Interiors – Page 49 – Apartment Apothecary

katy 1st September 2014

Styling the Seasons – September

Yay! September is here and it is my favourite month of the year! It also marks the official start of our new monthly blog series, Styling the Seasons – hurrah! Too many exclamation marks!

I got back from Skopelos on Saturday night, so I am feeling relaxed, bronzed, happy and full of the promise that September holds. This month always feels like the beginning of a new year for me, unlike January, when I generally feel unhealthy, pale, hung over and overweight (a lovely combination). I am always full of energy and motivation and raring to go at this point of the year and never more than this September because I am beginning a new chapter, having given up teaching after eleven years.

All that being said, my styled surface had to represent all of my enthusiasm for new beginnings this month. So here it is…

I have styled my new String shelving in my home office (the full home office makeover will be on the blog tomorrow). I have included some of the new stationery I have bought, which has become a yearly ritual since I was a child and something I always associate with September. As a child, we often spent our summers in France and I remember that going to the hypermarche on the way back to the ferry at the end of the holiday was always a highlight as I was allowed to trawl the stationery aisles and choose my new pencil case, fountain pen and school bag (Benetton and Chipie were favourites – does anybody else remember those?) for the new school year. I have also added books and magazines, which are a constant source of inspiration, as I foresee September will be spent looking for a lot of inspiration to figure out what direction I am going to go in now that I have left teaching. The plants (I love the trays that attach to the shelving and I can water straight into them) represent how vibrant and full of motivation I always feel at this time of year, as though the slate has been wiped cleaned and I can start afresh. By the way, the two mint plants in the right hand tray not only smell delicious but are a lovely thing to have on or near your desk because you can add leaves to your water throughout the day, or the occasional iced coffee treat with fresh mint is delicious.

So, there you go, that’s my September ‘shelfie’. I can not wait to see your styling and what September means to you. Hop over to Charlotte’s blog, Lotts and Lots, to see her beauteous September styling, too.

Share your photographs of your styled surface on any day this month – use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or your blog, if you have one. Please tag me and Charlotte and use the hashtag #StylingTheSeasons. You can also search the hashtag for styling inspiration from the other wonderful bloggers and creatives who are taking part and don’t forget that Charlotte and I we will be rounding up our favourites on our blogs at the end of this month.

Happy September styling everybody!

Katy x

katy 19th August 2014

Greek island interiors

I am off on my hols this week so taking a little bloggy break too – I will be back on September 1st with the very first instalment of our exciting new blog series, Styling the Seasons (remember, we’d love YOU to take part, just click on the link to find out more). Very excited to see everyone’s pics and what September means to you; it is, without a doubt, my favourite month of the year.

In the mean time, we’re off to Skopelos, a Greek island, for a friend’s wedding and making a holiday out of it, too. I want to share one of my favourite Greek island homes that is owned by hotelier, Costas Psychas, off the coast of Therassia, an islet in Greece’s Aegean Sea. It is a secluded, peaceful spot that is reflected in the interior that is quite beautiful in its simplicity. We won’t be staying anywhere quite as spectacular but the white and blue beauty of the Greek islands will hopefully deliver me home in September feeling refreshed and ready for new beginnings.

All images are from Elle Decor and photographed by William Abranowicz.

Happy holidays everyone!

Katy x

katy 5th August 2014

Tips for styling shelves

First and foremost, thank you so much to those of you who took the time to leave a comment on my blog feedback post or emailed me your thoughts. I was blown away by how many of you got in touch and how much thought you put into your feedback. Just amazing! I’m going to spend this month making blog plans and then in September I will start afresh, bearing in mind all that you had to say.

Things here are taking shape and I very nearly have a fully functioning home office: the shelves are up, desk is made and painted, holes in the walls filled, new pendant light hanging. My big job this week is to paint the floor and then sort and style the String shelving. When I was going on and on and on about my new String shelving, quite a few of you got in touch and asked if I had any tips for styling shelves. Now, I have to admit that I have always avoided shelves in the past for two reasons – firstly, I like to hide my mess and secondly, they can become a dumping ground.

That being said, we have invested in some wondrous shelving for the home office and I could cram them with stuff as they are deep and sturdy and I have a lot of stuff but I really want to strike a balance between function and beauty. Mission impossible? Well, here are my tips before I begin the task in hand…

1. Groups of three

I always like to group things in threes, whether it be boxes, baskets, ornaments or plants. I don’t know why that looks better than say, two or four things, it just does.

