Vanderhurd - fabrics and carpets review

At the beginning of July, I went to the summery  launch of some fabulous new fabrics and handmade carpets by the innovative and creative company Vanderhurd.

Vanderhurd have adapted traditional techniques to unconventional materials to create wonderful geometric designed carpets and dhurries.  All bespoke and made to order in natural fabrics and dyes. 

The long tails of recent and older fabrics hung from chrome hooks from the walls.  The natural fabrics and subtle colours of the fabrics trailed like dripping paint down the wall.  The fabrics ranged from the deliciously delicate hand embroidered to naïve geometric hand printed designs on cream and white linen.  

The venue for the launch was the interesting Redloh House, The Old Gas Works.  The lovely old house and outbuildings now offer studio and workspaces for a huge variety of artists, craftsmen and chefs.  There is a commercial kitchen - which can be rented by the day! 

What to do when someone falls in love and won't listen to good advice!

Could the title of this blog get any longer?  

This blog came about as I was reading an article on the magazine site:  The Stylelist, Kimberly Mullian, It got me thinking about the surfaces and appropriateness of use and a designer's responsibility.  In this blog she discusses the fact that her designer recommended Carrara marble for the bathroom and how she agreed - because she likes it and everyone has it right?   Having lived with the marble in her bathroom for some months she is finding the down side of the beautiful white, porous & delicate substance.  I can see why the marble was selected but this is where I think Designer who is doing her job well will try and dissuade her client from using a particular product when it is not suitable for the purpose.

Carrara marble is one of the softest of marbles.  Its white colour will not remain white and pristine for long if subjected to any chemical cleaners, drops of nail varnish cleaner, wet soap left on it, etc. etc.  It may be sealed but we all know that doesn't count for much if through ignorance or ineptitude the wrong things are used or spilt. What would I have done?  I would have said - Yes, use the marble on vertical surfaces but be aware that if you use it on horizontal surfaces you are liable for staining, scratching and defects appearing.  Why not use: Corian, Axion etc many other man made products which cope with modern living very well and look very like marble and are just as expensive.

I have had clients select, fall in love with and want a product that is inappropriate for the job.  Persuading them to change and alter their minds is difficult.  The item you are usually trying to discuss is probably integral to the design/look of the room and they just 'want it'.   I am of the opinion that it is the designer's duty to point out all the flaws and potential problems with any particular product.  It is then up to the client to decide if they want to use it being made aware of these facts.   Occasionally, I will say that  'In my opinion this product is not suitable for the purposes for which they want to use it, and that they are using it against my advice.....And they have to be aware of the consequences'.  That hasn't happened often mind you!

So to answer the title of the blog - What to do when someone falls in love and won't listen to good advice:  give the advice, makes sure that you have documented the fact that you gave the advice and that your client is aware of the facts and then 'go with the flow'!  People fall in love with unsuitable people so let them live with their unsuitable interior decor choices if that is what they have fallen in love with.

What do you think - should a designer insists they know what is right or should they let a client make that decision?

Marble stained with water.

What has Twitter done for me?

So, what has Twitter done for me?  I've been actively engaging on this social media site for the last  8 weeks - Um, let me count the things!

1) I have a job - thank you Barclay Interiors

2) There are many authors on Twitter and I've read a number of books: a couple of the good ones so far: The Rings of Alathea by Dan Moore and  Designer Devil by Stuart Peel

Scarf from Horrockses Fashion

3) I won a beautiful silk scarf from Horrockses Fashion

4) Had photographs of our Street Party taken for the local newspaper.  

5) Been inspired by the amazing Keren Lerner Top Left Design with whom I won a few hours of her time to discuss my blog and website.  I shall definitely be using her services in the future and the technically savy and Twitter guru Alicia Cowen.

6) Wasted huge amounts of time!   The amount of information on Twitter is slightly overwhelming. You could spend all day just  watching your feed and pinging to websites and not get a thing done....shh don't tell anyone that is exactly what has happened to me on occasions.

7) Found some interesting people.  The breath and wealth of talent is truly amazing - and I would not have come into contact with half of these people had they not either followed me or I followed them. 

8) New suppliers of furniture, fabrics and other house hold bits and pieces that I will use in the future.

