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.

Read Full Post »

Worship your walls

It’s easy to feel a bit nervous about using wallpaper with all the pattern, colour and occasional bit of texture that it brings, but I think that wallpaper is a wonderful decorating tool and following a few key principles will help to achieve just the look that you are after.

As with any scheme, it is important to find your own style and stick to it, and this very definitely applies to your wallpaper selection. From traditional to modern, and all the styles in between, there is a wallpaper for you, so keep looking until you find a design that works for you.

Angie Lewin’s wonderful wallpaper with a hand drawn feel in beautiful knocked back colour tones www.stjudes.co.uk

By contrast, if you like a wallpaper to make more of a statement, Osborne and Little’s Tessella could be for you. www.osborneandlittle.com

If you are using a wallpaper, don’t be afraid to hang your pictures – the pattern will still provide a good backdrop to your artwork. This classic country trellis pattern wallpaper creates a lovely background to the pictures – and the impromptu cocktail bar!

Fired Earth Walled Garden Broughton  www.firedearth.com

Look at the paint colours for your ceiling and woodwork carefully as generally you want them to blend with the colour tones in the wallpaper. If your ceilings are low or sloping, think about wallpapering them – be brave, it will look great!

The low sloping ceiling of this room is disguised by wallpapering it in with the walls. Beautiful Blue Roses wallpaper by Kate Forman www.kateforman.co.uk 

 

I generally think that if your wallpaper is patterned (rather than a textured plain paper) that a plain curtain works better. However, there is the odd occasion that using a matching curtain and wallpaper can look stunning.

This very classic damask pattern wallpaper from Lewis and Wood looks wonderful with matching curtains. Lewis and Wood Venetian Damask http://www.lewisandwood.co.uk

Wallpaper is a great way to add personality and fun to your children’s rooms and there are some great new patterns on the market for you (and your little princes and princesses) to choose from.

Gymkhana wallpaper from Rockett St George www.rocketstgeorge.co.uk

Les Bidules wallpaper from Pierre Frey www.pierrefrey.com

Happy decorating!

Read Full Post »

Easter bunnies

With the Easter weekend nearly upon us, we just could help but bring you one or two bunny related home accessories. We’ve majored on items we like rather than keeping strictly to bunnies, so please forgive the inclusion of the odd hare or two. Wishing you a lovely Easter break, from all of us at Angel and Blume.

Knitted bunny rabbit tea cosy from Nervous Stitch at Not on the High Street

Ceramic bunny table lamp with light up LED tail from Rockett St George

 

Baby bunny tea towel from Father Rabbit – this fabulous company is based in New Zealand but will ship to the UK, so it makes economic sense to order lots of things at the same time 🙂

 

Hilarious rabbit screen prints from HAM – impossible to choose which to show you as they all made me smile

Lovely second hand rabbit jelly moulds from Re-Found

Beautiful Harvest Hare fabric from Mark Hearld available at St Judes Fabrics

Loads of gorgeous things to buy featuring the Rabbit and Cabbage design on from Thornback and Peel – and 15% off rabbit accessories right now!

Read Full Post »

New fabrics and wallpaper from Angie Lewin

What could be nicer than receiving a fabulous Happy New Year card from the wonderful people at St Judes enclosing these beautiful pictures of Angie Lewin’s lovely new fabrics and wallpaper – as I am now running out of adjectives,  I will let the pictures do the talking BUT I will just say that the card is by the brilliant Jonny Hannah. That one isn’t going into the recycling bin any time soon. Have a good weekend everyone.

Read Full Post »

Forest Jig from St Judes

As any reader of this blog will know, I am a great fan of St Judes fabrics and when I was browsing their website this evening, I was thrilled to see this charming new fabric from designer Ellie Curtis. A quote from her explains the inspiration and I copied it below (with thanks to St Judes and Ellie Curtis) as I thought it gave such a delightful background to the design.

“For Forest Jig I wanted to design something light and jolly and full of movement; I took inspiration from the swing dance classes which I was attending, an ancient Egyptian wallpainting full of lush foliage, a dance scene in the 1953 film Roman Holiday where couples danced in a plaza strung up with lanterns, and botanical gardens. “

The fabric is available in 4 different colourways and can be purchased directly from St Judes.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Springtime

At last, after what seems like the longest winter, we have had a gloriously sunny Spring weekend.  The aconites are blooming on Christ’s Pieces and the daffodils are peeping out on New Square and here at Angel + Blume we have welcomed spring into the office by displaying the beautiful Pierre Frey fabric Espalier on a canvas on the back wall of the studio.

 

 Below is our choice of green and yellow fabrics, furniture and accessories which will allow you to bring a little bit of spring into your homes and gardens without involving a major decorating exercise.

 

 This beautiful selection of fabrics is from Osborne & Little’s Spring 2013 collection and the clever combination of vibrant lime green with more subdued greys and black makes them perfectly understated and eminently usable in any room.

This simple, pretty and extremely ‘spring like’ Cushion Cover is a design called Hedgerow by Angie Lewin at St Jude’s.  The three colour design is screen printed in the UK and comes in two other colour ways.

 

Also by Angie Lewin, Dandelion 1 in Pale Green and Sage is slightly more subdued but also comes in the more vibrant Sage and Yellow combination.  The cushion covers measure 45x45cm and cost £32 each.

 

 Zoffany’s  Town and Country Collection

The curtains in this bedroom are from Zoffany’s recent Town and Country Collection.  Once again, the combination of zesty lime green with shades of grey make the fabric really user friendly whilst still allowing that energizing splash of bright colour.

 

 If you’re looking to brighten up your child’s bedroom or nursery then look no further than this delightful desk and chair set from molly-meg.  Les Gambettes little Suzie child’s chair in Lemon yellow is a fantastic design with a distinct 50’s feel made from formica and metal. It comes in a beautiful choice of retro colours and costs £68.

 

  The matching desk is £170.

  

Emma Bridgewater never fails to deliver and her jaunty Daffodil Mug priced at £19.99 will brighten up breakfast time, coffee time or anytime you fancy a quick cuppa.

 

Its not too soon to be thinking about having that cup of tea in the garden either, if you’re lucky enough to have a sheltered spot and this lovely little patio set will fit in even the tightest space.  It affords you limited maintenance as it is constructed in metal and designed to imitate wood and folds for easy storage.

The WimbledonRange by Jonart Design.

 

 And if it still feels a bit nippy then this jolly throw from The Great English Outdoors is just what you need to cover up.

Vintage Fringed Throw FT32 £125

 This blog first appeared on the Cambridge News website

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

New fabrics at St Judes

We love St Judes at Angel + Blume and more than a few of their fabrics and artists’ prints feature in the homes of our clients and in my own home.

Read Full Post »