch of their lives but with the utmost taste.  Glitz and glamour but understated and refined. What more could you want?!

I took some photos on my iPhone but they aren't the greatest quality (says the gal who has just done a course in DSLR photography!) so do excuse the poor quality of some of the shots. I think I was overcome with the emotion of trying to decide what I could afford to buy when all I wanted to do was transport the entire shop to my home!

 India Jane is one of those shops, you have to buy something. I've never left empty handed! I'd love to hear about any interiors local shop that you frequent and the things they sell that you cannot live without. 

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Another inspiring day at Petersham Nurseries

Well, I'm not sure what season this really is as it's nearly as warm as late summer and we are already at the end of October. Talk about Indian Summer - it's last way beyond the end of September. This weather is unprecedented - warm (up to 20C) and no wind or rain. The trees are the most incredible colours, the best autumn colours in many years due to this late warmth. 

It was a stunning, sunny day up to 19C last week so I decided it was time for another pilgrimage to Petersham Nurseries which is one of the most inspiring places in London for me.  I get trigger happy with both my iPhone camera andmy compact Panasonic camera as there are so many beautiful things to photograph.  The shop displays are styled so well and the use of plants and flowers in the styling is superb.

And of course the food in the cafe is wonderful so my friend and I arrived in time for morning coffee and a huge slab of cake, browsed the gardens, glasshouses and shop for two hours and then returned to the cafe for a tray of lunch dishes to share. 

I've decided to devote most of this blog post to images, a veritable optical feast.  Most of the images speak for themselves.  I hope you derive as much pleasure and enjoyment from the images as I did seeing everything in person.  There's lots to learn about styling in the home from these images so take note!!

I'll start with a selection of photos of how they styled some of the public spaces - the cafe where you queue to get your food, the loos (!) and the glasshouses where you can take your food on trays to eat. 

Trough of plants on the counter in the cafe. Did you notice the lovely white French soup bowls on the shelf behind?

My friend Nick in the glasshouse where we were having coffee and cake.  I am not a lover of marigolds but a terracotta pot of them on the table looked gorgeous

These gems of vintage framed prints are actually in one of the loos!!!  I so want to have them in my house!!!!

This beautiful trough of plants is outside the loos to welcome you! Look at the stunning mix of greens including the silvery greens and the way they complement each other and work so well with the purple violas

An urn of my favourite combination of colours - purple and orange - which sits in the glasshouse where you can sit and eat

This is a Plectranthus and was grown from three tiny plants back in May !!!  It is absolutely beautiful

The zinc-topped tables in the glasshouses are beautifully and simply styled with a mixture of plants, cut flowers and a few Halloween pumpkins. See also next two images

Note the cyclamen plant at the bottom of the image. Its cleverly been wrapped in sphagnum moss and chicken wire. Very effective.

Another group of images follows:

This is the garden where they grow vegetables for the kitchen and also some of the flowers used to decorate the restaurant and glasshouses

Ginormous lemons growing in a tub!!

The most enormous dahlia flower in their gardens.

These are the gorgeous rustic vintage tables and chairs that they have in the glasshouses and outside where you can sit and eat

I love these mini carafes that they use to serve a glass of wine (really equivalent to two glasses!)

I bought these two small Heucherella Tapestry plants and a red one also (separate image)

The other Heucherella that I bought. Isn't the colour amazing?

Clever display of plants which are wrapped in Sphagnum moss and chicken wire or twine to hold the soil and moss in place.

And the most mouth-watering photos I'll leave until last - the shop which is my favourite part of the whole Petersham experience. Check out the vintage chandeliers, they absolutely gorgeous.  It is so beautifully styled and full of items/objects that I covet. I never leave empty handed!

A wall of Christmas decorations

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Transform a wooden tray with Farrow & Ball paint

It's way too long since I last painted something for my home so I've lined up several items, the first of which is this wooden tray that I purchased from Petersham Nurseries a couple of years ago.  Don't get me wrong, it's a nice wood but it had lost its appeal so I wasn't using it so I fancied a change. Actually these are the trays that they use at Petersham Nurseries in the cafe when you buy your coffee, cake or lunch and they suit that environment as it's very rustic but it doesn't suit my home. 

I usually paint with Annie Sloan paint as you don't need to key (rub the surfaces with sandpaper) or undercoat, you just slap on the paint, on any surface! However the Annie Sloan range of colours doesn't include a purple/aubergine colour (something I think they need to address) and I couldn't be bothered to mix the appropriate colours to create purple, so I decided that this time I would use Farrow & Ball 'Brinjal' which is a gorgeous aubergine colour.  I ummed and ahed about whether to distress the edges of the tray to bring through some of the wood but decided it would be too much of a vintage look so I opted to paint it all over. 

