Hygge Nook

Teacup wall

I've been meaning to post about this wall for ages. My daughter, S, and I stopped in at a cafe called The Cocoa House in Bluewater (a large shopping mall just outside London) for some tea and cake a few weeks ago and I just had to snap this wall of teacups. I did some investigating and found that the saucers were screwed to the wall and the cups hung on the screw. (Well, there was a broken cup and I could see; I won't ever make a detective.) It certainly made a change from the popular plate walls and could be recreated at home.

 

The lighting isn't great but don't you just love the detail on the cups and saucers. S and I spent a long time discussing our favourites. I also had to snap this wall behind us - the teacup clock and the illuminated teapots were gloriously fun. I only wish I had had a proper camera with me.

 

Unfortunately their website doesn't have any decor pics which is a shame as they had a fab chandelier made of wine glasses which I didn't get a pic of.

Mydeco Conran moodboard

I got an email from a PR repping The Conran Shop a few days ago asking me to take part in the mydeco Conran competition. The brief was to create a moodboard using only products from The Conran Shop with any theme. My inspiration derived from my alter ego - the woman who has no problem hosting high tea at short notice and insists that her friends' children come too.

For the grown ups the pretty china is brought out along with a timeless cake plate - the square top tier gives it the modern edge that this lady loves - while the wine glasses are perfect for serving up smoothies. She loves being able to shake things up with colour hence the popsicle green plate with texture in the lightshade being just as important. While the grown ups chit chat, the kids are rooting through the too-cool-for-school toy box, spinning the globe and riding the Eames elephant (and probably licking the cakes and putting them back).

Here's my Come to Tea themed moodboard...

 
You can vote for my moodboard at mydeco here. And pop over here if you want to find out about the competition details and enter your own (there's £1000 up for grabs) - or see the other entries here.

Soho Hotel

I was at a rather lovely little brunch yesterday (for work) at the Soho Hotel. I've mentioned it before and its rather fab decor but unfortunately didn't get a chance to take some snaps. The meet was in the Library, a rather cosy room tucked away behind the lobby. It doesn't have any windows and with the low lighting, and walls lined with bookshelves, it's made for small gatherings. I rather fancy one of the tiered glass cake stands that were stuffed with miniature bacon sandwiches, crossaints with spinach and feta and some bite sized cakes and yoghurts. (There was some furtive looking around as we all clearly decided not to be the first to lunge upon them. Fortunately we were weak willed. Yum.)

 
Image courtesy Soho Hotel.

In the pink

For many, many years I railed against pink. It was too girly. It wasn't tough enough. It spoke volumes about the user or wearer. It said things I didn't want to associate with myself. Then I had a revelation. Shut up! Pink is actually kinda cool. It's pretty. It's soft. It's inviting. And these pink rooms? Well, they tickle me pink.

House Beautiful (US edition) 

 

Jane Foster

 

Unknown

Domino

 

Unknown

Unknown (possibly a British home design magazine)

I love the way these rooms are so completely different, yet they are all united by their use of pink. From an incredibly stylish LA house where the palest pink is used as an accent against zebra prints in a stylish lounge, to pale sugary pink anchored with pops of yellow, a gloriously kitsch purply-pink girl's room, striped pink daybed covers freshens up dark furniture, hot pink that jazzes up gloss black and a timeless parquet floor to a pink bedroom with the pink popping out in various patterns against large swathes of white... it all just goes to show that there's nothing to be afraid of with pink.

Children's shared rooms

My youngest two currently share a room, which isn't ideal but needs must. It's an awkward space with the walls broken up by a window, a rather rubbish built-in wardrobe and a very odd closet on another wall. The only 'free' wall is shortened because it also has the door. This makes it all very difficult to organise. That's before we've got to the widely different personalities and interests of a five-year-old-girl and three-year-old boy.

However, seeing these shared rooms gives me great hope that there is a solution out there for us too:

{Ohdeedohvia Full House}

 

{Ohdeedoh}

 

{My Home Ideas}

{HopSkipJump via the book Jeu de Paume: London}

I think we can all pick out some commonalities very quickly from these rooms. Yes, there's not a single cartoon character in sight! Oh, good! 

I think the last picture is a very 'honest' picture. It accepts that kids have stuff, little toys, books, ride-ons that they want to have about them and that there room is as much a playroom as it is a sleeping space.

Brussel's Pantone Hotel

I've been having some serious trouble trying to get anything to publish since last week, which is a real annoyance as I've been trying to share this really fun hotel. So, meet the Pantone Hotel which opened last week on Place Loix in Brussels. It's a very clever, very simple concept using a colour palette as the theme to tie together several floors. Frankly, it's a bit genius and why hasn't anyone done this before?

Let's take a look at the reception

 

And the bedrooms:

 

This reminds me, as random things do, that I have unfortunately smashed most of my mugs and I need to either buy a new set or stop having guests over who require tea or coffee. I'd quite like the Pantone mug set but they're quite pricey at £6-8 each.

Cool getaways - romany caravans, campervans and more

There was a time when the humble caravan was synonymous with tacky and naff. That time was probably the decade that style forgot. Yes, the eighties. But the tide is very, very slowly turning. I was browsing the latest Coast in the supermarket this week and they had a great spread from the book My Cool Caravan which showed a splendid collection of, well, cool caravans that really couldn't have been any more different from the stereotype.

