Wednesday, 27 July 2016

What I Learned at the Abigail Ahern Design Masterclass

A couple of weeks ago I travelled to London to attend an Abigail Ahern Design Masterclass. If you follow Abigail Ahern on Instagram (or read her fantastically useful blog on www.abigailahern.com) then you'll know that she's well known for her dark interiors and eclectic style.She's also got her own shop in Islington.
Abigail Ahern shop - source:Instagram
Abigail (yes we're on first name terms!) (not really) runs her Design Masterclasses roughly once a month at her home in Dalston. Anyone can go and it costs £225 for the day.
The day was crammed with loads of styling tips, decorating secrets and insider information, as well as a truly delicious lunch. Oh! -  and I got to stroke her dogs!
I got to stroke Maud! Source:@archer.t.j.Instagram
Anyway, I could write forever about what I learnt from her, but here's the three main nuggets of information that I didn't already know about her work, that I took away from the day.

1. Dark rooms.

Abigail Ahern's house.
So everyone thinks Abigail Ahern is about dark rooms - and she is - but not so much because she loves dark colours - and she does - but more because of how painting a room dark showcases all of the furniture and accessories in the room - they stand out, rather than the room standing out. It acts as a gallery wall instead. This makes you think totally differently about painting your room dark. Questions such as 'should I paint it dark green or dark grey?' and 'should I paint the ceiling as well?' become irrelevant. It doesn't matter so much which dark shade you choose because it's all about showcasing the objects in your room. And yes you definitely should paint the ceiling dark too because - guess what?! - it's all about showcasing the objects in your room! Any distraction from the objects in your room is missing the point - so, yes, the coving, the ceiling rose, the doors, door frame, skirting boards and floors all get painted dark too, effectively blotting them out so that the only focus is - the objects in your room!

Abigail Ahern's house. Source: Instagram
This was a revelation to me and actually makes the whole choice much more simple - but you have to commit!
I have one dark room in my house, painted Farrow and Ball 'Downpipe Grey'. I have ummed and ahhhhed about how to treat the ceiling, coving and ceiling rose for ages.

Downpipe Grey room in my house
My instinct is to paint the ceiling a lighter grey and pick the coving and ceiling rose out in white. The course taught me the very opposite of this, of course, and I understand why. However, getting this past my OH will be another matter! And I have to say that seeing the beautiful shutters and ornate coving and ceiling roses at Abigail's house all painted dark and effectively 'blotted out' made my heart bleed a little (a lot), although I totally get her point.

2. Focal points. 

So once you've got your dark room, how do you treat it? Traditional interior design teaches us to create one focal point, usually the fireplace, and place your furniture and accessories around that. Abigail Ahern likes to break this rule (all of the rules, actually!) and create THREE focal points.
Abigail Ahern's house. Source: Instagram
This room, for instance, draws your eye to the fireplace and the mirror. Then it's drawn to the chair and lamp on the right and then to the table and chairs in the middle. And then back again. When you go into one of her rooms you really don't know where to look first. It's all so mesmerising. This mix of focal points is what creates the magic with her schemes, the 'Alice in Wonderland' effect. Why don't they all clash and fight with each other I hear you ask? Because, dear reader, (if I haven't bored you right off) there is quite a limited colour palette being used - all the colours are quite muted. And all the textures, as well as the colours, compliment each other, thus unifying the scheme. Textures and layering are another huge part of the Abigail Ahern look and the subject of a separate blog post one day. If I haven't bored you all off of course!
Even the dog adds texture and matches the colour palette at Abigail Ahern's house! Source: Instagram.
3. Lighting.
Abigail Ahern's house is awash with lighting! There are huge, stunning chandeliers in every room and tons of lamps. 
Abigail Ahern's house. Source: Instagram
One of her rules is eight to ten lamps in every room! Lighting is absolutely key in a dark scheme and the way it's lit in the evening is essential for creating a cosy, cocooning space rather than an oppressive one. In the daytime, the textures and colours of the furniture and objects dominate a dark scheme, and at night, the lights, with the warmth and cosiness that they create, dominate the look. As well as using a multitude of lamps, Abigail's other trick is to use huge, oversized lamps and shades which also play with the scale of the room and enhance the 'Alice in Wonderland' vibe going on.
Abigail Ahern's house. Source: Instagram.


So, that was three new things I learnt from the course. There was so, so much more, of course, and I haven't even mentioned her dreamy, magical garden.


Abigail Ahern's garden

Would I recommend the course? Well, if you are already a fan and have read her books and blogs (I hadn't) then you probably won't learn a whole heap more. But the experience of actually meeting Abigail Ahern, wandering freely in her house and seeing her work in the flesh - I think it is definitely worth the cost. Oh yes, and did I mention, you also get to stroke her dogs!
Abigail Ahern's bathroom. You can wander freely around her house on the course!

