q. how do you eat an elephant?

a. one bite at a time!


good morning all!! it's lovely to be back after my wee hiatus (as you all know, manboy came to visit, and then i returned home to scotland for six days for my mum's birthday! it was a really quick trip but i had the most wonderful time, as always.)


i've missed you all so much! i've been stockpiling pretty things in my absence, so i'll be sharing those with you over the next few days, but this morning, whilst contemplating my last few weeks in corsica (!) and sucking down a cup of tea, i was browsing the archives of apartment therapy, and discovered the gem below. 

not only is the re-worked snug space above beautiful, it also cost next to nothing! i love the idea of the poetry on the wall with the telephone wires and the way the room has been pulled together, despite being such an awkward space (think biggest room in the house but L-shaped. arg.)

i guess i find the "before and after" above so inspiring because, as a self-supported student, i'm on a pretty tight budget. even on my salary as a teacher, i'll not be making much profit to return home with, so spaces that are made of salvaged materials, handmade cushions, welcome mat printed rugs, hand painted and charmingly thrifty are so inspiring!

speaking of inspiration, Ez over at creature comforts shared her finds on french design site neëst the other day, and i was completely overcome with lust for their wooden baskets, wire baskets, and gorgeous tea towels. my soft-furnishings obession doesn't just stop at cushions, i have all sorts of diabolical plans for tea towel creations, mainly inspired by etsy artists.

but those above are pretty gorgeous too!!

love love love this wire basket, only €21! perfect for stockpiling my issues of vogue, country living and NUDE. if you've not heard of the last one, you should give it a gander. 

and though my knitting leaves much to be desired, i'd quite like a swedish wooden basket to keep my yarns and needles in...

sit tight for an apartment therapy house tour that is so lovely it has me dribbling uncontrollably. until then, happy tuesday everyone!

edinburgh love

a few shots from a trip to the city today (i'm home for five days for my mother's birthday and a dear friend's 21st!) and a couple of photos of my bedroom at home so you can see how i love to live. 

another 'gold shoes omfg' moment. 

handmade jewellery and too much nail varnish...

can you spot laissez lucie faire anywhere?!

yours truly.

urban angels! i'm pulling my scary eyebrow i use on misbehaving students. such a beautiful delicatessen space. i was so tempted to try the CHOCOLAT THUNDR smoothie.

artisan roast LUST! oh, how i love this little coffee shop. rose and black pepper and chilli, vanilla and cinnamon hot chocolate. gorgeous. so gorgeous. chunky wooden tables, cafetiere lamps, latte art. phwoar.

sneaky photos shot from the hip in john lewis' haberdashery. the most divine bolts of cloth that i will somehow buy for myself to go with a salvaged armchair i intend on covering with a leopardskin throw. i will become an art-nouveau/spring brights cushion making machine as soon as i get back - watch this space!

(all photo credits copyright to me. use respectfully - email me please should you wish to share these photos. thank you.)

a casa corsa

photos of - valentines cards, pain au chocolat and croissants and good coffee, manboy and i, sunshine and sushi in bastia, archways and cobbles, a panorama of ile rousse's beach, favourite fizzy water, the artisan village: pigna, cats, cats, cats, and mountains aplenty. 

photos via manboy's phone.

it's not the size, it's what you do with it that counts.

please forgive the dreadful cliched title and the fact that i've not been posting as regularly, but manboy has been out to visit me in corsica and it's been just lovely! (he's also frightened of becoming a blog widower...)


full of sun, sand, sea and far too many pains au chocolat, we've also been chatting about his apartment and space saving (as well as our chalkboard paint, wire magazine baskets, and chilli-light plans), we were discussing how his kitchen/living/dining room is a little tight on space. 


naturally, i had to go and have a noodle on apartment therapy to see what they had to offer.


i found this:

it's actually a lot like manboy's apartment in terms of decor and colour scheme, except much better organised with regards to space. apart from the inevitable mason jar lust, i'm loving the cup hooks, and the wire baskets suspended from beneath the shelves. could be handy for spices/crockery? what do you think? 

also - a little self-indulgent moment - sit tight for snaps of ile rousse, valentines cards and CUSHIONS!