I painted three layers of the colour (I used less than two of the small sample pots)

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and then used Annie Sloan clear Soft Wax which is a wonderful wax and way superior to any other clear wax I've ever used.

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And voila, here is the finished article.  Isn't it stunning?!  I love the way it works so well with the colour of the cyclamen and the vintage bowl which I purchased this week from Charlie McCormick's popup shop.

I'd love to hear about things that you are painting for your home, what paint you use, what colours and paint finishes you like so do email me with your comments. I'll create a separate post for some more items that I'm currently painting.

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Inspirations from Design Week (Sept15)

Hi everyone. The last two weeks have been manic, firstly there was Design Week in London so I was absorbed in Decorex 2015 and Focus 2015, I had a "significant" birthday which involved organising a dinner for 45 of my closest friends and family. Then on Monday I came down with a bout of 'flu.  All in all, pretty busy two weeks but no excuse really as I should be able to squeeze in an hour to write a blog post, you are probably thinking!  Anyway, here's a visual feast for you from Design Week to stimulate your creative juices!!

First up, Focus 2015 at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour.  It's twice a year and an intense week of visiting the showrooms and chatting about any new launches or just generally catching up and usually over a drink and nibbles (better not to drive!). I also attended a talk by the wonderful India Hicks who took us through a visual feast of slides from her new book Island Style  I am always drawn to the floral displays as they are spectacular. My friend Jayne Copperwaite Flowers .  Here are some of them

Turquoise and White Theme

Stunning white delphiniums

Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam showroom

Sanderson and Zoffany Showroom

Sanderson and Zoffany showroom

Pierre Frey showroom

Fantastic display of gladioli

View from Pierre Frey showroom

This is a wonderful view but soon to be ruined by a building on the site right in front of the window

GP&J Baker Showroom

Beautiful flowers by Jayne Copperwaite Flowers

GP&J Baker Showroom

Beautiful flowers by Jayne Copperwaite Flowers

Colefax & Fowler showroom - flowers by my friend Jayne Copperwaite Flowers

Beautiful flowers by Jayne Copperwaite Flowers. Don't you just love the rosehips and crab apples?

Porta Romana Showroom

I couldn't resist a photo of these stunning lights

India Hicks giving a talk about her new book, Island Style. 

The following day, my friend and I headed for Decorex 2015 which was being held in the grounds of Syon Park again this year. For those of you who don't know what it is, Decorex is internationally renowned for being THE event to discover the very best and most coveted products from a collection of 400 hand-selected exhibitors. Here are some of my favourite photos that I took on the day. A veritable optical feast.  Enjoy and be inspired!!

Mineheart eclectic light with tiny chandelier inside

Mineheart eclectic light with tiny chandelier inside

Mineheart wallpaper and light

Harlequin London exquisite tableware

Love this sputnik shard chandelier from Charles Burnand Lighting

Temple & Ivy lights which are based on Indian and African birds

Temple & Ivy lights which are based on Indian and African birds

Temple & Ivy lights which are based on Indian and African birds

Vervloet Belgium - funky door handle!

Beautiful lighting from Pooky

Beautiful archway of flowers in the foyer at Decorex

Inside the arch of flowers

Amazing alabaster lights

Volevatch - incredible and enchanting handmade and hand painted bathrooms with the wow factor!!

Love this shower from Volevatch

and there's me, queen of the shower!!

Phew, a lot of photos but I hope you enjoyed them.

I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog so do get in touch.

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Hot tips for cleaning chandeliers

Happy Monday everyone!  Sorry for the lack of blog posts; I was working all day every day last week and was out most evenings.  Back to normal this week so I have more time to devote to writing on my blog.

Much as we all love a chandelier or two in our homes they are an absolute nightmare to clean. I'm not sure which I enjoy less, cleaning silver or cleaning chandeliers, probably the latter.  I have a chandelier in every room of my home except the bathroom so cleaning them is the bain of my life.

Chandeliers seem to attract dust and spider webs or is that just an illusion?!  I have tried all sorts of quick and easy methods of cleaning them e.g. blowing on them (!!), feather duster and even the vacuum cleaner but to no avail.  There is no quick and easy fix.

However, there are some things you can do regularly to stop dust clouding the crystal drops.  Give the chandelier the once over, lightly, with a feather duster every couple of weeks as it really does help to minimise the the accumulation of dust which then solidifies on the drops and bulbs.