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Wednesday, 13 July 2016

Modern Scandinavian Look - On a Budget

I've always loved the Scandinavian look - the white walls and floors, the clean lines and the pale wood. So calm, restful and uncluttered.
I can lose myself for hours in Ikea or Skandi Huis. Of course, the Scandinavian style is all about keeping things as light and airy as possible, yet still cosy, as they suffer from lack of sunlight and long dark winters. This philosophy is very appealing to us in the UK because our weather, although not quite as cold and dark, is certainly grey and gloomy and we crave light. Well, I do anyway!

1. Texture.
So, assuming that you're starting from a plain white room, the first thing you need to add is some texture. White rooms can be very clinical and cold without texture.Those clever Scandinavians achieve this with a mixture of accessories such as jute rugs, wicker furniture and rustic wood. 


There's a great item from www.ikea.co.uk that really nails this ingredient - the Alseda footstool.

Made of banana leaves, and at only £20, it's useful, beautiful and adds texture to a plain room.





2. Warmth.
In my humble opinion, the single most important element to the Scandinavian look is the sheepskin rug. Again, they're practical for actually helping to keep you warm in the winter (who knew?!) but they also add further texture, cosiness and of course, colour if you so wish. Use them as rugs, but they're also brilliant as throws on sofas and to soften chairs and stools. I buy some of our sheepskin rugs from www.ikea.co.uk  - they're about £30 for short haired white or grey sheepskins.


If you prefer bigger or longer haired sheepskins then www.ebay.co.uk is a good source and they're priced from about £60. And if you prefer your sheepskins to be even more luxurious and with an ethically sourced guarantee, then try www.cowboykate.co.uk. Her beautiful, rare breed sheepskins again are priced from about £60 and have got fantastic reviews on Instagram.


3. Clean Lines.
An excellent and affordable way of introducing clean lines and pale wood into your Scandinavian look is by adding an Eames RAR rocking chairs - with their modern white shell and pale wood rockers, they're the perfect accessory.
Or if you want to add some monochrome into the mix, choose it in black. 
The original Eames chairs cost from £300 upwards but there are many excellent copies around now (or 'tributes' I prefer to call them!) Good sources include www.cultfurniture.com (about £50 per chair) and www.ebay.co.uk where I've seen them for as little as £30 each. I've had my 'tribute' Eames RAR rocker for several years and it's wearing really well.

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Thursday, 7 July 2016

3 Ways With Fairy Lights.



[Pic: from Pinterest]  
If you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed that I have a slight obsession with fairy lights! I love them! I think they're up there with candle light as one of the cheapest ways of creating a magical and inviting space. And they're totally not just for Christmas any more (I made up that rule!) Wrap them around trees, run them along shelves, hang them from the ceiling - they never fail to create a lovely, cosy atmosphere. Here are three different ways I've used fairy lights lately.

1. On an Indoor Tree.


Indoor trees, or just a branch, are great space fillers in the home I think. They add height and texture and they don't need watering! I think it's best to wrap fairy lights round and around the trunk and branches, rather than just draping them. The secret to a cosy look is always to use warm white  - not bright white. With the tree in this picture, I used warm white fairy lights on a clear plastic cable or you can also use the new metal wired ones - they bend around things nicely but are trickier to take off I've learnt (the hard way!) www.lights4fun.co.uk and www.festive-lights.com both sell a good selection and provide a quick and reliable service.

2. Around a Mirror.

Draped simply around a mirror, so cheap and easy - what's not to love? These are a set of 100 warm white, mains powered, copper wired fairy lights from www.lights4fun.co.uk and they were about £13. 

3. Made into a Cloud Shape.
I was super-inspired by an image on Pinterest I found recently of a cloud made of fairy lights. So I thought I'd have a go myself! Here's how I did it:
1. Buy a set of 40 wire battery lights (warm white, don't forget!). I've found them on www.ebay.co.uk for as little as £2.95!
2. Buy a packet of www.command.3m.co.uk clear plastic decorating clips from any DIY store.
They are about £3.99 for 20. These are brilliant little hooks as they're virtually invisible when they're in situ, stick really well but can easily be removed without taking the paint off the wall. This scores me massive brownie points with OH!
3. Find a clear wall and decide where you want your cloud to be - above the bed or in a child's room are ideal locations.
4. Stick your first hook on the wall at the bottom of where your cloud will be. Leave a length of wire dangling down to the floor (see main cloud picture) and then wrap the wire twice around the hook.

5. Gently curve your wire into a cloud shape and place a hook in between the curves. I really want to say 'puffs' at this point but it sounds ridiculous.Oh - too late! Wrap the wire twice around each hook before moving onto your next 'puff' or curve.

6. Faff about a bit with the shape until you're happy with it. You can remove and reposition the hooks as you go along.

So - there you go - fairy lights are for life, not just for Christmas!


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