Book Review : NOMAD, A global approach to interior style

Whilst I was sending some emails earlier, I decided to flick through my favourite book - Nomad. It's possibly the 150th time I've picked it up and gawped longingly at every page, engulfing all the inspiration...

I bought "Nomad, a global approach to interior style" back in February as a gift for my mum whilst I was in New York. At the time I was in Brooklyn, which soon became one of my favourite places in the city - I was dreamily searching through all the jam packed book stores, trying to find something a little unusual to take back as my mum loves books, especially of the interiors genre.

Author of Nomad, designer Sibella Court explores interior styling from across the world, with the likes of Japan offering exquisite textiles mixed with contemporary lighting to Mexico giving us neon brights and the coolest hand printed wallpaper. This book is full to the rafters with imaginative clusters of items, some of the most amazing styled rooms I have ever seen and luxurious photography, along with ways how to incorporate all these unique styles in to your own home. It's definitely one of those books that never stops giving, you will find something new every time you look at it.

I would recommend Nomad to anyone who has a love of interior styling or even someone that has a passion for travel. It truly is a stunning book to have. I've left a link here so you can find the book on Amazon, there's also another book in the Nomad series that I will link here too. Happy Shopping!

xxx

Lavender Basket

I've always loved the smell of fresh lavender, there's something very soothing and calming about it, I actually find it a brilliant aid to help send me of into a peaceful nights sleep. I thought I'd show you how to use fresh lavender bundles in your home, as decoration, or even as a gift.

To display the lavender bundles my mum found this old woven basket - you can pick similar things up in garden centres or home stores, but if your after something a bit more rustic and a little less pricey, try car boot sales and charity shops. This makes for a great simple display piece in a bedroom or a bathroom and will keep the room of your choice smelling fresh.

For the actual bundles, we go back to ol' faithful - brown string and brown paper. Pretty simple, tear some of the paper and wrap it around the bundle, then tie tightly with the brown string. Finito! A little bundle would make someone a lovely house warming token gift, or for those times when you want to take some a present as a small gesture. I have a bundle tied to my bed, the smell lasts for a good month and makes for a pretty decoration...

My mum kept the lavender clippings in these simple brown paper bags, you can pick these up from pound stores pretty cheaply. These then act like little pouches and would make great draw fresheners - just seal them up tightly then pop them away and when the bits have all dried out (A tip from my mum) they make brilliant fire starters if you have a log burner...

Let me know if your guys have any other different uses for lavender, I'd love to know!

xxx

I've been shopping #4

I spotted this vintage T-Shirt on the Beyond Retro online store in the week, it's so typical me - Red, white and blue, nautical, pretty classic. I'm a massive fan of vintage tees, the tackier, the better. I think this ones from the 80's..
Here's just a few photos of how I'd style it - T-shirts and Jeans are my go-to when I'm at Uni, simple, comfortable and easy when your in a rush..

T-Shirt - Beyond Retro, Jeans - Zara, Necklace - Accesorize, Shoes - Converse, Book - Charity Shop, Nail Polish - ESSIE

If you want to check out the Beyond Retro online store I'll leave a link here - which ones do you guys like? Have you got any cool vintage tees, or know of anywhere that you can buy them online? I'd love to know xxx

Autumnal Weekend

It finally feels like Autumn has arrived in the UK, with this, on Saturday we took full advantage of the beautiful weather and visited a local town called Ludlow to wonder around the castle, check out some vintage shops and finally get the chance to wear some chunky knits and boots..

It's always good to check out what's about in your local area, it's quite surprising what we find and how beautiful the places are just on the doorstep. If your around the midlands at anytime, Ludlow is a brill place to visit, it's got renowned restaurants and some of the best vintage shops I've ever been to. Just up the road is a view point called Clee Hill, which you can see on the last photo - it was pretty blustery so we didn't stay long, but on a clear day, its apparently a treat! 

What have you guys been up to this weekend? Do you know any cool places to visit on a weekend? xxx

Parisian Postcard Bunting

When I was in Paris with my family last July, we visited a little flee market selling vintage clothes, books, antiques and general flee markety goods. It was lovely - I came across a whole stall full of postcards from years past, I couldn't resist picking up a few. Each one is so pretty and delicate, with so much character and history behind them, I just had to do something with them. This is just a simple way  of creating postcard bunting.