When the chandelier really does need a good clean here are a couple of methods (remember to turn off the chandelier first!!!):

1. Drip dry method is the easiest method. It involves using the best glass cleaner you can buy. Remove the bulbs (give them a good clean) and plug the sockets with paper so they don't get wet.  Cover the floor underneath the chandelier to catch the liquid. Spray the chandelier generously with the cleaner and let it fall from the chandelier. It should take the dust and dirt with it when it falls!  Then just leave the chandelier to dry, remove the paper from the sockets and replace the bulbs.

2. Cotton glove method - More involved but less messy than the drip dry method. Using white cotton gloves and a small bowl of glass or chandelier cleaner, dip your finger tips in the solution and clean each crystal drop very gently all over.  You will have to change the solution if it starts to get dirty.

3. Removing all the crystal method - If your chandelier has been neglected for several years and either or both of the above methods don't work, you will need to use this method. First and most crucial piece of advice, make a note of where the drops go or you may not be able to reconstruct it afterwards!  Dismantle the chandelier and wash every crystal droplet and strand by hand in warm water with a little mild detergent. If you want to use vinegar instead of detergent, make sure it doesn't come in contact with metal or brass pieces as it will corrode them.  This method is a nightmare job but the reward of seeing a beautiful sparkling chandelier makes it worthwhile.  Hot tip: when you put the chandelier back together work from the inside out starting with the centre pieces.

I'd love to hear what method you use to clean your chandeliers.  I'm sure there are some tried and tested methods handed down the generations so do let me know.

I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog.

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Are you a passionate collector?

Hi everyone.  Last week was manically busy - working hard but also very exciting as I bought my first ever grown-up camera - a DSLR !!  I've had a compact Panasonic Lumix for 11 years which I've used to take all the photos, including those on my blog, and frankly it's a pretty amazing little camera. It's never let me down and the quality of the photos is superb.  I'd prefer to buy another Panasonic as they have the most fantastic Leica lenses but they don't (yet) make DSLRs, just Bridge cameras.   In the DSLR range there are really only two brands to consider, Canon and Nikon, and from what I understand you are either a Canon person or a Nikon person.  I'm neither, I remain brand agnostic and am more influenced by price and reviews.  I ended up buying a Nikon (D5500) so I guess I'm now a Nikon girl!!  So I've been stalking my new camera for four days now as it sits on the kitchen table, quite intimidated by it.  I've managed to charge it and take a couple of pics but that's about it.  I need to bite the bullet, read the manual and start to use it.  Enough of that, this blog post is supposed to be about collecting items so here goes!

Do you have a passion for a particular type of item and are amassing a collection?  For example, a type of china, all things "owl" related, teddy bears (hope not!), glassware, mirrors ....... the list is endless.

Some people collect a certain type of china.  The photos below are the home of a florist who (obviously) collects Wade china vases.  She has cleverly, to great effect, made a feature of them in a living room and also in one of the bathrooms. 

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By nature I'm neither a hoarder nor a collector but I do adore mirrors and have over 15 mirrors in my home so technically that could class me as a collector, no?!  Recently I've developed a love of small vintage tins and whenever I see one that I like, I buy it.  Currently I only have six tins and I don't plan to avidly search them out just to add to the collection as and when I find them.  I usually pick them up in junk shops, second hand shops or markets and the rustier the better.  I've never parted with more than £22 for a tin and that's in a shop; if I am at a market or junk shop I can buy them for a couple of quid.

I'm all for collecting items but I think it's really important to display them in such a way that they become part of your interior styling, rather than just build up a clutter of them on a shelf to gather dust or in a cupboard where you can't see them.  I'm also very practical by nature and a time management freak so I use most of these vintage tins for storing useful items like pen, paper, reading glasses, TV remote, stapler, post-its etc.  The pretty tin on the pile of books (makeshift side table!) next to the chair I sit in to watch TV is particularly useful. Means I don't have to get up to find a pen and paper if I suddenly have a brain wave which often happens when I'm watching some mind-numblingly boring programme on TV! And being of a certain age where my eye sight is no longer perfect, if I can fit a pair of glasses in the tin all the better so they are strategically placed in each room, hidden in a tin where possible, so out of sight. 

Here are the vintage tins I currently have.  They may not appeal to everyone but I love the age of them, the old-fashioned design and subtle colours. The larger ones are old biscuit tins. They certainly don't make such beautiful biscuit tins these days, do they?  Anyway, here are my tins and how I've used them as part of my interior styling.

I'd love to hear about what items you are passionate about and that you collect - what quantities you have, how you store or display them, where you find them to buy etc.  Do let me know and I'm sure my subscribers would enjoy reading about your collections.  I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog.

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Styling with flowers and plants - in and out

Gosh, I've just realised that it's two weeks since I did a blog post.  Really sorry. It's been a mad sort of two weeks and I don't know where the time has gone.

