Design School heads to NYC

Hugely excited to announce I am taking the Design School International!! On the 4th August at the achingly hip Ace Hotel in Manhattan I am holding a one day class (or two half days if you would prefer). Here is our schedule

Session One

9.00  9.15 Drinks

9.15 -10.45 Creating your dream home

10.45 – 11.00 Break

11.00-11.45Breaking the rules

11.45-12.00 Abigail’s little black book exposed

12.00-12.15 Q&A

Session Two

1.00-1.15 Drinks

1.15-2.30 Finishing Touches

2.30-2.45 Break

2.45-3.15 Decoding colour

3.15-4.00Design on a shoestring

4.00-4.15 Q&A

If you want to tantalised, mesmerised, if you want a home that ‘s fit for the glossies that makes your heart pound the moment you put your key into the door AND makes your friends jealous then this is the class for you. Some lovely words  from some of our past pupils:

“As much inspiration as 1000 Elle Deco’s all crammed into 1 day”

“Didn’t get much sleep as all the things we discussed were going round my head”

“Thank you for letting us enjoy your staggering beautiful home”

“Went to the amazingly badass @abigailahern workshop yesterday and still pulling my jaw of the floor. #inspiring“

“One of the most inspirational days in “my whole wide life”

“A blissful journey into disorientation and drama, an adventure of delight and wonder”

“Just need to say that I had an amazing day attending your Masterclass last Friday thank you. Head is brimming full of ideas and great inspiration for my own place”

Spaces are limited and  here’s the link to book online. Cannot wait to see you in NYC in August.

Style for less

A four day bank holiday weekend how fabulous is this, (for those of us who live in the UK of course). For me its a mixture of down time and work, I’ve just written the schedule for the Fall classes with lots of new courses plus half day ones which I am super excited about and will announce those next week. AND today at 3pm my masterclass in NYC goes live, one day only (although its structured in two half days so you don’t have to do the full day) on 4th August.  Spaces are limited so its on a first come first serve basis, but will post all the details here at 3pm.

I have a problem with the snootyness surrounding interior design. For instance I give away tons of sources during the classes which apparently according to the people who attend is rather unusual, since other courses they have been on or talks they’ve attended won’t divulge such info. My aim to is democratise this sometimes snooty business a tad , who cares if I give away a cool rug source, if someone can get as much enjoyment as I do in discovering a new  furniture store then hey to me that’s fabulous and that is what it is all about,  although  I am sure many people would disagree.

We all know right that you don’t need tons of money to create a fabulous home, I just happened to come across some  images on Habitually Chic of Tom Ford’s home which kind of proves my point, its tasteful, its semi interesting but its  rather uptight, sorry Tom.  But then each to their own am sure Tom wouldn’t be advocating what I am going to bang on about now which is how to inject a cool vibe into your home without spending tons.

Easy peasy (i want to say lemon squeezy but that makes me sound about 3 years old)!! Here goes in no particular order:

Change the door handles (any old cupboard or wardrobe will look way more bespoke if you replace boring ones with super cool ones) like this, made from oak from a DIY store and painted bright pink, supersized to add a magical vibe:

Write on walls, instant personality, instant colour injection and  instantly cool

Copy Kate Moss I have and take a flea market painting (Kate’s isn’t flea by the way) and scrawl over it for a rock n roll vibe. Tons of landscape oils can be found in fleas and auction houses that no one wants, scrawl over it like Banksy did for Kate and suddenly you’ve transformed it to a whole other level.

Graffiti a boring piece of furniture (even better if you’ve got kids to do it). Maud and Mung’s can’t quite draw get too young so its not an option for me!

