Object of the day: insanely cute animal wall stickers for kids

I stumbled across these door decorations from Finland on Etsy. 

If you're prone to being swayed by interiors trends (guilty) you might be thinking: wall-stickers, aren't they a bit 2011? Pah. Just try to think of trends while looking at these nice, friendly faces.

The vinyl stickers are made and sold by a little Helsinki-based company called Made of Sundays and cost around £28 each. What a sweet, inexpensive way to warm up a child's room.

Above (bottom image) is Haru the Bear. The nose, eyes, paws, and so on come as individual pieces, and so the little creatures can be configured to fit on all sorts of different sized surfaces. MoS will also custom make different sizes and designs if you have a special request.

Too cute.

Find them at the Made of Sundays Etsy shop.

Throwback Anaglypta wallpaper – from just £8 a roll

Anaglypta might conjure up visions of 1960s interiors, but the wallpaper company behind the original textured wall embellishment was established in 1887. 

And Anaglypta is currently channelling those early years with Book 39, a re-release of some of its elegant designs from the late 19th century and the 1930s.

They add gravitas to a room, don't you think?

Quite a different effect to the retro range the company also sells (I'm not sure I could live with any of these babies).

Did you know that the word "anaglypta" comes from the Greek? "Ana" means raised and "glypta" means cameo.

The best bit? Rolls of the stuff – which is all paintable – start at just £8. But does its affordability sell the revived look to you?

Anaglypta.co.uk

Spotlight on... writer and stylist, Joanna Thornhill

I've been meaning to feature Joanna Thornhill's excellent budget-savvy interiors book, Home For Now, ever since it came out, earlier this year. 

Worth the wait, I think: I quizzed Joanna all about the project, her surprising Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen love, her own "home for now" – and rinsed her for lots of clever tips for style on a shoestring. 

The beautifully designed and photographed book, pictured next to Jo, above, and published by Cico, is all about how to spruce your rented pad without incurring the wrath (or damage deposit) of your landlord, as well as how to make your first owned property look lovely even though buying it has probably bankrupted you. (And do look out for this fabulous flat, which you may remember reading about right here).

Below, Jo answers some questions – but first, here's a little teaser from the book, in the form of five of her favourite tips...

1. To get the look of open shelving in a kitchen with wall-mounted cupboards, without doing a refit, simply remove the doors and stash them out of the way (under the sofa or round the back of the bed) until you want (or need) to reattach them. Run a strip of colourful Washi tape along each shelf ledge too, for good measure.

2. If you don’t have space to store oversized items, like a tall ladder for example, try instead to incorporate them into the your decor. An old wooden one leant in a corner could double as a handy receptacle for toiletries in a bathroom or even act as a towel rail. 

3. For an alternative feature wall, cover one entire surface in ephemera, such as postcards or even pretty tea packaging. The key is to really go for it, and layer up from corner to corner for added impact, so it looks eclectic-chic rather than student-digs.

4. If you’re scared of adding colour to your walls (or your rental restrictions prevent it), add it to your furniture instead! If you’d rather keep it reversible, decoupage a piece with wallpaper offcuts, securing with double-sided tape so you can remove it in the future.

5. If your workspace is in a living area or in your bedroom, enlist an old bureau to house your computer and work paraphernalia, or even customise an old armoire or wardrobe by fixing a few shelves in it.

That way you can literally shut up shop at the end of the night, or if you work in your bedroom, you won’t wake up in the night confronted by the sight of your bulging in-tray!

Now that we're all feeling inspired, tell us a bit about yourself ...

Well, for my 'day' job I'm a freelance interiors stylist and writer. I pull together features and photoshoots different magazines and websites, from House Beautiful to Woman's Weekly and many in between. I also style and write for commercial clients. I started out ten years ago as a TV runner before moving into art department and props roles, and eventually ended up involved in the wonderful world of styling!

And what you do when you're not working?
I've been busy doing up my own home for the past two years (a busman's holiday!) and when I'm not stripping woodwork I do enjoy getting out and about in London to make the most of the cultural and foodie delights it has to offer.

Where did the inspiration for the book come from? 

