When looking at interiors, design and fashion for inspiration you want your eyes to fall upon something fresh in January. The start of a new year, with its sense of hope and excitement of what lies ahead, gets style lovers everywhere buzzing. But…as well as getting hints as to what the year will bring it’s also great to see that some styles and trends are here to stay (at least for another year). We really believe in longevity in design. If it’s good and it’s honest then you’ll still have it in years to come. If interior trends come and go as quickly as fashion then, quite frankly, we’ll be slaves to decorating and re-styling our homes without any time to enjoy living in them. And we don’t want that! Style and purpose over fashion. Always. Everyday. That’s our motto.
So! What caught our eye and why did it take our fancy?
Emerald Green ankle boots by Vivienne Westwood
Emerald Green Ankle Boots – Vivienne Westwood – source: @fullerton_fash (instagram)
We saw these on our Instagram feed and they brought smiles to our faces. Emerald Green – such a joyful colour. It really packs a punch. Jewel like, jewel named – it conjures up thoughts of dragons and knights, of fairy tales and of treasure. It packs more of a punch than sage but sits along with such neutrals nicely. It was THE colour of the last two years (now it’s ‘Greenery’) and we’re glad to see it on the catwalk here. Emerald Green should always have a place, large or small, in your home, in vogue or not. And, now we’ve seen these, why not on your feet? Hell yeah! Wouldn’t they just put you in a smashing mood from the moment you slipped your funky little feet into them?
Umberto Brass Bar – Graham & Green
Umberto Brass Bar – Graham & Green
Check out this deco influenced drinks bar with its carved brass doors and slender, no fuss, wooden legs. Imagine sipping a martini cocktail, in a narrow silhouette of drapes and feathers, listening to Jazz… well this is what this drinks cabinet is all about. It captures the decadence and exuberance of the time – pouring drinks would be an event in itself. Such an era of immense social change was bound to bring with it some fantastic artistic movement and it did. The Art Deco period continues to inspire artists and designers now and some of Wendy’s rug designs, (Sunburst, Chinese Deco Deco Diamond, Peacock and Tree) have Art Deco style running right through them – the geometric lines and bold colour of the time having a particular influence. It’s no surprise then that this piece from Graham & Green stood out. It’s made of wood and brass – material to last. Invest in this and it will glamorously serve you through the life cycle of celebrations for generations to come. Drink anyone? (How about a Mary Pickford – recipe below!)
The Penelope armchair – Sofa.com
Penelope Armchairs by sofa.com
These. Luxurious velvet in jewel like colours of teal and magenta. Aren’t they divine?! Bold colour can frighten people off – it’s safer to stick with neutrals that will always be, well, neutral. Or is it? If you like your room scheme neutral then an armchair like this will add a pop of colour which lifts the room up a notch in terms of interior design. Or why not introduce a dark base, maybe on just one wall for starters. See how the colours pop? A dark base is an excellent way to make colours pop.
Head over to instagram and look at the #styleitdark tagged posts, some of which will feature our Chinese Deco rug and Mount Orient rug – which have dark wool bases to accentuate the colour in the viscose motifs. When Daniel Hopwood took over the Mad About House blog for a week he talked about always having a bash at being bold with colour and he gave a TOP TIP – ‘when the budget is small go for colour as it has such a big impact and distracts the eye from the places where you have had to save money’
Seasons in Colour blog
We love a great interiors blog and last month we discovered a new one, Seasons in Colour (seasonsincolour.com / instagram: @seasonsincolour, twitter: @SeasonsInColour etc). Having enjoyed renovating two homes, Jenny Kakoudakis, launched this blog in 2014 as an outlet for her passion for all things interiors and colour. Three years on it’s an Award winning blog that has seen her collaborate with big names such as Little Greene, John Lewis and Farrow & Ball to name a few. A week or two into us discovering her we noticed a tweet from her about our Mount Orient rug. ‘This rug is so beautiful I would hang it on a wall’. Which was a very nice tweet indeed. Not only was it nice it also proved that Jenny thinks along the same wavelength as us because we had just taken stock of some brand new crewel stitch Mount Orient rugs and cushion covers. Crewel stitch rugs are much, much lighter than a hand tufted rug and are perfect to use as wall hangings, bedspreads or draping over the back of sofas.
Wendy Morrison Mount Orient Crewel Stitch rug (seen here as bedspread)
Wendy Morrison Mount Orient Crewel Stitch products
And finally … a nice little Cocktail recipe for that brass bar above – from Difford’s Guide.
Musing about that Graham & Green bar we did indeed imagine ourselves as flapper ladies leaning in, behind the carved, brass doors to grab a bottle, which lead to a discussion as to what the perfect cocktail to serve from it would be. We decided upon the Mary Pickford. Created especially for her, during Prohibition (what a fab time for inventive alcoholic drinks!) by Fred Kaufman at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. This recipe is via Diffords Guide.
A Mary Pickford cocktail.
Ingredients:
60ml Bacardi Carta Blanca light rum
45ml Fresh pressed pineapple juice
7.5ml Giffard Grenadine Syrup
3.8ml Luxardo Marashino liqueur
And making it is simple. Which is one of the plus points…
SHAKE all ingredients with ice & fine strain into chilled glasses. You’re welcome! x
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