Inspiration - creative homes

I love seeing inside creative people's workspaces and homes, so I was really excited to hear about Emily Quinton's first book which has just published with Ryland Peters & Small.

Maker Spaces takes a peek inside the homes of artists, designers and makers in the UK, US and Europe including Sarah Hamilton, Donna Wilson, Inge Cremer and Anna Joyce. 

As well as being lovely on the inside, this book is also beautifully bound on the outside. It's quite an unusual format, and maybe it's just the 'coffee table book geek' in me, but I really love how the cover is separate from the spine, and how it gives a contemporary and quirky look to the book. Surely books will never disappear from our world considering e-books could never replicate this aspect of publishing.

Here is a little peek inside at some of my favourite creative homes that Emily has featured in the book, including her own, which is the perfect space for a creative family such as hers.

If you fancy seeing a bit more, then pop over to Emily's website and order your copy asap! 

Maker Spaces by Emily Quinton, photography by Helen Cathcart, published by Ryland Peters & Small (rrp £19.99)

Wall Stencil winner announced

Thanks to everyone who entered the Stecilit giveaway last week! I loved reading all your favourite designs and where you'd put them! It was really hard to choose a winner, as there was lots of great replies. The winner choose the dill pattern/snow tree design....

The winner is YvonneZoe. Congratulations! I really liked how you would bring nature into your bedroom in your city home to escape from the busy working day. I will be in touch to get your address! ;) 

Thanks to everyone for entering! x

WIN a Scandi style wall stencil!

If you fancy some pattern on your walls, but find wallpaper expensive and/or daunting to put up, then what about decorating using a stencil? Stencil designs have moved on a lot in recent years and I was particularly excited to discover StenCilit on Etsy. Their designs are fresh and modern and inspired by Scandinavia.

StenCilit is based in Estonia, and designer Merili Sulg has a background in screen printing and wallpaper design. There are nearly 50 different designs in her Etsy store, so lots to choose from, and of course it is up to you what paint colour to use and also how to utilise the stencil. It could be to completely cover an entire wall or just as a small detail. You could even use the stencil on the floor or on fabric, so it's a really versatile product that will only set you back between £25-30! 

The image below shows the Siberian Taiga design (my personal favourite!) in situ in Justine Hand's child's room. You can also follow her 'how-to' of using the stencil over on Remodelista which is very handy. 

I'm excited to share that StenCilit have offered for one lucky Patchwork Harmony reader to win a stencil of their choice - hurrah! All you have to do to enter is visit the StenCilit Etsy shop, and choose your favourite design. Let me know which one you love as well as how and where you might use it via a comment on this post. I will then choose my favourite reply after the closing date which is the 10th April 2015.

Merili & her team would love it if you liked their Facebook page, and shared your fave design on your Facebook too! Show them some love! :) 

Terms and Conditions:

- Please make sure to leave a contact email address with your comment so you can be informed if you win. 

- If the winner does not respond within 14 days with their postal address details, I will select another winner. 

- The competition is open to readers worldwide.

- Only comments posted before 11:59pm on the 10th April 2015 will be valid. My decision on the winning comment is final.

Here are a few more of my favourite designs to whet your appetite! I can't wait to try one of these out myself. I'm thinking perhaps on a set of plain curtains! Good luck everyone! 

Our bathroom makeover

As I mentioned in my recent 10 ideas for styling a small bathroom post, we have been redecorating our own bathroom, and now that it's all finished I thought I'd share a few snaps of it. It's really tricky getting decent photos in such a small room so this is the best I could do, but hopefully it gives a bit of an idea. 

Of course I forgot to take any decent 'before' shots and only remembered after we'd started preparing the room for painting, but these images show the beige-brown wall colour and white woodwork which has been there since we moved in over five years ago. (excuse the filler!) 

It wasn't actually that bad before, although it was definitely in need of a refresh, it was still liveable. But it was the installation of a new boiler that spurred us on, as we had the new cupboard in the corner built to house it, so this needed painting anyway. 

