Inspiration: Living Area

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have last had a chance to sit down and type up a new blog post! Since the last time I was on here, I have got married - and all those handmade and handcrafted items have fulfilled their destiny and played their part in our special day!

Now that its all over (booooo!), I have been able to focus on my main passion and interest in life. I have been able to think about interiors, furniture, and how I would like our first home to look. I know my favourite room to design will be the Living Area, so I couldn't help but look into this first. And (if you're interested) I thought I would share my ideas with you lovely people.

Now because I have had the colours in my head for a few years now, I started with the palette first. I wanted to see how my choices actually looked together. I am very happy with my selection!

I knew I wanted the base colour to be grey and a few contrasting brights for accents. Over the past couple of years, I have developed a strong liking for mint tones and have decided this is the colour my sofa NEEDS to be! Based on this, I scoured many paint supplier websites until I found my perfect palette. It is worth remembering that just because you have taken inspiration from paint colours, it doesn't necessarily mean its all going on your walls! Use some of them them to just find objects of that particular colour.

I do not like shying away from colour. It makes me happy and I feel it is so important to experiment with it - just to see how it will look. If done in the right mixtures and quantities, it can really work.

My next task was to choose the kind of furniture, accessories and overall look for my future living area. Since joining Pinterest in early 2012, I have managed to build up a collection of items ready to create a concept board. So many people use Pinterest to gather their thoughts and ideas, and with most websites now giving you the option to 'Pin' images from their pages, it is so easy to build up a collection whilst browsing.

I love interesting items, those that make you talk. I would say my taste is quite eclectic - but with a strong mid-century influence. Creating this concept board really helped me to visualise how the items I chose would look together. I strongly recommend you do this when re-designing a room - whether it be on Photoshop or through cutting and pasting snippets from magazines. Its fun to do and so helpful!

So below, is my first concept board. I would love to know what you think. And if you love the pieces as much as I do, I have noted where I found each of them.

1. Cinnamon String Lights by Cable & Cotton. These would look great draped over a mantle or mirror, or even dangling from the ceiling in the corner of the room. Perfect for adding a bit of fun.

2. Hanging Terrarium Kit from Hammersheels on Etsy. Becoming very popular. Well aware that our first place may not have a garden, this would make the perfect alternative!

3. Enamel Pendant Light found on Two Sisters Home. You can find originals with characteristic imperfections from antique shops for around £20-£40.

4. 'Dancing Bird' Print & 'Fox' Print by artist Ewan John. Available from a range of suppliers. I had mine from Of Cabbages & Kings.

5. 'Angie' by Little Greene. Colour inspiration.

6. 'French Dark Grey' by Little Greene. Colour inspiration.

7. 'Banana Dream 2' by Dulux. Colour inspiration.

8. 'Drizzle' by Little Greene. Colour inspiration.

9. 'Marine Blue' by Little Greene. Colour inspiration.

10. The Binic Table Lamp created by Ionna Vautrin for lighting brand Foscarini. I fell in love with this little gem when I was introduced to it by Contemporist in 2010. Available from a number of suppliers in various colours. I purchased mine in Petrol Blue from Haus.

11. Air Plant Pod from ThriftedandMade on Etsy. I love the burst of neon pink and its another way of bringing the non-existent garden indoors.

12. Concrete Topped Stool from Cox & Cox. I also get drawn to fairly industrial materials. Never have I ever wanted to purchase a stool so bad!

13.Pinched Porcelain Cup Planters by Ebenotti on Etsy. So cute, and love the colours together.

14. Mid Century style Oyster Table from Urban Outfitters. Adore the simplicity of it.

15. Poncho Cushion from ohhdeer. Like a moth to a flame, I was drawn in by the bright colours and bold print!

16. Hooper Storage Coffee Table in Walnut from Made. The slim legs and curvaceous shape attracted me. I love the idea of being able to store/display things within it too.

17. CAT POT by Mirubrugmann on Etsy. As a cat lover, I couldn't resist. And its so quirky.

18. Seagrass Basket from Joss & Main. Perfect for storing blankets in and keeping next to the sofa. When it gets chilly, you can just grab one and wrap up.

19. The Margot Sofa in Pistachio Dexter's Linen by Sofa.com. Beautiful design and the fabric is gorgeous. When you order samples from these guys, they come in the cutest little box!

20. Retrospector Cushion from ohhdeer. Again, attracted to the various colours and unusual pattern.

21. My favourite. I have always wanted an original 1960's sideboard. In fact, I want my Nan's! However, this particular one was found on Etsy on FunkyJunky's shop.

So that is my concept board and list! I do hope you enjoyed the read and appreciate the beautiful pieces as much as I do.
I also hope I have inspired you to create your own mood/concept board for your next project. I would love to see them.

For more of my inspiration, visit my Pinterest page.
You can also follow me on Twitter - @ZibZobHandmade
Or visit the Handmade By Zibzob Facebook page for images and info on my work.

Happy Decorating.

Keep watching this space!

