Beautify Your Bookshelves

Gooood morning!!! What a delight to wake up to the sun streaming through the windows and another warm day. Amazing what a bit of sunshine can do. Although we're not being lulled into a false sense of security here....we know this is our summer!

Anyway, the beautiful rays of sun got us thinking about all things beautiful (as always!) and how we can improve our homes by following just a few simple steps. We turned our attention to our bookcases and shelving. It's easy to think that they're just for books...but no, no, no....they're the perfect place to showcase all your favourite little nick nacks and have fun pairing them up with other bits and bobs....

Here's a few of our faves...(idea stealing permitted)...

Carefully placed items and thoughtful colour combinations make for relaxed look...

via Ellenor Design

Bold and bright colour block wall against neutral tones create the wow factor...

via Real Simple

A wallpapered wall behind complementing shelving creates a unified approach..

via Maxwell House of Design

Contemporary and clean. Books are placed horizontally and vertically to add interest...

via That's Smart Deco

Colour coordination to the max! These tones work perfectly together....

via TLC

Organised chaos! We love it!! ...

by studiomama

A vintage edge. Beautiful pieces standing proud...like mini art installations!

via Looking For Tomorrow

Bright, bright, bright! Keep it friendly and uplifting with neons...

via Real Simple

...and one we've featured in a previous post 'Toot, Toot! Car Boot!'...but we couldn't possibly leave it out. 

Different shapes and sizes but in-keeping with a theme...

via Heart Home

Proud As Punch

Well, well, well....what a wonderful morning we had. An out-of-the-blue phone call from a lovely little voice from London based Pr firm Cision telling us we'd been shortlisted for.....wait for it.....Top 10 Interior Blogs! Hurrah!! Definitely a shove in the right direction...


So with the whole 'Top 10' thing in mind...(you're not going to hear the end of this)...we though we'd share our pick of must-have Top 10 Summer Brights!

Hold tight..they are quite literally....BRIGHT!

Utility Design

Target

abc home

Utility Design

abc home

Sainsbury's

John Lewis

Serena & Lily

Design Sponge

The Divine Chair

Right....now off for a glass of bubbly!

Stripe Hype

Whilst I've been in London this week I took it upon myself to take a wander around the wonderful streets of this amazing city and look at what Spring fashion has to offer us at the moment. This was purely business of course (wink, wink!).. 

I came across lots of bright, bold and colourful stripey clothing and accessories, so I decided to see how the interior designers are incorporating this into the world of decor.

Each of these wonderful rooms share a common theme but manage to ooze different styles and feelings by careful thought and clever combinations... have a little look for yourself....

 Be playful and experiment with different coloured tiles in the bathroom. It's so simple, but so effective..

A chunky stripe on the wall will do so much to any room..

Create a relaxed look by hand-painting stripes onto your wall..

all via housetohome

 Striped furniture is classic and will never fail...!

via cococozy

This blue-and-white dhurrie rug brings the room together with a fresh, nautical, 'beside the seaside' look.

Bring the eye level up and over by painting the ceiling in various shades....

An over-sized monochrome chair stands out to create a focal point in a minimal room...

all via elledecor

 A thin stripe on the wall will modernize any space and teamed with a light shade keeps it simple...

via dominomag

A striped throw will bring any sofa to life! LOVE!!!

via designindulgence

 ....and last but not least, be bold!! 

This is the perfect balance of colour and this gorgeous rug gives it the wow-factor...and I'm loving that star pendant!...

via housebeautiful

If The Shoe Fits!

Now this may have seemed like a completely obvious way of transforming your furniture in a lick of paint, but it's taken forward thinking swedish company Pretty Pegs to actually get out there and do it! We're absolutely LOVING the thought of treating our sofas to a couple of new pairs of 'shoes'. It's the perfect solution to brightening up your living area and having a bit of fun with your furniture....


....and then swap them to another colour when you get bored! Hurrah!...

 

We like your thinking Pretty Pegs!

Something for the Weekend...

Has it really been an entire week since our last weekend post? How did that happen?!!?... This week we've picked out our most wanted pieces to add to our ever expanding wishlist....(and just hoping someone may see it and decide to buy the lot for us).

A slight yellow and gold theme going on....gorge!!!

Perfect as a contemporary version of your bog standard a coffee table! ... 

Just remember, no spilling!...

Diva Bench

Loving these designer cushions - bold prints are the way forward!

Geo Cushion

Tangier Cushion

LOVE this beautiful pendant - chandelier meets shade...perfect!

Axel Orb Chandelier

Antiqued finish adding a touch of nostalgic romance!...

Endsleigh Mirror

History - in your living room!

Roman Cushion

Beautiful whether it's sitting pretty a statement piece or fully functional as a dressing chair!

Circe Bench

Do you think father Christmas follows blogs by any chance??

Have a lovely weekend!

On The Move

The spring spirit has caught on it seems - there's a Style Inside house move in the midst!! A lovely new apartment crept up on us and we just had to take it. Light and airy and perfect for welcoming in the warmer months. I've (literally) been dreaming of endless white walls and the mountain of accessories that I'll have dripping from the place.

Moving is always stressful, but it'll be worth it once we're all done and we can stamp our style on it...

Here's a sneaky peek at my bedroom thoughts. Muted tones, relaxed greys and whites. Perfect for waking up to in the morning....(hopefully to breakfast in bed!)

1.  Pride Wooden Wall Hanging 2.  Pendant Light 3.  Shutter Wardrobe 4. Plaid Cushion

5. Stripe Cushion 6. Stockholm Side Table 7.  Essex Wool Rug

What do you think? To subtle? Not bright enough? Or just right?

Pad Envy....

As Spring has now sprung up on us, there are many things we can do to add subtle hints of colour into our homes. With our lighter mornings and lighter evenings these will really make a difference and get us excited about summer! (Fingers crossed we get one!)

The author of interior design blog colormecarla highlights this perfectly with these photos of her lovely home in Minneapolis....

LOVE this soft and soothing turquoise and pink combination.....

A rustic table paired with black and white adds drama....

I love the different shapes and sizes of the globe, the box files and that sweet turquoise bowl....

 I need everything on and in this side table!!! 

Animal ornaments are so cute and a serious must-have at the moment..

The round mirror, pointed birdcage and soft pink flowers create the perfect textured focal point. I want this house!....

House swap please Carla?!!......

Exciting Stuff...

Monday mornings wouldn't exactly go down in history as the most loved part of the week, but you know what, this is a pretty good one! We've got some great projects ahead of us on and we're feeling gooood! 


...and in keeping with all this lovely jubbly positivity we have some majorly exciting news!!!


We've been on the look out lately for some fresh and new talent to be part of the Style Inside team.....and guess what (!?)...we have found our very first. Joining as our very own contributor blogger University of Chester graduate Jasmine Holley will blog once a week on the latest hot new interior trends and keep a watchful eye on all things not to be missed. Jasmine’s love of all things interiors is welcomed by Style Inside - we can’t wait to get her started!


A big welcome squeeze to Jasmine!.....