We decided to brighten the walls in plain white and used Dulux Timeless (it looks quite beige on the website, but actually comes up quite white), which is actually the colour we've used in many of the other rooms in the house. But to add a little bit of interest we painted the woodwork in a lovely shade of grey. This is Dulux Modest Grey in matt finish. I hate gloss paint which I know a lot of people use on woodwork, but I'm really pleased with the finish the matt paint has given - it seems much more modern to me. 

As I said in my bathroom inspiration post, I wanted to add a few simple details in the room to lift it. As it's such a small room, it only needed a select few nice items such as a delicious Anthropologie candle, and a lovely bottle of handwash which I found in TK Maxx. I've went for dried stems of eucalyptus and billy buttons in vintage bottles, and a flowering house plant for a little bit of greenery. (here's hoping I can keep this one alive!) The little bar of soap on the windowsill is from The Future Kept. 

On the walls, I've hung some of my vintage plates that used to be in the hallway, a new mirror I bought from Rockett St George and in the reflection of the mirror you can see a framed print which was given to us by a friend. 

And that was basically it! A lick of paint, and a few decorative touches and it feels like a totally new room! It might be small, but your bathroom should never be neglected! :) 

A special thank you to Dulux for supplying the paint for this makeover. 

xxx

Considering carpet

I've always loved the wooden floors in our house, but it's funny, since having Ruby and knowing that she will soon be crawling and/or walking around in the not too distant future, I've started considering the idea of carpet more and more. I realise I'm not the first person to have a baby and have wooden floors, but ours are mostly original and some are pretty rickety - I often catch a sock on a nail that's started to protrude, or found a crumbling corner of board and had to discard it. 

Carpet has had a rough ride of late, I guess it had fallen out of fashion for a while, but I do feel it might be due a bit of a comeback. While wooden floors do look great, you just won't get the comfort, insulation and cosyness that a lovely soft pile carpet can offer. I've been having a look around to get some carpet based inspiration, and lo and behold, Carpetright have recently released some images that show that carpet can look really quite lovely. 

What these images say to me is that you have to be really quite thoughtful about what colour and style of carpet will work with your decor, and whether you want it to be a feature or if you prefer it to be inconspicuous. But also that it can look modern, fresh and cool, as well as being practical.

I will definitely be thinking about carpet as an option when we move house later this year, and are making our new home a bit more child friendly. What do you all think? Do you have carpet and love it? Would you never entertain the idea, or are these images making you reconsider the possibility?

This post was in collaboration with Carpetright.  

Stationery love: Happy Paper Club

Honestly, is there anyone that doesn't love stationery?! A fresh new notebook, a beautifully designed greetings card or cute sticky notes; everyone enjoys a little desk candy. I don't think the internet will ever destroy our love of paper goods, in fact I think it is fuelling it! Pinterest is rife with pretty paper finds, and now stationery subscriptions are becoming super popular. I wrote about this greetings card one recently, and last week I received a lovely box from The Green Gables new venture - Happy Paper Club. Here's a little peek inside the box: 

You can sign up for a 6 month subscription or a rolling monthly one, and each month a box will be delivered to your door, filled with The Green Gables stationery plus one item created by another independent designer exclusively for Happy Paper Club. You will also get a little extra surprise in your birthday month box! Or you can purchase a taster box which is a one off box, just to see what it's all about. 

You could either keep all the goodies for yourself or gift some to other stationery lovers. This is the contents from the March box, which actually sold out within 90 minutes, so if you are keen to sign up for the April one, you best put the 1st of April in your diary as this is when they go on sale. Find out more over on The Green Gables website. It certainly was a happy post day for me! x

DIY: Mini Easter gift boxes

Where is this year going?! Easter is just around the corner already! I've designed these little mini gift boxes perfect for mini eggs or other little treats for the kids. Or they are even nice for adults if you are having an Easter lunch party. I'm just enjoying having them dotted around the house filled with eggs! 

The tutorial for these also includes downloadable templates so they are super easy to make! Full instructions are over on the AO Life blog. 

Ruby's first pancake day

When you have a child, even the most minor of events seem so much more exciting don't they? Especially when it's their first experience of it! So last week when Debenhams asked me if I'd like to share a post on making pancakes with Ruby I thought it seemed like one of those traditions that you have to pass down to your kids - eating only pancakes for dinner one day a year! Even though at Ruby's age (she was 7 months yesterday!) she doesn't really understand what's going on, it's still fun for us to see how she reacts and interacts with new things.

