Browsing Category

Interiors

Interiors Products

Operation Christmas Decoration Overhaul

When we put the Christmas decorations up last week, I (definitely only me – everyone else was thrilled) felt that our decorations needed a revamp with a few new bits and pieces.  The collaboration of my husband and my decorations when we married, now 6 years on, have really seen their day.  What  started as a set, had ended up as only 1 or 2 and the ‘mulled wine infused with cinnamon scented Christmas candle’ is really in need of the bin…. So off I went on a cyber shop for a few pretty (for me) and fun (for the children) items to spruce up our countdown to the Big Day.

 

Hooray Tree Decoration £4.90 Holly’s House

It wouldn’t be a recommendation from me without a bit of neon and sparkle thrown in. How fun are these… You could even turn it into a key ring afterwards!

Hooray-Tree-Decoration---1_grande

Rainbow PomPom Lights £25 PomPomGalore

Put these up at Christmas and they will no doubt stay up throw 2016 too. I love them!

00073997

Fir & Snowberry Garland £70 The White Company

This is super smart and would be a great addition to any staircase. (Other than ones which children slide down!)

FullSizeRender(94)

London LED Battery Lights £10 Paperchase

I plan to use these on the back of the buggy or on my handle bars. That’s if the boys don’t grab them first!

FullSizeRender(95)

Ski Lift Scene With Music £55 John Lewis

From experience with these Christmas scenes, they have the little ones transfixed for longer than most things. They rally are magical and John Lewis do a very engaging Ski Scene. Do it! Or buy it for Grandma & Grandpa’s house…

FullSizeRender(98)

Traditional Nativity Scene £10 Christmas Time UK

It’s mega important not to forget why we are indulging  celebrating Christmas and this little Nativity Scene will help you explain the Christmas story.

FullSizeRender(97)

Traditional Santa Plate £15 Pearl & Earl

Totally unnecessary but absolutely brilliant personalised plate (I am sure they can sign it from more than 1 child or you could just use your surname) and a great investment if your kiddies have a few more years believing.

PLATE-TraditionalSanta-Red_large

The Night Before Christmas £5.24

We were given this book when our eldest was a baby and we have read it to them after we have done the mince pies and carrots for Santa and his Reindeers. It’s a sweet book and a tradition that seems to be working!

9781782442240_Z

Crepe Surpise Crackers 19e Smallable

These are so colourful and a bit different. If you are more traditional – these would be great for the childrens table!

crepe-surprise-crackers-set-of-6

Interiors People Property Services Spotlight

Katie Cullinan : Richard Cullinan Joinery

Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a house that had a place for everything.  You could hide all evidence that you had children (!) for a more aesthetically pleasing home without the plastic contraptions glaring at you from every corner. One can dream. Or one can action! Joinery…

Richard Cullinan Joinery is a family business that Katie’s parents set up in 1978 and she joined them in November 2011, after deciding to leave the law.  They have a workshop down in the pretty and historic town of Rye on the East Sussex coast, where their team of joiners produce made-to-measure cabinets and fitments for homes and offices. They can build anything – so everything has somewhere to go!

rcj_019

The process starts with a meeting on site, to see the available space and to find out what the client wants.  She discuss’s the options, takes measurements and then they prepare CAD drawings for review and a quote.  There might be some feedback from the client to make some adjustments to the design, and once the design is agreed she will return to double check measurements and then the joinery will be put into production.  Once the order is placed delivery is usually within 6-8 weeks.

 

IMG_0155

Katie has experience how to make an efficient and spacious toy cupboard. I dream of having a house that you can’t see any evidence of children!

IMG_0149

IMG_0145

 

If you are looking to create more space in your children’s room, Richard Cullinan Joinery is a master of this.

IMG_0104

IMG_0109

They work with private clients, interior designers, architects and building contractors.  The size of their projects range from a simple bookcase to a house being completely refurbished, for which they might supply a complete range of cabinets including wardrobes, bookcases, media units and bathroom cabinets.

If you need any expert joinery – Katie is your go to girl!

rcj_023

Katie’s favourite’s :

Restaurant: The 10 Cases,  Covent Garden, London

Hotel: Era Beach Hotel, just outside Galle in Sri Lanka

Shop: Peter Jones

Website: Mad About The House

Holiday destination: Bembridge, the Isle of Wight

www.rcjoinery.co.uk

Interiors Products Services Spotlight

Alexandra Geddes : Love From Ophelia

Love From Ophelia creates bespoke stationary featuring illustrations of real people.  Most commonly children, but also fashion portraits, family groups and recently Christmas scenes and new homes.   The cards can be personalised with text, addresses and a gorgeous range of fonts and colours.  Here is a set of notecards with a picture of my youngest son in his blue check pyjamas with his name above in ‘Greswell Grey’. They are so smart – they are almost too good to send to anyone!