Zo..x

A Warm Welcome - Hallway Design

As many of my friends know, alongside crafts and textiles, I am also very passionate about interior design and furniture. After studying it for nearly 5 years, not only do I enjoy the design element of it, but I have also become extremely fond of the 3D Visualisation side. My mum and dad are currently in the process of re-modelling the hallway and it was up to me to choose how it was to look once decorated. So, today's post is all about my design concept and the 3D visuals I created to explain it.

Okay, so this is what the hallway currently looks like - a mess right! But actually, I'll have you know that a whole lot of work has already been done on it. The doorways you can see in the above image were either never there or completely different, the lighting is in a new location, there has been a new ceiling put in, and all of the walls have been stripped of wallpaper, re-plastered and painted.

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Even though I am re-designing for my own parents, it was never to be an easy project. The budget is very limited and the client (my lovely mother) can be quite picky - which there is nothing wrong with by the way! She needed it to be simple, give a good first impression, and appeal to most tastes (to make it saleable).

I started by surveying (measuring) the entire hallway, stairs and landing so that I could draw up an accurate plan. In my opinion, this is the worst part - but it is also one of the most important parts, which is annoying! Once I had drawn up the plan, I imported it into my model space so that I could start creating the model of what it would look like. It is this part of the process that I thoroughly enjoy, as I love watching the space progress and seeing what it should look like once finished. It was also important to my parents that I created visuals because, as with a lot of people, they find it hard to visualise the finished area when it is still such an empty shell.

I have recreated the photograph above with a visual of what the hallway will/should look like when finished. The house has fairly high ceilings and I wanted to include more than one texture and pattern on the walls so that they wouldn't feel so vast. I did this by choosing two wallpaper deigns and separating them with a dado rail. I went for green purely because it is a favourite and looks lovely and fresh.


Before I reached this decision, I actually started to design the hallway how I would have liked it myself - just to see what it would look like (not quite my mother's taste)! It included a lot of warm grey tones and pops of daffodil yellow. I adore these colours together. I also left the stairs bare, had the handrail and treads painted black and left the balustrades, newel posts, stringers and risers painted white. I think staircases can actually be an interesting way of showcasing your taste and personality. This is useful as the staircase is usually the first thing guests see when entering your home. I have seen a lot of really cool photos including:

Rainbow Steps - the overall design creating a fun 'play area' feel

Contemporary Balustrades - sophisticated and enjoyable

Reclaimed Materials - creating an edgy and rustic look

To list just a few.

Even though I had to 'play it safe' to a certain extent, I still didn't want to make the design too expected, beige and samey. I knew my mum definitely wanted wallpaper and texture - so I gave her both, in feel and design. I opted for a textured, plain wallpaper for above the dado rail and a smooth, geometric print wallpaper for below. The reason for the geometric print is, I wanted to add pattern to the space that was different to large floral prints that tend to be everywhere within households now (including my own bedroom!). I added further interest by choosing a striped carpet for the stairs in earthy tones to ground the green on the walls. I felt the stripes would have been a bit too much for the entire hallway floor, and so decided on wood (Oak) for this.

I wanted to keep hold of the high skirting board that the hallway had before as it is in-keeping with the features around the rest of the home. I think that the dado rail decision fits in with this plan quite nicely as well. When re-designing a room in your house, I feel it is really important to think about the style of the skirting, cornices, architraves and any other molding for that matter. When they compliment each other and the style of the house, it really brings harmony to the overall design.

I still managed to keep hold of my beloved grey and yellow palette within this design. As seen in the images above, I plan to have the curtains, accessories and lighting fixtures in the two colours. Although I have chosen a fairly mixed colour palette and selection of patterns, I feel they all compliment each other to form a fresh, contemporary and welcoming hallway.

When it is time for a change in your home and you are reaching for the paint charts and fabric swatches, it is important to remember that even though the colours and textures play a large role in the design, you also need to take into consideration how the space is used. 

After living in this house for around 17 years, I know the hallway pretty well. It is quite a peculiar shape which is why the furniture had to be thought through properly. In the end I opted for a small stool for guests to quickly perch on when removing their shoes, and a slim console table for displaying various items. Knowing the house (and the people who live in it) well, I know that the console table will need drawers for post, papers and other small items that can be a messy eyesore. The table will also be a good place for guests to put their shoes under out of the way. For this particular home, this is all the furniture the hallway required.

After receiving samples through the post, both myself and my parents fell in love with the wallpaper choices. 

To the left of the image: Beka in pale green. To the right of the image: Ling by Steve Leung in green. Both from Graham & Brown.

It may sound like common sense, but when wallpapering a high-traffic area, always make sure it can be easily cleaned/wiped or it is labelled as 'washable'.

I was determined to find a lovely striped carpet for the stairs and adored Chiswick Stripe in Stone from Carpetright.

Again, make sure the flooring is up to withstanding high volumes of traffic if it to be used in such an area - particularly on the stairs.

What do you think of my choices? What would you have chosen or done differently?

I know it has been a little more long-winded and bit different to my other posts, but I do hope you have enjoyed the read (and the visuals). I would love to know your thoughts and please share any recent projects you have worked on around the home - hallway or not!

Once it is all done I will be posting 'before' and 'after' photographs, and I really can't wait to see how they compare to the visuals.

Keep watching this space!

Zo..x