Betty held a shoe party last night. She asked all of her friends to come over for cocktails and have the once in a life time opportunity to buy from her vintage shoe collection which dates back to the glory days of the 80’s.

Her Armoire is positively stuffed with exquisite shoes, but thanks to the recent trend for fierce teetering heels with platforms, room is getting a bit tight. So it was time for a bit of a clear out, Roger Vivier and Terry Havilland were much in evidence

as were some of her more delightful confections from gay Paris. (Including some little Chanel pumps that have seen a lot of action along the Rue de Rivolli.)

Shoe storage is never easy but Sweetpea & Willow have a very elegant French chic solution with this wire fronted Armoire.

Simply cover your shoe boxes in pretty wallpaper or wrapping paper, print off a picture of your shoes and attach. Et voila! A stylish solution to the shoe mountain that lurks in the bottom of your wardrobe.

If you want to turn your friends pea green with envy then consider buying this gorgeous and very chic bookcase. Imagine all your shoes lined up on the lovely lilac shelves! Lush!
From the Sweetpea & Willow Designer collection, the ultimate in shoe storage!

Looking forward to a very organised shoe collection!

Tata for now!Jillx

Shameless plug for Sweetpea & Willow

We think that we have a really lovely website, if you agree, you could help spread the word by nominating Sweetea & Willow in the House Beautiful awards at http://www.allaboutyou.com/House-Beautiful-magazine-awards/v1

All the big retailers have their names listed, but if you take the survey (it takes 3 mins honest!) and put us in under ‘other’ we might be in with a chance.

Did you know that Jacquie started Sweetpea & Willow just three years ago from her kitchen table while on maternity leave?

She never went back to her old job because Sweetpea & Willow proved so popular. We now have a huge warehouse/office complex and a dedicated Irish website. We also have a beautiful showroom filled with lovely French and vintage style furniture, all styled in room sets to give you décor ideas to create your dream interior!

Jacquie has just had baby number 2, so watch this space, she has great plans for the future and we might see Sweetpea & Willow number 2.

Jillx

Jolly hols in Cornwall with Betty and Doris.




Betty and Doris have just returned from their annual jolly to the West country. After much deliberation it was decided that this year they would divert from their usual routine of motoring down to Salcombe and try a brief sojourn in Port Isaac, Cornwall.

This is because Doris harbours a secret passion for Doc Martin (from the TV show of the same name). She found out that the show is filmed there and was hoping for a glimpse of her guilty crush.

Betty went along with the plan because she had heard that Laurence llewelyn Bowen has a gorgeous little shop there, filled with Frou frou home accessories perfect for complimenting her French furniture and Boudoir bedroom.

http://www.sweetpeaandwillow.com/catalog/Bedrooms-Beds/c4_20/index.html
They adored Port Isaac with its cute winding streets and picturesque harbour. Having negotiated the practically mediaeval cobbled street that leads to the harbour, they installed themselves happily in the sun outside The Mote Restaurant http://www.the-mote-in-port-isaac.co.uk/. The perfect vantage point to watch Martin Clunes aka Doc Martin do his thing. http://www.itv.com/Drama/contemporary/DocMartin/default.html

Several large G&T’s later they decided to have dinner in the Restaurant. Doris was most impressed with the Moroccan Décor and the Inlay Mirrors. http://www.sweetpeaandwillow.com/catalog/Mirrors/c12/index.html
Bette was less impressed with the rowdy film crew who dropped a bottle down the stairwell which nearly cut off her decorating arm.
Happily they ended the evening singing sea shanties with the local fishermen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW5IdBWmWGc and staggered back to their cottage at dawn.

Next day it was a trip to Rock and the ferry to Padstow. This gave lots of ideas for decorating schemes. The colours of Cornwall are primarily grey and white, with touched of blue and flashes of yellow.
These are the ideal colours to use in a French inspired room. Sweetpea & Willow have some lovely new country style furniture in the new Bordeaux range which would look lovely against French grey walls.

The following day was spent trawling the art and antique shops which yielded up some rather intriguing finds, including a stuffed black-back gull in a Victorian case and a pair of bronze hares.

All in all much hilarity was had in Cornwall, The Mariners in Rock rocked. Boscastle was spell binding and Polzeath was teaming with fit surfers!!

Tata B & D

Sweetpeaandwillow.com french garden furniture.

Sweetpea & Willow are french furniture specialists and we have some of the most stylish garden furniture available on line. We think that your garden should reflect your personal style as much as your home interior.
For this Summer we have sourced classic, elegant garden furniture and accessories that will enhance your outdoor space and be enjoyed for many summers.
Our wooden lutyens bench is crafted from mahogany and is amazing value at only £290

For a courtyard or Patio with paved floor you can't go wrong with our Corinthian stone bench.

The curved benches are £185 and the table is £308, a staggering bargain when you consider that these will last for ever.

