An Artful life

So last night I had the pleasure of attending the preview night of The eclectic furniture and homeware website An Artful life's pop up shop, hosted by Jaguar shoes collective at The Old Shoreditch Station.

If you've been reading Nostalgiecat for a while you will be familiar with An Artful Life, as they are my stockists of my Concrete home accessories, and I've waxed lyrical about the impeccable tastes of founder Kate Withfield before, as her collections always strike a chord with me!

As both Jaguar shoes Collective and An Artful life is all about supporting new and upcoming design talent/artists, I feel that this collaboration is a match made in heaven:

"JaguarShoes Collective is an arts organisation that creates beautiful and unique exhibitions, events, publications and world renowned venues. It constitutes a group of creatively motivated businesses and individuals working in art, film, fashion, music, publishing and design. They provide many platforms for creative talent; from exhibitions and events, to collaborative products and retail opportunities. Believing in, and aiming to motivate positive change through creative output."*

"An Artful Life studio & shop aims to make and sell beautiful, imaginative and on-trend pieces to help people create their own stylish environments. The product range is constantly changing and evolving: many pieces are new and chosen for their cutting edge and contemporary style; others are one-off vintage finds, some hand-crafted by Kate or her contemporaries. An Artful Life finds often unknown artists and designers and helps get their work in front of everyday customers, in this way offering something totally unique to customers and at the same time helping fresh new talent to grow."*

Tying in with both London Craft week and Clerkenwell Design week, the timing of this showcase is also impeccable: running from 4th May until 14th June.

I had a great time at the preview, and enjoyed meeting fellow concrete artist Daniela Ruby  to Angela Morris-Winmill ....and of course seeing the eclectic body of furniture, lighting, art prints and originals, cushions, ceramics and gifts , hand-picked by Kate for her new collection:

Handmade macrame planters, upcycled hand painted retro furniture, from An Artful Life Studio, sits in perfect harmony with knitted woollen cushions from finish company 1X2 and hand picked home accessories from established interior lines, such as House doctor...All beautifully supplemented by original artwork and modern prints from smaller graphic artists,Daniela Rubino's concrete and metal shelves, as well as my own line of concrete accessories.

 The collection is now on display at the Old Shoreditch Station in collaboration with East London arts organisation JaguarShoes Collective.  The pieces will be there to view for 6 weeks but there is just one opportunity to come and shop -
this Sunday 10th May 12-3pm

The Old Shoreditch Station cafe / bar, 1 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DA.  
(On the corner of Shoreditch High Street & Hackney Road.  Nearest tubes are Liverpool Street, Old Street & Hoxton)

But if you can't make it there, don't fret:

Kate's online shop is just bursting with eclecticism and original and unusual home decor....and I am pleased to tell you: All at affordable prices!!

Kate has certainly got an eye for not only aesthetically pleasing , modern design, but also for quality craftsmanship...something that shines through her collection!

So if you are after something a bit different for your home, I would highly recommend that you check out An Artful Life...not only will you be supporting the very talented Kate Whitfield in these early days of setting up her new business, but you may also find, and support THE next big thing in design, before they hit the mainstream!!

Here's a few little tasters of what's in stock at the moment:

 From Top Left to right:

 DR DESIGNS metal and concrete shelf / Octagon bronze and light grey print by LANE / Raw gilded concrete bowls by JUNE OLSEN (That's me ;)/ Fat Ceramics coffee cup by Piet Hein Eek / Molecular drop pendant light by House Doctor / Grey neon x-l bath towel / Brass candle holder / Pastel diamond concete candle holder by Korridor Design / Kawa lounge cane chair by House Doctor.



And exclusively for my readers, Kate is now offering a 10% discount on her entire collection on her website with the code NOSTALGIECAT:

Enjoy it guys!

*Extract from the JSC website

OCR week 6 : THE REVEAL

Mia's NEW Room

So six weeks ago, I decided to take part in the One Room Challenge, set by Linda from Calling it home as a linking participant.

I've been doing up my five year old daughter, Mia's room, and you can see the entire process from inspiration to design concept ,through my little and large projects and processes to, finally today, the reveal of the final result, by clicking on the thumbnails in my sidebar---->

I love a challenge, and have really enjoyed this project, as it has been so much fun to do together with Mia, who has been very involved right from the start.

On a very limited budget ,we've had to come up with some creative solutions to get the look that she wanted!

So from sugary pink to fun and modern, we've totally transformed her room.

You can see what the room used to look like HERE.

I must warn you: This is a very picture heavy post, but here it finally is:

Mia's new look Room:

The previously pink and purple walls was repainted in a peachy pink (Crown honey fever) and a pale grey (Crown seldom seen)...

And integral to the look she wanted, Me and Mia made a whole bunch of funny cushions to fill her bed with..

....and filled her wall with art !

I planned to get some new storage for this corner wall:

But I never found anything suitable, so the old shelves went back up again (for now).

But we updated this corner by getting this new star night light from IKEA, that I spraypainted black...

