Hugest thank you to all those that attended the classes at the Design School over the last 3 days, it was a amazing few days spending time with so many creative, passionate people and yabbering about design. We covered alot of stuff during the day but one of my favourite bits was yabbering about styling, be that a cool mantle, shelf, console, or tabletop. There are all sorts of rules and regulations of which I tend to ignore. All that stuff about having negative space between items so that they can breath, (rubbish) or symmetry (way too uptight for me). As I mentioned in the class the eclectic look is one of the hardest to pull off as nothing matches and yet everything has to make perfect sense. Pulling off say a rustic, or Scandinavian, or retro look is way easier as there is a very simple formula to follow. My kind of design pulls on every period, size and shape but (top top top tip) if you restrict the colour palette its so easy to pull off. Back to my point (apologises for the distraction) when styling say a shelf you want to think about creating a vignette that is as three dimensional as possible, by this I mean plonking things in front of things and not putting accessories in a straight line. First of all visually it’s more interesting, secondly you are consciously or subconsciously tantalising the eye so it doesn’t quite know where to look and therefore your senses are activated, whether you realise it or not. Cool hey! I leave you with an image that has no negative space (the trick to this kind of styling is to introduce lots of different heights) therefore you are creating a lively rhythm. Oh and never have a whole load of stuff one end and a few bits and bobs another otherwise it will feel like a sinking ship.
Ok that’s me done, today at least half of today is a rest day. Some work this morning and then off to a bunch of garden centres this afternoon to sort out the terribleness of our back garden where the neighbours if you are listening neighbours chain sawed a 25 foot decades old wisteria so they could replace with a new straight fence, criminal! We’ve brought 10 three metre high jasmine but its not tall enough I need instant, instant instant 25 feet planting to totally and utterly seclude us from the outside world. And I need to spend time with Mungo and Maud who were rather well behaved for the last few days and need a lot of gallivanting at full speed around a park to let off some stream.
Happy Monday
“the eclectic look is one of the hardest to pull off.”
), is a kind of inspiration too, isn’t it?
Abi, there’s a section in “Wait for Me” (Deborah Devonshire’s memoir) that reminds me of your principle of eclectic look. When DD and her husband prepared to move in to Chatsworth in late 1950s, she had to get the place ready with plumbing, wiring, etc that cost an arm and a leg, and left almost nothing for her to hire a professional decorator. So she ended up doing it herself, drawing from “motley collection” of the Devonshire’s furniture from various eras and various houses they owned. Of course, it didn’t hurt that they had the best pieces of those eras, but still… the fact that she had to make things work out of eclectic style and that it apparently worked out (she was praised by a Nancy Lancaster, I don’t know who that is
(In my case, it has to be done out of “motley collection” of furniture from flea market/consignment/second hand/craigslist sources.
)
Katzies
*still waiting for New York class announcement
Very interesting thanks for this. Also hope to make a decision on the NY classes within the next two weeks x
Bamboo grows tall very quickly. And it’s invasive, so you get a bit of revenge with the neighbors at the same time.
Good plan am thinking about some bamboo to do exactly that
Thanks to you and Gemma for a great day of inspiring ideas and to Graham for all the tea making! Thoroughly enjoyed the whole workshop!
Thank you as I mentioned above its so great to here feedback. Glad you enjoyed, Abi x
Thanks for such a great class on Saturday and for letting us enjoy your staggeringly beautiful home. It was a lot of fun and very inspiring. Really didn’t get much sleep on Sat night as all the things we’d discussed were going round and round in my head. Still, seems to have done the trick as decisions have been made today and the paint samples are on their way!
Thank you, so great to here feedback. Very best of luck with the samples x
Arrrgh…I feel your pain, Abigail; we had the same thing happen to us about five years ago when the nursery we back onto wanted to build an extension and all our trees were chopped down. It has taken until now to really recover to a state of niceness after we spent a fortune putting in new trees and then the time that it has taken them to grow and soften the building work harshness.
Abi, thank you for such an inspiring day on Saturday. Your home is magnificent (as much inspiration as 1000 Elle Deco’s all crammed in to 1 day)! I plotted and planned all the way back to the west country and can’t wait for the next round of classes. Thanks also to the lovely Gemma for the flower inspiration (the house is now filled with bluebells from our garden) and to Graham for all the coffee!
In a word “wonderful”.
Now….when are you opening up in Bristol?
Thank you so much for letting me know, beyond appreciated. Sounds amazing filling your house with bluebells from the garden. Bristol, NY, Paris its all on the list! x
Hi Abigail!
Thanks for a great day on Saturday. I went to an antiques fair the day after and found the most amazing 50′s lamp that I previously wouldn’t even have noticed. It’s awesome. I have in the days following the class totally spruced up my rented flat (not allowed to paint) with some random and oddly sized art, lights and faux flowers. It’s a new pad!! Now collecting stuff to ship to the Sri Lanka house in a couple of weeks.
Best wishes and hope to see you soon for Level 2!
Linda x
Thanks Linda that is fabulous to know, so happy you are finding fab stuff x