Heritage looks

Decorating with Old English Charm

Betty has asked me to put together a design scheme for her winter drawing room based around an English eccentric theme.

Winter because she lives in her conservatory in the summer, which is trés français filled with white rattan furniture and bird cages (don’t like to tell her the parrots are a step too far, I’m sure she should have gone for song birds). From where she serves up her sundowners (gin and a slice) from porcelain tea cups.

So for Betty this winter it has to be a Heritage English look. At Sweetpea & Willow we are best known as experts in French style furniture but I think that we can pull off a Trad. English scheme with our usual élan.

I thought about putting in a carpet. See this website for some great ideas http://www.comebacktocarpet.com/makeover.html they are doing a lot to promote carpets in the press and have some amazing striped ones but I still prefer rugs. I saw The Rug Company at decorex http://www.therugcompany.info/default.aspx they have an absolutely perfect rug designed by Vivienne Westwood which is a faded Union Jack. Too British maybe or maybe just a bit tongue in cheek.

Walls will be pale grey/white with loads of oversized pictures of dogs!! Bulldogs, corgi’s, King Charles spaniels…specially screen printed in hyper real colours. Fierce!! Furniture is from the Sweetpea & Willow designer collection. This range is hand crafted from cherry wood, with real old fashioned craftsmanship -mortis and tenon joints and hand painted finishes.
Details, like the handles, which are antiqued brass really make you realise just how good the quality is. I have seen a few of the commodes in the Sweetpea & Willow showroom and the finish is excellent, I’ve played with the drawers and they glide beautifully and the paint work is like silk, really tactile.

There are three sets of drawers which fit the bill, the chest Anglaise, The Alexis chest and the Alfred chest.

Seating has got to look like it came from a Gentlemen's club, sweetpeaandwillow.com leather chairs and sofa have a lived in look that says 'I'm here to stay'I was hoping to get hold of some antlers to go above the door but no joy, so I’m making do with a brace of antler lamps.

As for the rest of the lighting I thought that we should have flickering candle light as well as side lamps and a central chandelier.

This wall sconce is great for making the light dance from its mirror around the room, very romantic and Victorian.
I love the brass finish on this chandelier which is a real statement piece, I hate to say the W word but it has wow factor in abundance. To finish the scheme I’m looking for a stuffed squirrel and three fishes to take the place of traditional ducks. Looks like the wellies and rod are going to get an outing!
Love

Jill xxx

100% Design

Sweetpea & Willow visit London Design shows
I always think that summer is over when the interiors shows are on, but this year they really seem to have crept up on me far too early. This week I did 1oo% design http://www.100percentdesign.co.uk/page.cfm
and next week I’m hoping to fit in Decorex and Focus.

It’s great fun to check out what’s new and exciting in the design world.

100% design seemed quieter than usual but still had a lot of energy and some really inspirational things.

I was really taken with a few designers who were doing a new thing with decoration taking an almost Victorian vibe and subverting it.

I loved the cushions with cityscapes from conceptual textile designer Charlene Mullen using a hard edged modern scene and making it domestic with soft embroidery.


On a rather more disturbing note are the fantastical taxidermy pieces of Lighting designer Jericho Hands. She pitched a bedouin tent which had a few surprises inside. A flock of pigeons were stuffed and transformed into a fairytale thing of beauty, giving a new take on the chandelier. Even better were the stuffed squirrels running up the outside of the tent, each holding a little light. Squirrels are top of my squish list at the moment (having demoted slugs) so I was delighted to see them used for good purpose. No pics available unfortunately, but see website http://jerichohands.com/index.html


Animals were used for inspiration elsewhere, but not quite so literally (Stuffed!) http://www.petermusson.com/ had some witty little ‘Trophy Kills’ used to decorate the stand. I loved the silver hippopotamus head on purple velvet shield---really! You just had to be there!

It was great to see clock designer Paul Beckett www.paul-beckett.com He says that clock making is a dying art and I guess commissioning your own time piece is pretty expensive. This designer told me that he sells to the uber rich all over the world. His clock takes a very modern plastic composite and combines it with hand crafted bronze wheels for a very modern interpretation of an antique piece.
I also came across this in The Guardian on a clock theme http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/sep/18/corpus.clock about a truly amazing clock that has been designed for Corpus Christi.”it is terrifying, it is meant to be," said John Taylor, the creator and funder of an extraordinary new clock to be unveiled tomorrow by Stephen Hawking at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. "Basically I view time as not on your side. He'll eat up every minute of your life, and as soon as one has gone he's salivating for the next. It's not a bad thing to remind students of. I never felt like this until I woke up on my 70th birthday, and was stricken at the thought of how much I still wanted to do, and how little time remained." Have a look at the article with a video of the clock.

Loads more inspired, am hoping to do a pop up Sweetpea & Willow shop in one of the blow up tents from inflate.co.uk…watch this space it could be popping up near you!1

Ta ta
Jillxx

Sunday Times

Our drivers and delivery people are all swanning about in new togs!!
They have fleeces and shirts with a very tasteful sweetpeaandwillow logo subtlety embossed on the front. They also have baseball hats in pale grey, hmmm-this could be a step too far or a cunning plan designed to cover up bad hair. Think Harry looks a tad more dapper in his James Bond get up, but this is dreary, wet Britain, so he needs to dress suitably for the climate.

I think that they should have let me design the uniform. It’s an opportunity missed if you ask me; we could have had knee britches and velvet frock coats in our trade mark pale blue which would be trés elegant and head turningly chic. This could be you Harry, loading up your van!!