I did however get some time on Thursday to replace flowers in my house and buy a few flowering plants to replace some of those that have finished flowering.  It's been a pretty awful August with low temperatures, grey days and rain - what's new, that's a typical English summer after all !!  My plants haven't flourished as well as I would have liked from a flowers perspective, due to the lack of sunshine.

Anyway, as you all know, I'm an ex florist and I can't live without being surrounded by flowers and plants so every room in my two-bedroom home has either a vase of flowers or a flowering plant in it.  My budget has decreased dramatically since I took voluntary redundancy from my job in the financial services last July so I have to make the most of the flowers that I buy.  I even will them to live longer!!!!

Here are my top tips for buying and arranging flowers in the home:

- I buy most of my flowers in the supermarkets (mainly Waitrose as they have the best selection) as they are cheaper than florist prices. However if you want more interesting flowers and greenery find a good local florist as well as buying from the supermarket

- Don't just buy flowers randomly. You need to plan where you are going to put them in your home and what vase you will use

- Monotones create the biggest impact i.e. flowers of one colour.  Red & white flowers in the same vase is a big No-No (blood & bandages!!). Stick to tones and hues of the same colour.  Or you can have a couple of colours like pink and orange to create a real impact as I've done with the roses in my hall (see photo below)

- Cut all stems on a diagonal and any thick woody stems should also be cut vertically up the stem for a couple of centimetres e.g. sunflowers, stocks, chrysanthemums, hydrangeas. 

- I always add the flower food sachet that comes with the flowers to the water as well as a blob of bleach (it stops water marks on the vase).  Food and bleach don't seem to harm the flowers, on the contrary my flowers seem to last for days/weeks!

- Best vases are those that have a wider base than the neck.  Flowers display better and you don't need so many of them (budget, budget, budget!!)

- Clean the stems of the flowers to remove any leaves or thorns and off-shoots, just save a few at the top.  These need nutrition so the more you remove the more the flower has the best chance of survival.  I always remove anything that will sit below water level and even some above water level.  Off-shoots can be put in small bud vases or vintage bottles as you can see in the photos below.

- If you are lucky enough to have a garden (I don't!) pick some foliage to add to the vase of flowers. This adds, texture and bulks up the flowers so you don't need so many flowers

- Top up the water in the vases regularly (some flowers drink copious amounts of water so keep a sharp eye on the level of water - sunflowers for example drink loads!). Change the water regularly especially for flowers like stocks as the water can get really smelly. Just remember, you like to shower/bath regularly and flowers do also !!

So here's what's in my house currently and a few pics of my three square feet of outside space.

These are blue Scabias and are one of my favourite flowers. They last really well and I love all the off-shoots which I sometimes remove and put in some of my vintage bottles (I was in a hurry but will remove them in the next day or two to give the flowers a better chance of survival). Excuse the gilt mirror (not that attractive is it?!)  it's there for me to paint but I've not had time yet!! Am still toying with what paint colour I'll use to paint the frame. Any suggestions?

Asters, cheap as chips !!  About £3.00 for a huge bunch in the supermarkets.  They have a lot of offshoots and foliage on each stem so cut off the offshoots and strip back the stems as they can make the water really smelly. Great lasting flowers and I love their simplicity.  I only ever have one colour of Asters in a vase though

My vintage bottles with the offshoots of other flowers I've bought. The little jar of white Asters were the offshoots also

In my hall I have this vase of pink and orange roses which I've cut very short and crammed into this glass jar/vase.  Roses last much longer if cut very short. I chose these two colours to complement the 60s flower print that sits behind.

The white Asters whose offshoots are in the vintage bottles.  Note the vase as a small neck but wide base which means you can splay the flowers out better

Glass vase of white lilies to add scent to the sitting room. Remember to remove the pollen from each flower as it opens or you could end up with horrible stains on your furniture or carpet.

This is one of my favourite vases and you will probably remember it from previous posts.  These are like mini Delphiniums but am sure there's a botanical name for them but I'm not great on botanical names!  These last for ages but drink loads of water. There are a lot of offshoots which I've put in the vintage bottles

My staple in the bathroom is always the orchid plant as they last for months and months and require little or no water (there is no soil in the pot). I never feed them either.  This one is four months old!!

Good old Sunflowers, cheap as chips and last forever. Remove the leaves as they take too much sustenance from the flower. Cut vertically up the stems as well as the usual diagonal.  Beware the drink loads so you need to top up regularly

My vintage bottles on the kitchen window ledge enhanced by the hanging basket outside the window!  I stick anything in these bottles that I remove from the stem of a flower or bits and bobs from my tiny outside space. I don't mind the green mould that forms in the bottles; it's asethetcially beautiful !!

