Thursday’s Inspiration ~ Pally-o’-pallet

In the theme of Tuesday’s post, I’ve been thinking of other ways to up-cycle for the home. Here are 5 cool ideas to recycle pallets. You can find them all over the place, from freecycle, skips, working warehouses, even sometimes the edge of the road (although be careful if you are that hardy!)

1. Why not use palettes instead of a futon base for your bedroom.  To add to the rustic look, tie in muted colours and even use an old fruit crate as your bedside table. {via chic deco}
2. Hang a palette on the wall, and you have a nifty plate rack.  {via tumblr}
3. Create a garden planter, this is ideal for a balcony garden! {via Craft}
4.  A slick of paint and some nails, plus a little bit of imagination transforms old bits of junk wood into a contemporary kitchen island unit.  This will save lots of pennies that you can spend on cool chairs and fun lighting pendants to complete the look.  {via Apartment Theraypy}
5.  For a commercial space, you could commission Most Architecture, a Dutch architectural practice, to design a recycled interior for your office.

If this is all too much hassle, and you want the look but are not DIY friendly (although to be honest, these are really easy except no. 5), then Made.com does a fun coffee table made under the same principle.

I know you are all extremely creative and fun, what would you make or have as a palette feature?

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Posted on February 9th, 2012

Tuesday Design Detail ~ Footloose on the floor

I just love parquet flooring, particularly in herringbone. It whispers at taste and elegance.


{via tumblr}

It got me thinking on all the different types of configurations of wooden flooring, and in fact all the different kinds of wood and finishes you can have.  There are a lot of great companies that you can commission for a wooden floor, but I wondered who else was doing something a bit different out there.

After doing some research, I wanted to share this very cool flooring company that I’ve found.  Arctic Plank are an Icelandic company that are based in New York, and they are a fine example of how you can up-cycle without compromising on style.

The clever clogs at Arctic Plank use wooden shipping pallets  instead of culled trees, and work with the short lengths of wood in herringbone and parquet to create unique floors.

Typically, wooden shipping pallets are a low end commodity, with the pallets perhaps being re-used commercially a few times before being scrapped or used as firewood.

Arctic Plank turns what is usually considered as junk wood into statement designer finished flooring.  The variety and character the wood acquires during its days as a hard working shipping material gives each installation a unique feel, and Arctic Plank’s work of up-cycling shows us that actually it’s just our perspective that restricts or frees us in our aesthetic choices.

The hard wearing nature of the shipping wood added with out door finishes means that you could use this application indoor or outdoor.

Where would you have this?  I’m adding this to my wish list for my warehouse apartment…

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Posted on February 7th, 2012

Thursday’s Inspiration




I don’t think the concept of living in a converted warehouse will ever get old.  City living is becoming more cramped as the population continually increases, and warehouse spaces are becoming even fewer and far between as industries die or move away. If you look carefully, there are a few hidden gems out there.  I’d like to use these inspirations for my own warehouse conversion project…


{via BrownDressWithWhiteDots}


{via tumblr}


{via Desire To Inspire}

Would you like to live in warehouse conversion?

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Posted on February 2nd, 2012

Tuesday’s Design Detail ~ Hanging around

I know it’s been done, done done. But. I still love hanging barn doors.  I’ve put together my top 5 Inspirations for Hanging Doors.

1. A splash of bright colour and architectural hardware makes this grown up and contemporary.
2. Here are 2 different ways to achieve a rustic chic look.  I love this clever pantry idea, can I have one please?!
3. A neutral palette works well to create a grown up feel to both room dividers.
4. The space saving doors on the left create a statement in their monochromatic way, and this clever design detail on the right creates an additional layer of art to a feature wall.
5. Although hanging doors most often give a room an architectural feel, this pretty treatment puts to clever use a hanging door between a bedroom and dressing room.
Do you have a door that you’d like to convert?

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Posted on January 24th, 2012

Tuesday’s Design Detail ~ A welcoming sort of fruit

For Tuesday’s Design Detail, I was thinking on what might be of interest and for some strange reason I thought of the pineapple. Yes, I’m sure this is part of my final daydreams of warm hazy summer days (not) gone by, but actually I’ve always admired these wonderfully whimsical architectural details that adorn the gateposts of London.

The pineapple came to Europe via Christopher Columbus and England was enraptured with the exotic looking and tasting fruit. As it was difficult to grow and extremely expensive to import , only affluent hosts could offer it to guests, and as such it became a symbol of hospitality, generosity and of course, wealth. From table to stone and wood, the image of the pineapple found its way into 18th Century architecture as artisans sculpted it into places of prominence on the exterior facades, gateposts, and interior surfaces of mansions and government buildings.


The Dunmore Pineapple is a folly demonstrating the more, ahem, extreme example of adaptation…

Of course nowadays with international freight, the mighty status of the pineapple is perhaps not once it once was, but I love how fun and frivolous it can be.  It’s interesting how times change…

You might like to decorate a guest room in GP& J Baker’s Pineapple fabric

Or your wallpaper your guest loo with Timorous Beastie’s contemporary take on the pineapple motif

Or decorate your table for a Caribbean style feast with this Waterford crystal vase

Speaking of feasts, I personally would love to sup one of these delicious pineapple margaritas

But if this all sounds like too much fuss, trip off to one of my favourite local haunts, The Botanist on Sloane Square, which pays homage to the great master Sir Hans Sloane who was a pioneering naturalist and who I’m sure would love to join you for a long glass of English Cobbler (made of course, with pineapple…)

Come and join me for sundowners?

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Posted on October 25th, 2011