Cottage Gardens are ideal for wicker furniture and this magical wicker glider chair would be really sweet hanging from a tree or pergola.

We want to share our love of Sweetpeas so we send these gorgeous fragrant flowers to all of our customers.

Have a lovely Summer.

Jillxx

Don't call the House Doctor, do your own make-over and save your pennies to spend on gorgeous french furniture.


Why wait until you put you house on the market to do a spot of house doctoring?
Smarten up your entrance-way now and enjoy an instant pick-me-up from French furniture experts Sweetpea & Willow,
Re-paint your front door in this season’s French grey and give it some smart new ironmongery in silver or chrome. Put out some scented pots of French lavender or smart topiary buxus, whatever suits your personality.

Hallways are great for giving a make-over with maximum impact with not a lot of effort.

Create ambience with lighting. A chandelier is great for glamour but can also be kinetic with the way that light dances off the crystals. This large crystal fountain is absolutely jaw droppingly gorgeous and over the top.


For something a bit smaller, this ten branch tangerine illusion chandelier has huge personality and presence.



Don’t forget to use side lights for a softer lighting effect. Sweetpea & Willow have some lovely statement lamps, the Fifi chrome table lamp




and Santi black lamp are modern classics that look great displayed on a console table.


French console tables are ideal for hallways, they are narrow and don’t take up a lot of space. Look for one with drawers if you need somewhere to tidy away keys and mail. For sheer show stopping glamour this Tangerine console can’t be beaten. it’s really happy on its own without a mirror or any pictures’, leave it to speak for itself!

This plain silver console looks great paired with Sweetpeaandwillow.com ornate figs mirror.

If you hall is big enough for a chair, the stylish pearl velvet and black chair is lovely with its tactile velvet seat.

Sweetpea & Willow have five styles of mirrored console. The deco influence makes them ideal in modern interiors, although this Savoy console has the Louis curves that make it fit with a more traditional interior.
Mirrored furniture is ideal for making a small space seem bigger, so use it if your hall is very narrow. This rectangular Venetian mirror works well with most of the mirrored consoles. but to indulge your decadent side go for this Frascati Venetian style mirror.

Hope that you’re inspired by Sweetpea & Willow consoles to do a spot of redecoration!!

Love
Jill xxx

Sweetea & Willow. French furniture experts are branching out with a new Antique and Collectables section. ......................

I have a bit of a penchant for Fornasetti, I adore his designs for ceramics and I’ve been coveting his wallpaper for ages for my study. Think that all the heads staring down at me would force me to think!
We have just launched an Antiques & Collectables section on Sweetpea & Willow and there is an absolutely incredible Vintage Secretaire there. Designed by Gio Ponti in collaboration with Fornasetti it is absolutely unique, the design was inspired by Galeazzo Allessi’s Palace of Genova. So it has a great witty fusion of modern design with Romantic classicism.

It is worth at least £85 000 which makes it a wee bit out of my reach at the moment.

More in my price range is our local antique market! I popped in yesterday as I am always on the look out for quirky vintage finds and found a fab chair. Poor husband is not happy as I have a huge collection of chairs and am fast running out of places to put them all!

+

Black Rococo chair Gilt bedroom chair Black & White hide chair

(These are some of my favourites from Sweetpea & Willow) Anyway I just had to have it, it’s an old church chair with a shelf on the back for hymn books. I love the way the top has been worn away by hundreds of hands and the honesty of the design. Number One son can have it as a homework chair – he can put his homework sheets in the back.

I think that is part of the huge appeal of antiques, the romantic idea that they have been loved by generations and that they are just on loan to us until we hand them on to the next generation.

We have some Gillows of Lancaster card tables with beautiful carving and clawed feet. They have the quality that is impossible to replicate today. Withan undisputable provenance they are available as a pair.

I'm not sure how they would have been used originally but having a pair makes it easier to place them in a design scheme, symmetry being important.

Hope you’re enjoying the beautiful spring weather,

Love
Jill xxx

Boudoir Chic

Sweetpea & Willow French Furniture was on Tonight with Trevor McDonald last Friday. Unbelievable but true. Imagine Trevor McDonald sitting at one of our pretty dressing tables doing a piece about boudoirs.



It might not have actually been the man himself but I simply can’t get the image out of my head.
Just shows how popular the Boudoir look is when it makes the Evening news. We are specialists in French furniture and the boudoir bedroom is a major part of the French look.

We have vintage style dressing tables in a Deco mirrored style,





white painted distressed Louis style dressing tables


and the most ornate carved Armoires and beds for the ultimate in Rococo and Baroque glamour.
Dressing screens are great for adding a bit of ooh la la


and for a truly decadent boudoir use our Black rococo bed and new Amy Black mirrored bedsides.



Finish the look with a black chandelier and black venetian mirror.


Then buy yourself an enormous box of Choccies lock the door and indulge!