Coggles Wallpapers

I was introduced to the Coggles website last night by a friend and was amazed by some of the truly amazing things they have in the 'Home' section. 

Of course, I was instantly drawn to the wallpaper section and fell in love with three designs in particular. 

Number One: 'Carpe Noctem' by Barnaby Gates
"The lime green and gold wallpaper is a contemporary take on classic British heraldry and features soft metallic crests on a bold pinstripe background. Translation of the Latin mottos featured on the crests are; ‘Carpe Noctem’ – ‘seize the night’, ‘Floreat Domus’ – ‘may this house flourish’ and ‘Bovina Sancta’ – ‘holy cow!’ "

Number Two: 'This Other Eden' by Barnaby Gates

"The sepia wallpaper is made up of a collage of nostalgic British scenes, including war time imagery and classic country pursuits, all taken from original 19th and 20th Century sepia photographs. The wallpaper also features a vintage metallic gold finish."

Number Three: 'Ostrich' by Beware The Moon

"The brownstone wallpaper, symbolising denial, is an inventive twist on the traditional and features large hand drawn, gold leaf ostriches with buried heads."

There's no place like home...

If there's one place in the world where I feel completely at home, it's my bedroom. It's the only room in the house where everything in it is mine - and I've decorated it exactly how I wanted it.

I have always felt that the interior of a room can speak volumes about the person living in it; what they do for a living, what their hobbies are, what they value the most in life.

For me, my room is a sanctuary for the things I love. Without even meaning to, my room has developed an 'around the world' theme, based on my love for travel and faraway lands. It also envelopes a lot of objects with personal meaning to me; photographs of friends and family, small objects bought as gifts that I could never throw away and of course, my most treasured possessions: my two teddy-bears I have had since birth.

My room is painted a soft, pastel pink. I'm a girly girl! I love floral bedsheets and will settle for nothing less. I have little trinkets dotted around the room like vintage stars that hang of my wardrobe door handles and a bright pink cheerleading bow hanging off a photo frame. 

I'd like to make 'There's no place like home..' into a feature for the interior section of my blog. So, here I am starting it off for you. Enjoy!

A view of my room: achieved by using iPhone app 'Panorma 360'. 

Frames above my bed: The large picture of the New York skyline was a great find from a carboot sale! I think I payed something like £3 for it. This is what started my accidental 'around the world' theme. I went to New York in 2007 and absolutely fell in love with it. On the opposite wall, I have a photo frame with multiple black and white photographs taken by myself during a trip to Paris in 2009. I also have two old school maps of the world - one as a normal picture in a frame, the other is a mirror that I rescued from being tipped by my Grandma!

On the floor: My Newzealand Sheepskin rug was a wedding present for my parents when they were married, but has since been passed down to me. I like that it's quite old now, it has a lovely worn look to it.

My bed: the place I spend most of my time! I love my bed. It's incredibly comfortable since I kitted it out with The White Company pillows. The bed covers in this photo is from BHS from about four years ago now. My MacBook spends most of it's time on my bed, as do my teddy-bears who are pictured with my small lavender heart.

My Australian Animals: Again, without realising, I have created a collection of Australian animals. I travelled around the West Coast of Australia in Summer 2011 and had the best time. I came back with the Wombat, and after visiting a carboot sale I found the Koala bear (it cost me 50p!!). When my boyfriend visited Australia six months after me, he brought me back a penguin from his trip to Penguin Island. 

...

So there you have it! That is my room, the place I feel the most comfortable and the place I feel the most inspired.

If you would like to be involved in this feature and share your favourite room with us then please email me on klynch@hotmail.co.uk.

Floral Friday: H&M Home

I was having a browse on one of my favourited interior magazine websites when I came across an image of a beautiful floral pair of curtains.
As I went to look to see where they were from I was so surprised to see H&M! I had absolutely no idea H&M even had a home department, never mind that they did fabulous ready made curtains!

The print is beautiful. Bold and bright, but cute and girly at the same time. If only I had a spare little room that I could make my snug, I would use this print everywhere. It's available in cushion covers and bedsets, so there would be no reason not to! Other than the fact it might look a little bit OTT...

So here you are, I introduce you to my Floral Friday: H&M Home.

Farrow & Ball Moodboards

Working at Farrow & Ball is great: I learn more and more about interior design and the beautiful pleasures that finding great colourways can bring every day.

This week, I created my own little project to make some moodboards using some fabric samples from a local fabric shop named Fabric & Co and finding different colourways and combinations with Farrow & Ball paint and wallpaper.

I had incredible fun making them, it really took me back to my college days where making moodboards was a daily occurence! Then they seemed like a hassle.. now I love them!

I thought I'd share my moodboards with you, so here you are:

New online portfolio with brushd

Just thought I'd quickly mention I've just set up my new online portfolio with brushd. 

If you'd like to have a look at some of my work, please visit it here: http://katelynch.brushd.com/

Floral Friday: Zoe Barker

This weeks Floral Friday is Zoe Barker, who runs her own design studio and online shop. Focusing on her 'Beautifully British' tag line, Zoe's print designs are just that. Her hand-drawn and painted prints are incredibly gorgeous, with a fantastic array of warm, bright colours in many of her florals.

I especially love Zoe's 'Liberty View' collection; a stunning collection of prints that show off her illustration skills with a great mixture of florals and wild British animals such as fox's, rabbits and many breeds of bird. The colours are beautifully understated, bringing a hint of vintage to the collection.

