Sibella Court's China Town Apartment

Hi guys, how was your weekend? Mine was spent watching repeats of The Antiques Road Trip (great show) and eating in the tiny Hand and Heart restaurant in Nottingham, so was lovely all round! What did you get up to?
I thought I would start the week with a particularly lovely house tour from New York. This gorgeous little apartment is home to stylist Sibella Court and is located in central China Town. The loft apartment was converted from an old textile workshop and the tin ceiling and metal pipes have been kept as a reminder of this. Sibella has also referenced the immediate area in which she lives with lots of Chinese paper lanterns clustered together. Lets have a nosy around.

I particularly like (and am slightly jealous of!) her vintage collection of butterflies above her chest of draws. She has so many and has displayed them beautifully.
The predominant colours throughout the apartment are white and green which provide a cool, airy feel. Sibella has teemed antique green feature pieces (chest of draws, vintage wallpaper) with plain white walls which help make features of the accent pieces rather than distract from them.

The apartment is a treasure chest of well curated pieces. I love the freshness of the plain white walls and exposed pipework mixed with lots of antique pieces. There are a lot of things on display but somehow it still doesn't look cluttered.

Overall a beautiful, creative space which has given me lots of ideas for my own place. If you want to find out more about Sibella, have a look at her website for her Australian store, The Society Inc, a truly creative project. Sibella has also published two books: Etcetera and The Stylist's Guide to NYC, both are certainly worth a read.

{All images: House to Home}

Yarn Bombing

Hello there! Who's up for a bit of knitting inspiration this Sunday morning?
A few weeks ago I stumbled across some images of a knitted tree and started researching what this could possibly mean (as you might imagine, I was quite confused). It turns out that there is an international phenomenon called 'yarn bombing' whereby textile artists knit and crochet around, well, everything and anything. The movement has been credited to Magda Sayeg of Knitta Please, a knit graffiti group. Magda shares her groups projects via her blog of the same name and they get up to some seriously cool stuff. Look at these for starters.

Follow Magda's projects over at her blog, Knitta Please. One of her latest commissions was at Etsy HQ in Brooklyn, have a peek at what her team got up to here, and here. It's not just Texas-based Knitta Please that's in on the action though so keep an eye out for some knit graffiti near you. And if you happen to come across any, let me know!

Have a fun weekend, see you back here on Monday.

{All Images: Knitta Please (except image 1, Apartment Therapy}

Write a Bike

Okay, I know it wasn't that long ago I was lusting after a Beg Bicycle, but look what I've found now! These are so beyond amazing I really don't know what to say about them, apart from WOW. I wonder if he can make a 'Laura'?

For all those romantics out there, Juri has even designed a tandem. However, having recently been on an 11-mile ride on one of these, I can assure you that they are much harder work than they look, even on the back! But with one of these at least you'll look good.

The bikes are the work of Juri Zaech, a Swiss art director currently living in Paris. Unfortunately the bikes are only in the initial stages of design and are not currently for sale. Juri is currently working on a way to produce a prototype of one of the bikes. Fingers crossed all goes well so we can buy one of these personalised beauties! I discovered Juri's work via the Behance Network, a platform for creative professionals to showcase and discover creative work. Check it out, you'll find some interesting stuff ranging from photography, jewellery and art.
If these haven't inspired you to go on a bike ride this weekend, I don't know what will! It's going to be sunny too!

Happy Friday! x

{All Images: Juri Zaech via Behance Network}

My Other Home...

Hi everyone! Hope you are all well? I'm afraid I've been neglecting my blog somewhat the last few weeks, there just seems so much to do but so little time! But I promise I will get back to some serious blogging action soon! For those of you that follow High Street Home, you'll know that I now write a weekly column on the Natural History blog which has been keeping me busy for the last few weeks. If you have been following my posts, a big hug and 'thank you's' are coming your way, I really appreciate the support! But for those of you that are new to my blog, here's a little round up of what I've been getting up to at my other 'home'. Click on the links to see the full post over at Natural History. Be sure to check out the rest of the blog too as there are some brilliant contributors with some really exciting topics being covered!

Antique Chests

http://naturalhistory.typepad.com/blog/2011/07/antique-chests.html

Introducing... The Bucket Tree

http://naturalhistory.typepad.com/blog/2011/07/introducing-the-bucket-tree.html

Botanical print tiles

http://naturalhistory.typepad.com/blog/2011/07/botanical-print-tiles.html

To see what I've been writing about and where you can buy all the lovely things pictured above, click on the links! Thank you for your support everyone xxx

Inspirational Offices from Feather & Black

Although known for their gorgeous bedroom furniture, Feather & Black have recently launched some stylish office equipment. If you're in need of revamping your home office, just look below for some inspirational options.

