Lovely lampshades

Accessories are a great way to bring pattern, colour and interest into an interior and whilst I am in no way discounting the classic ivory silk lampshade which I love, I would draw your attention to some of the marvelous ways to bring a bit of character to your home just by updating a lampshade or two – from some of our favourite suppliers, of course!

Thornback and Peel‘s designs are beautiful and eye-catching and work brilliantly on a lampshade where you can see all the lovely detail.

This charming lamp and base is from Graham and Green and uses an Osborne and Little wallpaper (design by Nina Campbell) for the shade. You can buy the lamp and the shade separately but I think they look great together.

Doing French country style as only Kate Forman can, this lampshade is made from her Red Josephine fabric.

I was recently introduced to the brilliant Pooky selling a wonderful range of bases and shades. I purchased two of the Oralee (yellow base in the middle) for our office meeting room  and I am delighted with them. Look out for the lights on and off feature on their website which shows the huge difference between how the shades look when the light is on or off.

Rapture and Wright‘s fabrics which are all so beautiful, look wonderful on a lampshade and especially teamed with the delicious burnt orange interior.

I love this dear little lamp from St Judes featuring Angie Lewin’s Hedgerow fabric.

And finally, the image doesn’t really do it justice but Timorous Beasties clever lampshades (mostly) feature plain exteriors with their enchanting designs on the inside which when the lamp is switched on glow through the shade so you see the patterns in their full illuminated glory.

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Flying the flag

As the Jubilee weekend is upon us, and the Angel and Blume office is feeling really rather patriotic, we feel this is a perfect time to promote some of our wonderful British fabric companies – if you are looking to redecorate, now is the perfect time to indulge in some great British design.

 This blog first appeared on the Cambridge Evening News website

 Celia Birtwell is known round the world as a great textile designer and having successfully conquered the fashion industry, she then expanded into fabrics for the home in the 1980s. Her designs are just gorgeous and bring a charm and humour to the home that is an absolute winner. Beautiful attention to detail and perfect colouring mean that her fabrics are elegant, stylish and very useable. We love them.

  

St Judes are based in Norfolk and produce beautiful, quirky designs on printed fabric that are perfect for curtains, upholstery, cushions, lampshades – you name it, St Judes fabric looks good in it. They work with a range of artists who produce designs for their fabrics which contributes in no small part to their original, refreshing and highly desirable look. www.stjudesfabrics.co.uk

My Mum bought a Melin Tregwynt welsh blanket when I was very young (I now have it, I’m delighted to say) and it is still looking fabulous all these years later. Their products are all made in Wales at their own mill and I love their individual designs and their robust, honest and well made products. Melin Tregwynt are celebrating their 100 year anniversary this year and I think their designs and products are better than ever

 

Kate Forman Fabrics has captured the wonderful essence of French vintage floral design with a tiny bit of Gustavian chic and the result is fabulous British designed and produced range of fabrics. The collection extends into cushions, accessories and also furniture which embodies the flavour of the fabric collection. We highly recommend a look at the irresistible website.

Rapture and Wright have a fresh, creative and interesting look about their fabrics and that coupled with delicate colouring and high quality linen cloth is very enticing. Their website is beautifully presented – so much so that it is hard to resist purchasing –  and they also say on the home page that their philosophy is to be 100% British, and that is ok by us!

 

The Isle Mill produces the most beautiful and useable woollen tweeds. Their clever use of colours and pattern makes these wools desirable in both traditional and contemporary homes and their finely woven wools work really well for both perfectly draped curtains and luxurious upholstery. We think these Scottish wools are an absolute winner.

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Lovin’ the Linen

The new Rapture and Wright catalogue has just dropped through the Angel and Blume letterbox and it really is worth a look. This lovely British company specialises in linen and linen union printed cloths that work beautifully for curtains and blinds but also (as you can see from their gorgeous web images) for upholstery, lampshades and bed headboards.  They have produced four of their fabric patterns as wallpaper which really shows off their beautifully drawn designs to their best advantage. Take a look, we don’t think you will be disappointed!

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