Is East London Dead?

May 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
18May

 

Even though I’m currently living in Paris a big piece of my heart will always remain in London, particularly East London.  This week I popped to my fav book store, Publicis Drugstore on the Champs Elysees, to collect my regular mountain of British mags and my heart sank a little when I clapped eye’s on Dazed & Confused’s front cover…’Is East London Dead’?  It’s true, there’s no denying it, East London has changed massively since I moved there over 8 years ago and its no secret that it’s lost its grip on its rawness and originality, but it’s still home to a few little gems that I always look forward to eating, drinking and shopping in whenever I’m home…

Amazing food, drinks and atmosphere Bistrotheque has it all and the wood panelling is to die for…

Last year they opened The Gin Den and ever since the launch party I planned to knock myself up a couple of these Bombay Sapphire table lamps…

But then Lee Broom’s gold Decanterlights stole my heart and I knew my DIY skills were never going to compete!  Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and invest in what you fall in love with…

The mesmerising and unmistakable House of Hackney kitted out the The Gin Den to magical results…I don’t think there’s many rooms that wouldn’t benefit from being grazed with one or two of their pieces and I love the way that each collection is named after a different part of East London….


Their Hackney Empire cushions are one part of East London I’ll be taking back to Paris with me…

I don’t think anyone can question the taste of Sir Terence Conran and I for one stole the idea from his East London restaurant The Boundary, of gracing walls with silver trays…

One place I always head to when I’m back in London is Columbia Road, home to the famous flower market on a Sunday and now jam packed with heaps of little stores to discover.  One of my favourites is Nelly Duff, every piece of art I’ve bought from here over the years I love as much today as I did the moment I clapped eyes on it.

I think these girls by Angelique Houtkamp will also have to come back to Paris with me…sometimes when decking out your home you can’t explain why you love something you just have to follow your heart and trust that it will all come together in the end.   My heart is telling me these girls will look right at home in Paris.

So for as long as there’s places like these to visit, East London will still be one of my favourite places to hang out in.  Happy Friday, I’m off the get my haircut…in East London!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

California Dreaming

May 1, 2012 By 1 Comment
1May

 

I’m in the middle of pulling ideas together for my new Paris pad and I know more than anyone how amazing a city I live in…I am a million percent head over heals…but when looking for inspiration on what to do with my place I keep finding myself drawn to California…

This is Krysten Ritter’s place shot by The Selby.  The white walls and shots of pattern sum up the Californian dreaming that’s going on in my head.  It may look a little plain, some may even say dated (how rude!) but it’s effortlessly cool, plus I don’t think you can beat whacking a huge print of a hot girl drenched in Californian sunshine in your place.

Matthew Eikelberger’s LA digs (again shot by The Selby) also captures what I’m thinking about creating…a relaxed vibe which makes the most of the light a room has to offer…

I have forever been a fan of creating homes that don’t take themselves too seriously and weaving a little Californian fun into a very Parisian apartment might be just the ticket…I’m thinking about decking my hallway walls out with surfboards to house my shoe collection on…don’t worry the surf boards will be as chic as they can come…shimmering lacquered wood and there won’t be a flip flop in sight!

All this talk of California has reminded me that I must get some of my shots of LA blown up.  One thing about LA is you don’t need to be a good photographer to pick up a few amazing shots along the way, the light and landscape does the hard work for you…here’s a few I snapped during my last trip…

Okay that’s me done with talk of California…Paris I promise I won’t betray you again for a while, it will be 100% about you.  It’s a bank holiday here in France today so I’m off to hang out in a sleepy French village and eat Crepes.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Places to Love, Uncategorized

Greetings From Paradise

April 20, 2012 By 6 Comments
20Apr

 

From the title you might be under the impression that I’m posting from some far flung exotic beach hideaway, and for many this may well be their idea of paradise, but for me paradise begins and ends with with 5 little letters…P.A.R.I.S…I know for the past couple of months I’ve been a little AWOL on the daily posts but I have one huge excuse and yes it’s all about those 5 little letters again.

You see I moved to the city of love in January to set up a new business and in between finding somewhere to live, working 247 and soaking up the Parisian vibe the days seem to pass with a blink of an eye and before you know it there’s been 4 long weeks between blog posts.  Well let me tell you this is all about to change now I’m finally settled in my own Paris pad and I picked up the keys to my new office yesterday (which happens to come with the most amazing view of the Arc de Triomphe).  I now have the headspace to blog the only way you can…with a zillion percent commitment and with the most amazing city in the world on my doorstep the possibilities for inspiration are endless.

Whilst wondering around my new neighbourhood yesterday I picked up this little number and I’m very tempted to stuff it and use it as a cushion but then I reckon I’d need to buy another one to make it work so maybe I should try and be conventional this once and just hang it off my arm!  Whatever way I decide to wear it the words sum up perfectly how I feel right now about living in Paris…

On Monday…fingers crossed…I’ll be posting from my newly designed blog.  I say fingers crossed as it all depends on if I can stop myself from tweaking the tweaks!

Filed Under: Products to Love, Uncategorized

WHAM BAM…that’s what I call a rug

March 15, 2012 By 4 Comments
15Mar

 

Since moving back into an apartment I’ve been trying to live in a dream bubble by concentrating on the bits I love about it…soaking up the elevated views no inner-city house can match, taking advantage of the gym and always having someone around who can take in a parcel.  However, last night I came crashing back down to earth with a bang when a very angry French lady came knocking.  With her English not being much better than my French I found myself trying to read her erratic eye brow movement to no avail.  Luckily I had a French speaking friend who could translate…the 1950′s building did not get converted into apartment’s very successfully and they look much better than they function. Which basically meant keep the noise down as sound seems to ricochet around the building and unless you’re lucky enough to be on the top floor you can hear every single footstep.  Rather than getting frustrated I took it as a huge excuse to splash out on loads of rugs to cushion any sound…

I knew the kind of rugs I was after in my mind but it’s always nice to have something to refer to for inspiration and then WHAM BAM I came across Anthony Baratta…

Now these are the kinda rugs I’m talking about, ones which add interest to a room and aren’t just there for the comfort of your feet but also for the amazement of your eyes.  Love, love, love them…now I just need to hunt down some of my own…

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Follow my blog with Bloglovin/attitude/" rel="tag">ATTITUDE, Follow my blog with Bloglovin/rugs/" rel="tag">RUGS
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