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Designer’s Diary – April | I Want That House Design Blog

As predicted, April has been extra busy.  I have been working on some lovely new projects, one in particular has proved particularly demanding.  The main reception room is a whopping 12X6m, and has to seat 26 people. You would think that designing for large spaces would be easier than for smaller ones, however, the biggest challenge is to create several intimate conversation areas that together form a coherent whole, without making the room look like a hotel lobby or worse still, a furniture showroom,   (…first world problems!).

  I have discovered so many gorgeous pieces for this project, it has proved difficult to narrow down options for my clients.  I will just have to present two schemes so I can include all these gems.

  Scheme One,  top row; Flounced Arpege Sofa – Uber Interiors, Zero Console – Decorus, Crystal Chandelier – Emily Todhunter.   Scheme Two, bottom row;  Convex Wall Light – Porta

  Romana, LF Table – Pouenat from Gotham Nottinghill, and Hampton Ottoman – Ben Whistler.

    Fellow interior designers Carden Cuniettti in association with The Kids Company charity have devised The Spring Clean, where designers, manufacturers,  and suppliers of all things interior donate unused goods taking up space in stock rooms around the country.  It’s a fantastic opportunity to buy designer pieces at a great prices, with all proceeds going to support children in need.  Check out www.thespringclean.co.uk, and head to Londonewcastle Project Space, London E2, May 30th to June 1st.

  Motivated by The Spring Clean,  I figured it was about time to sort out our fabric library.  My colleague pulled the short straw and had the mind numbing task of wading through hundreds of books and mountains of cuttings to get rid of old product whilst I had the rather more exciting job  of meeting fabric reps to select lots of lovely new books featuring the best of the Spring/Summer collections.  Top row; Pierre Frey, Andrew Martin and Ardecora (Zimmer & Rohde). Bottom row; Lizzo, Metaphores (Abbott & Boyd) and Jim Thompson (Fox Linton).

    I am often asked to source artwork for my clients, so I headed off to The Other Art Fair on Marylebone Road towards the end of the month. The event was a comprehensive work-out for the eyes, showcasing a host of incredibly gifted artists creating works in such a diverse array of styles and media (even taxidermy!), and at affordable prices. Perfect for the aspiring collector to invest in new talent. Top row, Qing Qi, Emily Beza, Damiola Odusote, Bottom Row, Caroline Hall, Davitti and Thomas Dowdeswell.

    My interior of the month is this ridiculously chic New York apartment by Thad Hayes.  It’s not new,  but this place has a timeless elegance about it that will not date any time soon.  Clean minimal lines are softened with curves and warm gold and timber finishes, I would love to live here.

    I have been researching glamorous interiors this month and these rooms are positively steeped in luxury.  Gold, mirrors, lofty ceilings, curvaceous furniture.  I particularly like the combination of traditional mouldings and architectural elements with contemporary furniture and a modern palette.

  Designers are:- top left; Klavs Rosenfalk,  top right; Blair Harris, bottom left; Louis Henri and bottom right; Champeau & Wilde

    You will have to be a dedicated design junkie to get through this months list of events.   I shall be going to Handmade, Chelsea Flower Show, May Design Series, and of course The Spring Clean, and will bring you news in next month’s diary.   Meantime, try to get to at least one of these:-

  03-03 May – Grand Designs Live at London ExCel

  09-11 May – Handmade in Britain in Chelsea Old Town Hall

  11th May – Midcentury Modern in Goldfinger’s Haggerson School

  18-20 May – May Design Series at London ExCel

  20-22 May – Clerkenwell Design Week in Various venues

  20-24 May - Chelsea Flower Show at Royal Hospital, Chelsea

  30/05-01/06 – The Spring Clean – Londonnewcastle Project Space

    Sue - FiSHER iD

View full post on IWTH Design Blog | Designer’s Diary – April Tags: Andrew Martin, Ardecora, Arpege, Carden Cuniettti, Decorus, Emily Todhunter, Gotham Nottinghill, Hampton Ottoman, Lizzo, Londonewcastle, Metaphores, Pierre Frey, Porta Romana, Thad Hayes, Uber Interiors

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Designer's Diary - March | I Want That House Design Blog

  Welcome to FiSHER iD’s first monthly review column, showcasing the best interior design finds and stories from the last few weeks.

  I have been designing luxury residential interiors in and around London for 25 years, I sleep, eat and breathe design, and when I am not working on a project, I am pouring over design blogs, going to design shows or taking photographs of design.  I really need to get out more, but in the meantime, I am delighted to have this opportunity to share my recent discoveries with you.