There are three new styles in the Feather & Black range. The first of these we'll look at (and my personal fave) is Olivia, an off-white New England style that is both pretty and practical.

I love the simplicity of the off-white colours in this office. Even if your day isn't, at least your furniture will be calming! This office includes the Olivia bookcase, desk, desk tidy and 3-draw filing cabinet. All of which are actually in the sale right now, hurrah!

Next up is the Seattle range.

This office is certainly one for fans of the utility and industrial trends.The reclaimed elm looks great with the clean, cold lines of the metal frames.

The last instalment of their office range is Marblehead, a more traditional design made from American oak.

There are more pieces available in this range compared to the previous two. You can mix and match furniture to suit your needs out of a desk, desk tidy, filing cabinet, tall bookcase, small bookcase, cupboard and a bookcase with doors. I think the open-plan bookcases are a great idea for an office, everything is readily at hand but can be put back neatly when your all done.
Which style do you like best? I absolutely love the Olivia range. If I ever get my own office space, that's what I'll go for (along with those dreamy white floorboards too).

{All images: Feather & Black}

Papillons

No, I'm not talking about a breed of dog! 'Papillon' the French word for 'butterfly'. To see what I'm talking about and where to buy this gorgeous poster, check out my latest post for Natural History.

http://naturalhistory.typepad.com/blog/2011/07/beautiful-butterflies.html 

  

Creative Displays

Hi guys, happy Friday! Hope you are all well? Today I wanted to share with you some images I have been collecting over the last few months on creative displays. I am currently re-decorating my flat and have been influenced by all the beautiful blogs, magazines and shops out there and I want to show you some things which have inspired my own decorating projects. All of the rooms below have great creative spirit and imagination and show how to make a feature in your home with pretty much anything!

First up: Ceramic plate displays.
One of the great things about using plates as artwork is the versatility of them. For example, in the kitchen on the left, bold, bright, modern plates have been used to create a fresh, vibrant display which works well with the contemporary oak dining table and colourful storage pots. However on the right, antique china plates have been used to create a vintage, delicate feel which sit perfectly with the distressed wall and old chair.

Images: Apartment Therapy and Andrew Wood

Plate displays also work outside, which can be seen below. Here, the owner has used floral and botanical printed plates to match the outside setting in which they are placed. Wouldn't you just love to own this back-garden? It's so relaxed with it's peeling green bench and casual scattered cushions and would be perfect for lazy summer evenings.

Image: Creative Walls

Second: Ways to display artwork.
Everyday coat-hangers have been used in this sitting room below to create a striking visual display of the owners collection of posters and art. I think this look great: original, personal and fun. You can also change the posters regularly to update it with the decor or your moods. Note, they have also made great use of the limited wall space where the stairs cut into the room.

Images: Apartment Therapy

Next up: Ways to display your bits and pieces!
The pictures below are really just a hodgepodge of things I've seen in the past couple of weeks that have really got my creative juices going. They don't have an over-riding theme as such, just prettily displayed objects that I love. The image on the left is a beautiful office space which has utilised the back wall for displaying both trinkets, clippings and pictures that the owner may need at hand whilst working. The image on the right shows a wooden crate being used to store china, an idea which I LOVE. Everything looks so pretty, but is so practical at the same time. The bottom left shows an image I found whilst browsing Decor8. Using pegs to hang photographs and flowers looks quirky and the pegs themselves become part of the artwork. I might use this idea to hang dried lavender in my bedroom. The bottom right shows how to integrate a vintage mirror collection into a wall display. I think the mirrors add an unusual element to the display and give the room a vintage feel.

Images: 1. Elle Decor via Natural History; 2&4. Design*Sponge; 3. Decor8

There's so much inspiration around at the minute that I keep changing my mind for what I want for my own flat! But I will definitely be using some ideas from here, especially the pegs to hang pictures and flowers and the wooden crates for storage. I would love to know if these images have inspired you in any way or if you have a decorating project on the go too?

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend whatever you get up to!

Exciting News...

As of today I will be a part of the fantastic new team of contributors to the Natural History blog. Last week founder Sarah was on the lookout for a panel of people to write regular posts for her blog and I was fast to take up her offer! Her vision is to expand and grow the current blog with regular postings from various people with lots of interesting articles. I can't wait to get started and am so excited to see how this project evolves. Exciting times lie ahead! I will be posting on a Friday afternoon about my homeware shopping finds of the week, I hope you will join me there. Today's post focuses on ethnic and tribal homeware accents, why not have a look? Follow the link below to see my first post there.

http://highstreethome.blogspot.de/2011/07/exciting-news.html

Here's a taster of what I've found.

Image 1,2,3 via Plümo. Image 4 via Lombok.

Have a browse through the rest of the blog too as there are some great contributors with some great articles. And remember to let us know what you think!

Hope you all have a great weekend! x