A gift I received this Christmas (or rather gifted to myself with gift money!) was the newest title from my very favorite Aussie stylist Sibella Court. ‘Nomad’, explores how you can easily create wonderful nooks and installations within your home to display your much loved travel mementos.  As usual, Sibella’s beautifully styled pages rekindled my urge to travel and explore the back streets and hidden gems in ‘my list’ cities like New York, London and Paris.  I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did!

With the credit crunch still looming and interior giants such as Habitat closing down, it’s now more than ever that we need to support our independent stores. The pros of shopping for homewares from independent retailers are endless, and the proof is in the pudding when you see the gorgeous variety of products on offer. You can find several brilliant guides to England’s best independent shops through websites such as Independent London and Unchained Online Guide.  Below is a our selection of the best independent shops that specialize in homeware!

An Angel at my Table is a family-run company {6 people and 1 dog} who will ‘bend over backwards to offer something different’ to their customers. They offer quirky and individual products with an definite artisanal quality, all selected for their originality rather than perfection. Whether it’s English or French furniture, fripperies and petites folies, An Angel at my Table have a beautiful and cleverly thought out collection.

Lily & Lime is the brainchild of busy working mother, Kristen Bridge, in reaction to the age old dilemma of selecting the perfect gift. The philosophy of Lily & Lime is to provide unusual, stylish and perfectly present gifts for all.

Baileys Home & Garden sell a heady mix of vintage and new from a variety of different sources, all sharing the qualities integral to their philosophy – ‘repair, reuse and rethink.’ The family run business loves to reuse unloved items and give them a new lease of life. When not reusing and recycling; Baileys design simple and useful products with a subtle sense of humour.

Camel & Yak is a young business specializing in beautiful and delicate French & Scandinavian lifestyle products, thriving from a loyal customer base. The vast selection of home wares are charming, colourful and would be complementary to any style or decor.

Cox & Cox is a treasure trove of decorative home accessories which are both beautiful and practical. The product range taking influence from all around the globe, taking note from childhood memories but often adding a contemporary twist. The team behind Cox & Cox have a strong design background which shines through in their choice of products.

My list of books to buy (or borrow!) is rapidly growing with the release of so many great show and tell interiors titles lately. Definitely high up on this list is ‘Undecorate’, a refreshing look at interior design by Christiane Lemieux. What I love most is Christiane’s emphasis on choosing items for your home with heart meaning and functional use, as opposed to simply following the latest trends. There is also some terrific geometric graphic design prints featured throughout the book which I adore.

Images Courtesy of Scribd.

You can read all about the book and more in an interview with Christiane over at Bloesem Living.  Undecorate available now from Amazon.

This competition has now closed – congratulations to our winner Mick Stewart

Funonthefloor.com is a fantastic resource for anyone planning home improvements, with interior design ideas and practical advice on everything from planning and fitting, plus a wealth of style inspiration for using carpet. Fun on The Floor has teamed up with Pippa Jameson Interiors to offer a book giveaway that will not disappoint!

The book is by George Clarke, Channel 4 presenter and architect who has recently joined Fun on the Floor’s panel of experts to help people make the most of carpet. George, who presents Channel 4’s The Restoration Man and The Home Show, guides you through your house, room by room, looking at everything from loft conversions and side-return extensions to en-suite bathrooms and utility rooms so you can realise the full potential, and value, of your home.

What did I think of the book….I have to say, I have read a lot of home improvement books but none of them are quite like this or go in to as much detail, it’s fantastic.  In the first chapter; ‘My Home Story’, George talks about his step by step experience on his own home renovation.  Having never published images of his beautiful home before, he gives us a complete insight into the project including before and after pictures as well as the ups and downs of the process and difficult design decisions that he had to make.  Best of all, he talks about how style the rooms once the building work was complete. The finished result is absolutely stunning.

There are 5 further chapters; Your Home Profile, which looks at all types of houses including terraced, semi-detached, detached, apartments, bungalows and the orientation of your home.  It addresses standard and problematic layouts and then offers solutions with visual diagrams – very handy if you are planning a renovation or house move.

The final 4 chapters; How to draw, Space and where to find it, Room by room and Resources are jam packed with advice on everything including extensions, designing rooms, costing and planning renovations and finding the tradesman to make it all happen!

We have two signed copies of this book to giveaway to one lucky winner. All you have to do to enter is visit www.funonthefloor.com and answer the following question:

This competition is now closed.  Congratualtions to our winner, Lou Taylor-Murison!

We have two fantastic books to give away from RotoVision just in time for Christmas,  they would make a lovely present for someone or you can simply keep them for yourself!

The first is called Reinventing Letterpress and I have totally fallen in love with it.  The book gives an overview of the fascinating techniques of this traditional process and also celebrates it’s mass revival by showing the portfolios of stunning work from the best letterpress studios that are running today.

The book is filled with so many beautiful pieces of letterpress artwork of all colours, shapes and designs.  Not only is it great to see all of the stunning work but it’s a fantastic resource for images and inspiration and very worthy of a prime place on any coffee table.  Below are just a few images from the book:

The next book is called 52 Photographic Projects, and would suit anyone with an interest in photography.   It was created by a self taught photographer called Kevin Meredith aka lomokev, who’s long term hobby turned into a career.  This is his second book (his first book sold out of it’s print run in under a year!)   Here is what the publishers say about it:

“This book will kick-start your creativity, enhance your photographic skills, and build your confidence behind the lens.  It’s cliche’ busting ideas are backed with jargon-free, practical advice to offer a weekly dose of inspiration for photographers and image-makers of all levels”.