It all started off quite civilised as she watched from her Bumbo, but soon she wanted to get involved! She's at the stage where her little hands grab for everything, so a few times we nearly ended up with flour everywhere!

Before we started making the mixture, she *somehow* ended up in my huge Tala bowl! Much hilarity! She's such a little wriggler that it was really hard to get any photos of her that aren't blurry! She was loving banging the utensils off the worktop and trying to fit an entire lemon in her mouth! 

By the time we got to actually making the pancakes, she was a tad restless so retired to her bouncer chair, but she did seem to enjoy eating the pancakes at the end! Obviously she won't remember her first pancake day, but it definitely made a small tradition like this much more fun for us! And hey, she can always look back on mum's blog in years to come to reminisce! :) 

Thanks to Debenhams for supplying some of the items for our pancake day fun! Tala Mixing Bowl, pink whisk and spatula, Greenpan frying pan and Royal Doulton dinner plates . And for Ruby's super cute outfit! Vest, striped cardi, skinny jeans, hairband and socks.

DIY: 5 quick handmade Valentines cards

If you fancy making your significant other a handmade Valentines card this year, but don't have much time, don't despair! I have five super simple and quick ideas to choose from! Here they are, you will find the instructions for making them over on the AO Life blog...

Happy Valentines Day all! xxx

DIY: pom pom trim seat pads

You might remember a little while ago I shared my dining chairs makeover? After painting the chairs in two Farrow and Ball colours, I decided to make seat pads to tie the look together. I chose two fabrics from M is for Make, and was able to alter the shape and size of the seat pads to match the individual chairs. My tutorial for making these is up on the AO Life blog, so if you fancy a go, pop over there for the full instructions! 

DIY: copper votives

I forgot to share this post I did for AO Life just before Christmas! But as you can use these copper votives any time of the year, I thought I'd pop the link to the post on here anyway! It's super simple, and involves spray paint which is always fun! Find the full tutorial here Oh and be sure to check out the rest of AO's blog, it has just been relaunched and has lots of great content including 12 steps to a winter home refresh and this amazing pavlova recipe.

Current Obsession: Audrey Jeanne

The eagled-eyed amongst you might remember me mentioning a Audrey Jeanne print which I have in Ruby's room, from when I posted about the nursery makeover? Well, since then I've become a tad obsessed with her lovely work! I bought the 'My Daily Melody' print via Tea and Kate, but a few weeks ago, I ended up ordering some more prints and some cute gift tags direct from Audrey Jeanne's online shop. 

They are hung in the hall just outside Ruby's room, teamed with a new Seventy Tree print which is currently reduced in the sale. (in pic below, far right)

Here is the other print which is in Ruby's room, although I recently relocated it to a different wall, as felt it was hidden too much where I'd originally hung it. 

You may have spotted a bit of a theme running through her work! if you are not a cat fan, it might not be for you! Although she does have *some* non-cat related items! I also ordered these sweet little heart gift tags, and was happy to receive some free postcards with my order too...

Audrey's style is influenced by Scandinavia and Asia, and mostly definitely inspired by her cat, a siamese called Mikado. I've just discovered her Instagram feed too which is lovely! Here are some more examples of her work... what do you think? 

Check out all of Audrey's work on her website. 

My exciting news for 2015!

This time last year I revealed the news that I was expecting my first baby, and this January I have some more exciting news! No, not another baby just yet! This time it is a professional announcement rather than personal. 

Back when I started blogging in 2008, interior inspiration came mainly from magazines and books. Blogs weren't really a 'thing' just yet, and Pinterest probably wasn't even a seed of an idea. So for me, I loved to leaf through beautiful interiors books, and I remember that some of the first that I bought were Selina Lake's Bazaar Style and Emily Chalmers Flea Market Style. I think these both greatly influenced the direction I wanted to go with my blog. Today, I have quite the collection of books, both interiors and crafts, and despite the abundance of content there is online these days, I still enjoy going back to my books for ideas or to simply sit down with a cuppa and enjoy flicking through the beautiful pages. 

