I hate all the paperwork that builds up in a house and i go through phases of good intentions about filing. I think if I had a set of box paper files like these that it would make the job much easier!
These cost £36. from www.cabbagesandroses.com
If any of you have an older home, or if you are trying to achieve an old country-kitchen look then I can't recommend Nicholas Mosse pottery highly enough. I used to work in a store that sold pottery and I could happily while away a few hours doing displays of his pottery. The colours are so vibrant but the designs are down-to-earth so that its not overpowering.
I learned on his website that Nicholas Mosse trained in England and Japan and made it his mission to produce beautiful, functional pottery in the style of Irish Spongeware. Irish spongeware was the traditional pottery of Ireland used in the 18th Century. It was mainly made in simple honest shapes with a decoration applied with a cut sponge.
The modest company was set up in an old flour mill in 1976, it has since gone from strength to strength but has not lost the personal touch and attention to detail, with all of the pottery still made and decorated by hand.
There are a number of patterns to choose from, here are just a few:
Wildflower
Clematis
Landscape
Strawberry
For me, Nicholas Mosse pottery evokes thoughts of rural living and natural inspirations. To find out more have a look at the website at www.nicholasmosse.com
Words that you would associate with Scandinavian design include minimalist, uncomplicated, functional simplicity. Tonfisk Design, a design company from Finland are no different.
Tony Alfström from Finland and Brian Keaney from Ireland met while studying for their Master's Degrees at the University of Art & Design in Helsinki, they believed there was a gap in the market for innovative tableware and so on December 17th 1999 they founded Tonfisk Design.
I love how they take contemporary designs and create a uniquely functional item. I love this style of design. Here are my favourites...
The sugar bowl in this milk and sugar set rests on top of the jug as you pour the milk.
There is something so inviting about this tea set from Tonfisk's Warm range. I can just picture curling up on the couch with a good book while warming my hands around this tea set!
Tonfisk Designs can be found in Ireland at Nordic Living Ltd. Blackrock, Dublin and Siena Design, 29 Patrick St. Kilkenny. To find out more you can visit their website by clicking here.
You might know from previous posts that I'm a huge Louis Mulcahy fan! Well I was having a look on his website last night and I found these gorgeous lights.
Louis Mulcahy often uses strong colours, which I love, but these have a beautiful simplicity about them.
Prices for the conical lights shown above start at €114. (inc. VAT) for a small one or €170. (inc. VAT) for the large one. Prices are usually a little cheaper in the stores than online, as post & packing is quite high with the items being so fragile.
The pendant lamps shown below cost €102.80 for the small, €109.80 for the medium and €159.50 for the large, all including VAT.
I think the best way to hang any of these lights would be two or three (depending on your space and budget) in a straight line, low-hanging over a dining table. If you have a round dining table they would look equally great as a cluster hanging at different heights.
Visit the Louis Mulcahy site by clicking here.
I'm just after spending the weekend in Madrid with my better half. It's a gorgeous city with a great feel and its full of some very stylish people! I came back with this item that I've been waiting months for!
This handbag caddy is one of the most ingenious ever! I did a guest post about these on Style Treaty in early February. Click here to read the article.
To top off a great holiday, I came back to find by New York deli cups waiting for me - now thats what I call a good weekend!
What child would not love these little pieces of furniture in their room! I would have probably sold all of my toys in exchange for one of those rocking chairs when I was a child!
All of these items are from the Little Sweetie & Little Tinker ranges from Carraig Donn. I love the amount of detail in the chairs, whoever designed them obvioulsy saw them through a child's eyes!
Little Sweetie Chair €74.95
Little Tinker Chair €74.95 (Sorry about the picture quality in this one...)
Little Sweetie Box €24.95
Little Tinker Box €99.95
Carraig Donn can be found at the Crescent Shopping Centre of nationwide.
Have just bought a new and small apartment and was wondering if you had
any ideas on hallway furniture (little tables etc)……what exactly to put in
one…as mine is completely empty!
It’s a cream/beige hall with wooden floors …a bit boring and lifeless!
Lauren
Here's a summary of a few of my favourites!
A Console table is always a good bet in a hallway, you can get some nice ones in Instore or even Argos, but this one is my favourite. It's from Habitat and costs €325. If you're going for a contemporary look then this would work really well. I love the dark wood and the glass on top.