See easy, happy long weekend back at 3 x

Kitchen Talk

I’m talking kitchens again, yes I know recently I was on the subject but in the last week I’ve seen 4 different kitchens all with the same dilemma, neglect.   Why is it that kitchens tend to get a little bit neglected, rather like hallways? We spend money on appliances and units (some people spend zillions) and yet I find they are rarely softened with stuff but remain quite sterile. This is sort of OK (its not really but I’m feeling kind) if your kitchen is in a room on its own, where you can shut the door and disconnect it from everything else. When its open plan like mine its soooooo not OK, beautiful fab dining area, cool hang out lounge and then rather sterile kitchen, doesn’t add up right?  So here’s the trick treat it as say you would your living room. Plonk lights on counters, heap recipe books on surfaces, accessorise with flowers and t-lights, bottles of oils, vinegars and before long you will have built up a layer of fabulousness that totally connects with the rest of the space. I’ve got rugs skimming floors all over my kitchen – they share a similar colour palette to the other rugs in the basement but are essentially tribal in feel. They cosy up the space no end, I’ve also plonked a little impromptu bar under the kitchen window where a big bunch of blooms stand proud surrounded by carafes housing whisky and wine (isn’t that a song)? There are a lot of negative spaces in kitchens so my plan is to layer them up with stuff.

How cool is this say under a window – a long low bench or beautiful slab of wood with a fab row of recipe books. It can double up as an impromptu seat where guests can perch while your cooking and it adds another layer.

When I worked on Heston Blumenthal’s programme one of his chiefs told me always to have jugs nearby containing spoons, whisks the stuff that you regularly need so in a sweet little jug from Anthropologie sit a collection of my wooden spoons, nothing fancy but it adds another dimension to the counter.

A detail of my kitchen below full with stuff as you will see (photography Rebecca Reid).

Have a fab Thursday I’m off to the store to get out some fab new stuff and then lunching at Pizza East with agent – very nice!

 

How to create rooms that you love

Before getting onto creating rooms that you love I must say the biggest thank you to everyone for their comments of encouragement yesterday, thank you, thank you it means so much, I shall keep you posted on developments.

How then do you create a room that you love? First up decide upon your style, industrial, rustic, contemporary, traditional, or all of that group and more? For me its the eclectic vibe all the way, its the hardest to pull off but its the most playful.  When you’ve nailed the style its time to put the look together. For me a home must have books, flowers (heaps of), art and stuff. Without stuff its hard to give a home soul, I talk about it in the classes but its all about tantalising the eye. The more you tantalise the eye the more exciting a space becomes. So  I want a feeling of casual grandness if that makes any sense at all. I want my spaces to feel glamourous but also laid back so you don’t feel you have to take your shoes off the moment you walk through the door. You might want something entirely different which is why design is so exciting right now anything goes. We are not slaves to trends, we acknowledge and are aware but it doesn’t necessarily shape our buying decisions. So if you follow you heart, and buy things that you respond to emotionally i.e. there is some connection that moment you see it then I can pretty much guarantee it will work. It might not work where you planned it but it will fit into the overall scheme, she says having brought a 1960′s coffee table on a whim not so long ago that fits nowhere (except the thought has just crept into my head) maybe the new store if we get it!

Decorating is a journey a fun, fabulous sometimes-frustrating journey a bit like life I guess.

Martyn Thompson’s interior below in NYC, a totally personal eclectic space that I respond to on so many levels.

Happy Wednesday, we put an offer in on the store which I am not thinking about, (trying not to think about). Flowers and coffee, moose’s and dog lights, ostrich tables and papier mache elephants all hanging out in a gritty stretch of road flanked by kebab shops. Must be mad!!

 

 

Falling in love

Today I’m feeling a little bit sick, not ill, just that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you’re feeling a little out of your comfort zone. I shall explain, last week pottering around the neighbourhood with Maud and Mung’s I happened open a store to let. Nothing strange there you might say except (and this is what is making me sick) its in a certified seedy zone, tough words but by this I mean its in a spot that is a bit gritty, surrounded by kebab shops, butcher shops and funny looking newsagents. AND YET there is something about it, I can’t explain, a bit like falling in love I guess when you can’t stop thinking about that person who you’ve only just met, when they (or in this case this store) permeates your thoughts 24 7. Nobody else really gets it, and even though you keep saying I love, I love, I love it, you just get that sort of strange eyebrows raised to the heavens kind of look.

