As if proof were every needed, last week, I was once again struck by what a small world we live in. On Sunday morning, the husband and I took the children to see the Elephants Green Park.  We found a great parking spot, the sun was shining and as an added bonus we saw the rehearsals for the Queens Birthday parade, which was just like the real thing except the Duke of York stood in for the old dear, so that meant fewer crowds, so even better.  The children were mesmerised and as we walked along Buckingham Palace watching the parade and taking with excitement about having seen real Elephants in India.  Later that week,I attended a launch party at which I got talking to a lady who just happened to be the person responsible for bringing the elephants to London and who will soon be taking the same message and magic to Thailand. Then I met a lady who had sold my books in her store in LA and then I met another friend of a friend – Meg Mathews. Meg was warm and open and shared her own passion for design. Here is one of her wallpaper designs – available exclusivey at Liberty.

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 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]

There are so many amazing wallpaper patterns around and their use need not be limited to walls either.  My dear husband wallpapered our old dining table over the weekend and it looks fabulous.  All you do is use wallpaper paste as you would on the walls and then coat it with three layers of clear acrylic varnish – job done and room transformed.

Lesson over, I thought you might like to know about a company who produces exciting wallpaper geared towards children’s rooms.  I tend to use adult papers in children’s room but just focus on bold patterns and vivid colours but if you want something child-centric, then www.funkylittledarlings.co.uk is a great.