This is what you need -

Vintage postcards - You can pick these up from thrift stores and charity shops

Twine 

A variety of Bulldog clips, Wooden pegs, Paper clips

It's pretty self explanatory what you do to create this look, just fasten a piece of twine along your wall securely, then go clip away until your hearts content. It's something really cheap, easy and versatile to add a little bit decoration to a room, you can change up the postcards when your bored of the ones you have up already and it can be moved to another room or wall. Of course you can always adapt it to your own tastes or style of the room your displaying it in and you don't have to use postcards - it's up to you!

Do any of you like to collect old postcards or letters? Or have you tried my postcard bunting? I'd love to know xxx

Weekend In Mallorca

I think I'm going to officially diagnose myself with the holiday blues - I got back from three days in the beautiful Balearic Island of Mallorca visiting Mats parents yesterday. Anyone that lives in the UK will know that we've had a complete wash out of a summer, so a dose of sunshine and sand was well needed. We had a lovely time relaxing, going out for lovely meals and just soaking up every inch of the sun that we could. Mats parents are lucky enough to live in a beautiful area on the island, surrounded by mountains, exotic plants, also lovely place to eat and drink. Here's a few snaps of our trip...

So there's a little snapshot of our weekend - Mallorca's a brilliant place to visit, we had so much fun exploring the island, and lapping up the beautiful scenery and sunshine.

Have any of you been to the Balearic Islands? or have you been to any cool places? I'd love to hear about your travels xxx

Packing For A Long Weekend Away

Last minute as ever, me and Mat booked flights to visit his parents in Mallorca earlier this week, we leave very early tomorrow morning and we're staying until Monday. I thought I'd share with you what sort of things I pack for a long weekend away and other tips I have for packing lightly.. Which can be a struggle for me.

I always get the basics ready first, whether I'm going abroad or travelling inside the UK. For me this is Passport, a large travel purse, IPad, sunglasses and a CD for the road. I find a large purse so useful for keeping everything together like money, tickets and anything you pick up on your travels.. This reminds me we need to print our boarding passes off!

As our trip came a little unexpected and we aren't going for too long I didn't buy any new clothes to take, instead I thought I'd treat myself to some nice shampoo and body wash. It's also a really great way to try different products as they're so tiny and a lot cheaper than buying a full size. It may come to some people's surprise but I've never tried an Soap & Glory products, so I took this as a prime opportunity. Here's just a selection of things I'm taking, suncream, Bioderma and my favourite moisturiser Lait-Creme.

I always go over board when packing my make-up, picking up crazy colours from my collection, thinking "I might wear this.. as I'm holiday".. I'm taking bare essentials this time. BB cream, concealer, a sheer lipstick, blush, mascara, bronzer and of course my ever so trust naked pallet. It's surprising what you can do with not a little, bronzer always doubles up as a great eye shadow and the shimmery colours in the naked pallet make for a super cheek highlight.

Hunting for bikinis end of season is an absolute nightmare, I picked up the polka dot one at a dance wear store in my local town, luckily it was in the sale, which is always a plus. Packing a light weight hoodie is always a good idea for cooler nights, I also use my sarong as a scarf, for evening out. A pair of sandals or flip flops is essential for any holiday, long or short. I'm taking my Birkenstock as they go with everything and aren't too heavy to take in my case.

Packing clothes is my downfall, I always take way to much. My essentials for holiday wear are shorts and light weight knits and cardigans. My favourites are these River Island shorts, that I cut of from long jeans about two years ago, they go with everything and can be warn to the beach or are perfect if your out for the day.

As well as knits and cardigans, I always pack a variety of T-shirts. I love lightweight cotton and linen tees as they always hang really nicely whatever you team them with. You can also take them from day to night simply by adding jewellery or layering them over maxi dresses. These are a few of my favourites in dusky pastel shades.

I always pack a few smarter options just in case we go out for dinner - it's always nice to dress up when your on holiday. I'm taking two dresses - I'm picking ones that I know I won't be able to wear in the winter, so I can get my final wear out of them for the summer.. especially this bright yellow one from TopShop.

And of course what trip away is complete without snacks for the car, as were flying extra early I'm sure we'll be needing the sugar.

 If you've got any tips for packing lightly or just packing in general I'd love to hear from you? Hope you all have a super weekend and I'll be back on Monday with no doubt photos of the trip xxx