This is our latest shoot that is now on Channel 4 Homes. Unless you have been away for all of 2011 then you must have noticed the ongoing trend for all things bright and graphic. It’s a certainly a striking scheme and not for the faint hearted. To recreate the look, use a graphic image for your background and pick out one of the colours for your bright piece of furniture.

It must be my editorial background as I always like to see my images layed out as a spread! I’ve included the larger versions below. I hope you like it ;0)

Credits
Wallpaper styled and designed by Kirath Ghundoo, wallpaper Arne Jacobsen inspired Egg Chair, £335, Interior Icons, Sanderson Dandelion cushion, £30, John Lewis, Studio Arc floor lamp, £169, Click 4 Interiors, Glass table (part of a set of 3), £399, Dwell, Coloured wine glasses, £29 for 4, Found Home Store, Hula glasses, £16 for 4, LSA-International.com, Striped Cuckoo Clock, £195, Pantone chairs, both Found Home Store, White glass vase, House of Fraser. Red Anglepoise lamp, £150, John Lewis.

Styling Pippa Jameson, Photography, Jemma Watts, Background boards supplied by Set surfaces

I’m afraid it’s been a while since my last post as we have been out of the office shooting.  I’ve been looking at a lot beds recently as we are thinking of buying a new one for ourselves, hence this feature.  Whether you are thinking about solid wood, rattan, metal or maybe leather, there are a wide range of choices.  I have included images from some of the major players, showing one in each material.  My favourite is the first one, a beautifully carved bedstead made from solid oak.

Antoinette Bed, French Bedroom Company

Matalan bedding

Sol bed, Natural Bed Company

Emer Oak Bed, Living it up

Rattan bed, House of Fraser

For the Tv addict! Dante bed by Littlewoods

Lit Lit bed by French Bedroom Company

Iris Bed by Beautiful Modern Thing

Some other compies to consider are:Leather beds by Bedstar, Feather and Black & The Sleep Room

ARCO OKAY LONDON was a great exhibition showcasing 10 designers work which was produced after one week inside an empty furniture factory in the Dutch countryside…

There is just under two weeks to go until John Lewis unveil their new Stratford store, but as you might expect from an Olympic site shop, this is going to something completely different… Image credits: Clements Riberio, ercol cabinet; Bottles Blue cushion, James Joyce; Ikat print cushion,  Ikat Broadstripe chaise, Seattle Chaise, Adras Indigo all Ptolemy Mann;

There are many elements that make this new Home store exciting including collaborations with designers that are completely new to John Lewis.  One that I am really excited about is the vintage boutique brand, Pedlars.  As well as their signiture pieces, they will be offering reconditioned 1950s telephones, original London bus blinds, vintage 1960s bread baking tins sourced from the Hovis factory, along with 1960s lamps, maps, and globes.

Customers will also see a new focus on design-led, directional products, particularly in furniture and lighting.  One particular designer lighting brand will be Design House Stockholm, a firm favourite of mine, you might know them for their ever popular and gorgeously stylish Nordic Light.

There will be a section dedicated cushions, wallpaper and fabric by Jocelyn Warner, a new dining range from Bethan Gray for John Lewis, and fabrics from Mulberry Home.  The area will see a new installation by the renowned stylist Emma Davidge, her concept is inspired by Tibetan flags, and uses long drops of John Lewis fabric to create a breath-taking entrance to the Home floor showcasing the array of fabrics available.

Other collaborations include Original BTC and Modernica, as well as designers Clements Ribeiro, James Joyce and Ptolomy Mann (images above).

Another service will be from Image library guru, Getty, where customers can customise a range of art and photography to suit their own requirements – altering the print size and frames to suit their taste.

Finally, there will be a Home Design service offering customers a design consultation in-store or at home.  Customers will also be able to pick-up swatches and samples, browse interiors magazines and books, and speak to one of their interior design-qualified home designers.

The official opening will be on September 13th 2011
John Lewis

The consumer practice of throw-away buying and not caring about the origin of a product has drastically changed in the last few years. We’ve grown increasingly interested in learning about where our food is from, is it ethically sourced, is it organic, is it healthy, were the animals properly cared for? Our habits of recycling are also improving – we don’t want to waste, we want to buy responsibly and we want to buy items that will last. It’s these traits, this new mentality for intelligent purchasing that is spreading to all aspects of our life and affecting our buying habits; especially when buying interior products. There is one particular interiors trend that follows the ethical ethos.. shabby chic.

The trend for all things shabby chic has been around for a while now, and is showing no signs of leaving. With the recent revival for choosing up-cycled over reproduction furniture, it’s clear that consumer buying habits are changing. We are going back to vintage roots by thrifting and creating, with a make-do-and-mend attitude. I think the reason shabby chic furniture has been so successful is down to its transferrable nature – blending in to most interiors seamlessly.  This is due to the variety of shapes, styles, colours and differing degrees of furniture painting techniques used. Every item of shabby chic furniture looks different and any style of furniture can be up-cycled.  Many of the high street chains cottoned on to the trend over the years and have decreated mass produced reproduction shabby chic furniture which I am not a fan of; it all looks the same, devoid of any character.  The paint is flat, the wood is cheap MDF and the style is unimaginative.  I believe that shabby chic furniture should be up-cycled from antiques or pre-used furniture – you can see the grain of the wood, it distresses authentically and more often than not the furniture is imperfect. It is these imperfections that make great shabby chic furniture – the dents, scratches and uneven surfaces, they all add to the character and individual nature of the piece.  For these reasons, I buy from independent suppliers who up-cycle the furniture in-store and by hand.  Below is a selection of the best shabby chic up-cyclers!

Ruby Rhino

Phoenix on Goldborne

37 Old London Road

Ruby & Betty’s Attic

The following antiques dealers also offer a great selection of beautifully painted, French shabby chic furniture: The French House, A & L Antiques, Maison Artefacts, Belle Epoque, Jensen and Ballantine and for the occasional piece MADE.