Here, Zoe talks about her work:

"I embarked on a fashion and textiles adventure in 2004, having spent 5 years in the digital design industry. Successfully combining my love of drawing and painting with my expert digital design skills, I developed a unique digital textile design style that relies on traditional painting and drawing techniques which are so often lost in the fast world of digital textile design.

I now have a BA and an MA in Fashion and Digital Textile Design and after studying in London at the prestigious Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, I have returned to my Hampshire roots from where I’m most inspired.

In my Hampshire design studio, near Winchester, I am surrounded by traditional villages, gorgeous woodland and an abundance of beautiful, English countryside and coastline, all of which feature regularly in my textile designs. I’m also very lucky to be close enough to London to visit regularly.

My experiences have honed my textile design skills and confirmed my passion. I hope this is reflected throughout my collections, which take time, love and skill to produce."

You can visit Zoe's website here and follow her on twitter here. 

Floral Friday: Jane Bridges

This weeks Floral Friday is the wonderful Jane Bridges. Her florals are absolutely beautiful, using superb bright colours and a fantastic mix of inspiring illustrations. Her label, Patternhouse, is based at Jane's own garden studio in Yorkshire, which I can assure you is one of the most beautiful places in Britain, and therefore brings me no surprise that Jane has produced some really gorgeous floral designs. Jane can also pride herself on the fact that all her products are printed and made in Britain, something I find very rare and extremely admirable in this day and age!

Jane talks to us about her work:

"I am based near Ilkley, West Yorkshire, where I design for my own label Patternhouse and also for freelance collections for both fashion and home. The essence of my work is very much art-based – a fresh, painterly style. My inky, colourful hand paintings and sketchy drawings are translated into lively, contemporary designs. The traditional much-loved subject of florals is brought bang up to date. I never tire of flowers - the variety is endless. I love visiting gardens for inspiration all year round. I have received national and international recognition for my work. In 2011 I was a winner of the Surtex Designext Competition in New York and in 2012 I was a finalist of  the Wallpaper of the Year competition. In the future, I hope to expand the range of products which feature my designs - I am currently working on a new wall art collection, fashion prints, cushions and tableware, so quite a range!"

To see more of Jane or to purchase any of her great designs, visit her website here. Follow her on twitter here. Like her on facebook here. Or contact her on jane@patternhouse.co.uk.

Now I Know My ABC...

Sounds like a silly thing to say, but letters are huge at the moment! With designers such as Mary Katrantzou, Versace and Stella McCartney all using letters in their collections, learning you ABC's has never been cooler.

In Vogue's September Issue, a small feature named 'Spotlight On Alphabet Street' really caught my eye, showing me many different companies that have recently used letters in their products: A wall hanging by Paul Smith for The Rug Company, a cute notebook set by Cavallini & Co for Libertys, an Alpha Chest by Graham and Green and a lampshade by Judy Holme.

Not long before I bought this issue of Vogue, I actually bought myself a rubber stamp set off Ebay, so I was pleased to see an article like this! I've not really done much with my set yet, other than play around a little and use it for little 'Thank you' notes to friends and family.

It's great to see that such a trend has become powerful in both the Fashion and Interiors world.

Graham & Green Alpha Chest

http://www.grahamandgreen.co.uk/the-alpha-chest

Judy Holme Lampshade

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/judyholme/product/wooden-letters-graphite-lampshade

Paul Smith Wall Hanging for The Rug Company

http://www.therugcompany.info/wallhangings/paul-smith/alphabet-blocks-blue-wallhanging.htm

Cavallini & Co Notebook Set

http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/product/liberty/diaries/vintage%20letters%20mini%20notebook%20set,%20cavallini%20&%20co/68527

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300682014972?var=600046946426&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Follow me on Instagram on @kates_l

Blendworth's Budgerigars

I do love Elle Decoration magazine! It always introduces me to some really great designs that are out there that I might never have seen otherwise!

In the current issue, I found a small piece about a wallpaper print from Blendworth's. Named 'Chirpy', the print is a lovely repeated pattern of two budgerigars and small florals/leaves/branches. 

Apparently, the design was first launched in the 1950's as a fabric! Only now, after being released from the Blendworth archives, you can buy it as a wallpaper design!

The colours are truly beautiful, with bright and pale pinks, playful yellows and blue hues. 

To visit the Blendworth website and see more of their great collections, click here.

New Love: Imogen Heath

Whilst flicking through the latest issue of Elle Decoration, I found a small piece on one of the Style News pages talking about a new textile designer named Imogen Heath.

The designs really caught my eye and I fell in love with the fantastic colours she used. Imogen has a great variety of prints ranging from gorgeous geometric to cute ditsy florals.

On Imogen's website it says: 
"Imogen Heath has been a textile designer since 2004, starting up her own design studio with the support of the Princes Trust in June 2011.

The business has progressed rapidly since the launch; her colourful and elegant work has already caught the eye ofnational and international press, as well as prestigious UK retailers such as Heal’s and Liberty, who have been the first to stock Imogen’s cushions and fabrics.

Imogen combines traditional artistry with digital technology to create print designs, which are rich with both geometric and organic motifs.  A strong sense of nostalgia underpins all of Imogens work; influenced in part by her fine art background and training as a weave designer, but also by her own everyday life and frequent  journeys between her home in Brighton and the countryside."

For more information and more images of her work, please visit her website here.