I was a serial renter myself until recently and always tried to personalise space without spending much money or upsetting landlords. But I always dreamed of the day I'd finally own my own place and be one of 'those' people with bi-fold kitchen doors and a co-ordinated colour scheme. When I finally got on the property ladder in 2012 it came as something of a shock to realise that I had no cash left to really do anything major. Increasingly, I found myself turning to decorating tricks I'd used in my rentals and collecting ideas on Pinterest and figured there must be plenty of other people in a home-for-now, looking for ways to make the most of their space...

What's your own place like? 

A work in progress: it's a tiny two-bed Victorian terrace, which would be very pretty from the front if it wasn't blighted by ugly pebbledash and unfortunate glazing. It had been very crudely 'modernised' when we bought it (basically, they'd sloshed white paint over everything and put down a cheap laminate flooring throughout, apart from the stairs, which were carpeted in dirty beige and smelt of wet dog). 

It's been a real labour of love restoring it all: we've stripped floorboards, freed up the fireplaces and are stripping all the woodwork, too. I'm naturally drawn to vintage and retro styles, but with so many period features to contend with, I've tried to sneak in the odd splash of bright colour or modern piece, so it doesn't look like an actual granny's house! 

What's your fantasy home? 

I do love a period property, though perhaps saying "a bigger version of what I already have" is a bit boring. Maybe fantasy-wise I'd go for converting an old commercial building of some sort, but retaining as much of its original character as possible, even the rubbly bits.

Do you secretly lust after extravagant, luxury interiors? 

Ha. Well, although I can appreciate that style, and it's a (rare!) treat to stay in hotels with that aesthetic, I have to say that for my own home that really just doesn't do it for me. 

If you have a heap of money to throw at a property then yes, it can be easier to get a stylish finish but for me, that's not what makes a home. Those personal touches are something money can't buy. Having said that, if money were no object there are a few design classics I'd love to treat myself too, like a Saarinen marble table and an Eames lounger for the boyf's man cave (I'd have to also actually build him a man-cave first). 

Fave shops? 

I love a trip to Anthropologie, for the displays as much as anything. And when I'm out propping, you don't need to twist my arm much to get me in to Liberty, Zara Home, Heal's, Habitat and The Conran Shop. I'm also a vintage addict and feel my heart a-flutter whenever I pass a second-hand/charity shop or reclamation yard. 

Fave blogs and websites? 

Shopping-site wise, Rockett StGeorge, REfoundobjects and Cox & Cox for their beautifully displayed collections and broad range of stock. Etsy and Notonthehighstreet are often my first ports of call for handmade or vintage, though I find they're best used when you know what you're looking for, otherwise it's easy to lose hours to them. 

I don't have as much time to read blogs as I'd like so I tend to just follow my favourite bloggers on Twitter or Instagram so I can dip in sporadically. Though I do always enjoy reading My Friend's House for their refreshingly witty and honest posts, and Junkaholique for the beautiful photography and general-lifestyle-envy (plus this fab blog, of course!!).

Your best interiors bargain? 

You can't really get a better bargain than a freebie, and I've been known to lug street finds home and take stuff BACK from the tip on more than one occasion – fave free finds include an original 1950s pin-up girl tray, a vintage spice rack and a beautiful old Victorian table base, which I've repurposed as a pot stand. 

Your interiors idol? 

I actually have a lot of love for Laurence Llewelyn Bowen – growing up watching Changing Rooms was what first made me want to get into the field myself, and one of my career highlights to date is still working as a runner on one of the shows, circa 2004, which he was presenting. His style is very different to mine but whatever you make of it, he is insanely knowledgable and passionate about the subject and its history, which is admirable. 

Did you learn any memorable tricks you used on your own place while researching the book?

There are quite a few I still want to try out – making macramé plant pot hangers, above, and upping my collection of house plants generally) is next on the list.

Also I'm hoping to do something with my kitchen and dining room next and really like the idea of cladding some shelving fronts with patterned fruit crates [below], which also features in the book – it looks so striking yet is simple (and practically free) to do yourself.

What was one of the most inspiring spaces you saw when writing the book?

There were so many, but I think the home of Finnish blogger NinetteBahne had to be the one that really stopped me in my tracks. What she lacks in funds she more than makes up for in creativity. She pretty much made, repurposed or upcycled everything in her home – from her kitchen worktops to her patio paving bricks.

