i ripple. i dance » Home and Design

Pinterest synchronicity – new nautical

Michelle Y — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:28:51 +0000

I was just scrolling through pinterest and these pictures in close proximity I thought made for a terribly wonderful “new nautical” look (although a quick search through pinterest shows that pink and stripes is nothing new).

Ever had such an unknown collaboration on your follow board from different people?

And a happy Friday!

sources: scarf; boat (can’t find original source but links back to here); words; outfit

A Blessing of Unicorns

Michelle Y — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:22:49 +0000

I went to Mildred’s yesterday for lunch (really good and I suggest you go). On the walls they had some prints from Woop Studios which I absolutely love. They have created a series of collective noun prints. So brilliantly English and wonderful. Here are a few of my favourite. The price is out of my just travelled, unemployed, student budget but I might be tempted to buy a set of their flash cards.

Wedgewood Blue

Michelle Y — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:30:59 +0000

You know those possession of your Grandma’s that you coveted as a child? I loved this little Wedgewood box the most. It was kept in a glass cabinet with an array of other lovely and cherished items that I would look at almost every time I visited my Grandparent’s house. When I moved to England and far away from my Granny she gave it to me as a memento and I keep special pieces of jewellery in there like my Mother’s engagement ring.

So Wedgewood has always had a special place in my heart. That blue is better than a Tiffany’s blue any day in my book. On Friday I was spending time with friends and wondering around Liberty’s as a break between lunch and tea (yes shopping is what happens between meals for me) and we spotted the lovely range called Nature’s Canvas. There are both glazed and unglazed pieces but I love the rough earthy look of the sandstone coloured jugs sans glaze. And just the whisper of Wedgewood blue around the top. What a way to update a classic.

p.s. Wedgewood are having a sale on some of these items and boy if I hadn’t just spent all my money for my trip home I would certainly get that beautiful jug.

My unproductive day

Michelle Y — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:18:14 +0000

A gift from my mum. A coaster which is just so perfect for me. She got it from the South Bank shop.

Great British Blogger: Decorater’s Notebook

Michelle Y — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:39:24 +0000

It has been a long time but here is another in my Great British Blogger series (be sure to check out the rest if you haven’t already).

The Decorator’s Notebook is a fairly new blog but has fast become one of my favourite design and interiors focused blogs. Bonus? The Decorator is British. In a blogosphere inundated with interior bloggers she somehow finds rooms which haven’t yet been seen a hundred times and has a curator’s eye, bringing together unique arrangements of items. I am currently enjoying her pinterest A-Z series. She also offers useful tutorials and little visits around her home which is of course impeccable although in typical interior bloggers style constantly being worked on. Of course we wouldn’t want it any other way.

Find out more about The Decorator below before heading on over to her blog.

What part of London would you most align with your own personality and why?

I’m a country bumpkin making my way in the big smoke so I’m always seeking out the green bits of the A-Z. I live on the edge of Crystal Palace Park and the area suits me perfectly. It’s great to be able to wander through the leafy park to the famous Victorian dinosaurs and I love the relaxed buzz around the Crystal Palace triangle. It’s not the smartest area of the capital but there seems to be a new gastro pub, antiques shop (the zany market on Haynes Lane is not to be missed) or independent café opening every couple of weeks at the moment so it’s definitely on the up!

Who is your favourite current British designer / artist?

That’s a toughie, but I recently bought a screenprint by Angie Lewin at the Ghosts of Gone Birds exhibition in Shoreditch so she’d be pretty high on my list. I love how she takes natural motifs like seedpods, feathers and leaves and gives them a graphic twist. Her colour palette of Midcentury-inspired colours is gorgeous too. And of course anyone who’s designed fabrics for Liberty is going to be a bit of an idol of mine!

What adventures would you have on your perfect British day?

It would definitely involve a rural getaway with friends… the idyllic Isles of Scilly (off the coast of Cornwall) are my favourite place in all the world. We’d take an early morning boat to Tresco, wander along to the white, sandy Pentle Beach to collect shells, enjoy a picnic lunch and have a paddle before walking back over the heath to the pub for a cold gin and tonic in the sun. The perfect evening would involve a campfire, a barbeque (with some freshly caught mackerel if we can get hold of some) and a long night of chatter and laughter. Bliss!

___________________________________

Thanks to the Decorator for stopping by. I will have to visit Crystal Palace one of these days.

Photo courtesy of the Decorator’s Notebook, a peak into her dining area.