In Ireland you'll find Habitat in Galway, Dublin and Belfast. I needed to find something a few months back to store shoes, books etc. but had a very narrow space to work with (between a bed and a wall). I found this understair unit from Argos, I loved the shape of it so I put two back to back to create this kind of open-storage look.
If you're feeling a bit more creative then why not make something like this. I shamelessly stole this idea from Absolutely Beautiful Things. I love these boxes which have been covered in wallpaper and glass placed on top. You could easily get these boxes made by a local carpenter and if they were made with a removable lid then they could also be used as storage. The wallpaper would be a great way to introduce colour into what you've described as a lifeless hallway!
I'd get three boxes made, of descending sizes, keep your phone on one, a plant on another etc. then if you've room, place a tub chair next to it with a co-ordinated cushion. If you like this idea but don't fancy the work of the wallpaper, the same look could be achieved with a nice nest of tables.
There's something drawing me to this Console Table from Woodies. I love its simplicity, I know its quite plain but it could be brightened up with some colourful vases or lamps on top. It costs €379.
And finally, if its storage you're after then you can't go wrong with some seagrass baskets, here's a nice piece from Argos.
Designer's Block is a blog that I often look at. Every so often the designer will post up a couple of pictures and you have to choose which one is your favourite. Both pictures will be of a living room or a dining room or a bedroom or whatever, but both have gone for a very different look.
Well on that note, I was browsing through pictures of sitting rooms last night on Crowson and I found these three and I couldn't decide which one I preferred. In the end I decided that my favourite is the second one, Kaimana. I love how the designer wasn't afraid to use colour. It was a brave move to introduce all that pink into the room and it really brings the whole room to life.
Alaska
Kaimana
West Coast
My second favourite is Alaska, but I decided that it was too cold to be really comfortable.
An Bord Pleanala is due to begin a public hearing today into plans for a A number of parties have appealed against the planning permission, including the National Roads Authority and Green Party TD Eamon Ryan.
Here's the latest update on a much coveted event - the opening of Ireland's very first IKEA. (I can't wait!) This article appeared in this morning's Irish Independent...
massive IKEA outlet on the outskirts of Dublin city.
The Swedish furniture giant has already secured planning permission for the 30,000 square metre retail warehouse in the Ballymun area.The move was
approved after the Government lifted a cap on shop size that had limited all
retail outlets to 6,000 square metres.
Their concerns include the lack of infrastructure to deal with the extra
traffic that would be caused by the IKEA store. An Bord Pleanala's hearing into
the matter is expected to last three days, with the organisation set to make its
final decision known in late May.
I think this has to be one of the most beautiful chandelier's I've ever seen. It's just so pretty! The flowers are so cute and pretty, then the brass border on the top and base make it look a bit more grown-up and antiquey!
It costs £40. from Monsoon Accessorize Home. I can't find out if they have a Home section in any of their Irish stores but you can order online, delivery to Republic of Ireland costs £7.95.
How great would this light look low-hanging over a dining table, set for dinner with a group of your very best girl-friends! Maybe with these napking rings and votive holders decorating the table... These are also from Monsoon Accessorize and cost £15 for a set of 4 napkin rings, £8. for the votive holder.
Was just having a read of your blog and saw your post about glass doorknobs… I wonder if you know of a good place to source crystal-type cabinet knobs? Either online or instore. Finding it very difficult to get ones that don’t have a big lump of white plastic at the base ...
Thanks, Lynda
I seem to be having the same problem as Lynda as most of the cabinet knobs I've come across have the chunky plastic base that you described. Some of the better ones I can find are shown below...
This one does have a chunky base but as its chrome instead of white plastic I think you'd get away with it. This one costs US$15. from Rejuvenation
Antique Hardware do an Astoria Glass Cabinet Knob for US$4.99, This one has slightly more detail in the glass so it may not suit every cabinet, but it has a glass base which you might prefer.
This is also a nice one, with a very simple base from Period Features It costs GB£6.50 before post & packing.
I spoke to Maeve from Yesterdays, where the door knobs in the last post came from and she has informed me that they have a selection of drawer pulls in brass/crystal that might suit the need. They cost a very reasonable €6.95. There are no pictures on the site yet but if you email her she can email you some pictures. You'll find Maeve's contact details through the yesterdays website.
