Spring Collections at London Design Week

Well the Spring sunshine was kind to us on Sunday for the opening of the London Design Week at Chelsea Harbour Design Centre. On entering the domes they were adorned with a fabulous vision of colourful Spring flowers and life size sheep made out of rolled newspaper, along with a wonderful atmosphere and people all excited with the sunshine and a vast array of new products to see for our client projects.

Colefax & Fowler's showroom was buzzing with eager souls to view their latest collections from Manuel Canovas and Jane Churchill, and the generous offering of a glass of champagne: Canovas have launched a wonderful soft wool check and plain fabric in beautiful pastel tones. I love using wool for upholstered fabric walling and upholstery as it gives a structured tailored look and is great for acoustics for the home cinema and 'the gentleman's' study.

Jane Churchill have launched an enchanting nursery collection of fabrics and wallpapers in collaboration with Dragons of Walton Street who specialise in hand painted nursery furniture and fabrics. Designs featuring beautifully drawn illustrations from Beatrix Potter, Flower Fairies and Teddies in classic blues, pinks, on crisp white cotton. There is something quite special decorating a nursery the clients first new born baby; especially if its for a the client who loves frills and lots of layering! Personally I always recommend using the prints on smaller items like cot canopies, cushions or cot covers, leaving checks, stripes, plains for the curtains so as the baby grows older you won't have to change the entire room only the smaller items with the prints; you then just select the new appropriate print to compliment the existing without breaking the bank.

Keep watching for further news as I am visiting again on Thursday.

Please contact me if you need any help or order any of the above product.

Visit Willer in Kensington

Last week I visited a great friend of mine called Miles who works at Willer in Holland Street, Kensington. It has a wonderful collection of eclectic Objet de Art for the home and beautiful Jewellery. One off pieces by talented artists, candelabras by Tom Dixon, wonderful cocquet china, Saint Louis crystal stemware, crisp table linen and custom made furniture. Every which way you turn there are awesome textures and exquisite things to touch. A one stop place if you are planning your wedding or civil partnership and need a gift list or just fancy updating or adding to your china and glassware.

London Design Week

Well it's that time of year again; new collections are being launched at London Design Week at Chelsea Harbour and various fabric houses around London. I have already had a sneak preview of some new fabulous wallcoverings at Brian Yates; lots of interesting textures at Sahco Hesslein, amazing new lighting at Bella Figura who are going back to the Deco period and the launch of Jab's new showroom in Imperial Wharf. Keep watching for the update on my blog next week. Why not visit Tuesday to Friday on public day - 10.00am - 5.00pm.

Floor Lamp Favourite

I love this hand forged 'Alfonse' floor lamp in copper/gold; available with different silk/satin shade from Porta Romana. When specifying lighting for my clients Porta Romana are always one of the places I go to as I love the variety of glass, perspex, wood and metal forms of lighting. They are unique pieces and as I tell my clients, a good investment.

My Favourite Wallcoverings

Brian Yates launched the new wallpaper collection from Ulf Moritz; luxury woven, pleated and quilted papers for a wonderful textured feature. Textured wallcoverings are always a deep passion for me when specifying a new scheme. Ulf Moritz at Brian Yates are unique, mostly wider at 75cm rather than your average wallpaper at 52cm and as my decorator Pawel always comments 'they a dream to hang and always look fantastic'. Not seeing those nasty joins is never a problem with these amazing wallcoverings.

Sumptuous Silks

When speicifying for my client I knew I wanted luxury soft furnishings for a boutique hotel style bedroom suite; using 'Stardust' silk which has been quilted and 'Victor' lilac squares were used for cushions and 'Amalia' for a tailored upholstered headboard. All fabrics are from the famous Venetian House of Rubelli; where the assistants and MD Vivienne are all divine and a pleasure to work with.

From the portfolio of Andrew Wright Interiors.

Velvet Crocodile from Rubelli

A fabulous new Crocodile printed cotton velvet
3 colours has been launched by Rubelli as part of their March collection. I would love to use this as fabric walling in a cinema for an ultimate texture and wow factor or on fabric wrapped doors; awesome!
Low-pile velvet with a cylinder-printed crocodile skin pattern. The innovative technique of applying a transparent film on the velvet produces a raised effect. With Crocodile a totally new type of upholstery is introduced, following on from the Vello and Lupo animal print fabrics from the previous collections. Available in three versions: brown, beige and black. If you like tactile then you'll love these.

New Blackout Wooden Shutters

Plantation Shutters have launched their new blackout pleated shutters; enabling darkened rooms for a good nights sleep; they also help with blocking out the sunshine to cut down on heat. Visit their web site for more information www.plantation-shutters.co.uk

Armani Casa Fabric Collection

I love the new collection that Giorgio Armani has designed and has been produced and distributed by Rubelli at Chelsea Harbour Design Centre. The collection includes sumptuous gold, silver and metallic geometrics and quilted silks; ideal for upholstery, cushions, curtains and bedcovers. They are such divine textures I just want to use them everywhere, they will even enhance a sofa if you are on a budget and only use a small quantity for scatter cushions; how decandant to brag to your girlfriends that you have new Armani cushions!