Author: Anya Parish

Maria Sigma’s Handwoven Designs – The Beauty of Sustainable Craftsmanship

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I have always been interested in hand made individually crafted designs and brands produced locally in the UK. Over the last few months I have become familiar with quite a few really interesting UK brands that I would like to start introducing to you on my blog. London Design Fair was a really good place to meet talented crafts people. This is where I saw Maria’s beautiful textiles. Maria Sigma | Woven Textiles is a London based award-winning textile brand specialising in hand-woven textiles. By using exceptional natural materials Maria creates textiles and furniture pieces for projects large and small, commercial and residential, combining expertise in made-to-measure throws, cushions, rugs, furnishing fabrics and many more. Maria Sigma | Woven Textiles collection celebrates a timeless high aesthetic via ‘zero waste’ design and production ethic, combining a contemporary approach with traditional weaving techniques whilst focusing on raw natural materials and texture. Individually designed, handcrafted and fully customisable. Inspired by her Greek heritage and by the colour palette of the British landscape, in combination with a love for …

Design Classic: Snoopy Table Lamp by Flos

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Today I’ve decided to write about one of my favourite design classics – Snoopy lamp. I absolutely love it’s chunky simple form somehow in contrast with the luxurious material – quite an interesting choice of marble. The lamp was designed in 1967 by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and inspired by the Charles Shultz invention, and popular cartoon character.     Let’s enjoy a few images of the lamp in situ which prove versatility of this iconic design.

Skandium Pop Up Sale

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13 Margaret St, London W1W 8RN Saturday 2nd February, 10.30am-6pm Sunday 3rd February, 10.30am-6pm Join Skandium’s second pop-up sale!  Shop warehouse clearance, ex-display and discontinued lines with up to 70% off! Brands included: Fritz Hansen, Gubi, Iittala, Marimekko, Muuto, Menu, Louis Poulsen, HAY, Carl Hansen & Søn, String, Vitra, Knoll, Montana, Flos & more…

Best Statement Chandeliers on a Budget

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In my opinion great lighting is worth splashing out on – especially a centrepiece chandelier. It’s like shoes or a handbag in an outfit. You can spend more money on a show stopping item of lighting and then save on other pieces. The eye will be drawn to it and the overall look will be finished and expensive. With a chandelier, in my opinion, the bigger the better, ceiling height allowing of course. There is nothing worse than a lamp too small for the room hanging lonely in the middle of the ceiling. Fortunately, there is no shortage of oversized designs that are very much a trend at the moment. Finding one on a limited budget is another thing! If I had unlimited funds I’d probably go for amazing mid century Italian designs like Venini or Stilnovo. But what options are open to us if we can’t afford these classics or expensive contemporary designers? I decided to have a look around and see what can be found on a more modest budget. Unfortunately a large …

Top Finds From The Winter Sales

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I can’t believe how time has flown over Christmas this year. Everything seemed to have been such a rush and now it’s almost mid January. In the past few days I decided to explore if there are any good deals and bargains around as it looks like the sales are already coming to an end and there have been final reductions. So it’s a good time to have one last look and I am bringing you my capsule collection of finds. My main objective was to look for real bargains, massively discounted, but useful and beautiful and not something you would regret buying for the only reason of being cheap. First of all, winter sales are really good for stocking up on next year’s Christmas supplies. You can get decorations at ridiculous prices! I found a bunch of really nice ones at West Elm, reduced to £1 from original prices of up to £19. Some of them don’t even look that Christmassy and I could use them to decorate my daughter’s room all year round, …

Olive & The Fox Warehouse Sale

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For those of you living in East Sussex, or maybe even further afield, you might be interested to know that an online lighting, furniture and giftware shop Olive & The Fox will be holding their annual warehouse sale next Sunday 13th January 10am – 2pm. Up to 90% off ex-display and discontinued Lighting, Furniture & Giftware. First come, first served. Unit 6, Squires Farm Industrial Estate, Palehouse Common, Framfield, East Sussex, TN22 5RB. For an extra 10% off sale prices on the day follow this link to a warehouse sale voucher. Happy shopping!

Decorating For Christmas With Florist Lucy Lister

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This week I have been fortunate to speak to a very talented florist Lucy Lister and get some tips we can all use to make our home Christmas ready with foliage and plants.  Lucy started her floristry business 4 years ago following a little career break having her children. She has always worked in the events industry and was eager not to go back to the long, unsociable hours and stress. “Although not sure getting up at 4am for the flower market is the most social of hours!” she comments. She has always been creative and loved flowers and had worked on a few weddings so training to be a florist seemed an obvious career change for her.  Following her training at the Judith Blacklock Flower School in Knightsbridge Lucy took the plunge and opened a little flower stall in Crystal Palace, South East London. She felt super nervous as she had never done anything like this before but with the help of a super talented florist friend Janine they wowed the locals with their seasonal, …

House Tour: Hertfordshire Home of Interior Designer Alison Anderson

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I am really excited to introduce to you a very talented interior designer Alison Anderson and to show you around her beautifully refurbished Grade II listed Arts & Crafts Hertfordshire home. Alison is a relative new comer to the interior design world, having set up her own practice in the summer of this year, however, she has been immersed in interiors and home products for the past 15 years while running her own interiors PR business.  She is a very creative person and a lot of the skills she has picked up over the years turned out to be completely transferable. She felt interior design was what she was most passionate about, so she decided to take a side step into it.  After finishing her house she was becoming increasingly frustrated that she had to suddenly switch off her design instinct. She has no intention of moving from this house to complete another renovation project, so a career change was the only option. Alison designed this house for the way that they live as a family and …

Design Best Christmas Gift Shop – Luxury Homeware Brands at 70% Off

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A multi-brand Christmas gift shop with a difference opens 13 – 16 December at the Old Truman Brewery. Expect beautiful homeware and accessories from the likes of Hay, Tom Dixon, Anglepoise and many more discounted up to 70%. The products have been hand-selected by Design Best for their gift-ability and include candle holders, cushions, throws, trays, containers, lights and small furniture from some of the best brands in the homeware world. Everything will be discounted from 30% to 70% and will be small enough to carry home or fit in a taxi. 13 – 16 December 11am – 9pm, Sunday until 6pm 8 Dray Walk, Old Truman Brewery, E1 6QL Design Best was founded by Jessica Hatch and Helen Arvanitakis a year ago with an ambition to make design accessible for all. It offers discounted products from some of the best loved British and international furniture, lighting and home accessories brands in a single location for multi-brand flash sales. “I’ve always loved being able to buy fashion labels at discount through sample sales and pop ups. …

5 Best Office Chairs For Home

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For design conscious people a standard office chair no matter how comfortable and ergonomic it is would be perceived as a bit of an eye sore – normally it is not the most beautiful thing. Hence comes the urge to replace it with a dining chair, as it’s so much easier to find something you would love. But what if you want to combine aesthetics with comfort, especially if you work from home and have to spend hours at your desk? In this week’s blog post I decided to explore what other options we have and there are quite a few. Scandinavian brands particularly stand out. To begin with I would like to share a couple of images from an Instagram feed of @yitai_hu  that caught my eye recently. Her home office of  is a perfect example of how to create minimalist and calm work environment without compromising on your personal style.   Aluminium Chair, Charles and Ray Eames, Vitra, From £1,910 A design classic by Charles and Ray Eames, but also at the top of the budget. …