So it's with pure excitement that I am announcing the news that I am currently working on my very own interiors book to publish in Autumn 2015! I'm working with Jacqui Small Publishing, who have published books such as Holly Becker's Decorate series, Will Taylor's Bright Bazaar, Happy Home by Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau as well as craft titles like The Hand Stitched Home by Caroline Zoob and Giftwrapped by Jane Means. 

I can't reveal what the theme of the book will be just yet, we are busy shooting at the moment, and things are coming together really well, so you will just have to stay tuned to find out more! 

It's a very exciting time, and I can't wait to see my book gracing the shelves of my bookcase along with all these other great authors! Fingers crossed you will also want to add it to your collection too! 

Year in pictures - 2014

It's my favourite post of the year! I love putting together a little review of the last year and reflecting on what the last 12 months have brought! This year has definitely been the most exciting of my life ever! Nothing changes your life like becoming a mother.

Baby moccasins by Monkey and Mole

I was 3 months pregnant in January, so life was pretty much carrying on as usual, and we started work on renovating our kitchen. It's tough not having a kitchen for a few months! But it was nice to see it slowly come together. I liked how despite half our house being a building site, you occassionally discovered glimpses of the buildings past, like these layers of old wallpaper....

By March, I was really feeling the need to get away from the mess in the house, so we took a little day trip to Winchester, which was lovely! A much needed break from the dust and mess at home. We visited The Hambledon, had lunch at the Pitfield pop up and browsed the lovely vintage shops...

Clearly we realised the benefits of getting out and about and away from the house, as we also had a day out in London, browsing the Classic Car Boot Sale on the Southbank, before redeeming a voucher we received as a wedding gift for afternoon tea at the Ritz! A lovely day out, although I remember feeling frustrated that I couldn't stuff myself with sandwiches and cake as I was starting to get quite a big baby bump and was really uncomfortable and got full really quickly! I'll definitely have to go back one day to take advantage of the unlimited cucumber sandwiches! :) 

By the end of March the kitchen was starting to take shape and we also started preparing the nursery. Such an exciting time! It's quite embarrassing, but the day that Smeg fridge was unpacked made me so happy! ha! And we had the Smeg hob and oven installed so we could finally cook in the new kitchen.

As the sunny days of Spring arrived, I enjoyed getting out in the garden to create craft blog posts for AO at Home who I contribute to. It's my favourite time of year when you can start sorting out the garden and eating lunch in the sun. 

In May, I attended Blogtacular. It was the first year of this fantastic blogging conference and it was a great success. I was speaking as part of the Secrets of the Editors panel which was a huge honour being alongside editors from publications such as Mollie Makes, The Guardian and Ideal Home. It was a tiring day as I was 7 months pregnant by this point, and there was so much going on, but I'm so glad I went, there was a wonderful atmosphere and so much to learn.

By the end of the month I was really starting to feel tired, huge and uncomfortable, so started spending more time trying to relax, working on my patchwork quilt and putting the finishing touches to the nursery...

We had our first wedding anniversary at the end of June. I was literally 12 days away from my due date, so we had a few friends over, reminisced about our amazing day in France last year, and everyone put bets on about when baby Rowland might make her appearance! Oh and hubby treated me to some beautiful flowers...

We then began the wait and endured numerous false alarms that come with the last week before your due date!

I knew things were starting to happen on Sunday 13th July. It's funny, everyone told me you just 'know' when it's the real thing, even though it isn't the intense, mad rush to the hospital that TV and films make it out to be! The early contractions were mild, so we busied ourselves with a trip to the supermarket and then we made a cake! We knew we were having a girl and had chosen the name already so we made Ruby her first birthday cake! Our theory was that once she was born we'd have lots of visitors to entertain, so a cake would come in handy!

On Monday 14th July at 9:57pm she arrived. The majority of my labour was managed using hyponbirthing and a tens machine, with a gas and air near the end. I'd highly recommended practising hynobirthing, it's really not as hippy as it sounds, and it definitely made the experience so much easier. The midwifes kept saying they couldn't believe how calm I was! Things didn't quite follow my birthing plan when it came to Ruby's exit, and I ended up in surgery, but hey, these things happen, and the main thing was she was healthy and absolutely beautiful!

