Flooring to Suit Your Home.

You have an idea for a particular room in your home, if you’re anything like me you have a mood-board pulled together displaying all of your ideas and suddenly you realise the current carpet is tatty and doesn’t fit your design. Or maybe you have carpet in your hallway and its been ruined with muddy shoes and heavy footfall and you would like a change.

Here are my go to flooring brands as a designer:

To many of my clients, i regularly recommend Karndean Flooring, after 40 years in business this company has revolutionised Luxury Vinyl flooring tiles & planks. Say goodbye to cheap lino which lifts and is a little old fashioned and even tiles (unless you’re able to have under floor heating). Say hello to LVT, with a huge selection, from tiles, an array of different wood finish planks and even parquet (which is making its way back into our homes!) this is certainly a favourite of mine.

This flooring is easy to clean, not cold under foot, hard-wearing and can be layered up with rugs in living rooms/bedrooms/ snugs to add texture and warmth.

Which moves me on nicely to Crucial Trading, an interior designers dream, these natural floor coverings are gorgeous, asthetically pleasing and top quality. With a huge array of designs, from simple neutrals with amazing materials - such a wool, seagrass, Jute and more, stripes and herringbone/chevron. Not only can you kit out your entire room with this carpets, you can marry them with the Karndean flooring by ‘building a rug’ - choosing your favourite centre material and boarder. I would highly recommend having a play on their website www.crucialtrading.com - you can even order 5 samples for free, to see the style & quality for yourself!

And finally a more traditional but just as beautiful flooring company - Brinton’s…

“We believe that a carpet is never just a carpet. Since 1783 we’ve seen it as a way to bring your home to life, helping you to express yourself in ways that you never thought possible.”

Specialising in woven carpets, you can find a flooring that will suit every style. They also offer a Laura Ashley collection which I know a number of you will love. With a blend of 80/20 wool to nylon the flooring is super soft under foot but hard-wearing too. I simply love the more traditional styles in these ranges.

If you are local to Bicester head to Carpet Trader, Granville Way, Bicester (also home of Blind Trader for all of your window dressing needs) - here you will find a fantastic team who will help you find what you are looking for, plus stockists of all of my above favourites.

Alternatively, all companies above list their retailers, so take a peak!

First Home Tips & Tricks

You are moving into your first home, you are filled with excitement and nerves. You cant wait to make the space your own, although it is a little daunting. So here are some ideas to help you create the home you always wanted without having to break the bank:

Let's start with hand me downs, family and friends can be pretty generous when it means they dont have to go to the tip to get rid of that old piece of furniture. Take a look at what is on offer, can you upcycle it? Change what it is used for? For example, an old metal storage cupboard usually used in a garage can make a fantastic side-board or drinks cabinet.

Do you have some furniture and not sure on what space you have available for new pieces, if you can get into the room/s before moving day take the measurements of the furniture you have and some masking tape.....map out on the floor where you think these pieces will go. This gives you a great idea of what space is remaining for those items that you are missing.  

Photo by Manja Benic on Unsplash 

Moving into a rental property? If you arent able to paint the walls, or in some cases even drill - the Command adhesive strips are fantastic, perfect for hanging some photos or prints. Why not add a bit of colour and character to your walls with wall stickers, they have come a long way from the variety available a few years ago and most are removable.

If you are working to a tight budget, second hand stores, local social media selling pages and IKEA are the places to go. IKEA's furniture is simple and affordable. Do some research on IKEA hacks, there are so many ideas out there for the different uses of their range. Keep your eyes peeled here as I plan on writing a post in the future all about exactly that.  

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash 

Starting with a new build or blank canvas, my advice would be to live in the space for a week or so before commiting to paint colours. Get some paint testers onto the walls and take a look at them at different points in the day and have a think about how the colour makes the room feel, warm and cosy, or bright and light, etc. Is that the look you are going for?

Don't Panic! Moving house is always stressful, but it is worth it. So long as you have the basics, a bed, a kettle and some tea & milk (high on my list of importance!!). You can add furniture over time, get an idea of how you want to use each space while your living in it and can sit back and enjoy the walls around you and making them your home. 

Photo by Calum Lewis on Unsplash

If you need help or advice on any of your future decorating projects, head on over to my E-Interiors Pages on my website to see what I can do for you.  

Christmas Gift Ideas for the Interior Lover

With only 2 weeks now until Christmas Day, here are a few of my gift suggestions for the Interior lover in your life: 

•For the Monochrome Loving Traveller, Southwood Stores stock these gorgeous cushions with varying destinations, with the black and white geometric design. The store has so many amazing homeware products, full of great gift ideas:

Photo Credit: www.southwoodstores.co.uk

•For the organised (or those in need of a bit of organisation) in your life, take a look at the stunning Lifestyled Planners. With varying sections to get planning for the year ahead and a beautiful finish. Stylish and modern. 

Photo Credit: www.lifestyledplanner.com

•Fun and fabulous, the lovely Flat102 and Origami EST have the sweetest treats, with screen printed plaques specifically for Christmas or unique wine boxes to Origami ornaments, lampshades and more.... these ladies are worth a follow on Instagram and take a look at their websites for fab gift ideas:

Photo Credits: www.flat102.co.uk and www.origamiest.co.uk

And finally…..always on my Christmas list…..

An Ideal Home Magazine Subscription:

Photo Credit: www.idealhome.co.uk

Alternative one off magazine purchases that are full of inspiration and amazing articles are:

Lion Heart Magazine (www.lionheart-mag.com) and The Window Magazine (www.thewindowmagazine.co.uk)

I hope that you find that perfect gift, and have an amazing & magical Christmas and New Year. xx

Unique Jewellery Organiser

You know those fabulously stylish friends, you walk in their home and could write a whole shopping list of things you want, “I need that light!”, “Oh, that rug is so cosy”….. Well this happened when we visited some friends in their lovely home.

With a beautiful cosy living room, a great extension with open plan dining room and kitchen, just the downstairs had me hooked. Both Karl and Ali have a real eye for style and design, with furniture that suits the space perfectly and really shows their character and a signature style.

While being given the house tour, Ali showed me their ‘dressing room/study’ (every girls dream!), and on the wall Ali had created a really unique and impressive way to display and organise her Jewellery.

Made from copper corner pipes and end, these are a fantastic way to show off some of those statement necklaces we all seem to be wearing at the moment.

Ali was so kind to let me share this with you guys, and explained how these eye catching hooks were made:

“To make the hooks I used copper corner pipes and ends, dowelling rod and screws. Cut the rods to around an inch thick or enough to fit into pipe. Drill through the centre and screw into the wall, then slide on the corner pipe and put the (copper end) stopper on top. Voila! You have yourself a necklace hook.”

Big thank you to Ali for sharing this with me, I hope that you have all found inspiration in this……. Creative Storage, fun ideas and statement pieces.