Spencer Thorpe: July 2017

Monday, July 31, 2017

Back to nature with Beautiful Wallpaper

When you are ready to enliven your living space with a new decorative plan, you might consider thumbing through wallpaper samples before you reach for that can of paint. Wallpaper has made a decided comeback in the world of interior design, and its patterns and styles are more varied than ever, allowing you to infuse both personality and artistry into your home.

Designers like Juliet Travers are featuring wallpaper lines inspired by nature, geography, and bold colour contrasts. With today’s eclectic wallpaper designs, you can change the look of your living room with a new-coordinating colour scheme that brims with eye-catching appeal complemented by a hint of outdoorsy charm.

Safari Style

safari style

While yesteryear’s wallpaper artists relied heavily on floral motifs, today’s designers like Juliet Travers and John Lewis are opting for nature-inspired wallpapers that teem animals. Travers has created an exciting Safari collection of wallpapers that are inspired by East African wildlife. In Nakuru, Travers celebrates the renowned lake and its resident flamingo population in a print that is flamboyant without being too overpowering. Its silver, pink, and dark tones underscore its sophisticated colour palette, which is sure to elevate your living room’s style while infusing nature-inspired beauty into your decorative plan. Travers also features fabrics that coordinate with her wallpapers to help home decorators easily rebrand their spaces. Price per Roll: £120 (ex VAT)

Tropical Interest

To create a bold look for your setting, consider opting for a heavily illustrated wallpaper print like the Cole & Son Savuti Wallpaper available from John Lewis. Named for one of Africa’s most revered national parks, the Savuti wallpaper features a medley of baboons and hoopoes set within a dramatic setting of flowering trees. With its shades of orange and brown, this pattern will bring a dramatic nuance to any room as it infuses its tropical aura into your space. As the pattern is a work of art in itself, you’ll need few other props for your walls to create visual interest, but you can easily complement this wallpaper with mirrors, sconces, or even a few contrasting prints that help tie your room’s colour scheme together. Price £80.00

British Isles Woodland Charm

If you’re hoping to blend your interior with your home’s native setting, consider Travers’ signature Albion Collection that takes its design cues from landscapes of the British Isles. The Nutcracker wallpaper is a delightfully versatile print that is easy to pair with both vintage-inspired and contemporary decorative plans. It features elegantly wrought tree branches traversed by Britain’s red squirrels set atop a backdrop of dark blue. Its metallic accents fairly shimmer, which almost lends movement to this design. Its understated beauty will not overpower your décor, but it’s sure to add a hint of grandeur to your walls. Price per Roll: £130 (ex VAT)

Pop of Colour

If you want to lighten up your living space with colour, opt for Secret Garden by Juliet Travers, a design nod to the English classic novel and a gorgeous depiction of British garden flowers like daffodils, daisies, and bluebells. Butterflies and bees dart between the blooms to create a meadow scene that’s ideal for transforming nearly any room of your home. This pattern features a soft white background and bright shades of yellow, blue, and red. If you live in an urban setting, this illustrated wallpaper is a terrific way to add outdoor style to your setting. Price per Roll: £150 (ex VAT)

If you’re looking for jewel tones to complement your meadow-inspired room, be sure to consider the John Lewis Hummingbird Tree wallpaper set atop a background of champagne. £25.00

Pond Life

Water is the perfect way to introduce the idea of movement as well as serenity into your living space. To create a tranquil living room makeover, be sure to consider the Regal wallpaper design by Juliet Travers. Also featured in the Albion Collection, Regal is inspired by the Serpentine in Hyde Park and showcases elegant swans swimming between vines and pale pink lotus blooms. Its fairytale sweetness is tempered by its refined colour scheme. This wallpaper is a lovely choice for living rooms, bathrooms, and bedrooms. Price per Roll: £150 (ex VAT)

Nature-inspired wallpapers help you create a setting that is unlike any other. Today’s designers feature bold patterns that depict wildlife and botanicals in new and exciting ways. Foxy faces, dancing elephants, scruffy cows, and silhouetted monkeys will bring a zest for life to your bare walls. Complemented by dazzling blooms, broad-leaf plants, and stately trees, these scenes will take your living room to a place it’s never been before—a place you’ll be thrilled to call your home.

