Welcoming spring home

Spring has now most definitely sprung and it's time to fall in love with your home all over again. In light of this I want to draw your attention to some of the most interesting and beautiful points of inspiration that I've come across over the last few days.

First up is the innovative work of Peter Callesen, who works largely with white paper. I particularely like his piece entitled Fall, which shows a skeleton that cleverly takes the place of a tree's shadow.

Next is today's post from desipiretoinspire.net, which rounds up some of the most beautiful images to be found on Absolutely Beautiful Things. Together the two sites have brought together a collection of inspiring and refreshing images, that are all you need to convince you about the wonder of the world of interior design.

Next up is this bloomin' amazing bed, captured in the beautiful photography of Brian Park, and featured in House and Garden magazine. How could anyone who sleeps in a bed like this fail to wake up with a spring in their step?

And while we're celebrating fabulous uses of colour, it would be foolish of me not to point you back in the direction of desiretoinspire.net, and their celebration of the work of Molly Luetkemeyer, to be found at mdesignla.com.

Last but by no means least, it's time to take it to the floor with funonthefloor.com. Carpet shopping no longer be boring thanks to these fabulously fun floor-fillers. My personal favourite is the flower power carpet. I imagine it makes it far easier to get the kids up those apples and pears!

So there are just a few of my favourite interior design links of the moment. Have you lot found any that you'd like to shout about? If so, please let me know.

Shine a light

Today I stumbled upon this great article, flagging up 40 of the most creative lamps ever. I think they're genius and particularly love the mushroom lamps, the Titanic light, Torn Lighting, the Alien Abduction lamp, Nymph, Tall & Tiny and the Duck Lamp. If you need to shed a funky light on your home, indulge yourself by buying your favourite. What a statement it would make.

A grand idea

If, like me, you love Grand Designs, grab a bottle of vino and play the Grand Designs drinking game next time you're watching Kevin raising his eyebrows at another ambitious self-builder.

Image by sunface13

Sheer delight

Last night I stumbled upon a site overflowing with cool furnishings. Sheerhome.co.uk offers beautiful and luxurious products, all of which would make the perfect statement piece for any room.

The wall hangings and stickers are the items that really made me fall in love with this site. They're simple but beautiful, and quirky in a way that I adore (I always fall for things that slightly twist conventions.)


There are also great curtains, headboards, cushions and bedroom furniture, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Check it out now!

Take note

When walking the streets of Auckland last summer we stumbled across a great little stationery shop that is a grown-up version of Paperchase.

Don't get me wrong, I adore Paperchase, but kikki.K takes notebooks, files and home organization to an altogether more sophisticated level.

It offers cute folders purposely designed for functions such as wedding planning, money management, home organization and baby expecting, and the cutest post-it notes you've ever seen (below).



When we returned back to Blighty I was gutted to discover that the postage cost from Australia is so much, and am yet to make an order, but if you don't mind coughing it up I cannot recommend ordering from kikki.K enough. Oh but, if you do, please let me know. I'll split the postage with you!

Pop art

Spring has sprung and it's time to give our homes a new lease of life. A cheap but effective way to do this is to buy a piece of art that you love and to hang it in a funky frame.

This doesn't have to be expensive. My latest poster purchase is in the form of the amazingly cool Ork NYC poster, see above.

Ork divide a map into areas and then label that entire area with its name in bold type. It makes for a stylish and eye-catching image, and combined with an chunky black Ikea frame costs a grand total of £40. Not bad for an artistic statement. Ork also produce maps of numerous other US cities.

I also recently struck artistic gold at a Keane gig of all places. Most band posters feature band members thrashing about on stage, or posing moodily. At the Keane gig however we found a long, thin illustration-style poster full of beautiful imagery, that wouldn't look out of place in a kid's bedroom.



It cost us a measily £5 and although we are yet to find a frame to fit it, once we do I know it will take pride of place in our home.

Anyone else got any tips for cheap decorative features?

It's a small world afterall

Do you love architecture? I know I do. If you wish to own your own versions of the world's best buildings all you need to is invest in a heap of Lego bricks. Check out the Beethan Tower website for 20 that have already been made.

I would love to have a go at making Stonehenge. I shall start trawling charity shops for Lego!

PS Shedding light on fab Ikea range

I simply have to show you this fabulous wonky Ikea lamp. It is part of the ps range which is unfortunately only available in Sweden at the moment but I seriously hope that changes soon. The whole range is innovative and fun.

Elle's belles

Anyone who loves interior design as I do simply must subscribe to the Elle Decoration blog. I can never wait for the next issue of the magazine to come out and now I don't have to. It keeps you completely up-to-date with the world of home decor, and is a bit more playful than the magazine. I still adore that though.

My favourite post so far was The Cat House, which was posted at the end of last week.

I forwarded it straight to my fiance as part of my argument for us getting a pet. I don't think it convinced him. Surprising!

Are there any other interior design blogs out there that I should be subscribing to?