And I also made this cool little moon phase wallhanging, above.

Mia's kept her rabbit light, which I love and was one of the first things I bought for her after she was born! You can find similar here.

Behind the door,We've tucked in a few Ribba picture ledges from IKEA, ideal to keep her books on, now that her reading is coming along so well...and this also freed up her underbed storage for other toys...

And having this entire wall painted in blackboard paint is conducive of creativity:

 

Some details:

I made this Origami lampshade for here ceiling light, see how in my tutorial here.

And of course the Potato printed feature wall, inspired by the half moon wallpaper from Ferm Living makes a real statement, and was integral to our original design concept.

The MIA letters we already had from Mia's baby room, I just gave them a lick of paint to fit in with her new colour scheme. The artwork is a DIY picmonkey job!

And another little detail is the pom pom garland I made...

The curtains are actually made from a cheap bedding set I found in Primark, and is perfect in the colours. I find it very expensive to buy material, so I figured I'd just cut a duvet cover in half and sew it up as curtains, which has worked very well.

We created this little creative corner for Mia, with a DIY fold down, wall mounted desk, painted with blackboard paint at the front for impromptu creativity!

...meaning we could make use of the floorspace underneath for storage.

Notice the bracket on the wall underneath the desk....

...it hinges out from the wall to create some additional support when the desk is folded down.

The stool is an upcycled charity shop find, and doubles up as a bedside table.

This area is now perfect for Mia to sit and do her drawing or homework...

With built in shelves for storing pens and colouring in books....

...even a roll of drawing paper. 

Those cute storage jam jars are from Rose and Grey, and are perfect for storing colouring

pencils and hama beads etc...

I made Mia's desk using plywood, then painted the inside shelves in colours matching our design concept.

You can find the plans on how to make your own on the amazing Ana White website.

I've attached a clip on light from IKEA to the shelf above the desk for some task light..

....the fun House cork board is from H&M

And along the wall to the side of the desk I've hung an IKEA PS wall rail system with hooks, a mirror and a handy cup for storing chalk for Mia's chalk board wall ....or to use for water should she fancy doing some painting.

Mia couldn't wait to try out her new desk....

 and got straight to work creating some hamabeads suncatchers for her window:

Which adds the perfect finishing touch to her new and creative room!

So that's it!

I'm pretty sure this room will be thoroughly enjoyed by Mia....and will probably not stay this tidy for long...LOL, but as with any room in our house, it is now grown-up enough, in a fun way, to evolve with her as she gets older...

And Mia loves that it's all to her own design...with a little nudging help from mum!!

So what do you think of Mia's new room??

Would you go for a potato printed wall in your home?

Do you love that wall mounted fold down desk?

Do make sure you check out what the PRO's did for their One Room challenge....find the links here...and also visit the Calling it home ORC link up to check out more fabulous room makeover by the other linking participants.

Garden living...

...wishlist

I can't believe we're in May already!!

There is no denying that summer and warmer weather is on it's way!

Of course this means garden time!!

Our poor garden was in a state after the winter, but I've had a new lawn laid and am planning on spending the next week weeding and generally sorting it out!

Our old garden furniture has gone in the skip, and this weekend I am shopping for new.... plus some nice plants for our neglected flowerbeds!!

I love the idea of treating any outdoor space you may have as an extension of your home.... and something about summer sun makes me come over a bit bohemian... Our garden is quite small, so this year all I want to do is create a relaxing chill out area...the perfect space to lounge with a good book and a cold drink.

Here's a little inspiration for that relaxing outdoor space:

Image via sea of shoes

Image from Anthropologie

Image via Pinterest

As you can see, I am aiming for a relaxed and simple look....No landscaped garden features , no decking  or heavy DIY jobs in sight!! Just some nice garden furniture, a couple of rugs , loads of cushions and textiles, some garden lanterns and plenty of lush greenery...

I have put together this wishlist, that captures the vibe:

 1: Retro blue and white bistro table, Asda, 2: Outdoor garden light chain, Out there interiors

3: Blue retro dining chairs, Asda 4: Tie dye cushion, French Connection 5: rattan garden chair, Out there Interiors 6: Woven Blanket, H&M 7: Bread basket, H&M 8: Knitted pouffe, Asda 

9: Basket log burner, Asda 10: Block printed rug, French Connection 11: Hand-etched Calabesh bowl, French Connection 12: Patterned seat cushion, H&M 13: Straw hat, H&M 14: Patterned Hammock, Out there interiors 15: house doctor natural basket, Bodie and Fou 16: Garden parasol. out there interiors 17: Jute rug, Asda 18: Iron lantern in Petrol blue, Out there Interiors

I love the thought of mixing rattan and jute with accessories in summer-sky blues...

and that rattan chair from Out there interiors is a real show-stopper....and I am so lucky that they've been kind enough to send me one....

So weather permitting, I can get the garden sorted this week, so I can show you all how my garden chill out area turns out soon!