Book Review – “Decorate Workshop” by Holly Becker

Last week I rather crazily went to London for the day. Actually ,it’s quite amazing that you can get there in little more than 4 hours. I like travelling by train so the journey just whizzed by. There was a bit of time for a stroll and then I headed across to Regent Street. ( I couldn’t resist a little whirl round Liberty – and was glad to see that the flower stall was still there after all ). Then a bit further to Anthropologie who were hosting Holly Becker’s book signing event. Holly had invited some of the London bloggers who have taken her courses to meet up a little earlier, and as I’ve been trying to meet up with them for months , this seemed a good opportunity. Here Holly is being interviewed by Will from BrightBazaar

Anthropologie is one of those stores that is a real visual tonic. Bursts of colour and unusual textures and shapes. I have a soft spot for their ceramics. Tea and cake or prosecco made the evening get off to a good start and I really enjoyed meeting up with some of the local bloggers and hope to meet up again, before too long. It was also fun to meet Susannah Conway and Yvonne author of the lovely Yvestown blog who even came over from The Netherlands for the occasion.

I have to confess I didn’t buy the book on the night – I had an already heavy bag with me and couldn’t bear to add even a gram to that , so waited until I was back home.

The book takes the form of a workshop with 8 different stages to go through , from seeking inspiration, to establishing your own style through to the practicalities of completing the project. Even if you already have quite strong ideas about how you like your living spaces to be, there is plenty food for thought and lots of very inspirational photographs of interiors from Europe and America. And if you have never tackled an interior design project before this will lead you through it step by step. I have quite a lot of design decisions to make over the next while so it will be a useful resource. And actually, I think a lot of the stages could be applied to many different projects , not just interiors.

If you’d like to have a wee look inside then here is a sample from the publishers to whet your appetite.

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In other news, due to “logistics” I’ve decided that I’ll close my Etsy shop from the end of November until the end of the year. So if there is something you’ve had your eye on this is a wee bit of advance notice. Also, if you like to know what is cooking behind the scenes, my next studio newsletter will be out next week. You can make sure you get a copy by subscribing here.

(One of the mood boards from the book – I should add that the photography throughout is by Debi Treloar and absolutely gorgeous.)

Etsy Favourite – Pamela Angus

Glass Garland by Pamela Angus

I’ve decided to do a series of Etsy Favourites on the next few Wednesdays. Sometimes I’ll mention a shop I have actually purchased from and at other times sellers whose work I have admired for a while.

In this case, this beautiful piece of stained glass arrived chez moi from La Belle France a couple of days ago. It is already up and  looks wonderful, casting colourful shadows over the white walls. I know I’ll feel cheerful everytime I see it. Which is , after all, the point of decorative items. If it doesn’t lift your mood to have it around, why is it there ?

Pamela herself is Irish, living in France and, in addition to the glass garlands, creates all kinds of other glass inspired decorative items. Some of the most recent have been quill pens recreated in glass and secured in original old glass bottles.

Poets and Writers series 1.1 by Pamela Angus

You can find her at PamelaAngus on Etsy and her blog here where she writes about work in progress and life in rural France.

Colour Palette Collecting…

colourpalette1

The first of my collected colours. So far I see greens and icy blues appearing. The search continues. I’m not going to post them all here, but you can see them in a set within my Flickr photostream.

Also, the move gets ever closer. I will be doing a few little studio clearing events so keep an eye on my Etsy shop for details of that. ( The “sale” section has more items in it than it is ever likely to have again ! )

Musing on Colour – Choosing a Palette

Colour Palette from ETC by Sibella Court

Colour Palette from ETC by Sibella Court

I’ve been thinking a lot about colour palettes at the moment. Moving house can have that effect on people. How do you choose the colours you live with daily ? Bright and clashing or calm and peaceful ? I have pretty strong ideas on the colours I like to have around me by now. I do like quite a large proportion of whites where I live, because really, that is what I prefer as a back drop to paintings and other artwork. But still, I’ve been reading some interior design magazines and books just to add some fresh ideas into the mix.

One of my favourite books at the moment is ETC by Sibella Court. It’s not a traditional interior design book in that it doesn’t give whole room layouts , instead she talks about colour choice and creating palettes. Her idea is to refine your choice down to 10 colours. And then , throughout the house or room use them in combinations of twos, fours or more.

She suggests going around your home noticing any items that you are drawn to – bowls, clothing  or little details like buttons. Next to go out into nature and do a similar collecting exercise there. And fnally to pay attention as you go about your daily routines , noticing anything that appeals – from peeling paint work to a grafitti covered wall.

With digital cameras and camera phones this task is made even easier.  So, for the next week I’ll be keeping a visual diary to discover if the colours I choose are what I expect. Feel free to carry out a similar experiment. I’ll be posting the results of my very scientific explorations on Flickr.