And here are the latest photos of my limited outside space - three square feet and the steps down to the garden belonging to the owners of the flat underneath mine. I have tried to keep to blues, mauves and pinks but I've also included a soft orange at the bottom of the steps.  Bees love blue and mauve flowers which is why I tend to go for this colour palette

I hope these photos have inspired you to create some gorgeous displays inside and outside.  I cannot live without being surrounded by flowers (you can't take the florist out of the gal, as I always say!).

I'd love to hear about how you use flowers to style your home and also about your outside space and if limited, how you maximise it.  Do let me know as I'm always keen to hear from my readers.  I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog.

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Upcycling a couple of trays with Annie Sloan paint

Happy Sunday everyone!  It's a gorgeous morning here in London (for a change) so I'm up early, had my usual hearty Sunday breakfast of eggs cooked with garlic, chilli, spring onions and tomatoes washed down with a pot of tea and I'm ready for the day.

I've been pretty slack in the last 12 months with my up-cycling with Annie Sloan paint.  I have so many small items that are waiting to be painted so I thought it was time I got out my brushes and paint and worked on them.  I started with a couple of small, quick and easy items - two wooden trays.  My default Annie Sloan colour is Graphite so I decided to paint both trays in this colour. 

One tray was already painted in an Annie Sloan colour 'Old Violet' but I wanted to change the colour to Graphite and use it to display all my Cloth Shop Swedish linen napkins on the kitchen table.  That's the great thing about Annie Sloan paint; you get tired of the look of an item so you paint another colour on top of it - no faffing around with sanding or undercoating, just paint directly on to any surface, be it wood, metal, china, glass, walls etc etc.  You can distress the paint finish with either sandpaper or just by rubbing hard with the Annie Sloan Clear Soft Wax. Youtube is full of short videos of how to paint and wax with Annie Sloan so if you've never used the paint before, have a look at some of the tutorials on Youtube.

I now love watching my guests choose a napkin to use at the table - they um and ah for ages because all the colours are so beautiful they can't decide.  No-one ever picks the beige napkin though!  The tray of napkins makes a great centrepiece for my table, don't you agree?

The other tray is an Edwardian wooden tray with metal and wood handles that I picked up for a tenner in a second hand shop. I painted a layer of Annie Sloan English Yellow first and then a layer of Graphite so that I could bring some of the yellow through on the rims of the tray for a more interesting finish, as you can see in the images below.  I didn't paint the handles as they are too nice to paint.  This tray is a gift for one of my clients. I was seriously toying with keeping it as I love its shape.

HELP FROM THE PROFESSIONALS

I understand that not everyone has the time or inclination to paint furniture. I am happy to help if you have any questions or concerns, and am available to revamp your pieces that need a new lease of life. Get in touch to have a chat with me. 

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A dull & drizzly summer's day in my three square feet of outdoor space

Hi All.  Apologies for the lack of blog posts in the last week or so.  My younger son, who lives in Sydney arrived back in London last week for a week's visit and it's been full-on since he arrived. It's wonderful to have him home though briefly and I'm pleased that up until today, the weather has been excellent. It's drizzly and dull today but certainly not cold (very muggy).  I am amazed how my three square feet of outdoor space can still create an impact today despite the lack of sunshine.  Also, some of the plants have finished flowering and some are yet to flower so you there is always something new to see.

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London has been basking in high temperatures recently and the warmth and sunshine have certainly helped the gardens. However we have had little or no rain so the parks are expanses of dry grass and we have to water our gardens every day. No hosepipe ban threatened yet thank goodness. 

As those of you who have been following my blog, my flat is on the first floor and I have no share or access to the back garden, just the tiny space outside my back door and the steps leading down to the garden belonging to the flat below. However this limited space provides me with a lot of pleasure turning it into a bank of colour.  The plants on the steps obviously grow towards the light so I do lose a lot of the impact of them, especially the trailers, unless I go down to the garden and look up. But my neighbours downstairs can appreciate it so it serves both flats!!

When I work on my tiny outdoor space, I use the same design principles that I use indoors. It's important to create "rooms" or areas of interest in your outdoor space with focal points. I learnt when I studied floristry that monotones are more effective (or shades of the same colour).  I have picked a colour palette for my outdoor space of blue, purple, mauve and pink which are all very similar tones and this palette has quite an effect on my very limited outdoor space. I then introduced a gentle orange as a contrast but complementary colour.

