Multicoloured Mania

Multicoloured pieces are always a fantastic investment as they can be such a versatile item in a room. Put it in a neutral palette and it can instantly be the centerpiece of the room. However if you’re going for the eclectic look it will slot in easily to a scheme and is a great opportunity to add in previously unused colours. Here are some fantastic pieces I’ve found.

This sideboard is from Elemental Antiques. It’s made from recycled plywood laminated with sections of enamelled steel advertising signs.

I love this armchair from Moroso, called Los Muebles Amorosos, it’s covered in such beautifully vibrantly colours

These button badge hearts pictures are from Rocket St. George. They are made out of a mixture of buttons from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and comes in a box frame. Each picture is a one off and totally original.

Grange's Jacob collection is inspired by Louis XVI and comes in a range of colours but I love this multicoloured finish, the contrast of old and new works beautifully.

Lampshades can be a brilliant platform for introducing bold colours. The Old Lamp Shed does exactly this using any fabric you want. This one is made from a Michael Miller fabric.

Finally this Cappellini folding chair from Twenty Twentyone is great for adding those bold primary colours into a room.

Christmas Presents

Merry Christmas everybody! I have been very generously showered with gifts this year including an enormous amount of kitchen stuff, I can't wait to get cooking to use them all. My mum found these fabulously coloured mixing bowls, they will definitely not be confined to a cupboard:

Set of 6 melamine bowls from Horsfall & Wright

My brother got me the most beautiful salad bowl from Country Traditionals. All of their stuff is amazing, definitely worth a look.

Father christmas gave me these great little silicone muffin cases, the flexibility of the moulds makes it so easy to get them out and ready to eat!

Hope everybody got what they wanted for Christmas and if not get sales shopping...many a bargain to be had at the moment.

Christmas Decorations

It’s December and I’m finally feeling Christmassy, however if your not it’s time to change your house into a winter wonderland! Christmas is the perfect time to be creative, don’t just stop at the tree, spread your decorations around every room and it will make for a far more Christmassy Christmas. There are some fantastic decorations out there and I always think they are such an investment as you will use them year and year again. All shops seem to be doing at least a few tree decorations this year, here a couple of the best ones I’ve come across:

Rudolf Tin Christmas Giant Antiqued Silver

Decoration Baubles, Graham and Green

from Accessorize £3.95 from £7.60

Papier Mache Christmas Baubles

from Niki Jones £25.00 (box of 4)

Felt Russian Dolls from

The White Company

Don’t stop at the tree though, fill your house with Christmas ornaments to give your whole house a Christmas atmosphere. Here are some good ones to look at:

Felt Robins from Berry Red

Wooden Tree from Muji £12.95

Munecos Garland

from Zara Home £15.99

I am a huge fan of a Christmas wreath, set on a front door it gives a brilliantly festive welcome to any visitors. You can either make a simple one yourself out of holly or branches but if you just don’t have time here are a couple I love:

Eucalyptus and Pinecone wreath from dotcomgifts £15.95

Cranberry Christmas wreath

from The Contemporary Home £24.99

Christmas Wreath by Karen Miller Devon Driftwood Designs £195.00

3 of the best...Stools

Rose and Grey, Metal Stool, £89

Rockett St. George, Tractor Seat Iron Stool, £69

Danetti, Silvi Bar Stool, £82.99

Available in 6 colours

Letters

Oversized letters are a great way to fill a wall space with something different than a picture. They can be bright and colourful or subtle and stylish. You don’t necessarily need to spell out a whole word, often just a single letter can give a room a fantastically eclectic feel. Here are a few examples of letters on the market at the moment.

These wooden ‘love’ letters from dotcomgiftes are so simple but so effective. Set on a mantle piece as shown they can immediately become the focal point of the room.

I love these lower case ‘pinwale letters’ from Anthropolgie, the quilted fabric look on top on such vibrant colours will brighten up any room.

Bliss and Bloom’s silver ‘home’ letters are very smart and sophisticated; they would look great with a minimalist, neutrally coloured style.

Add a bold splash of colour with this great red ‘Eat’ sign from Berry Red, perfect for the kitchen.

These vintage letters from Camel and Yak are such a versatile decoration to have, they would look great grouped with any style of interior.

Shower Curtains

Having recently redesigned my bathroom I found it nearly impossible to find a nice shower curtain that isn't covered in some garish 'retro' pattern and, on being moistened, almost irreversibly sticks together. A few places have started doing beautiful curtains made of fabric with a waterproof lining that have transformed the 'shower curtain' into an actual centre point of the room. Here are a few of the best...