Back to nature with Beautiful Wallpaper

Safari Style

safari style

Tropical Interest

British Isles Woodland Charm

Pop of Colour

If you’re looking for jewel tones to complement your meadow-inspired room, be sure to consider the John Lewis Hummingbird Tree wallpaper set atop a background of champagne. £25.00

Pond Life

Back to nature with Beautiful Wallpaper

Safari Style

safari style

Tropical Interest

British Isles Woodland Charm

Pop of Colour

If you’re looking for jewel tones to complement your meadow-inspired room, be sure to consider the John Lewis Hummingbird Tree wallpaper set atop a background of champagne. £25.00

Pond Life

Friday, July 28, 2017

Those Summer Nights

Getting a good nightʼs sleep during the summer is often a real challenge. Daylight hours are extended, disrupting well established circadian rhythms. Windows are open and the sounds of summer activity (renovations, revelry) can linger late into the night. Heat can also disturb sleepers without universal climate control – if you live in a house, the heat may rise dramatically as you ascend to the upper levels, where bedrooms are often located.

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Nonetheless, it’s not likely that anyone is wishing for a quick return to the long, dark days of winter and cosy bedrooms equipped with duvets and blankets. All in good time. Yet a decent sleep is essential for well being and productivity, even on those hot summer nights. There are many things you can do to ensure a good nightʼs sleep – whatever the weather.

Fix the Bed

Probably one of the best ways to retrofit a bedroom for a sensitive sleeper is to purchase the best mattress possible for your budget and dress it with bedding that feels and looks great. Furniture Village carries a huge selection of premium and economically priced mattress sets in brands such as Hypnos, Tempur, Vispring and Slumberland. They guarantee the lowest prices in these brands, offering 25-30% off them in the sale.

Start with a sturdy bedstead like this Tempur® Holcot Ottoman Bed Frame. It has a striking upholstered and buttoned headboard, but no footboard to interrupt air flow in the hotter months. Built to order, alternate colours and storage features are optional £979 (30% off).

holcot ottoman bedstead lifestyle

A well made mattress can actually help you maintain a comfortable body temperature for sleeping. The following brands, all available at Furniture Village, are known for their craftsmanship and quality. Hypnos is a high end brand that can be found in many luxury hotels. We love their Ortho Wool Pocket Spring Divan Set which is currently on sale for 25% off at £699 for the double size. You can really sleep like kings (and queens) in this one as Hypnos hold the Royal Warrant!

Slumberland also make beautiful mattresses with body cooling properties. Their Wave Divan Set features a mattress made from patented Affinity™ foam, and divan options for low or deep profile, storage or legs. £1599 at 30% off

Slumberland Wave Divan

The Vispring Elite Pocket Sprung Divan Set (30% off at £1769) is a real cut above. It’s a luxuriously comfortable handcrafted divan filled with British fleece wool and cotton, a solid timber frame and 600 hand-nested springs.

Choose Wisely

Furniture Village has an online mattress finder that may be useful as you search for the perfect mattress for your requirements. Remember that natural fabrics can aid your body’s natural temperature adjustments for sleep. And a great mattress should accommodate fluctuations in room temperature all year round.

Pillows

Finally, don’t neglect pillows. Where you rest your head is especially important when it’s hot out. The Dunlopillo Super Comfort Pillow is breathable, made from latex with a 100% cotton washable cover. £74

Dunlopillo super comfort

Cool and Light

If you or someone in your family is sleep sensitive, consider redesigning the sleep environment, not only to get a great-looking bed and associated accessories, but to take advantage of the latest technology informing sleep hygiene. Here are a few products we recently discovered that might just help:

Waking up suddenly to the sound of an abrasive alarm clock is not the best way to start the day. The Beuer SAD dawn simulator with alarm uses steadily increasing light to safely rouse you and help reset your sleep cycle. It also has music alarm and light changing features so you can find a personalized solution to sleep/wake issues. £90

A good fan can keep air circulating at night for relief from heat and stuffiness in the bedroom. We love Dyson products because they actually work. Exhaustive research has informed several types of standalone Dyson circulating fans for the market. Our fave is this vertical profile tower fan. It’s powerful, but has an elegant design that takes up less space. £349.99

Blacking out natural light is another good way to trick the body into longer periods of sleep. What are known as “blackout blinds” are made from coated materials that block external light completely. They generally come in white or black but we like this version for its stars in the night sky motif. Available at John Lewis, they can be cut to fit most windows. £114

cool and light It’s also important to get enough natural light and sunlight during the day (especially if you work indoors under artificial lights). Controlling the amount of light we are exposed to is key for a healthy and regular sleep/wake cycle.

Change Your Day

Here are a few more tips for establishing a good sleep hygiene that will leave you refreshed and rested come morning:

Keep daytime naps brief. They can help to improve mood, alertness and performance, but discontinue the practice if you find naps disrupt your nighttime sleep quality.
Exercise during the day. Even if you can only manage a few minutes of walking or cycling, do it because it can promote better quality sleep. However, most people should avoid strenuous workouts close to bedtime – they can rev you up rather than calm you down.
Steer clear of heavy or rich foods, fatty or fried meals, spicy dishes, and stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine, and carbonated drinks near bedtime – these that can trigger sleep disrupting indigestion or heartburn for some people. While alcohol can knock you out quickly, but drinking too much can disrupt sleep later in the night as the body processes the alcohol.
Establish a regular relaxing bedtime routine. This can include a cool bath, dimming lights, turning off electronic and digital devices. These are all signals to the body that it’s time for bed.