I'm a huge fan of blue-based colours, in particular purple and its hues.  Years ago I had my colours done by one of those colour consultants and I'm a 'Summer' so should wear blue based colours i.e. cool tones. I remember the consultant took ages to decide between Spring or Summer as a lot of blondes are Spring.  It seems I've transferred my cool blue-based colours into my interior and exterior decoration, but certainly not deliberately.  In fact I really dislike yellow-based colours; they really jar with me. For example, I love blue-based red but not a tomato red; I love emerald green but not olive green.

Here is a selection of photos I took this morning in the drizzle.  It was a joy to see so much colour.

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In my kitchen I also have a bay with two windows.  I've had lavender in the window boxes in the past and last year I grew basil which reached about three feet tall. I had so much basil I ended up freezing it and it lasted most of the winter.  This year I bought Cornflower and Nigella seeds from Petersham Nurseries thinking that they wouldn't grow too tall. Well, the photo below says it all. The cornflowers are nearly three feet tall and the Nigella, still to flower, is over a foot tall.  I am hoping the NIgella will produce its beautiful soft blue flowers while the Cornflowers are still in flower but I may be disappointed. 

I'd love to hear about your outside space and if limited, how you maximise it.  Are you a blue-based or yellow-based person?  What colour palette do you have in your garden?  Is it a reflection of what you have inside? Do let me know as I'm always keen to hear from my readers.  I'd also love to get some feedback from you as to what topics you'd like me to cover in my blog.

SEEKING STYLE INSPIRATION INTERNALLY OR EXTERNALLY?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project, either internally or externally and looking for some inspiration and help, please get in touch; I offer an initial free consultation.  

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Flowers flowers flowers!!

Hi everyone.  I wanted to tell you about last Friday morning as I had a really lovely thing happen to me. My local florist and friend, Jayne Copperwaite Flowers sent me a text message to say she had a lot of flowers left over from a photo shoot and would I like to come and help myself.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  How kind and generous of her is that?! .Thank you so much Jayne.

All of the flowers!

Can you believe that I managed to get all of these home on my little moped?!!

As most of you know, I am a qualified florist and worked as a florist for two years when I first came to London back in the late 70s.  I also help out at Jayne's shop when she has a busy period.  I just love being back in a florist shop surrounded by the heady scents and colours of flowers and plants.

Anyway, I whizzed around to Jayne's shop on Friday morning on my moped and scooped up as many flowers as I could comfortably fit on my moped.  The flowers were all pretty pastel colours.  My kitchen suddenly transformed into a florist's workroom when I laid out the flowers on my kitchen table. I  thought you might enjoy seeing how I styled each room with the flowers.

As an interior decorator I think it's so important to have flowers and/or plants in a room. It's a good way to add pops of colour and different textures to an interior.  It's an integral part of my room styling for clients; I always encourage clients to include something live in their rooms.  I love pots of herbs in the kitchen. Some flowers work better than others in a kitchen, for example, I'm not a fan of roses, orchids or other formal flowers in a kitchen, rather more country-style flowers.  A sitting room, dining room or hallway are perfect spaces to use more formal flowers or formal flower arrangements. I've labelled each photo so you can see in which room I placed each vase.  Enjoy them and hopefully be inspired!

Hall table

I've placed these pale orange roses in front of a 60s vintage print and a large red vintage Christmas bauble.

These roses were very long stemmed but they last so much better if you cut them very short and cram them into a vase with a narrow neck

Kitchen

I've filled some of my vintage bottles with these tiny spray chrysanthemums in front of a Victorian fan light that has had mirror put in it  The pop of colour is provided by the vintage Indian wooden cow! 

Kitchen

This vase sits on a vintage painted cabinet that I use for my work.  Another of my favourite flowers is Alchemilla (Lady's Mantle) and I love the way the lime green of the Alchemilla complements these soft pinks.

Kitchen

On my Annie Sloan painted sideboard I placed this vintage Hungarian enamel container with soft pink heather

Guest bedroom

More of the mini chrysanthemums crammed into a sweet little glass vase on my grandmother's silver tray in the guest bedroom.  I love yellow as a pop of colour in this room which is predominantly turquoise as you can see from the chest of drawers they are sitting on which painted in Annie Sloan 'Provence' 

Sitting room

Delphiniums are one of my favourite flowers. They merit being given a lot of space around them for maximum impact so I've placed them on the desk behind the sofa.  Aren't they beautiful?

My bedroom

These divine pink roses were crying out for a vintage setting so what better than in my favourite vintage vase and placed on this gorgeous little vintage chair. The satin fabric on the chair is the original and I was loathe to remove it as it is so beautiful.  The wall colour in my bedroom is Farrow and Ball 'Teresa's Green' which is a very calming yet fresh & cheerful colour.