Have I totally lost the plot?

Probably, but here me out, I love the edginess of Dalston how since I’ve lived here its changed from being a so called dead zone to being a hip cool hang out with cafes, cool bars, fab little shops, and this new little shop I’ve found is on the edge of that. I don’t know why I always want to push boundaries or increase an already crazy workload. Moving here 12 years ago was met with sharp intakes of break and gasps but I knew I just knew deep down that it would change.  Also I don’t want to replicate our current store no point in that they are barely a few miles apart, nope I want a cafe, a cool fabulous cafe in amongst kebab shops, and butcher shops and the main point a flower shop that takes flower shops to a whole other level. Bunches and bunches, tables and tables full to the brim of our faux’s.  I want art on the walls, a selection of vintage finds smattering the floor, and maybe even a DJ spinning some tunes in the corner. Am I mad? I want a flower school, a selection of amazing cool super speedy workshops where people can pop in say for an hour to here about how to inject personality into a space, be bold with colour, accessorise with attitude. Running parallel and in addition to the Design School this is. I want amazing coffee that you would travel across town for, to drink in a place you would love to call home!

That’s what I want.

This morning I am going back to look at it again

No pictures this morning, feeling too queasy to search them out and my minds total attention is concentrated on this store (told you it was like falling in love).

Happy Tuesday everyone.

 

Outdoor living

Big huge thank you to all of those who attended the master classes these last few days, it was a fabulous weekend full to the brim of inspiration and I am always so inspired and animated having spent two days with a great bunch of people who are as obsessed with interiors as me!

On top of that a new truck loads of flowers arrived, beautiful pink blossom, big fat Dutch roses in the softest pinky lilac, bundles of peonies, hydrangeas all of which look amazing in store, I have to photograph and get on line asap so everyone can see.

The weather in London has been amazing, hotter than the Med I here so yesterday we pottered around the garden in pj’s not even leaving the house, apart from a super early trip to Columbia and ended the day with lamb on the barbecue which I marinated in herbs and a beer or too, heavenly! So with the weather being fabulous still, I thought I would write a few words on gardens if you don’t mind. Why is it that garden furniture is so boring? I’m peeking out my window and fearing I might piss off the neighbours by saying this but am wondering why so many gardens are a bit neglected. I don’t mean plant wise I mean furniture and lighting wise. Bog standard garden furniture that does little to lift the spirits plonked in the middle of the garden and that is about it. No vases on tables no lighting anywhere, I think we all need to be a tad more inventive, easy for me to say I here you cry and yes it is, I immerse myself in all things interior every single day but a degree of it must, I  say come from thinking outside of the box. For instance I’ve upturned big trunks of wood and apple crates and used them as coffee tables. I’ve plopped flowers (oops fake ones) in jam jars and scattered them throughout the garden on these sweet little tables. I’ve got chairs everywhere under the lilac, a twosome by the jasmine, another couple of loungers by the outdoor fireplace, two little upright things under the bay trees at the back on and on I could go. I put indoor lights out and simply replaced the bulb with a freezer one (withstands all sorts of temps even in the depths of winter) and I’ve lit the garden to feel like another outdoor room. Glass baubles hang from trees, furniture is a mixture of super cool lounging and rustic vintage, plant pots are big bronze numbers from home base or woven wicker and almost every plant is scented. Quite easy no? It is very much like designing a space inside all about layering. The more layers, three dimensional little vignittes you create the more interesting your space becomes.

I leave you with a fabulous outdoor LA space from Lonnymag.com and whilst we might not all have spaces as large or fabulous as this its a pretty good example of layering at its best!