The rest of July and August was a whirlwind of sleepless nights, visitors, learning how to be a mum and getting to know this little person. The summer really did pass me by this year! Ruby has definitely been my biggest achievement in my personal life, but the end of August seen the biggest in my professional life. My dream of seeing 91 Magazine in print was realised through a collaboration project with Mollie Makes magazine, where we produced a bookazine which I edited for Mollie Makes, and inside was a special 32 page edition of 91 Magazine! 

I'm now selling individual copies of the 91 Magazine special, I have limited stock, so pop over to the website if you'd like one! I don't know if or when I might be able to do another print version! www.91magazine.co.uk/shop

It's quite the shock to the system how much time caring for a baby actually takes! Not that I was completely naive to it beforehand, but it is still a surprise! But once the first few months were out of the way, I started to get in the flow of things and was able to do some 'normal' things again. I FINALLY finished my patchwork quilt (I started it in early 2013!) and I was able to add some finishing touches to our kitchen... (although it's still not completely finished!)

It's crazy how quickly babies grow up. By the end of the year Ruby will be 5 and a half months! This first image below is her at about 2.5 months, the second shot she was 4 months and the last one is from just a few days ago at 5 months.

And now here we are getting ready for our first Christmas as parents! I'm looking forward to a quiet one at home, I may well stay in my PJs all day. It's been a roller coaster of a year, but one I will never forget that's for sure! 

I have a few exciting things coming up in 2015 which I will hopefully share soon, but for now, have a wonderful Christmas and thank you for stopping by and supporting me, Patchwork Harmony and 91 Magazine! 

Lots of Love, Caroline x

Christmas cards - buy independent

There's lots of promotion to buy independent when it comes to gifts at Christmas, but how often do you buy Christmas cards by independent designers and makers? It's easy to buy in bulk as, of course this is the economical way to go, but a campaign launched by designer Sarah Hamilton is attempting to change our thinking on this. It can be these small sales that can keep a indy business alive not to mention how special your friends and family will feel by receiving a card that is a little bit extra special. Sarah's campaign Just a Card aims for everyone to buy 'just a card' from an indy designer, even just one purchase could make a difference to those designers who are struggling to make a living in a massively competitive market. Help spread the word with the hashtag #justacard

Here are a few of my favourite indy Christmas card designs to get your started! 

£2.70 by Nancy Straughan

€5.00 for 2 by Studio Meez

£2.62 by Freya Art

£14 for 12 by Abigail Warner

£14.95 for 8 by Nancy and Betty

And remember it's not just for Christmas, so try and support indy businesses all year round! One way to do this is by signing up to a stationery subscription. My favourite right now is CardNest, who collaborate with illustrators and designers to create an exclusive range of cards, which you then receive 3 of each month, meaning you've always got a stash of cards ready for that birthday that creeps up on you and you've forgotten to buy a card.

I received a trial pack from them this month, and must say I am really impressed, The packaging is lovely as are all the card designs, and you even get a little bit of info about each designer so you can go and check out more of their work online. 

UK membership is £7.50 per month, which works out at £2.50 per card, which is generally cheaper than buying a single card in the shops these days. AND I have a special offer for Patchwork Harmony readers that will get your 50% off your first month's subscription! Just use the code PATCHWORK50 which is valid until 31st Dec 2014. Well worth trying it out for just £3.75 for your first month! 

Go check out their range of cards, they are very lovely indeed! www.cardnest.com

DIY: Paper gift bag

Wow, Christmas really is fast approaching isn't it?! If you are thinking of going handmade for your gifts this year, well why not package them in a handmade gift bag too?! Those bags are so expensive to buy and all you need to make them in some card and pretty wrapping paper! 

I've shared the tutorial and a template to make these over on the AO at Home blog, so pop on over to give it a go yourself! 

Dining chairs makeover - before and after

Regular readers will know that this year we had our kitchen renovated. During the building and decorating work, some things somehow managed to get ruined, even if they were packed away, and my mismatched dining chairs all ended up looking grubby, paint splattered and generally a bit tatty. 

