Bookmarks: Warehouse Home

A couple of weeks ago, we received a copy of issue #4 of Warehouse Home newspaper through the post. It was such a good read that we thought we’d give it a plug for any of you out there unfamiliar with the publication.

As the name suggests, the magazine is primarily aimed at those home owners residing in converted industrial buildings – old mills, factories, warehouses and the like. Although we live in an old stone cottage we found loads to interest us too.

Launched in October 2014, Warehouse Home is printed twice per year in June and November – and distributed to high-end homes in converted industrial buildings in many of the major cities in England & Scotland. Copies are also available at select hotels and interiors trade shows.

However, the online digital version is free to view/download from their website where ever in the world you are, so go take a browse if it looks like your kind of thing. We’ve embeded the current issue at the end of this post.

We were really impressed by the content – the variety and interesting subject matter in the articles, room staging, quality of photography, products featured and so on. It’s full of inspirational design ideas and spaces.

Also dotted through the magazine are advertisements for a range of companies specialising in what we’ll collectively call ‘vintage industrial style’ and an extensive directory of suppliers. Thanks to reading the magazine, we spent ages browsing the websites of the various shops and craftspeople too. Highly recommended!

Bookmarks: Shades of Grey

Interiors journalist, blogger and now author, Kate Watson-Smyth, has produced our favourite interiors book for ages – Shades of Grey.

We do love a bit of grey! We currently use it as the backdrop for all our web shop photos, but also have plans that involve our house too… once we can arrange some decorating time.

But why is grey now so popular? Many people cite the rise in popularity of Scandi dramas; it’s the colour of their landscapes and their homes. Shades of grey are easier on the eye – and therefore easier to live with – than stark black and white. Grey is very versatile; Watson-Smyth calls it the perfect neutral. It goes with just about everything – black, white, brights, pastels and metallics.

Watson-Smyth advises that once you’re ready to take the grey plunge, there are a few things you should think about when choosing the shade. The orientation of the room; what direction it faces. The time of day the room is most used. Even in which hemisphere you live.

Every page is adorned with inspirational images of grey interiors in every shade – from the palest ash to the darkest midnight. Helpfully, many of the photographs include details of the colour and manufacturer. If you already have a particular brand and shade of grey in mind, the index at the back lists the page of each photo that uses it.

The book is full of essential, easy-to-read advice; helping you avoid the (often expensive) pitfalls that can occur if updating your home’s colour scheme.

It’s also peppered with quotes and advice from interiors experts such as interiors maven, Abigail Ahern and Marianne Shillingford, Creative Director at Dulux, along with lots of grey-related facts & trivia.

After reading the book from cover to cover, I’m pretty sure of the path ahead. I want to go for a vertical graduating effect with the colour deepening as you move up through the floors of the house.

We live in an often gloomy Pennine valley bottom so our east-facing front room which is used during the day will need a warm, light-enhancing shade such as Little Greene’s French Grey.

Our bedroom is on the middle floor; west-facing and often bathed in wonderful, golden evening light. Getting out of bed on a cold winter’s morning however, is a different story. Mole’s Breath is a beautiful, soft mid-grey which waking up enveloped by would be a joy.

We spend much of the evening in our top-floor den, so the very deep dark grey of Farrow & Ball’s Railings on the walls, skirting and ceiling would transform the room into a dramatic – yet cosy, embracing cocoon.

Shades of Grey is available from Amazon and Hive.

[Many thanks to Ryland Peters & Small for this review copy]

Bookmarks: Style Me Vintage – Home

We’ve been looking forward to reviewing Style Me Vintage – Home by Keeley Harris. It’s just our cup of tea!

We first met Keeley a few years ago at the Vintage Home Show at Victoria Baths, a regular vintage event she curates (the next of which is happening this Sunday – 15th March).

As well as the VHS in Manchester, Keeley organises the Festival of Vintage in York, owns the Vintage Emporium – which has concessions across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. She co-runs the Vintage Academy and weekly Twitter chat #VintageBizHour with fellow vintage expert, Kate Beavis. In addition, she regularly writes for and contributes to various vintage magazines and appears on TV. Goodness knows where she found the time or the energy to write this book!

Anyhow, on to the book! If you’re only just putting your toe into the water of vintage homewares and interior decoration, this book is a great starting point.

There’s an initial overview on how to get going, writing checklists and possible sources for items.

The book then breaks down the collecting & styling into eras – the decades from the 1920s through to the 1970s. Each decade is further sub-divided into useful sections.

‘Main Design Influences’ – the external factors that filtered through to home styles – think Art Deco and Hollywood glamour in the 1920s or Pop Art and the space age in the 1960s.

‘Get the Look’ – takes the home, room by room, and advises on key furniture pieces & accessories that will help you achieve the feel and appearance of an era.

‘Details’ – those essential touches such as wall coverings, lighting and artwork.

Peppered throughout are lots of tips on what to look for and home owners’ quotes such as this from Ste & Kat, “We’re big fans of simple design and smooth lines with masses of functionality and think most classics from the Midcentury have both in bucket loads. We like to mix Midcentury with modern and classic design”. Our thoughts exactly!

If you happen to be ‘old hands’ like us, “Style Me Vintage” is equally satisfying. We love having a nose into other people’s homes. All the interiors featured within are ‘real world’ spaces; no unattainable staged sets here!

The are lots of familiar vintage items but it’s always a treat seeing how home-owners put them together and juxtapose with the new.

Towards the end of the book are chapters covering ‘Eclectic’, ‘Industrial’ and ‘Shabby Chic’ styles – popular looks that don’t sit easily into any particular decade.

There’s also a double page spread where Keeley recommends vintage shops, events and specialists that you can visit to help make your dream vintage home a reality… and we’re included – yay!!

We’d highly recommend this as a source of inspiration & information for both newbie and more experienced vintage homeware fans. Get your copy from the publishers or Amazon.

[Many thanks to Pavilion Books for the review copy]

Bookmarks: Bohemian Modern

We’ve been reading Bohemian Modern this week – a new book by Emily Henson, stylist and blogger.

Vintage textiles, studio pottery, industrial touches, lots of house plants – tick, tick, tick, tick – we must be a bit Bohemian Modern ourselves!

There are lots of small collections in evidence – art glass, West German pottery, animal skulls, books and pictures… and some lovely, creative ways of displaying them.

Up-cycling is a strong theme to the look – painted furniture, open weave netting for curtains, old doors turned into glass-fronted cupboards and display cases, industrial crates and piping for shelving.