Style for less

Today and tomorrow we’re throwing open the doors of the house, for my master classes on how to break the design rules. The weather is beautiful so lunch in the garden is must, still have to zoom around the place and dust, cut foliage from the garden (oops correction neighbours garden don’t want to diminish any of mine and he won’t notice its sooo overgrown)!! and plonk in sweet little jam jars and then I am done.

Summer in the city, nothing better. I mean I love the country and am pretty desperate once the Merc decides to work again to escape for a weekend but there is something about London in the summer that I love. Everyone out and about sitting on pavements, the relaxed vibe that permanents the air, love it. Thank goodness with the fab weather we are having that the three of us (Maud, Mung’s and myself) all got our hair cut last week (told you I was going for a job lot) so we feel lighter, and much cooler for pottering around the streets.

I digress as always, today we are going to be yabbering about style, particularly style for less. I say it a thousand times and I shall say it again style has nothing to do with money. You can have the coolest pad on the planet and it need not cost the earth you just need to think outside the box. For instance top top top trick, visit flea markets for some cheap but well made furniture. If you like the form, shape and size buy and then spray. Don’t just spray it a conventional colour, no no no we want to push boundaries. Go for gold, go for red, go pink. Do this and you will immediately elevate its status, it will feel grander a little more rock n roll. I’m a big fan of the boho look, the rustic look but they can feel a  tad boring unless you have something that knocks it off balance and a brightly sprayed piece of furniture does just that.

One of my flea market finds below, £30 which I then sprayed, told you style has nothing to do with money.

Have a lovely weekend, for me it’s teaching Saturday and pottering in the garden Sunday, heavenly!

 

 

Pushing boundaries

No time for yabbering or chewing the fat this morning regrettably, time as they say is of the essence. Its a little past 5.30am and I have to be out the door at 6.00 (off to the dreaded bikram miserable yoga for a full 90 minutes). So I can’t tell you stuff like how Mung’s and I found the coolest cafe serving the best coffee on Kingsland Road on one of our afternoon pottering’s, or how I learnt by watching Chelsea on the TV last night that you can buy whole flats of meadow grass rather than bothering with sewing seeds and waiting for the wild flowers to grow, fabulous no?

Straight down to business then, I wanted to show you guys today that creating a house you love takes time. You can’t just pop along to one store in my book buy it all up and wham bam instant cool eclectic pad. It has to grow with you, you have to rattle around in it a tad in order to figure out what works and what doesn’t. In all my years of looking at interiors the ones that stand out and are the most memorable are those that juggle vintage with modern, spontaneity with rigor, coupled with the odd tongue in cheek find. They don’t fit in, they push boundaries and stand out.

I didn’t start off with my house looking this way, we moved in painted the whole thing white and lived like that for a good few years until it no longer seemed quite good enough. Too easy, a little simple, I wasn’t taking any risks, pushing boundaries. There was nothing wrong with it and yet it didn’t make me happy. I felt indifferent walking through the door, now my spirits raise and my heart skips a beat no matter what time I walk through the door.

So we’ve gone from this

To this.

It takes time, if I were to give one piece of advice it would be to come out of your comfort zone, think slightly differently about colour, pattern, form, and scale and push yourself creatively.  Creating a memorable interior takes a certain amount of confidence, you will along the way fail at some point.  The trick is to not be put off, to keep pushing that envelope, and once you’ve got one room right all the rest will follow.

Happy Thursday

Colour made easy

Apologizes for the lack of post yesterday it was a toss up, write blog, or go to bikram yoga? I opted for the yoga sorry guys wish I hadn’t as I hate hate hate it. No chance of that today however. I should swim, I might the weather is lovely but there is so much to do  that the internal head battle goes on, swim its good for you, don’t swim you’re sinking under how much has to be done, blah blah blah.