Balinium, Tamsin shower curtain made from 100% Indian cotton, machine washable, £50-£55

Anthropologie, Flamenco shower curtain, cotton, machine washable, £98

Toast, Ticking stripe shower curtain, organic cotton, machine washable £65

Wallpaper

Wallpaper was once commonplace among elite households used extensively wherever possible. It was originally created as a cheaper decorative alternative to the lavish tapestries hung in the Middle Ages. Although available for more affordable prices these days I can’t help but feel people are scared to use it. Some dabble with the feature wall but I think with such brilliant wallpapers out there it’s time people commit to the whole room and embrace the different layers of decoration that wallpaper can beautifully create. Here are some examples of retro, geometric and generally eye-catching wallpapers on the market at the moment.

This is ‘Curves’ by Katherine Morris, beautifully retro and would look brilliant matched with old metal industrial look furniture. All Katherine’s papers are hand printed in any colour you want.

This charming print is by Louise Body and is called ‘Harry’s Garden’. As you can see from the detail picture is has the most beautiful vintage looking birds and birdcages. It would look great in a bedroom or dressing room.

Brian Yates last year launched the ‘Pip’ wallpaper range designed to give an instant vintage look to a room. This particular one has various small-framed images on it creating a homemade collage feel.

Here is another simple geometric patterned handmade wallpaper. ‘Chevron’ by Dunford Wood was originally designed for a seventeenth century kitchen; it would in fact look fantastically ordered in a busy room such as that.

Finally I love this ‘Pet Sounds’ wallpaper from Mini Moderns, lovely busy pattern that becomes more and more detailed the more you look at it and again has a retro feel to it.

3 of the best...Tiles

Tex Tile, Ikat design wall tile, 10.2cm x 10.2cm, £8.50 each

Hooper and Shaw, Mackerel wall tile, 10cm x 10cm, set of four £30

Saint Tropez Boutique, Zillij tile 55, 12cm x 12cm, price on request

Dare To Go Orange

Don’t be scared of using orange in your home, in fact it should be quite the opposite, you should be consciously trying to introduce it to your life if it’s not already there. It's a high energy, luminous and gregarious colour that creates a warming atmosphere and flatters skin tones.

I recently had a rental flat with an orange dining room. In fact being owned by a dreadlocked buddist with a yoga fetish the entire flat was orange however, we chose to paint most of the rooms a less Halloween-esq colour. I soon grew to love the orange dining room though as it instantly gave the room a warm sense of security. Something about the orange made people relax and open up, the perfect combination for dinner parties.

I’m not suggesting you all go and paint your rooms orange but it’s definitely a good colour to have in your house, so here’s a few suggestions of how.

Orange looks even better when illuminated giving off a light similar to a sunset, this lamp from BoConcept would do that beautifully.

This mug from The Conran Shop is the perfect excuse to get orange into your kitchen

For the more daring orange users check out this pouf from Skitsch, very unique and would instantly be the centre of any room, you cant help but want to touch it.

I love this Czech chair from Twenty Twentyone, so interesting to look at and of course a great colour.

This vintage looking sign from Rockett St. George would be great as a bold simple use of orange

Quilt Time

The centre point of any bedroom is usually the bed and this is a great place to throw lots of colour and personality into a room. Quilts are a brilliant way to completely change the feeling of a room; you can calm a vibrant room down with one or transform a dull room into a vivacious one.

I love the recent increase of bright colours in the bedroom moving away from the virginal pristine whites of The White Company. Lots of places are using the colours of an Indian summer theme this se

ason. John Lewis have brought out an exotic range called Alegra, including cushions, pillow cases and quilts; they’re reasonably priced and look brilliantly eclectic as a range, perfect if you don’t want a monotone theme.

Anthropologie have a few fantastically bright and bold quilts in lovely warm

colours, once these are in your room, any colour will go.

As mentioned before on my blog Graham and Green have introduced some beautiful floral quilts, I think these may be more of a throw than a quilt but would look lovely if you just want a splash of colour at the end of the bed.

I have recently discovered a brilliant company called Biggie Best who do quilts among other home accessories. They have a complete range from this reversible royal blue quilt to more conventional white ones, their website is well worth a look.

Good old reliable Oka have a couple of warmly coloured quilts in the floral Indian fabric they released lately, always a safe bet.

This last one is from notonthehighstreet.com and is hand block printed. I think it’s beautiful vintage design would look very smart in any room if you were wanting to move away from the eclectic Indian look of some of the others, but also wanting to keep a bold set of colours.

With the winter drawing ever closer, there has never been a better time to embrace the quilt.