These make me ridiculously happy

Michelle Y — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:31:38 +0000

I know that shopping doesn’t make you happy. I have experienced enough buyers remorse in my life to know that it can make you pretty stressed at times and I have some purchases which make me wonder if I had momentarily lost my mind.

That said, I saw these two plates in a charity shop on Thursday. I held them for about five minutes before putting them down and leaving. They are hideous-gorgeous. I didn’t really need them. I decided if they were there the next day I would get them – thinking on it is always a good move.

The next day I popped in on my way home from Uni and the plates were still there! I quickly picked them up and paid for them.

As a vegetarian this is the only way I am going to have a turkey on my plate for Christmas! (haha that cracks me up).

Terribly sad but every time I see them I smile if not actually laugh spontaneously. I think that is my goal for all future purchases.

We also bought another chair from the Wimbledon carboot on Saturday. We now have 4 chairs around the dining table. Time for a dinner party (which is actually happening tonight with some new uni friends coming around for dinner).

The Shelf Dilemma

Michelle Y — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:10:52 +0000

You might remember me posting before about my dream home spaces. In a nutshell: white and grey with a hint of colour. Blissfully uncluttered, light and open, minimalist in a cozier, lived in kind of way.

Meet my shelf and reality.

We picked it up a few years ago off the street. It was put in the kitchen to hold our growing book collection. It was not meant to stay – it is varnished blue for goodness sake! However, it has made the journey with us to our new house and is in fact the only shelf we own.

What you will note:

We own a lot of books: see the ‘little’ pile on the floor and the delightful way I have crammed books into every space (well at least most of them are off the floor right?)
The top is cluttered with non-book related stuff.
Books are colourful, i.e. they do not fit into aforementioned dream notion of white and grey with a hint of colour.

Aside from throwing half our books out (or at least taking them down to our local secondhand book store/charity shop) I am a bit stumped as to what to do with this assault on my delicate senses.

Firstly, I am planning on painting the shelf. As with comments on the post about painting wood I think I do generally prefer plain wood to painted, but I think getting the blue varnish off of this would be far too much effort. I have a can of white paint to hand but was pondering a light grey…

Then I thought I could colour code the books.

I am hoping to get a bureau type piece of furniture for a bit of space outside the kitchen where my cook books could be relocated to (they currently take up about half a shelf)..

Not sure if we will hang the picture of Florence or leave it there – it is quite a heavy frame.

Any other thoughts would be great?

(click bottom image for source)

Blue stripes

Michelle Y — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 07:56:27 +0000

I thought I would do a slightly different ethical inspiration today. Inspired by the everyday (a picture I took on holiday) I found a whole bunch of matching items.

My picture

How about some matching kitchenware

And some super stylish Etsy ladies rocking their vintage stripes

Are you a blue stripe kinda person? Any favourites from the bunch? I want all the kitchen items and particularly dress number 2. Looks like it would be perfect for sunny weather (for when we live in Italy).

Sources:

Kitchen: 1 | 2 & 5 (I could own everything in this shop) | 3 | 4

Striped ladies: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

p.s. don’t forget there is a 20% discount code for the photos in my Etsy Shop: MYCREATIVELAUNCH

Shedding some light

Michelle Y — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:07:56 +0000

Next to our bed we have 1 bland lamp from Argos (similar) that we bought when we first moved out on our own and 1 decent anglepoise style lamp from Ikea (unfortunately in blue). This has left me wondering about replacement lamps. I must admit that lamps aren’t really something that I find super enthralling and that I actually lean towards desk lamps anyway.

Caravan Pacific via Design Sponge: Of all the “standard” lamps I have seen I really like the aesthetic of this. Clean with a bit of mid-century.
John Lewis: I was actually on the brink of buying this with some vouchers I got when I left my job but then went with the more practical option of new sheets which fit our bed. I love the colour and the more feminine version of the desk lamp.
Habitat: Perhaps a bit plain to be honest but it is quite reasonably priced for Habitat.
Rusty Vintage (Etsy): Love this one. Pity it is all the way in America.

Now … lets see if I can find any of these in a carboot sale.

Cutlery bouquet

Michelle Y — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:15:42 +0000

I am eager to share some photos of the new flat but things are still a ways away from being presented on here. So I explored our kitchen a bit. We don’t have a cutlery draw so they are now on our counter top. I quite like the look of them. We also have some matryoshka dolls that our friend bought back from Russia and have secretly made their way onto the extractor above the stove. That is until they drive our housemate crazy. I wouldn’t have thought to put them there but I think they add a nice dash of colour to on otherwise white/slate grey space.