Bad to the Bone

It’s always fun to have a look at themes and trends that are making the rounds in the world of interior design. Our general rule of thumb here at Angel + Blume is to go with the style you most like over what’s hot right now, but it’s sometimes worth looking a little outside your comfort zone, you never know you may discover something new to take you fancy. Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of skull and bone like accessories that are perfect for anyone who wants something a little unusual and quirky. I’ve picked out a few fun and diverse products that all follow the bone theme for you to take a look at.

Not all bone themed pieces have to be obvious, in fact if you want to find pieces of furniture that make a statement, getting ones that ask a few questions is always a smart move. I find this whale bone chair from Anthropologie so interesting, it’s from eucalyptus wood by artist Adam Birch. At first glance, the chair looks like an abstract, Avant-Garde piece, but on closer inspection you can see the bone-like structure, making the whole thing even better. It’s a great occasional chair for a contemporary setting.

‘Whale Bone Chair’ from Anthropologie

If you feel like starting off slowly, a few simple home accessories are an easy way to work with the theme without going the whole nine yards. I love this picture frame from Graham & Green, it will beautifully mount a treasured photo without stealing focus, but without being dull either and will fit nicely into an already existing collection of picture frames.

‘Indigo Printed Bone Frame’ from Graham & Green

Another little gem from Graham and Green are these fantastic salad servers, they’ll be decorative both when in use and when on display, plus they incorporate both bone and colourfulness to make a wonderful combo.

‘Multi Coloured Salad Servers’ from Graham & Green

For anyone that favours the suave and sophisticated look in their home, and wants to keep this theme running, this reeded bone ice bucket from Oka is the perfect balance of vintage and sophisticated style, it’ll look charming on display and can be whipped out just in time for cocktail hour!

‘Reeded Bone Ice Bucket’ from Oka

Inlaid bone as a decorative form dates back to as early as ancient Egypt, and if you’re looking for a bit of bohemian luxury it’s a great way to get started. This four poster bed from Anthropologie is absolutely dream-like, ideal for helping create a fairy tale bedroom.

‘Bone Inlay Four Poster Bed’ from Anthropologie

If you want to take a more light-hearted leap into the bone theme why not try something cute and dainty? These star carved doorknobs from Rockett St George are just adorable. They’ll make a wonderful decoration to a cupboard door, anywhere in the house be it a kitchen, bathroom or bedroom.

‘Star Carved Knob’ from Rockett St George

Adorning your home with trinkets and treasures is a sure fire way to add character to the place. I really like these plaster cast shells, fossils, coral pieces from Pale and Interesting. Filling up a bowl with them is a great way to decorate a bathroom.

‘Bag o’ Bones’ from Pale and Interesting

These skeleton paper lanterns from Rockett St George are a kooky (and spooky) way to include the bone theme in an unusual way. They’re superb if you need them to make a party that extra bit special, but will also work well for everyday use if you want to create a playful interior.

‘Skeleton Crew Paper Lanterns’ from Rockett St George

If you want to bring your bones to the table, check out this set of six skeleton plates from Re-found Objects. Perfect for a dinner party where you want to impress and entertain the crowd, they’ll look amazing up on the table and will turn into a piece of art when on display.

‘Bone China Skeleton Plates’ from Re-found Objects

For the grand finale, a real showstopper, and something that’s probably not for the faint-hearted, is this glorious embellished buffalo skull from Rockett St George. Mounted animal heads on the wall may seem like a thing of the past, but there are loads of similar but alternative products floating around at the moment, from paper and felt animal heads to bedazzled skulls like this one. If you’ve got the guts it’ll look fab hung over a fireplace, bed or even placed amongst many strange and beautiful pieces running up a stairway.

‘Embellished Buffalo Skull’ from Rockett St George

From the adorable to the pretty to the slightly odd, there are all kinds of ways to experiment with the bone trend and so many ways to get inspired.

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Marvellous Marble

In recent years marble has become a leading theme in the world of interior design and home accessories. Before you may have thought about marble and imagined a large Bel-Air mansion covered head to toe in the stuff and maybe given a slightly involuntary grimace, with the word tacky scrolling across your mind. But marble has come back in style, taking an alternative pathway. It’s made its appearance in home accessories, from lighting to tableware to soft furnishings, a faux marble style or a print has become a playful way to take on the material and tone down the sense of grandeur, whilst still keeping a fresh and sophisticated look, turning something that was slightly old-fashioned and a little outdated into something current and contemporary. There are tons of ways to incorporate a little bit of marble into your home, and I’ve chosen just a few wonderful things on the market at the moment.

‘Marble and Wood Pizza Board’ from Rockett St George

This gorgeous board from Rockett St George is a fab accessory. The two tones of the different materials are complementary of one another, making a smart and contemporary look. Perfect to serve up your pizza, or prop up on the kitchen counter.

For a lovely addition that’ll spruce up your table or dresser, this marble effect jug from Trouva is spot on. The dabbled marble effect gives the whole look a little individuality and a subtle presence in the room.

‘Quails Egg Jug’ from Trouva

For an innovative way to add a pop of marble to your kitchen, one (or two) of these marble tea towels will be sure to do the trick. The look is completed with the vibrant neon pink stitching, making them ideal of anyone who likes a lively and playful interior scheme.

‘Marble Print Tea Towels’ from Rockett St George

Jazz up your dinner parties with these elegant but contemporary cheese knives. Their marble hands gives the knives a sophisticated feel, while to modern gold tone of the blade makes it a fun and cool way to incorporate marble into your tableware.