Otherwise I'd suggest keeping an eye out in antique shops or fairs, you need a lot of patience for this but its so rewarding when you do eventually stumble across exactly what you're looking for! And finally, there's always ebay!
Feel free to email me with any more questions (that I may or may not be able to answer!) Contact details are in my profile.
If you want to feel like you're opening the door to a secret hideaway each time you enter your bedroom / living room then I've found what you need! I found these glass door knobs on yesterdays. I love the simplicity of the clear glass one and there's something so glamorous about the amethyst one, which would look great with in any room with a lot of black in it.
What a great way to finish off any room with a bit of charisma!
These cost €29.95 for a pair, €3. delivery cost (worldwide), not bad for an instant touch of glamour!
I'm a big fan of tub chairs, I love a room where you have a matching set of furniture and then a mis-matched but co-ordinated tub chair. It can be a great way to introduce some pattern into an otherwise plain room.
I love these two that I found at Woodies. The detail in the pattern is eye-catching but not distracting.
The chairs cost €379.99 each from Woodies, if they're not exactly what your looking for then Argos have plain cotton covered tub chairs (click here to view) for €134.99 that could be easily covered in different fabric. If you go down this road then why not use a nicely patterened fabric, get a little extra and get some cushions made for your sofa (if it's plain) to carry the look throughout the room.
The closest Woodies to Limerick are in Tralee, Cork or Clonmel, but I've been told that there's one coming to Limerick very soon, it will be next to the Jetland Shopping Centre.
Here's my latest have-to-have item - I have to have these cups! The New York deli cup is described as the icon of New York City. This famous paper cup has been around since 1963 and currently there are more than 180,000,000 per year carried out of New York delis full of hot coffee!
Now you can have your very own ceramic one that you can pop in your microwave or dishwasher. I found this on elsewares for just $12. before post & packing.
What a perfect way to have your coffee and a newspaper on a Saturday morning!
Ok so this probably isn't the classiest post I've ever done... but a friend forwarded me an email with these pictures of bed linen and towels so I thought I'd share them with you as they gave me a laugh!
Don't think they're widely available yet though... or that I'd let them in my house if they were! I'm sure there are plenty of bachelors that would like to furnish their pad with these though!
I've been on the lookout for a nice wall-hook for coats recently and I thought I'd share a few of my favourites that I found on a website called Yesterdays.
I love this chestnut one beause its so traditional, I love the idea of leaving notes and messages for the rest of the family and there's even a little ledge to store your chalk (and to stop the dust getting all over your coat...). This one costs €99.00 with €5. worldwide shipping
This next one is, in my opinion, an even better version of the one above. My better half (incorrectly..) tells me that I'm an obsessive planner so if he was to buy me a coat hanger I'm sure this would be the one he'd pick! It costs €124.95 with €10. worldwide shipping.
The one shown below is so old-fashioned with the brass nameplates and chestnut base. It costs a very reasonable €19.95, €3. worldwide shipping
And if you'd like something a little different or more feminine (it is National Women's Day after all!) then this is a gorgeous piece. This one is made from hundreds of pieces of old mosaic tiles and is best described on the Yesterdays website by saying "A pastiche of gentle rose images on a mosaic background evokes playful childhood memories of scrapbooks and sticky fingers. What little girl wouldn't love to hang her coat up on these hooks..."
That one costs €59.95 with €5. worldwide shipping. Yesterdays has some really beautiful products, the website is well worth a look. There are stores in Cork and Kilkenny, but they ship worldwide.
On the website, Yesterdays describe themselves as having a "reputation [which] has been built on an ability to rediscover the forgotten beauty of the past".
I love chandeliers or unusual lights. I think a large detailed chandelier can make such a statement in the entrance hallway of your home, if you have the space for one. Here are a few of my favourites that I've found from Light Design Ltd. a lighting company on the Tramore Road, Co. Cork.
Barleycorn Pendant
Autumn Sprig-Style Pendant
They also have more classical ones like this...
Ages Antique 12 Light Chandelier Pendant
Or this one...
Cream/Gold Candle Effect Chandelier Pendant
Or slightly more "off-the wall" designs like this one, this wouldn't be my taste but might look good in a trendy bar or cafe!
Cognac Glass Pendant
There are many more to see on the website and there are many many more to see in the showroom, details on the site.