FullSizeRender(20)

 

Alex started Love From Ophelia for many reasons. She loves stationary and since having children has enjoyed buying them lovely cards and paper to write their thank you letters.  She was always looking for something a bit different and unique and struggled to find it.  So, Alex spent the last year learning about graphic design and how to turn illustrations into printable products.  It has been a huge learning curve and she has loved every second.  Having had a career as a Management Consultant, she knew she wanted to work for herself so Love From Ophelia fits the bill perfectly. She can work when she wants and is also doing something she loves.

“When I started designing the range, I envisaged it would mostly appeal to mothers with pictures of their children or a family portrait. However, my customer’s have been so diverse – from a pilates teacher leaping through the air to a Society’s Christmas Card!”

Alex 2

Alex with her gorgeous family

Each pack is beautifully presented, carefully in a cellophane envelope finished with a ribbon. They would make a lovely present for a Godchild or a cool change of address cards with a drawing of your new house.

If you can’t decide, what about a picture of your family pet?

 

Alex’s Favourite’s

Shop: Katie & Jo or J Crew

Website: The Model Method

Hotel: Kasbah Tamadot in Morocco

Restarant: Petersham Nurseries Restaurant

Holiday Destination: Crabbing in Aldeburgh

 

Love From Ophelia

Interiors People Services Spotlight

Talia H. Cobbold: Interior Designer

 

9O1A8143

In this current climate, there aren’t many business that are inundated with requests that they can afford to pick and choose which jobs they take on, however one that can is interior designer, Talia H. Cobbold, based in Kensal Rise.  She started up Talia H Cobbold Interior Design 4 years ago after her son was born and she is now endlessly sought after by property developers and private clients.

play-room-v1

“If asked, I think most of my boarding school friends would have said, from my obsessive approach to the look of my area in our dormitories that I should have immediately gone into a career in interiors”.

However, it took her 9 years working in newspapers and magazine as a Picture Editor, and a chance opportunity with a developer friend to get her there. Whilst on maternity leave, a friend and developer David Harragin, who knew her (obsessive!) interest in interiors, was too busy to do the interior design for a house he was working on so gave her the opportunity to head it up. The job was a huge success and she has since worked with his company, Oryx Partners, on a number of other high end residential projects.

Portugal 249

Talia H Cobbold Interior Design also works with private clients, fulfilling their needs and expectations, and creating individual and exceptional homes to really live in. She has just completed a 5 bedroom development in Chelsea, and is currently working on a townhouse in Westbourne Grove.

Talia is inspired by designers such as Turner and Pocock, Suzy Hoodless and Caroline Riddell, and tends to lean towards classic design with a contemporary twist.

9O1A8216

Talia’s Favourite’s

Shop: The Cloth Shop – Portobello Road

Website: Pinterest

Restaurant: Ostuni – Queens Park

Hotel: Hotel Talia, Modica Sicily (the name is a coincidence…)

Place to go with kids:  Hampstead Heath

IMG_3343

www.taliahcobbold.com

Interiors Products Spotlight

Harriet Hoult: Abstract Artist

If you want to know who the next big thing is in the art world, let me introduce you to Harriet Hoult.

Her pieces are beautiful and intriguing and would be a stylish addition to an empty space on your wall. If you don’t have any space, you may want to think about replacing it with one of Harriet’s.  She has a growing fan base and they are fast becoming collectors items – once someone has bought one, they often buy from her again. They would also make a wonderful present.

imageHarriet is an abstract painter who has an instinctive approach to her work. Each painting is a unique journey where she is continually challenged to trust in the process. She is inspired by the everyday and her work is an interpretation of these experiences onto paper.  She is fascinated by aesthetics and the visual interplay between form, space and colour which she is continually exploring. Harriet paint’s in acrylic, building layers, combining different shapes, marks and colours, to create abstract images. For her there is a “certain mystery in abstract form; a communication without direct suggestion that can be interpreted by the viewer, based on their own perceptions and can sometimes speak to a deeper part of us”.

Her studio is in Petersham, near Richmond.  It is approx 3m x 5m and it has a clear plastic roof which makes it fantastic in terms of light.  “I am a very messy painter so it is absolutely covered in a multitude of splashes and drips of different coloured paint”.  At either end of the space, are shelves where she keep’s all of her paints and brushes.  In an ideal world she would love a really big studio with lots of space as she love’s working on multiple paintings at the same time.  From the reaction Harriet’s pieces are getting, I imagine it won’t be long before she has her much desired larger studio!