On another note we had some really great press this weekend. two of our mirrors appeared in The Sunday Times and one in The Mail on Sunday. It is lovely when journalists like our furniture enough to feature it. The phones haven’t stopped ringing with people wanting to buy them!!

Dressing Mirror

Bye for now

Jill

Sweetpeaandwillow.com sale is on at the moment and I’ve seen lots of very tempting pieces of furniture that I want. It’s really hard to choose from all the gorgeous things especially as they are all at unbelievably low prices. Was £465 now £395


So I have a few guidelines to ask myself before I buy furniture…

Am I going to like this in a year’s time?
I don’t think that there is any danger of French Louis style furniture looking dated any time soon. This style has been around for a couple of centuries and is still looking fresh, it really has a great deal of charm and it can always be refreshed by adding a few cushions or accessories in the seasons fashion colour. Black chest Was £365 now £325

Is it great quality?
Sweetpea & Willow furniture goes through a rigorous quality control process before we send it out; you can often find one of our directors in our warehouse personally checking the furniture. Not many companies do that!

Do I trust this retailer?
Well I work here so I would! I think the best thing is to have a look at customer comments section and see that the website has an easy way to contact them if things go wrong. Sweetpea & Willow have a showroom and office address which should inspire confidence.

Is this the best price or should I pay a bit more for a quality service?
Sometimes the cheapest isn’t the best. At Sweetpea & Willow we know that our prices are the best for the service that we offer. We are always chatting to customers on the phone answering all sorts of questions from checking progress of orders to advising on interior schemes to go with our furniture. We aren’t a faceless company that you can only contact via email we really care about our customers, we love what we do and hope that we can pass on our passion for chic French furniture.

SUMMER BLUES

Looks like summer has finally arrived and we have a month to cram in all the things we could have been doing all summer. I shall be chilling in the garden every evening, getting the most out of my new Sweetpea & Willow garden furniture, fortunately I ordered the Stone range so I will be able to leave it out side all year. You’re probably catch me sitting on it in the middle of winter wrapped up in my fleecey anorak ( joke! I’m going to be sporting a little prada number this Autumn!)

I have been chilling out at the Ealing Jazz festival. It’s close to the office so easy to grab a picnic and head down to Walpole Park and listen to some great live Jazz and Blues. It’s a real family occasion and a lovely atmosphere. Personally I think that Sweetpea & Willow should offer to decorate the main stage next year, it could definitely benefit from a bit of rococo style! Perhaps a couple of giant mirrors and a few Louis chairs for VIPS, (mentioning no names but rumour has it that our esteemed mayor, Boris Johnson will be visiting tonight).

Haven’t heard much from Betty and Doris recently, they have been to Slapton in Devon and no doubt are now planning a total décor over haul. Am expecting requests for Silver pieces as they like to be cutting edge nowadays. Lucky we have a sale on!! Check out this silver chaise longue which is a very affordable £237, I’m going to get them to buy one each.

L8er dudes!!

Jill x

Have just spent a couple of days in lovely Liverpool, Exploring the incredible shopping centres and searching for superlambbananas! http://www.gosuperlambananas.co.uk/artists.html

I spotted the most and am owed bottle of champagne from Lenny who despite actually being a denizen of the city only managed to spot five! (Em was more interested in spotting sexy red shoes- on a mission to find the hottest pair in the whole of Liverpool).

We also got cultural and went to see the Klimt at the Liverpool Tate. I was expecting to see lots of the type of Klimt paintings that you see adorning student digs but in fact there were some rather surprising Interiors and furniture pieces on show from the Vienesse secession.
Particularly fab were the silver coffee sets and furniture by Josef Hoffman. The simple white and grey painted cabinetry had a very Sweetpea & Willow look.

www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/gustavklimt/ Shopping in Liverpool is a complete revelation. There are several beautiful new shopping centres with every imaginable fashion shop. The style is amazing, all the girls make a real effort and look just incredible, if you ever wanted to know how to run in seven inch platform shoes, these girls will show you how! http://www.visitliverpool.com/site/home There are more hair straighteners and fake bake kits sold in Liverpool than anywhere else in the known universe. We loved the look for massive hair rollers and teeny mini skirts worn with attitude. Totally fierce!

The Cavern Walks are full of quirky little boutiques and beloved by fashionista’s and wags alike. Vivienne Westwood (all hail the Queen) and the wags fave Cricket are here.

Cricket is a mecca for the glamourous citizens of Liverpool and it certainly stocks some hot labels. I thought the merchandising could do with a bit of sweetpeaandwillow.com magic. They need some of our display cases and dressing tables for a much needed boudouir touch. Otherwise that Mary Portas will be knocking on their door!! http://www.maryqueenofshops.com/

TA RA

Jill

Wayne the cycling demon.

Wayne has taken to riding his bike into work. This is all the fault of Zoe who sits opposite him and has the pleasure of looking at him all day. She decided that she wanted to enhance the view and so devised a programme of improvement for Wayne.
Firstly he had to wear lycra, secondly he needs to get a tan, thirdly he needs muscular calves.

She decided to suggest a bit of cycling but didn’t expect Wayne to adopt it quite so enthusiastically.
His bike is now parked in the showroom and he has been providing us all with a great deal of amusement by riding it aroundthe showroom dodging between the armoires and dining tables.

Incidentally the tan is coming along nicely and we are all thinking of biking it to work. I have picked out a particularly fetching cycling outfit with divine floral helmet from the cyclechic website.

Love from a very fit Sweetpea & Willow team!