Those Summer Nights

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Fix the Bed

holcot ottoman bedstead lifestyle

Slumberland Wave Divan

Choose Wisely

Pillows

Dunlopillo super comfort

Cool and Light

Change Your Day

Here are a few more tips for establishing a good sleep hygiene that will leave you refreshed and rested come morning:

Keep daytime naps brief. They can help to improve mood, alertness and performance, but discontinue the practice if you find naps disrupt your nighttime sleep quality.
Exercise during the day. Even if you can only manage a few minutes of walking or cycling, do it because it can promote better quality sleep. However, most people should avoid strenuous workouts close to bedtime – they can rev you up rather than calm you down.
Steer clear of heavy or rich foods, fatty or fried meals, spicy dishes, and stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine, and carbonated drinks near bedtime – these that can trigger sleep disrupting indigestion or heartburn for some people. While alcohol can knock you out quickly, but drinking too much can disrupt sleep later in the night as the body processes the alcohol.
Establish a regular relaxing bedtime routine. This can include a cool bath, dimming lights, turning off electronic and digital devices. These are all signals to the body that it’s time for bed.

Those Summer Nights

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Fix the Bed

holcot ottoman bedstead lifestyle

Slumberland Wave Divan

Choose Wisely

Pillows

Dunlopillo super comfort

Cool and Light

Change Your Day

Here are a few more tips for establishing a good sleep hygiene that will leave you refreshed and rested come morning:

Keep daytime naps brief. They can help to improve mood, alertness and performance, but discontinue the practice if you find naps disrupt your nighttime sleep quality.
Exercise during the day. Even if you can only manage a few minutes of walking or cycling, do it because it can promote better quality sleep. However, most people should avoid strenuous workouts close to bedtime – they can rev you up rather than calm you down.
Steer clear of heavy or rich foods, fatty or fried meals, spicy dishes, and stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine, and carbonated drinks near bedtime – these that can trigger sleep disrupting indigestion or heartburn for some people. While alcohol can knock you out quickly, but drinking too much can disrupt sleep later in the night as the body processes the alcohol.
Establish a regular relaxing bedtime routine. This can include a cool bath, dimming lights, turning off electronic and digital devices. These are all signals to the body that it’s time for bed.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Insider Shopping Guide: Birmingham

Historically coined the ‘city of a thousand trades’, Birmingham’s industrial past is well documented, and to a certain degree, it’s a look, a persona, that the city arguably still wears today. However, though the city’s heart is an ancient one, beloved Brum is evolving. With projects cropping around all over the city, Birmingham is in a state of flux, looking ever more, the twenty-first century metropolis role it plays in England’s cultural map. Given the city’s history and heritage, it might not shock you to know that Birmingham is a treasure trove of antiques and vintage finds.

If you feel Birmingham’s call from labyrinthine London, we’ve shortlisted a few local gems that you must visit

Shopping

Found on Moseley Road, right in the city’s heart, St. Paul’s Antiques & Reclamation are a family business that have been involved with dealing antiques since the forties. Specialising in thought-provoking and inspiring antiques, reclaimed and restored furniture and antique architectural building materials, St. Paul’s is a one-stop shop for all things vintage. The company have developed a reputation for the excellence of their service and quality of their wares, staying true to old-fashioned loyalty, trust and service.

Set across three floors of a gorgeous Victorian Villa in Moseley, the eponymously named, Moseley Emporium Antiques prides itself on sourcing the very best from auction houses, private homes and privates sales from all over the country. However, antiques are only part of what they do. Moseley Emporium antiques also offer continental originals and reproduction, whilst also offering a bespoke, made-to-measure service, made to your individual specifications.

Just outside of the city centre, in Oldbury, Birmingham is the showroom of Home by James. The shop is an Aladdin’s cave of all types of antiques to those wildcard curiosities that you simply cannot leave without. Against a striking Americana checkerboard tile, all manner of retro and vintage furniture can be found here, in traditional industrial, continental, Scandinavian and mid-century modern styles. From, mirrors, to furniture, to china, glass and jewellery, all is truly under one roof. The store’s inventory is hand selected, with items chosen for their quality and enduring style.

If there’s any place representative of Brum’s youthful, edgy and hipster edge, it’s the Apple Pie House Gallery. Famed for their extensive collection of vintage teddy bears and dolls, the gallery also stocks contemporary art form some of the area’s best and brightest. If you’re looking to administer your home with a hipster chic, that’s effortlessly cool and brimming with Brum energy, few places come better qualified.