9) Enjoyed some brilliant blogs  Mad About the House by Kate Watson Smyth is one I particularly enjoy.  

10) Lastly but not least an idea for a new, but small business - helping people around Twitter, Pinterest, Blogging, Linkedin and other social media sites.  Click for more info:  Twit For You

It has all been a most wonderful and entertaining 8 weeks.  I have to admit to still learning Twitter etiquette, I do apologise when I get it wrong.  All in all I have found Twitter to be an interesting, entertaining and informative place.  I have also wasted a lot of time on there!  You have been warned.

Kitchen - the Heart of the Home

You've bought a house, or you've lived in it a while and now you want to do up the kitchen.  Make it into the uber space that you have had in your minds eye for the last five years.  If you are organised you have even got a file of pictures from magazines with lovely lustful kitchens.  Well done!

But, the look of a kitchen is only half of the battle.  What should you consider when planing and designing this important and vital space?  A kitchen is not just a space to cook, it is often the heart of the home where so much else goes on.  Obviously, where you are in your lives will affect what your require:

• Single:  microwave, dishwasher, beer fridge!
• Recently married: cooking space, more storage and entertaining space.
• Young family: ahh now this is really where the kitchen comes into it's own and becomes the multi functional area of multifarious uses. Cooking, child playing, TV watching (surrogate baby sitter - don't knock it), entertaining, coffee mornings, computer area/office.  The kitchen becomes the hub - the place of primary plastic toys, the essential room.  At this stage you should get the best kitchen you can afford.
• Teenage/young adult family: The primary plastic toys have left the room, you may have allowed (the always used and difficult to part from the opposable thumbs of your teenagers) the XBox, Wii etc into the room.  Or you may have banned this box of engrossing interest to another room.  But the kitchen now has become family eating space, grown up entertaining, some light leisure activities, homework and office space.
• Empty Nesters:  The kitchen is now your space to do with what you wish - oh bliss oh joy.

So how does one room encompass all these functions and different needs?  Planning, thought and talking to an expert.  As I said before, what a kitchen looks like is only half of the job now you need to consider:

1. Storage - you can never, never have too much
2. Electrical requirements - think of future needs, not just what you require now.
3. Fridges - size (often limited by space), material and requirements of the family
4. Sinks - what kind, style, material
5. Worktops - constrained by cost, there are many different options
6. Flooring - what works best for you, what is warm, comfortable for children, easy to clean and looks good.
7. Units - there are some fantastic gadgets and gizmos around, some are useful, some are a waste of space.  I personally subscribe to the notion simple is best.
8. Planning - Always think of the ergonomics of the room - how best you can use the space with the least amount of walking.

Good advice can save you money. 

Good advice will get you the kitchen you want and one that will grow with you over time.  

Where should you go for good advice - an Interior Designer for unbiased advice or a good kitchen company with well trained staff.

Knife, Fork and Spoon by Tracey Kendall

Pinterest - another social media site that I have just been introduced to!

quickmeme.com

So there I am, a Newbie on Twitter quite happily finding my way around hashtags, dm's and other such lingo that is used on Twitter when someone asks if I am on Pinterest.  

Well I wasn't but now I am!  What an excellent visual referencing resource this is. 

This site allows you to 'pin' images from websites that you find interesting or upload your own images into separate boards that you create.  If you click on the image you are then taken to the original website, which is fantastic if you are window shopping, brilliant if you need to remember to credit someone in a post, fabulous if you want to promote an item and well just generally all round marvellous!  Not only that but you can connect your 'pins' to Facebook and Twitter so your 'Followers' can constantly be updated, if they wish, with your wonderful images.   As you can read I am a convert.

I have started to use it as a way of displaying work/projects that have been completed.  These aren't the full on, set up, glossy shots by a professional,  those will come - but snaps of work in progress or just finished. As a way of easily displaying current work, this site could obviate the necessity of having a website that you need to constantly update.  Maybe, just maybe I am ahead of the curve here and everyone will soon be on Pinterest for their portfolio! 

I will shortly update my Pinterest site and upload photographs of artwork that I have painted and want to sell.  The potential market is huge just within Pinterest its self - if you label the items correctly.   How very democratic!

Southwold, watercolour

Link to Pinterest - Art by Rowena Vaughan