Harriet

Harriet

Harriet’s Favourite’s

Shop: Anthropologie

Website: www.designspiration.com

Restaurant: Hix in Soho, London

Hotel: Scarlett Hotel, Cornwall

Place: Richmond Park

To View Online

www.harriethoult.com/
Interiors People Services Spotlight

London Carpenter & Craftsman

There are some numbers you need on speed dial and Lance’s is one of them. He is an exceptional wood craftsman who can turn his hand to anything, whether it’s a house, a boat or a camper-van! He will make what you require to a very high specification – quickly and efficiently. He can source the wood, make it and paint it to your requirements. Carpenter & Craftsman.

Here is a list of things he is able to do – image

  • Wooden Flooring
  • Paneling
  • Cupboards
  • Tree houses
  • Fences
  • Bin Storage
  • Skirting
  • Decking
  • Children’s Beds
  • Bespoke Cornicing
  • Built in benches

Lance has been building things from a young age. He used to help his Grandfather making things as he was growing up and this natural ability shines through in his work.

He is also a pleasure to have around the house, working discreetly and tidily. Having two young children of his own, he understands the necessity to clear up after himself and I guarantee he will also raise a few smiles from your young ones.

Lance’s Favourite’s

Shop: Just Kampers

Website: www.pinterest.com/

Restaurant: Le Vacherin in Chiswick, London

Hotel: The Doña Filipa in Vale do Lobo, Portugal

Place to go with children: LaserZone, Brighton

Everyone has a pending to do list (I fancy a bike shed in the front garden and new paneling in our hallway…) and I urge you – if you need a carpenter, contact Lance for more information!

Lance 07884 042 115 or email lancelawson1976@gmail.com

Interiors Products Spotlight

Cellandia: Cards For All Occasions

Beautiful stationary is one of life’s little luxuries.  It’s one luxury I don’t have enough of. I rummaged through my stationary draw this week to find a suitable thank you for a Christening this last weekend and all that I could come up with, was old regulation writing paper from boarding school and a couple of the free packs of cards you get sent by charities at Christmas.

image

Luckily, I have somewhere to turn.  Lovely London based Laura, has cornered a gap in the luxury card market with her original prints and themes, inspired by her love of photography.

Laura with little Olivia

Laura with little Olivia

Her company, Cellandia, has a beautiful range of personalised cards – birth announcements, stationary sets and a full wedding range from invitations through to final thank you’s. They are handmade to the highest quality and beautifully presented.  They are available to view and order online.

Birth Announcements

Birth Announcements

Laura’s ‘5 Favourite’s’

Restaurant: The Bingham in Richmond, Surrey
Hotel: Ardanaiseig in Argyl, Scotland
Website: www.princessandthepram.co.uk
Shop: Luma in Barnes, London
Place to go with Children: Wisley in Woking, Surrey

I urge you to spring clean your stationary drawer and visit her online shop.

www.cellandia.com

If you would like to receive posts similar to this one, please Follow in the ‘About The London Mummy’ page.

Interiors Products Spotlight

A Hip Kid: Glass Accessories

After producing a crunched and leaking Evian bottle at an after school picnic yesterday, I realised that this means of water consumption for the next 5 warm (!) months was not going to suffice. What to do?  I think I have a chic and practical answer.

A Hip Kid, a lifestyle brand, as featured in the May/June Edition of Vogue, was started by two friends, Camilla Hicks, based in Clapham, and Avery Kaufman-Benemache, an American currently living in Paris.

Camilla and Avery

Avery and Camilla

Over Avery’s kitchen table in Paris, they had an idea for glass baby bottles which are more hygienic, with non slip (and non smash!) silicon sleeves.

Baby bottles

Baby bottles

They proved so popular, they ventured into other areas and now have a large number of products. On my wish list are the stemless wine glasses – perfect for slippery sun creamed hands at the beach.

Stemless Wine Glasses

Stemless Wine Glasses

The water bottles are also very cool, a great replacement for my plastic bottle and they would even spur the laziest person to exercise. All the gear no idea…

image

Their ‘5 favourite’s’ are –

Restaurant: The Wolseley, London
Hotel: Scallywags – Indonesia and Hotel L’Abbaye – Paris
Website: www.delicouslyella.com & www.calgaryavansino.com
Shop: Labour and Wait, Babylist
Place to go with Children: London Wetlands Centre

To order –

www.ahipkid.com

If you would like to receive posts similar to this one, please Follow in the ‘About The London Mummy’ page.