Let’s Eat

Birmingham is a true metropolis and one of the true, great multicultural cities of the world. Naturally, contained within these cultures that meet here is outstanding food, and Brum’s bragging rights in this department is enough to make other cities green with envy.

Working under the motto of season, ingredient-led cooking and as proud owners of a Michelin Star, it’s fair to say Carters of Moseley know what they’re doing when it comes to food. Central to their cooking are fresh herbs, fruit, veg and wild food, sourced within the UK. What emerges are bold flavours that are both delicious and rejuvenating. Carter’s of Moseley are at the very cutting edge of contemporary British cuisine.

For a taste of Poland, few places come better recommended than The Karczma. Centred around modern reimagining of traditional polish cuisine, The Karczma’s menu is adorned with hearty and quintessentially Polish classics such Pierogi (stuffed dumplings), Berszcz (Beetroot soup), Pickled Herring, Zureck (Pickled Rye Flour Soup) and a whole host of grilled meats and fish.

Asha brings India’s North-West frontier to the heart of Birmingham. A fusion of classical and contemporary Indian dishes, Asha runs the gamut from Indian street food staples to haut cuisine that wouldn’t look out of place on Maharaja’s banquet table of bygone times. Featuring branches dotted all over the country and Middle East, and having won the seal of approval of critics and loyal customers alike, you can rest assured that Asha is the real deal in the way of representing India’s gorgeously diverse food cultures.

Places to Stay & Getting Here

We’ve got a sweet deal, with us Londoners being Londoners and all. The city’s excellent connections mean that much of the country is within easy reach, with Birmingham being no exception. Just a mere hour and a half from either Euston or Marylebone Station, and you’re pretty much there. However, Brum indeed has much to offer, and to really get a feel for the city, a day trip won’t cut the mustard.

The Edgbaston’s mission statement is refreshingly uncomplicated: ‘it’s simple… we care’. This is reflected in their distinctive brand of hospitality, which they liken to a welcome offered by a gracious friend at a fine private residence. The personal service is both meticulous and discreet, noting your preferences for future visits. The hotel’s six gorgeously orchestrated ensuite bedrooms are finished to the highest standards, brimming with a cool, old-world metropolitan nostalgia and swagger. Huge bed, an abundance of cushions and throws, and a strikingly modern fit and finish characterise The Edgbaston notably luxurious brand of hospitality.

At No. 15-20 St. Paul’s Square, you’ll find Saint Paul’s House. Having launched only last year, by husband and wife team Adrian and Sharon Harvey, Saint Paul’s House is a venue that encompasses a restaurant, bar and boutique hotel. Dressed down, cool and casual, it takes its design inspiration from close to home Shoreditch. With free Wi-Fi, luxury bedding, a waterfall shower ensuite and the finest finishes, St. Paul’s exudes both class and comfort, whilst also being just a stone’s throw away from the city’s central districts such as the famous Jewellery Quarter.

Perhaps you’re after that country escape, removed from the bustle of the city. For this, few places come better recommended than Hogarth’s. Situated in Solihull, Hogarth’s breath-taking gardens feature plants that bloom and arrest the senses with their colour. Inside, plush interiors and individually designed king size beds set the gold standard for both comfort and luxury. The private ensuites that pair with these rooms also feature luxury toiletries from L’Occitane. Hogarth’s brings the best of a countryside escape, whilst remaining at proximity to Birmingham’s beating heart.

Birmingham has a lot to offer, and if you’re after something that’s metropolitan and, kind of familiar, Birmingham is a great call. It has that ‘sameness’ of London, that city pace, but a character that is entirely its own. Perhaps that’s why, having upped sticks from the capital, more people seem to be moving here than any other city. However, if you’re after switching gears only for the while, Birmingham will surprise you. Leave space in your luggage though, as the city’s many antiques dealers will guarantee you won’t be leaving empty handed.

Monday, July 31, 2017

Safari Style

Tropical Interest

British Isles Woodland Charm

Pop of Colour

Pond Life

You May Also Like

Safari Style

Tropical Interest

British Isles Woodland Charm

Pop of Colour

Pond Life

You May Also Like

Safari Style

Tropical Interest

British Isles Woodland Charm

Pop of Colour

Pond Life

You May Also Like

Friday, July 28, 2017

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Fix the Bed

Choose Wisely

Pillows

Cool and Light

Change Your Day

You May Also Like

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Fix the Bed

Choose Wisely

Pillows

Cool and Light

Change Your Day

You May Also Like

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Fix the Bed

Choose Wisely

Pillows

Cool and Light

Change Your Day

You May Also Like

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Shopping

Let’s Eat

Places to Stay & Getting Here

You May Also Like