Feature Staircases

Morning! This week's interior inspiration comes in the form of some colourful staircases. Not currently having my own set of stairs has meant I haven't given them, or how I'd decorate them, much thought. But having seen a few images on Pinterest, and having done a bit of research, I'm now prepared and inspired for when I do finally have a set to decorate myself. My favourite design has to be the rainbow colour-blocked stairs, they're so bright and cheerful!

Colour-blocked, stencilled or carpeted: which style do you like the most?

{Images: Design Traveller; SF Girl by Bay; Pinterest}

Preparation for Autumn

Autumn, my favourite season, is finally here. For me this means windswept walks in the park, warming foods and cosy nights in, but it also means it's time for some new things. Below is my autumn wardrobe wish-list for the new season, including a gorgeous cape from the new Alice Temperley collection at John Lewis. I posted about a similar cape back in August so I'm really pleased I've managed to find one just like it on the high street. 

Also on my list: this pretty tea dress from Topshop, which I'll wear with thick black tights, a handy black satchel, some sparkly nail polishes and some new boots. If I manage to get all of these then I think that'll be me sorted for the new season. What about you? Have you got your eye on anything?

{Images: John Lewis, Topshop}

Fun Art

I've posted before about how much I like photographer Cassia Beck's work and these new prints only second that. There are lots of different art prints in her Society6 store, but the range that has caught my eye this time are these retro-style images with bright colour pops. 

Her work never fails to bring me joy in one way or another. Whether it be from humour (I mean, there's a bear in a party hat!) or on a more visually aesthetic level, with pretty pastel flowers swaying in the wind, I love it all.

Make sure to check out her Society6 page where you can get these prints, as well as many others, framed or on iphone cases, laptop cases and greeting cards.

{Images: Cassia Beck via Society6}

Rosie Brown Styling

Morning! Hope you are all well? What did you get up to over the weekend? We had plans to go to Munich's largest flea market at Riem on Saturday and then visit Neuschwanstein castle on Sunday, but unfortunately the weather had other ideas. It poured it down for two days solid so I suppose they will have to wait until next week! I hope you had more fun wherever you were? But pressing on with the day at hand and I've got some lovely images to share with you of stylist Rosie Brown's work. Rosie Brown is an art director and stylist who has worked for many interiors and lifestyle publications such as Homes & Gardens and Elle Deco. She also set up the on-line boutique Papa Stour in 2005. Here are a few images of her interior styling work.

I especially like this last image as it makes me think of lazy Sundays drinking tea and reading the paper.

{Images: Rosie Brown via Papa Stour}

Up The Wooden Hills

Hello friends and happy Friday! Today I want to introduce you to handmade clothes specialists Up The Wooden Hills. Based in Sweden, Up The Wooden Hills create beautiful hand-made clothing that has a "dreamy, pretty and playful" quality. All garments are made with cotton fabric from Liberty of London and are made-to-order.

The focus is on simple, pretty day dresses in pastel hues and delicate patterns. Although there are some smock tops and skirts too.

I love the simplicity of these well-cut dresses. I can see myself literally living in one of these if I owned one - so easy to wear.

My personal favourite design has to be the CAITLIN dress below in Liberty's classic 'Poppy and Daisy' print. It has a beautifully simple design with two front pockets and self-tie waistband. I literally wouldn't need another dress again!

If you like what you see head over to their website to see more or to buy. Also, Up The Wooden Hills have a great blog, so make sure you check that out too! Have a great weekend and see you here Monday!

{Images: Up The Wooden Hills; Image one: Beata Rydén}

Owls by Matt Pugh

I'm a big fan of 'lived-in' homes with lots of personality and character. For me, accessories go a long way to achieve this homely look, so when I discovered designer Matt Pugh and his colourful wooden owls, I knew I wanted one for my own space. They're lovely pieces of design and also add a bit of fun to a room. The cute wooden owls are available in either oak or walnut, and the colour detailing comes in either white, pink, gold, brown, red, blue or green.

Aren't they sweet? They would look lovely perched on a bookshelf. These owls below are made from oak.

And these ones are made from the slightly darker wood, walnut.

They're £30 each, which I think is very reasonable for a piece of design made here in the UK. If you like these you can find out more about Matt and his other designs over on his website.

{Images: Matt Pugh}

Inspiring Interiors: Victoria Smith's Home

Back in April SF Girl by Bay blogger Victoria Smith shared some snaps of her beautiful home. I remember bookmarking the page straight away as I knew I would want to look at these photos again when I was ready to decorate my own space. I absolutely LOVE Victoria's bohemian style, everything she picks seems to resonate so well with me, from her colour choices, to her love of florals and to her edginess. Today I want to share a few of the images with you, both as a record for me, and as some eye candy for those that haven't yet seen it. I hope you like her space as much as I do!

Victoria has an amazing collection of oil paintings dotted around her house, they're even in her bathroom! It's this guy in her dining room though that I like the best. He adds so much character to the space.

I love the mix of texture and pattern in Victoria's home. The cow hide rug and the floral cushions in the dining room, the sheep skin rug and Moroccan leather pouffe in the living room, and the blackboard wall and colour pop blanket in the nook.

What an amazing space! To see the photographs in full head over to SF Girl by Bay. All photographs were taken by Bonnie Tsang, a lifestyle photographer based in LA. If you have instagram you should definitely follow Bonnie on there as her snaps of food and daily life are so pretty.

{Images: Bonnie Tsang via SF Girl by Bay}

Midweek Treats: Madeleines

As the weather was unbearably hot in Munich on Monday I stayed in and did some baking. Armed with my trusty The Art of French Baking book I set about choosing something from all the lovely recipes. I decided on the French classic Madeleines as I had bought a Madeleine tray earlier in the week- for some reason I'd never been able to find one in the UK- and wanted to try it out. Here's how they turned out:

Because I'm currently living in rented accommodation and cooking equipment is limited, I had to make these without the aid of a pair of scales- nightmare! Luckily they turned out well.

Here's how to make them if you fancy trying them out:

Ingredients:

125g butter, melted
150g caster sugar
150g plain flour, sifted
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170˚c (higher for non fan-assisted ovens) and grease your Madeleine tray
• Whisk the eggs and the caster sugar with an electric whisk until they have tripled in volume
• Fold in the flour, butter and vanilla extract
• When a nice consistency, rest mixture in the refrigerator for around 2 hours
• Spoon the mixture into the moulds, making sure to not fill them quite to the top (they rise a LOT)
• Bake for 6-8 mins (the recipe I was using said slightly longer but I made 3 batches and the ones that were baked for around 6 minutes turned out the spongiest (and nicest!))

*recipe makes 36 small Madeleines*

Let me know how you get on if you decide to make these as well!

{Image: Laura Blanksby, using Instagram; recipe adapted from The Art of French Baking, Phaidon}