Part of this about face in caravan style is that they are often cheaper than holiday homes and, in some cases, portable. Yes, small is a given, but static ones can be pretty big and it's not like they would be your primary home. They might even be in a better location than a lot of holiday or second homes.

There are all sorts of other portable or semi-portable accomodation. You could, for example, stay in...

 
A Romany caravan in the Brecon Beacons - there's something rather romantic about staying in this beauty.

In my cuttings folder, I have a picture of a fabulous house with a mini romany caravan in the garden. Can you imagine? How delightful! I must scan it to show you.

 
How about an authentic tipi in Cornwall? More majestic than a tent, but a bit more basic than a caravan, these 18 foot high cotton canvas tipis can be found in woodland around a spring-fed lake for boating and cooking is by campfire. Tipis sleep up to six and you can check them out at Cornish Tipi Holidays.

 
Continuing on the glamping theme are yurts. I've heard of yurts being set up in gardens as extra family space and furnished with thick blankets, floor cushions and lanterns for a more luxurious stay away. I'm not overly fond of the idea of camping, but I think I could do yurting or tipiing quite happily. Try these yurts out in the heart of Devon. Find this one at Yurt Camp.

 
How about a camper van? Someone on my road has a fabulous lilac campervan in tiptop condition, just like this one. I'd love to know where they take it. Campers are a lot easier to move around with caravans and are ideal for festivals and roaming the country. This one seats, and sleeps, four, crochet blanket absolutely, thoroughly, obligatory.

Rent Betty (above in blue) from Snail Trail who are based 35 miles north of London. Hire includes retro fittings, a week's insurance and AA cover, campsite electricity hook-up, gas hob, mini fridge and independent heating system.

And all these fabulous, fun vacation accomodations, lead me right back to... caravans. Whether you have a portable one that you hitch up and move around the country or a static one in a beauty spot, there is so much you can do to it to change the image. Ditch the beige exterior, whip up brand spanking new covers for the upholstery, get pretty melamine kitchenware and invest in quality duvets and bedlinens for the bedrooms to make the perfect getaway year after year.

Do you have a caravan or a semi-portable escape like the ones above? If you'd like to share a mini tour, drop me a line at camilla[AT]hyggenook[DOT]com. 

Offices that came out of the closet

It seems like I may have finally found myself some space for a home office (only five years after starting to work from home). Our house is fairly average sized but with two adults and three children, space is at a premium so there isn't a whole lot of room for individual space. I try to work as virtually as possible with very little paper trail other than what is absolutely necessary, but still a desk and a proper chair would be heaven sent.

How much do you really need though? These office spaces have been very cleverly carved out of closet space to fit in a desk, shelving and plenty of storage by way of boxes, magazine holders or door hangers. A chair can be tucked to one side and crucially there's an electricity socket for your laptop's juice.

 

Country Living magazine
This is a very DIY friendly space utilizing Staples filing cabinets and spray paint, paired with floral Graham & Brown wallpaper for a glam backdrop and lots of white elements such as the Ikea swivel chair, floating shevels and lamp to keep the whole look fresh. And at the end of the day, just shut it all away behind those double doors.

 

[Image origin unknown]
Perhaps carved out of a living room cupboard, the white shelving looks so fresh against those hardwood floors and the turquoise accents could easily be swopped out for new colours as you please.

 
Paula Prass via Unplggd
The office nook is carved out of the closet in this multi-functioning room. While the white and green pairing looks fresh, the check carpet stops the look becoming overtly feminine.

 
Apartment Therapy
Can you imagine having such a fun workspace? The shades of ochre and lemon are so warming and the pompom curtains give it a luxe edge.

Massuco Warner Miller [via Decor8]
I love the way the desk is just tucked into the closet with extra storage space added in the form of floating shelves on one wall. The glossy white desk and chair keep the whole look feminine and unobtrusive. 

Are these spaces making you rethink where you could fit in a home office and how you could make it look? That, and for me, also a little bit jealous, but still very enthused about my eventual workspace.

Animal wallpaper

 

Is this space beautiful or what? Did you look closely at the wallpaper? Ostriches! I know if I had seen a roll of ostrich wallpaper in a store, I don't think I would have envisaged that it could look quite like this. This living room is in the apartment of Michelle Adams, former Domino editor turned Lonny magazine editor. Adams says she, "ended up falling in love with a quirky Ostrich-print paper that is equal parts delicate and bold" then applying it to only one wall to "create a strong focal point for the room."

How about some more animal prints? Where would you use them in your home?

 

Fairytales by Elle Decoration

 

Giraffe wallpaper silhouette from Inke

Judit Gueth Designs peacock wallpaper

 

ISAK owls wallpaper

 

Farrow and Balls bumble bees

Kit Kemp's hotel chic

There's something rather impersonal about a lot of hotels. Designed for everyone, often pleasing none. They are rooms for transient guests, who want a comfortable place to lie their heads but often without the pleasures of home comforts and strong design. Kit Kemp's hotel group doesn't subscribe to that. Design is bold, defined and very elegant, following her, and her husband's mantra, that "hotels should be living things, not stuffy institutions."

Number Sixteen

Guest room

 

Lobby

Soho Hotel

Junior suite and afternoon tea

 

Covent Garden Hotel

Brasserie Max

  Loft suite

These hotels are all in London (there's one in New York), you can visit them online here, check out more photos and make bookings. Don't you just want to stay here now? Me too.