Hall

And lastly, this vase of flowers in a vintage glass jug is placed in the hall on my vintage metamorphic chair  as I think the chair offsets them so well. Not the most practical place to have flowers but hey, a sacrifice I made in the name of beauty!!

SEEKING STYLE INSPIRATION?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project, need help with your outside space, home staging if you are about to put your home on the market or just some de-cluttering/organising techniques, please get in touch and see how I can help. I always offer an initial free consultation with no obligation; if you would like to book one, email or call me.

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You might also like to read previous blog posts about flowers in the home

Nosing around other people's homes

We Kiwis are very curious by nature and we just LOVE Open House days/tours.  In NZ estate agents have open house days and I remember going to these even if I wasn't looking to buy a house, but out of pure nosiness! There's nothing better than checking out someone's home -  how they live, their interior style, how they use colour, what accessories they have and how they style the rooms with them etc.  And not forgetting the outside space which is equally important for me.

I subscribe to Living Etc magazine and I discovered last year that they organise House Tours which are an opportunity to see inside some of London's most stylish homes.  The head of marketing at the magazine is a Kiwi and she brought the concept over from NZ where she worked for NZ House & Garden and implanted it within the Living Etc magazine. Thank you Kate!!  I signed up last year for the tours and absolutely loved it. You get to see some extraordinary homes that you would not normally ever see - some owners are well-known people, some are architects, property developers or interior designers and some are just regular people.  But they all have stunningly beautiful interiors (and exteriors) be it the architecture, interior design, style (contemporary, vintage, quirky, minimalist, monochrome, multi-coloured ........  Some are mouth-wateringly divine and some not so interesting; it depends on your individual taste. But there's something for everyone.

This year Living Etc. extended the House Tours over three separate days with access to up to 22 homes in North, West and Northwest London. There was the opportunity to volunteer to "guard" one of the homes for half a day and then get free entry to all the other homes as well as six months' extension on your magazine subscription so I signed up to be a volunteer for two of the tours. I absolutely loved being a "guard", getting to know the owners and talking to the people coming to view them. 

I thought I'd post some photos I took on these tours without identifying who are the owners or where the house is situated, out of respect for the owners' privacy.  So apologies if these photos seem a bit random.  The first set of photos are of my two favourite houses in the West London House Tour. House 1 is contemporary and built on a very small plot alongside a railway line. The owner is an architect and this house has some mind-blowing features including a disco in the basement which also houses the master bedroom. 

House 2 belongs to a well-known florist and is very eclectic and stylish. It is packed with interesting items, beautifully styled and really "packs a punch" . It was my favourite house.

House 1 - Master Bedroom

Purple lacquered wardrobes reflect the bed opposite

House 1 - Master Bedroom & Ensuite

House 1 - Master Bedroom Ensuite Shower

House 1 - Disco Dance Floor!

This is on the lower ground floor where the master suite is also located.

House 1 Disco - Sauna!

House 1 - Disco Seating Area

House 1 - Disco Wall Feature

House 1 - Kitchen

House 1 - Outdoor Space

You walk directly from the kitchen into the garden which gives a real indoor/outdoor feel

House 1 - From Garden into Kitchen

House 2 - Kitchen Artwork

Large kitchen/diner on the lower ground which is the same level as the patio garden

House 2 - Kitchen Shelves

Love this accent wall of yellow shelves displaying a selection of quirky items

House 2 - Kitchen Island

How to style a kitchen island with fruit, veg and flowers

House 2 - Kitchen/Diner

House 2 - Kitchen Lighting

Quirky downlighter in the kitchen

House 2 - Patio Garden

Love the fake blossom tree which is full of fairy lights

House 2 - Formal Dining Room

House 2 - Lighting

Funky candle sticks in the sitting room

House 2 - Lighting

This pendant light in the formal dining room is just fabulous

House 2 - Formal Sitting Room

This first floor room has the most gloriously subtle colour palette. The styling on the shelf under the artwork is inspirational

House 2 - Formal Sitting Room

Love the styling on the coffee table

House 2 - Formal Sitting Room

Fabulous artwork highlights the fireplace

House 2 - Styling a Shelf

House 2 - Formal Sitting Room

Love the abundance of cushions on this chair and the lamp behind it

House 2 - Stair Landing

I love the way a feature has been made of a landing area

House 2 - Lighting

Simply but stylish lighting on the stairs (walls are Farrow & Ball 'Cornforth White')

House 2 - Sitting Room

This divine wallpaper was custom made. Love the ceramic beetles!

House 2 - Sitting Room

The owner is an avid collector of these vases

House 2 - Sitting Room

Two beautiful vintage vases

House 2 - Master Bedroom

A sumptuous bed enhanced by a wall of artwork and photos.  Superb.