Anyways enough on my dilemmas of which there are many! I thought we might have a bit of a yabber about colour today, I’m a bit of a colour freak or junkie as there is nothing, repeat nothing quite as transformative as adding a spot of colour to a room. It can seem daunting to some,  guessing that’s why the majority of homes are beige hazes of blandness yet if you break it down to an instinctive level it will get you on your way. For instance as abstract as it may sound look to nature for inspiration or the beach for that matter or take a stroll and just look at the stuff around you and start thinking about how it makes you feel. Every afternoon, or I should say as many afternoons as possible  its my turn to walk the dogs so the other day we went to the Dalston Eastern Curve garden, its sooo sweet. Slap bang in the middle of the city, planted by volunteers it’s a little oasis. Maud and Mung’s love it as there is so much to sniff and investigate. They still have much to do with the garden but just wondering around looking at all the plants, herbs, trees, and all the varying types of green working so beautifully together made me realize I should use green a lot more.

I love green, but for some bizarre reason I hate green on walls cannot stand it, unless its an olive, murky, bottom of the pond type of green and then I’m on board. Colour is  so personal – I favor colours that cocoon, mesmerize feel sophisticated glamorous and confident (boy that’s a lot to ask I know ) but that is why I opt for dark. You might prefer lighter hues, there is no right there is no wrong. Follow your heart, be brave and experiment and the most important thing is to select colours that make you happy. Do that and you will always have a happy home to come back to. Simple hey!

Below some beautiful colour combo’s that make me happy

 

 

Transitional spaces

You know you’ve hit a few problems when you are brushing your teeth in the mirror and suddenly you start to resent the time it’s taking.  You start doing deals in your head about how to shortcut the whole process, i.e. can I do the front and just whiz over the back, spending more time on them later. VERY BAD, who do I think I am, the President of the United States? He has every right to resent the time it takes to teeth brush, but me, ridiculous get a grip!

All of us are pooped we spent the whole weekend digging up rocks huge rocks and planting. There were a few scares, Maud and Mungo escaped, and my world very nearly ended but we found them. Graham had left the door open by accident, neighbours were kindly helping us hump 3 massive trees through the downstairs window out into the garden and we were all congratulating ourselves drinking beer in the garden when I thought it was oddly quiet. Out they had popped down the street and had zoomed into a neighbours garden, Mungo was hanging out in the front garden sniffing, but Maud had zoomed through the front door and up the stairs in the house (she is such a nosy parker). So at one point we had Mung’s but couldn’t find Maud, stress, stress, stress. Anyways so exhausted by their adventure were they that within 5 minutes they were flat on their backs fast asleep with legs in the air. As was I, funnily little family that we are!

Down to business, today I thought we should talk about hallways and transitional areas, areas that we pass through and are often times neglected.   Places that are transitional, poky, plain old awkward  I think deserve as much respect as say a living room.  Take hallways for instance. The minute you put that key in the door you want to be tantalised and surprised and you want your spirits to lift. For example I have a big white hand sticking out from the wall (2 actually) one holds handbags the other a big bloom of wisteria. On a console sits a bulldog, a big bunch of blooms, a candle and a massive book. A few pieces of art line the walls and an ostrich table hangs out on a little landing above. A little granny esq rug skims the floor and wham bam done. On a teeny tiny landing I have a rug, a little yellow chair, a moose and painting above. Simple as that, it doesn’t take much but by turning a boring old landing into a super cool little hang out zone is so much fun,   every time I come up the stairs to go into the bathroom I smile. Now I’ve come full circle back to bathrooms, oh dear wondering if I can possibly not wash the hair, splash a bit of water onto the face and get on with the day,  don’t get me started!

How simple is this. It really doesn’t take much to take transitional spaces to a whole other level.

Love love love this idea, scraps of rugs skimming stair treads. Pattern, texture, colour you don’t need anything else.

I say this  all the time, but the more things you add to a space the more interesting it becomes.

Happy Monday