You all know by now how I’d much rather buy from an independent designer as opposed to the often dull and ‘samey’ High Street when it comes to home accessories.  And I’ve a feeling that most of you out there are the same!  I know it can be hard to find these little companies but every so often you come across one, like SJGuest.  I can’t imagine anything more satisfying or fulfilling than being able to make an sell your own designs, with no limits (well okay practicality and money are both factors but let’s not ruin the moment!…)

Design graduate Sarah Jane Guest creates unique home accessories with pretty, colourful prints. I particularly love the Frog and Clock stool!

Posted by Emily

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I always start with good intentions when re-decorating.  I have an idea in my head of what the finished look will be, collect inspirational images and write a list of home accessories I am searching for etc.  But then I get to the store all of that seems to ‘go out the window’ and I buy on impulse.  Then you get home, realise that the things you’ve bought don’t quite fit with the scheme and you have to return them!  Sound familiar or is it just me?

So what’s the answer?  Well for a start I must control my impulse buys!  But the best thing to do is create a mood board.  I don’t mean a few scraps of images… I mean a proper mood board.  It’s how all designers begin their projects and it keeps the end result in focus.  Spend time on it, take it to the shops with you and think carefully about the colour scheme, fabric and textures.  Here are some ideas, or start creating one online now with Olioboard.

Via Ideal Home

Via Apartment Therapy

Via Decor8

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I’ve just come across the Recreate studio, a fabulously quirky home interiors company based in Cape Town, South Africa.  Owner Katie Thompson collects and reuses pieces of diguarded junk to recreate a unique, recycled range of furniture, lighting and interior accessories, each piece infused with its own previous character but with a new function.  The results are fresh, innovative and inspiring.  And Katie ships worldwide!

” I love creating functional art from discarded non functional junk “

 This set of old, broken weighing scales have been reborn as a clock- I love the colours and pattern

These colourful milk pails make fabulous retro stools!

This old solid wood rack was previously used in a sorting office for mail.

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If you buy one fashion book this winter, make it Louise Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks.  We all know LV is the king of all-things-luggage and has been the lust-after label for many years.  Illustrated with over 600 images taken from the Louis Vuitton archives, this special book gives the reader an insight into the fascinating trunk design history.

Authors Pierre Léonforte and Éric Pujalet-Plaà curate 100 of the finest trunks the Louis Vuitton company has produced on commission, including boxes made for movie stars from Douglas Fairbanks to Sharon Stone and couturiers from Jeanne Lanvin to Karl Lagerfeld, as well as cases designed for Ernest Hemingway and Damien Hirst.

The creations are clever, unique, luxurious and of course so very desirable!

Posted by Emily.

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