I'd been meaning to repaint them anyway for ages, so when Farrow and Ball offered me some of their paints for a makeover project, it was just what I needed to get on with it. I ordered two colours - Nancy's Blushes and Pale Powder. I decided that while my chairs are different styles (I have two pairs and two random ones), I wanted to bring some uniformity to them and thought these two colours would look great together. 

They all needed a good sanding, and I must admit I had a little help from my dad when it came to this project, sanding, priming and painting 6 chairs is not something you have a lot of time for when you have a small baby!! The chairs were primed using Farrow and Ball's Interior wood primer in white and light tones, followed by two coats of the colour.  

And here they are! I'm really pleased with the colours and the finish on the chairs, it's really brought them back to life! You must ignore the state of our floor - that is another thing on the to do list, to paint at some point!

As you'll notice I also make some new cushion pads for the chairs. This gorgeous fabric is from M is for Make. I'll be sharing the tutorial for making the cushion pads over on AO at Home in the new year so look out for that.

I'm so pleased with how the chairs now look. Thank you Farrow and Ball for the gorgeous paint, and giving me that little push I needed to get this job done! 

Check out all of the gorgeous Farrow and Ball  paint colours.

Issue 11 of 91 Magazine is now online!

Thursday seen the brand new issue of 91 Magazine go live online. It is the last issue for 2014 and is full of lovely features that I hope will inspire you not only for the festive period but for the new year ahead.

The cover image comes from our Winter Pastels feature which demonstrates some gorgeous style ideas for creating an alternative colour theme for the festive season. The lovely thing is you can carry this look through into the new year...

Photography Jemma Watts, Styling Laura Sawyer for 91 Magazine

In our Style Notes feature we chat to three industry experts about trends for the coming year. Stylist Emily Chalmers talks about the Modern Vintage Home, journalist Charlotte Abrahams gives her tips for the Design Led Home and TV host Kirstie Allsopp shares her favourite crafts for the Handmade Home.

Image: Urban Outfitters

Three gorgeous abodes grace our pages this issue. Katy Orme, blogger at Apartment Apothecary, Stacy Sirk, a visual merchandiser and Melanie Barnes, blogger and maker of Geoffrey and Grace all open their doors to let us peek inside their vintage homes. All very different in style, but each equally as inspiring.

Photo: Katharine Peachey for 91 Magazine

Photo: Holly Jolliffe

Photos: Leigh Metcalf for 91 Magazine

If you fancy getting crafty for Christmas, we share how to make this beautiful patched cushion and we have some free printables to create your own calligraphy gift tags and cards...

Photo: Chris Middleton

Photography: Siobhan Watts, Styling: Catherine Sprunt for 91 Magazine

There is lots more besides,, but you'll have to download a copy to see more of these features and what else is in store! So go grab yourself a cuppa and have a flick through! 

View a preview or download the full issue. 

And don't forget you can now purchase the special edition print issue of 91 Magazine which published with Mollie Makes Home in August. Get your copy here for just £2.95 (inc. UK p&p) 

Enjoy! 

Buy 91 Magazine in print

You may remember the recent collaboration I did with Mollie Makes magazine where we had a mini edition of 91 Magazine included in the most recent Mollie Makes Home bookazine?  

Well I'm excited to share that you can now buy the special issue of 91 that we produced on its own for £2.95. This includes UK postage and packaging, there is an extra p&p charge if you are outside of the UK. 

It was the realisation of a dream for me to see 91 in print, so I really hope you might be excited to see it too and order your very own copy! 

You can order on the website here! http://91magazine.co.uk/shop/

If there are any shop owners out there who would be interested in stocking a few issues, please just drop me a line - info@91magazine.co.uk 

DIY: Yarn wall hanging

If you are thinking of changing up your wall decor for the winter months then you probably won't have failed to notice that wall hangings are having a bit of a moment, especially woven ones. But if weaving your own one seems like a little bit too much of a commitment then try this simple one I created for the AO at Home blog. It is super simple and fun to make...

Full tutorial here.