House 2 - Master Ensuite

The vase collection continues in the bathroom but to great effect

House 2 - Master Ensuite

A beautifully styled table in the bathroom with the subtle colour of the sweet peas adds a touch of romanticism to the room

House 2 - Master Ensuite

House 2 - View to the rear

Typical London row house where the gardens back on to each other

I also volunteered to be a "guard" for the North West London House Tour (House 3 below).  I was allocated a fantastic house which was built a few years ago on a tiny plot behind some Victorian houses.  The owner is a developer of custom build homes.  This was a family home and quite open plan yet did not feel too open.  The interior was mainly concrete walls and gorgeous oak flooring. It was the best use of a small space that I've ever seen.  House 2 was my favourite of the North West London House Tours. It was a two floored apartment in Hampstead and was the most eclectic interior I've ever seen yet incredibly stylish, practical and homely (House 4 below). 

House 3 exterior

House 3 stairwell

All the walls are concrete

House 3 Kitchen

This house has a great mix of contemporary and vintage furniture

House 3 Stairs from Kitchen to Sitting Room

Note the beautiful oak flooring

House 3 - stair well

View from sitting room up to first floor landing.  Fabulous large artwork and part of the walls have been painted a pretty blue which contrasts beautifully with the concrete walls

House 3 Master Bedroom

Huge picture window to the street but only one way so you can't see in from the street but can lie in bed and look at on to this great urban view

House 3 Master Bedroom

View from the master bedroom

House 3 Stairwell

Concrete walls with industrial lighting

House 4 (Hampstead) - Bathroom

Love this style of loo !!!

House 4 (Hampstead) - Bedroom

Beautiful old painting over an original fireplace

House 4 (Hampstead) - Garden

Small but perfectly formed courtyard garden.  Incredibly stylish with a great selection of plants

House 4 (Hampstead) - Glass Roof Extension

House 4 (Hampstead) - Glass Roof Extension

Stunning wall of plates

House 4 (Hampstead) - Kitchen

The table is actually an old New Zealand wool press

House 4 (Hampstead) - Artwork

House 4 (Hampstead) - Feature Wall

A great example of wall art

House 5 in the North West London House Tour was an Arts and Crafts house in Brondesbury Park which the owners were still in the process of renovating. They only live in a house for two years before buying another, renovating and moving on.  This house is huge and has five roll-top baths in it !!  It is a shrine to Farrow and Ball shades of grey!! It's not really my taste but it definitely has the wow factor therefore should be commercially attractive.

House 5 - Kitchen/Diner

This room is painted in Farrow and Ball 'Mole's Breath' and has beautiful original parquet flooring

House 5 - Kitchen/Diner

Love the red Angle Poise lamp

House 5 - Kitchen/Diner

Farrow and Ball 'Moles Breath'

House 5 - Office off the kitchen

Glass on two sides with stunning views

House 5 - Stairwell

The house had oak flooring except the stairs which were in grey Sisal

House 5 - Garden

Love the turquoise subway tiling

House 5 - Sitting Room 1

House 5 - Sitting Room 2

House 5 - Sitting Room 2

House 5 - Daughter's Bedroom

House 5 - Daughter's ensuite

House 5 - Guest bedroom with bath in bay window

House 5 - Guest Bedroom

House 5 - Shower Room

I like this bathroom but it needs colour. I would have added towels in a strong colour e.g. orange or lime green

House 5 - Master Bedroom

House 5 - Master Bedroom Ensuite which is part of the bedroom

House 5 - Master Bedroom Shower Room

This marble shower is absolutely gorgeous!

House 5 - Landing

Beautiful original Arts and Crafts window flanked by the contemporary chair and cowhide and enormous Angle Poise lamp

House 5 - Another Bedroom in Converted Loft

House 5 - Bedroom in Converted Loft

House 5 - Child's Bathroom Converted Loft

I hope you have enjoyed "nosying" around these houses as much as I did, though I was at the distinct advantage of seeing them in person.  You may have picked up some useful tips of what you could do in your own homes and/or it made you realise what you really don't like in an interior. Either way, I hope it's been an enjoyable whistle stop tour around these houses.

Seeking style inspiration?

If you’re working on your own home decorating project and looking for some inspiration, please get in touch and see how I can help.  I do an initial free consultation which usually lasts an hour to an hour and a half. My rates are a very reasonable £30 an hour.  I'll re-style your rooms, de-clutter your wardrobes and cupboards, advise on your outdoor space, source furniture, fabrics, accessories etc. Whatever is required to transform your space into your dream home, I can help.