There was an old dress lying in her fabric pile when we went to photograph her place, and I used it in one of the shots to throw over a bedside stool. She liked it and vowed to sew it into a proper fitted cover. She did it, like, the next day. I'd have years of I've-got-no-time procrastination, despite the fact it probably only took her an hour or so. When I got home, I genuinely felt inspired to rethink a few of my own projects and came up with some crafty workarounds rather than simply outright replacing things I wasn't happy with. I still have little "what would Ninette do?" moments now before I resort to buying new stuff for my home. 

Check out Joanna's own blog at Stylist's Own and at her styling website – and, of course, buy a copy of the book! Home for Now, £16.99,  is out now, published by Cico Books.

Object of the day: Slim Aarons photography made affordable

I have previously lusted here over Slim Aarons' gloriously glamorous seventies photography. 

But have never been able to afford it... until now.

Just when I thought digital wall print experts, Surface View, couldn't get any more exciting (you may have seen my breathless post about their John Hinde range a few months back), they pull another corker out of the bag: yes, now you can get your mitts on one of these babies for as little as £60.

 

So, for £60 you can get a poster version of one of the prints, while wall murals are priced at £60 per square metre. Canvas prints and birch ply prints start at £145 and £175 respectively. Check out the full range at Surfaceview.co.uk

#cheaphometricks: table pimping for less

Last week I wrote about the new Pretty Pegs table legs that you can buy to transform your ordinary Ikea table into something extraordinary. 

This week, it's still my most read post – and the legs are lovely, clever things. The downside? They aren't cheap. So if you're cash-poor but DIY-enthusiasm-rich, here's some inspiration for taking on the home-made version of that project.

Despite travelling with a man and a van from one side of London to the other, this table instantly became surplus to requirements when my boyfriend moved in with me. I was sad, as I'd always liked it in his flat and was all up for a kitchen table refresh. But so was he – and so my old table (£15 from a charity shop as many years ago, and ready for a new home I had hoped) remained in situ.

Meanwhile, we needed to find a home for this monster. A fine lump of pine, though (and I wasn't the first to say it), a touch on the 1990s side of fashionable... But I could see it had potential, even if my boyfriend couldn't.

Fortunately, so could my friend Holly (whose inventive budget craft skills I've covered here previously). She was about to move from a rented, semi-furnished flat into her first home in Lewes – minus a dining table. And so the table awaited its new home: Holly hadn't even got the keys by the time she'd mentally transformed it with a pot of Farrow and Ball water-based gloss in Charlotte's Locks. Now, a few months into the new pad and her vision is a reality.

And doesn't it look brilliant?

It does make you think twice about paying £160 for a new – though very beautiful – set of ready-painted table legs, doesn't it?

The colour choice was inspired by the shelves on the other side of this open plan room (seen above), which she'd already decided to paint in the same shade, and the text in the Happy Day print (which you can find at the Calm Gallery).

And the new legs also go rather well with the apple-print oilcloth (clipped onto her one-year-old's end of the table, perfect for food-throwing and sticky fingers).

Nothing 1990s about it now, is there?


Post by Kate

Object of the day: making kitsch look classy

They're kitsch and kind of silly. But also kind of brilliant.

These ceramic indoor animal-shaped planters are new in at Urban Outfitters. Some of the homewares at UO can be a little studenty and these could, of course, fall into that category (there's also a pink plastic flamingo in the new indoor garden range...). 

Nothing wrong with a pink plastic flamingo, of course, but full-on kitsch isn't everyone's look. I'm drawn to kitsch objects like a magpie, but don't want to go the whole hog style-wise, so I also like to give such things a grown-up twist. The trick is to make like a fashion-savvy coat shopper who replaces their high street buttons, because it's all about context.

One of these planters will effortlessly add a design edge – and a quiet flash of confident wit – to a room instead of a kitsch one, when simply contrasted with the most grown-up, minimal and neutral tabletop or shelf arrangement you can muster. It'll also look surprisingly expensive.

Trust me. This is how people get away Phillipe Stark's gnome tables (pictured above in Living Etc., left, and Architectural Digest Espana).

Urban Outfitters, £15 each