  March is always busy in the interiors world, I spent a great day at Chelsea Harbour for Design Week earlier this month.  This is where most of the fabric and wallpaper houses unveil their new Spring Collections,   and I was not disappointed.  It was a verifiable feast for the eyes!  The big pattern trends were arty/painterly, geometrics and oversized flora.  Colour-wise, in amongst a sea of chic neutrals, yellow was the big story after over a decade in the shade, and bright candy colours were everywhere.  See some of my favourites below.  Clockwise from top left Zimmer & Rohde,  Cole & Son, Kravet,  Zoffany, Le Lievre, and Romo.

    Last week was BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair, again in Chelsea. So many treasures under one roof!  My favourites were the artful mix of traditional furniture and contemporary art at Godson Coles, Fornasetti cabinets (yours for £119,000) at Holly Johnson, beautiful chinoiserie cabinets and screens at Partridge Art and Mackinnon Fine Furniture and retro ceramics at Kinghams Art Pottery.

    I am a recent Twitter convert and am excited to discover and connect with so many new and exciting makers, artists, and artisans via this medium.  I am very much looking forward to collaborating with this month’s selection of talented individuals and creative companies very soon.Exquisite surface finishes (for furniture, panels, doors etc) by Stuart Fox Ltd and Watergilders, delicious rugs from Nodus and Front,  and extraordinary furniture by Alex Price and John Houshmand.

    My outstanding house of the month has to be the stunningly detailed and pared down interiors of Soldati House by architect Victor Vasilev.  An oasis of peace and beauty in a hectic world.

    By contrast,  my favourite rooms this month are less minimal. I can’t get enough of the new mid tone hues, muted but so much more exciting than pastels.

    I won’t be going to any shows or exhibitions this month what with Easter, school holidays and 3 lovely new projects to immerse myself in, but you may be interested in some of these events coming up in April;

  11th to 12th of April – The Property Investor & Homebuyer Show at Excel

  28th to 1st May – Hotelympia also at Excel

  Now until 6th April – Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined at The Royal Academy

  Now until 13th April - William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain at the V&A

  I shall be back next month with April news, meantime, please peruse my work on line and take a look at my inspiration filled social networking pages which you can get to from my iwantthathouse profile page.

  Sue - FiSHER iD

View full post on IWTH Design Blog | Designer's Diary - March Tags: Antiques, Cole & Son, Fine Art, Fornasetti, house, Houshmand, Interior Design, Kravet, Le Lievre, Nodus, Soldati, Victor Vasilev, Watergilders, Zimmer & Rohde, Zoffany

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Upcycling | I Want That House Design Blog

  Are you sick and tired of seeing the same thing in every single shop and never finding that something individual, kitsch, niche, unordinary or eye catching? Then maybe it’s time you took things into your own hands and unleashed the creative side you said you never had by setting your Zen in alignment with all that is brilliantly wonderful in the world of upcycling!!

    What is upcycling?

  It is the art of using discarded materials and turning them into useful ornaments and furniture. Old rubber tyres can be painted and cut into garden furniture, an old map becomes the shade for a time-worn lamp and glass Coca-Cola bottles can be transformed into a beautiful, modern chandelier.

    In this post I want to inspire the essentially simple but effective elements of upcycling tat into tasteful, botched into bling, rubbish into remarkable!

  Exclusively for iwantthathouse.co.uk, the UK’s newest property site tailored specifically for house lovers, I will be bringing a weekly perspective on the wonderful and weird ways to give your home that stamp of distinctiveness without using the usual consumer shop copy and paste ornamental ordinariness. This first post is to give you an insight on small but significant changes you can make around your home that will be sure to keep friends and family chatting about how much of a creative genius you are.

  Now time for the inspiration, how many times have you been to a car boot sale, second hand shop or your grandparents house and spotted a table you like but it wasn’t modern enough or you didn’t like its colour? Or maybe you need a table, but only have a few spare old, distressed doors lying around. With a bit of elbow grease and a lick of paint the ugly can become the unbelievable talking point in your home or garden…

      Even just thinking differently about products that are already available can be a neat way of adding some distinctiveness to home your, take a look at this set of coat pegs attached to a piece of old mantel piece fire surround re-purposed into a focal piece towel hanger in a bathroom…

      People are always saying they need to buy a bigger house because they don’t have a enough room for all their very important, fine-looking worldly possessions, with a measuring tape and a trip to B&Q you can turn unused space into a quirky shelving stack, again certain to turn heads of people who come over to visit…

      And last but by no means least my personal favourite which enraptures all that is great about upcycling and re-purposing materials is….. the multifunctional pallet… especially the pallet cinema room, it’s  just awesome for watching a film with the family and at a fraction of the cost of the ones you see in Grand Designs.