‘Marble and Gold Cheese Knives’ from Oliver Bonas

Your marble revitalisation needn’t just take place in the kitchen, there are so many beautiful ways to use marble in the rest of your home. Marble pots from Rose & Grey are a nice little touch to dress up a study or working area of your home. Choose a few of both the white and green to create a wonderful grouping, dotting them around the room.

‘Marble Pots’ from Rose & Grey

Move your marble madness up to the skies and start adorning that ceiling with all sorts of lovely marble touches. Whether you want to spend a little or a lot, a marble pendant light is a creative way to play around with the trend. These Lee Broom pendant lights available from Houseology are a beautiful and sophisticated way to incorporate marble into the home. They have a slight retro vibe to them which adds to their character.

‘Lee Broom Chamber Pendant Light’ from Houseology

Alternatively, if you want to go for a less permanent, less expensive route down the marble pendant path, these paper lampshades from Graham & Green are gorgeous! Perfect for a rented house, or if you’re testing out the marble look.

‘Marbled Paper Lampshades’ from Graham & Green

If you’re feeling bold, another marble treat from Houseology is this Timorous Beasties cushion. This vibrant blue marble effect pattern will give any room an electric look. For the ultimate impact buy several and use as scatter cushions, or play around with contrasting patterns to really make a splash.

‘Timorous Beasties Marbled Damask Cushion’ from Houseology

Add just a hint of marble to a room with this stunning table lamp from Oliver Bonas, its marble base paired with the pastel shade and bright cord creates a lovely overall look.

‘Lamp with Marble Base’ from Oliver Bonas

And finally a special mention to this gorgeous vase from Rockett St George, it’s a stunning piece of work that has all the attributes of a high-end sculptural piece without the scary price!

‘Marble Effect Serenity Vase’ from Rockett St George

From pizza boards to pendant lights, there are so many ways to integrate marble into your interiors these days, and with so many pieces out there ready to buy you can really let your imagination run wild.

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Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Updating a kitchen is quite a sizeable task, perhaps one of the biggest you can do in a home. If you don’t have the time, patience, energy or funds to redo an entire kitchen, you can easily inject a bit of freshness into a kitchen’s look with the addition of a few new kitchenware accessories. Whether you want to change the style, or just give the room a little facelift you’ll be surprised how far a few pieces can go.

While there are endless amounts of products and accessories out there, I’ve picked out just a few from all different styles you give a taste of the possibilities.

If you’re a keen baker (or even if you’re not) you’ll love this hand-painted rolling pin from Anthropologie. The beautiful decorative style means it’ll look just as wonderful when it’s not in use as well as when it is.

‘Sissinghurst Castle Rolling Pin’ from Anthropologie

Staying in the bohemian style, these petite mugs from Oka are so charming! The hand decorated cups are just the right size for an after dinner beverage, plus they’ll look divine on display, their bold colours are really eye-catching, making them the perfect way to complete or start a collection of beautiful crockery.

‘Florya Mugs’ from Oka

If you’re interested in re-doing your kitchen in a more contemporary style there are hundreds of ways to go about it. I’m not usually a fan of pink, but these Schiap plates from Oka are rather special. The clean candy-pink stripes and black rims give the classic style a glamorous twist.

‘Schiap Plate’ from Oka

Another pretty in pink addition to the kitchen are these luxurious bowls from Heal’s. Their effect is created from hand applied metallic lustre. They’re a fantastic update to a contemporary table or kitchen, and are the perfect injection of colour to neutral palette, especially if you want to create a high-end, feminine look.

‘Polka bowls set of four’ from Heal’s

Whether you’re getting good use of out if, or just mainly using it for decoration, a beautiful pestle and mortar is a must-have for any kitchen. This shallow, stone one from Holly’s House is a lovely contemporary piece that will show off whatever spices you crush up in there.

‘Stone Pestle and Mortar’ from Holly’s House

A kitchen bursting with colour can really take your breath away, but you may not always want your surfaces and cupboards to reflect this. Instead, choose your accessories to channel your inner rainbow. I absolutely love this bubble glassware collection from Graham & Green. The hand-blown pieces purposely have tiny air bubbles to create a light and airy appearance. They will look gorgeous littered around a table, tucked up on a display cabinet or dotted around a kitchen to tie a theme together.

‘Bubble Glassware’ from Graham and Green

Another special piece from Graham & Green is this antique plate holder. Perhaps you have some wedding plates you want to keep safe, or just want to jazz up your ordinary, everyday crockery you can display them in this stylish holder.

‘Antique Plate Holder’ from Graham & Green

If you enjoy a little mid-century style, take a look at this adorable storage jar from Heal’s. Taking its influence from the 1930s and 1940s, designer Cressida Bell created this little champ, perfect for keeping your biscuits in!

‘Trees Storage Jar’ from Heal’s

Another retro piece of kitchenware that will make your home that extra bit special are these Art Deco style trivets. The geometric style is super swish and elegant and will work as decorative pieces when not in use.

‘Outline Trivets’ from Holly’s House

Last but not least, if you can’t get enough of some geometric shapes, these flamboyant tea towels with an eye-catching pattern should do the trick. Swap out your old, fading tea towels for some fun, vibrant new ones.

‘Scholten & Baijings set of two tea towels’ from Heal’s

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Breakfast at Catesbys

I attended a wonderful brunch event at Catesbys (Green Street, opposite Bills) this morning and the company, the breakfast but most importantly, their current stock, was all a delicious delight. I highly recommend a visit for a browse at their home furnishings and accessories followed up by a restorative visit to their first floor café. Thank you Neil and Jonathan, look forward to seeing you soon. X

We have a few of these bowls in the office – very handy for sweeties

I didn’t know before this morning how much I want a pair of sleeping lions

Stylish dishes

…and more stylish dishes

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