(image gratefully reproduced from apartment therapy - be sure to check the link, as it links to other sources for items designed to improve kitchen efficiency!)

storelove.

ever walked into a shop and wished to the high heavens that you lived there?! i have this near-religious experience too often to count. not so much in corsica, admittedly, but still - edinburgh, aberdeen, or web-based, i still wind up falling in love. why shouldn't some of this design love translate to the home then, i wonder?

someone also please buy me all of native(x)'s products, please. please.

well, why not?

currently crushing on philadelphia store lodge215. on the stock, and on the way it's been displayed!! shoes and books? yes please. antler/vintage picture combination is also utterly charming. and that dresser?! phwoar. 

love the lacquered tray on the rusty wire top. the contrast is lovely, and gets points for being easy to clean. if you've got pretty toiletries (like those above), show them off. everything can be a design element.

more of a case of stock-crush than shop design here, but those cushions!!! (has anyone spotted my soft furnishings addiction yet?) the combination of red director's chair and stencil-style prints has me fantasising about what i can do to change up my flat's decor back home. 

an L.A. based store now, punch interieur, is a shop that specialises in "swanky antiques, home decor and furniture, hip vintage clothing and fun bits and gifts". they need to add "awesome displays and unique sense of style" to that list too.

gold shoes omfg. 

as well as having a delicious interior i want to live in, i'm also loving the stock (the two seem to go hand in hand...) pair gold shoes (without drooling) and gold espresso cups and you could have yourself a little bit of sunshine in a bitchin' display form.

sackcloth cushions, pink painted chairs, rustic wood, deer heads, birdcages. whimsy feminine chic - homegrown girl with an edge. so lovely. 

i think one of the reasons behind the charming displays found in stores is that everything has to be successfully shown off. nothing is too cluttered (or shouldn't be) and the eye is given pause. obviously no one wants to look like they're living in a showroom, but there are definitely pointers for displaying your bits and bobs that can be picked up from stores such as those shown above.

silk&burlap is my most recent store crush. divine antiques for the home and the wardrobe. the owners, saule and angelique (such beautiful names too!!) have got an amazing shared sense of style and this reflects not only in the look of their boutique, but also in the treasures on offer. 

(lodge215 images via their website, punch interieur's via apartment therapy, and silk&burlap via design mattters. all very gratefully reproduced)

are you too inspired by stores? what are your favourites? (anthropologie aside, of course...)

yummy yuppieness. not easy to say.

'yuppie' 'apartment' and 'envy' are not words i ever figured i'd type in conjunction, but this home created by shannon and aaron hase, owners of yuppie decor (yuppie, for me, has hugely awful connotations...) is just fantastic. i'm not sure i could live there, but i can definitely appreciate what they've done from a design point of view.

and who wouldn't want that stunning shower curtain?

a funny combination of colours that probably shouldn't work but something just makes it all hash together. kudos! i'm also lusting over the sink/dresser combination that the couple made themselves. want want want!!

everyone needs rusty nautical stars somewhere in their home, of this i have no doubt. manboy has just said that you see a lot of these stars all across the east coast of america.

liking the combination between the 18th century mongolian horse and union jack chair. another example of yuppie taste that shouldn't work but somehow does.

how do these people manage it!? check out the rest of the apartment therapy post for more photos here.

*lusty image overload commencing*

brought to my attention via apartment therapy, to theirs by a mr. conrad of the philadelphia-based streets dept. blog (dealing with style, art, and awesome), who is a contributing author to another philly-grown wonder: phrequency, where you can view ALL the photos from this incredible shoot - i am currently in interior design heaven. 

what a find - especially when this week i'm still burning hot on my "rough industrial theme". you're about to be inundated with beautiful, inspiring photos of a beautiful, inspiring home - housed in an unassuming building, entered by one of the best doors i have ever seen.

i am british through and through but the above (and the rest of this home, i might add) makes my heart pitter-patter with sheer pleasure. the owners, doub hanshaw and james david mahaffey have the most incredible sense of style, and the juxtapositions between modern and vintage, femininity and masculinity, open spaces and cosy atmosphere makes me dizzy. 

a cosy loft?! who'd have thought of that. it's neither sparse nor minimalist - hurrah! 

bathroom LOVE. (more a case of lust when it comes to the oriental screen at the bottom of this post) but WOW. lace tablecloth partition between bath and peeping toms? i can't think of anything more titillating than bathing by candlelight, with soft lace beside a body. just gorgeous - such a delicate way of creating separate spaces within a room. 

gumball machine? why not? i imagine brick walls are a motherflipper to attach paintings and posters to - so keep your art on the ground, you know? it's still going to look fantastic. 

iron bed frame, stone sink, long wooden trestle table. beautiful materials combined in such a harmonious fashion. i am now desperate for a myriad of shiny red balloons attached to my bed. i would be doing this now, but my bed here is really more of a mattress on a stand. *quiet sob*

entryways! exposed brick, leather stetsons, sheepskin bags. could there be a more divine combination?

there are just so many design elements about this place that make it a one-off. the bedroom is so soft and delicate with its gauzy walls and the clothing displayed out along the rail is a decoration in its own right (i have such a vibe going on back home, my mother commented that it was less a clothing rail and more a theatrical dress box...) and who wouldn't want a candlelit rough stone wet room with a projected clock on the wall?

this home really does speak to my heart - but what do you lot think about it? a cosy example of rough industrial - what a treat!!