          So get your creativity flowing, get into the garden now the summer is approaching, set up your workstation and get the rest of the family involved – and create something out of nothing, a piece of furniture or art out of the potential scrapheap pile and create something truly unique and jaw dropping for your own home.

  We would love to see any of your own upcycling projects, so please feel free to email any photos to [email protected] or tweet them @iwantthathouse and we will showcase them right here for the rest of our site viewers to enjoy!

  Oliver LG

View full post on IWTH Design Blog | Upcycling Tags: Cinema, Furniture, Lamp, Map, Pallets, Re-purposed, Shelves, Tables, Upcycling

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Stay or Sell? | I Want That House Design Blog

You could be forgiven for feeling confused by the property market headlines; “House Price Bubble!” one headline screamed recently, completely contradicting another which cautioned “House Prices Still Falling”! In amongst so much controversy, how can we homeowners make an informed decision to stay, or to sell?

    People decide to sell their homes for many reasons, both compulsory and discretionary.  Compulsory sales usually involve what estate agents like to call the ‘Three Ds” – death, debt and divorce. Often, selling the property in one of these situations is necessary, and something to get out of the way.  However, there are other, less negative reasons for selling a house: perhaps a new baby means that the current home is a bit of a squeeze, and you’d like a larger property. Or maybe you’ve reached that time in your life where your home actually feels too big: perhaps your children have left home, and you have ‘empty nest syndrome’, ready to move into something more manageable, and put away a lump sum for your next life chapter.

    House programmes like Sarah Beeny’s “Double Your House for Half the Money” highlight what is a growing trend in some parts of the country – the choice to stay and extend, instead of moving home to gain more space.  It’s certainly true that moving home can be incredibly expensive, and it’s definitely worth looking at all the options.  For example, if you are in a home that feels too small, could you perhaps extend into the garden, or convert the loft? When I recently moved into a little cottage with no space to work from home, I found a company to build a garden office for me at less than £10,000.  The corresponding extra room I would have needed would have cost around £25,000 as an extension to the house, so it was incredibly cost-effective for me to build in a corner of my garden instead, and lovely to work from!

    Conversely, if you’re rattling round in a house that’s just too big for you, could it be divided perhaps? A client of mine in Selsey on the south coast once did this: she had tried to sell her beautiful Georgian rectory for several years without success, and was actually really attached to it.  She knew it wasn’t very practical to live in a great big 6 bedroomed home once her grown-up sons had left, but she and her husband had lived there for many years, and didn’t really want to move. The answer was right in front of them: we engaged an imaginative architect who somehow managed to come up with plans to split the house into two in total sympathy to the original design.  The planners were happy, the work went ahead, and within twelve months, my client was happily ensconced in one side of her home, with a mortgage paid off and money in the bank.

    Staying or selling is never an easy or clear-cut decision, and it’s always worth talking through your options with a professional.  Whether it be an accountant, architect or estate agent, by discussing the situation from all sides, you will be able to make a much more informed decision that could prove to be a very worthwhile investment in the long term.  Oh, and ignore those headlines!

    Sam Ashdown runs the UK’s largest website dedicated purely to property sellers.

She has been featured in the Sunday Times, Bricks and Mortar, The Telegraph, House Beautiful and has also appeared on Homes Under the Hammer and on BBC local radio.

For more house selling advice, check out Sam’s Selling Secrets at www.home-truths.co.uk/selling-secrets or her blog at www.home-truths.co.uk/blog

View full post on IWTH Design Blog | Stay or Sell? Tags: Double, Estate Agents, Home, Home-Truths, house, House Price Bubble, Sell, Value

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Welcome to the iwantthathouse design blog! | I Want That House Design Blog

Hello and welcome to the newest addition to our website, our design blog!!

Here you will find the latest home fashion, design and architectural ideas to help you achieve that house you’ve always wanted.

We welcome any and all comments on our posts, give us your honest opinions on any of our features and feel free to email us if there is anything you would like to see in the next post.

And finally, we would love to feature your property! Whether it’s a re-decoration of a single room, full house or even before and after collection of any project and any house.

View full post on IWTH Design Blog | Welcome to the iwantthathouse design blog! Tags: architectural, Blog, decoration, design, fashion, feature, iwantthathouse, project, property

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iwantthathouse.co.uk is about to go live - search thousands of properties for sale or to rent in your local area! #iwantthathouse.co.uk

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iwantthathouse.co.uk is about to go live - search thousands of properties for sale or to rent in your local area! #iwantthathouse.co.uk

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iwantthathouse.co.uk is about to go live - search thousands of properties for sale or to rent in your local area! #iwantthathouse.co.uk