Oh, the joys of working from home.  It’s a space that should inspire creativity so why work in the dark, dingy corner of the house when what is needed is natural light, shelves full of books, space for mementos that hold meaning, a comfortable chair and a decent desk – giving yourself a prime position to work from at home will give you better results in your working day – so worth it. 

I was privileged to meet with Marcia Kilgore for a mentoring session last week and who better given she has created three exceptional companies – Bliss, Fitflop and Soap and Glory. She shared her knowledge and insights with ease and honesty in the same way she does with her brands.  Here is a women who is truly passionate about creating products that offer real solutions whilst proving you can still have fun in the process.  By the way, I am delighted to own a pair of fitflops and I can confirm, they are supremely comfortable,look and feel good and the icing on the cake, they make me stand tall and boost my every walking moment in terms of fitness; it is no wonder over 4 million pairs have sold to date and to get your pair, visit www.fitflop.com.

Whilst I can search out the visually inspiring, I have no talent for painting.  How I wish I could paint and play the piano like my daughter does so effortlessly.  Whilst I can only appreciate all things beautiful, I am fortunate to be surrounded by many who can create and that brings me to Chloe Butcher, who I have been working with recently.  Chloe is a renowned make-up artists with a celebrity client list, but beyond that she is so much more.  She writes beautiful poetry and accompanies them with paintings, inspired by her two daughters. See more of Chloe’s work on her site.  chloebutcher.com.

Whilst looking for a little design inspiration I came across this www.fourwallsandaroof.com.  Look at these lovely, inviting living spaces and go to their site to see many more. 

For me, all things shiny and new just don’t have the energy or aesthetics of different styles and era’s in furniture and clashing colours and prints all mixed together.  Here in the house of Marianne Cotterill the retro rocking chair looks stunning with the floral rug as do the modern and traditional sofa’s.  Mix it up and have some fun.  

I have enjoyed every moment of this beautiful day spent working on projects that fill my heart and soul with gladness.  There is another reason I feel so happy – I have a wonderful new man in my life besides my darling husband.   I am referring to Mr Rares, who has been taken on to spare me of dealing with all things technical, which he does without fussing or flapping and which I thought was a prerequisite of all such tasks.  And then there is Emma, my adorable assistant, who is a creative illustrator, passionate about all things interiors related and remarkably good with excel spreadsheets – is it possible to have all that in one person?  Finally there is Ali; a friend and  truly gifted photographer and I mention her as I was looking through these sublime images she shot recently for a project we are working on.

Education as an adult is so much more fun than as a child, because we have full control over what we choose to learn.  When I find a topic that interests me my thirst for knowledge is insatiable, but I like so many others, simply don’t have the time to immerse myself fully. That is why I love the idea of golearnto.com which is a site that offers holidays combined with hobbies and their selection is so inspiring, I want to try things I did not even know would interest me.

I was delighted to be asked to give quick my ideas on easy home updates for a Living Etc. article and you can click below to see the finished article. The magazine have shown newspaper applied to the wall, but a good alternative (especially in a small space like a WC) would be a favorite book and for an old tarnished look use tea stained water.  Foreign language books make interesting graphics and can be broken up with with randomly spaced bright images and sealed with acrylic varnish. If an entire room or wall seems too much, then this idea works just as well on a table or chair. LE_Feb_D&D48Hours_CDPv2[1]

My mac crashed on me last week.  As you can imagine, I was mortified and as you can also probably imagine, I had not backed up for the longest time. So when my mac repaired with everything in order, I decided it was time to back up have a good old clear out.  It was then, I came across this shoot of my old flat in Westbourne Grove, taken for a women’s glossie.  The console is now my office desk, the footstool is in my kitchen, the lamp in my hall and the on our top floor landing and that brings me finally to my point – mirrors are quick, easy and inexpensive to transform but add drama to any room.

I brought a cheap mirror from somewhere like MFI and then glued a £5.00 feather duster around the edges and it took literally an hour to do.  I have since re-decorated this mirror with cream paper flowers in different shapes and sizes and I think now, I might glue feathers from a bright pink boa I brought my daughter for dress-up box.  What is great about these sorts of ideas is they need not be perfect as it is simply a matter of layering, which adds depth and more importantly covers mistakes.