My craft room

2. Triangle of colours

You don’t need to colour coordinate what’s on your shelves (I always get a bit of a shiver when I hear about colour coordinating because it makes me think of matching cushions, curtains and lampshades) but pulling together the look with a triangle of colours can look really good i.e. three similarly coloured items, placed at different points on the shelves.

Tips for styling shelves by Apartment Apartment Apothecary

Image from: Paris nights and New York lights

3. Vary height and size of objects

If you arrange all of the tall things together and all of the round things together your shelves will look unbalanced and too curated.

Tips for styling shelves by Apartment Apothecary

Image from: @whiteloftstudio Intsagram

4. Don’t overcrowd

If you have too much to fit on your shelves, don’t just cram it all on. You will need to find somewhere else to store it or get rid of it. Overstuffed shelves are not functional, most importantly, and you can’t fully appreciate the beautiful things on them. On the open kitchen shelves below, they have managed to fit a lot on but everything is accessible, which makes it functional too.

5. Add pictures, prints, mirror or a lamp

By doing this, it adds more interest to the shelves and makes them feel like part of the room, rather than just a storage solution.

Image from: Decordots

6. Nothing should touch

When I say nothing should touch, I mean that two items should not rub shoulders; they either need to over lap or not touch at all. Again, I’m not sure why items that just touch look odd, but they do. If you look at the shelves below, the top shelf has a row of items that are just touching. However, on the middle and bottom shelves the items are overlapping, which looks so much more interesting and organic.

Image from: Fine Little Day

7. Add plants

This lightens, brightens and lifts shelves. I love how plants have been attached to this pegboard – I might have to steal this idea!

Image: Home of Kim Victoria Wearne and Stuart Beer on The Design Files

8. Don’t make it top or bottom heavy

Don’t place all the large items at the bottom of the shelves and all the small items at the top as this will make the shelves look unbalanced.

9. Repurpose containers to store items

Add interest and beauty by using vintage tins, jars or jugs to store items.

Image from: Sania Pell

10. Put lots of little things into storage boxes or baskets

If you have a lot of small things that need storing put them into boxes or baskets that can be put in the shelves; this will make the shelves easier to clean and less fussy looking.

Image from: Husligheter

11. Add something unexpected

This will draw the eye and set your shelves apart from everybody else’s Billy bookcase.

Hope this helps some of you. I’m going to try my best to use some of these ideas on my own shelves, which I’ll show you all in September.

Katy x

katy 10th July 2014

Furniture makeover challenge

As you may have seen from my previous post I have been kindly asked by Direct Blinds to join in with their ‘Renovation Sensation’ competition. They gave me £100 to find, buy and renovate a piece of furniture of my choice – the perfect competition!

I chose to buy a cabinet from eBay that I need for my new home office. I have taken a lot of inspiration from modern Scandinavian interiors so I want the room to be light, bright and white with vintage touches here and there. The cabinet I bought is a great shape and I love the glass doors but it has a very dark, orangey veneer that is not so pleasant – definitely not the lovely teak of a mid-century cabinet. I tested sanding a patch but it is made of some sort of composite wood so no beautiful grain or colour to reveal. Therefore, my first task was to brighten it so it doesn’t absorb all of the light from the room. I then tried to give it a bit of character and add some more storage to the top for all my craft supplies. Here’s how I did it…

Renovation

What I used (anything with a price next to it I bought for this competition with the £100 budget):

Cabinet £30

1 litre of Annie Sloan pure chalk paint £18.95

Annie Sloan clear wax

Two sheets of 3.5cm pegboard (60 x 120cm with 1.8cm hole centres) £8 each

Pegboard hooks £13.79

Batons, screws and drill to mount the pegboard

Mini Moderns Snow Peggy wallpaper remnants

PVA glue

Clear varnish

Paint brushes

Clean rag

Scissors

TOTAL: £78.74

Step 1:

I mounted two sheets of pegboard above the cabinet to add extra storage for my craft supplies.

Step 2:

I used pure chalk paint for the cabinet as you can apply this paint straight onto the veneer with no need to sand! Sometimes, with varnished or veneered wood the stain can bleed through the chalk paint so you need to do a tester patch first. If it does come through do a base coat of Zinsser stain blocker. I then used the clear soft wax to add some extra protection to the cabinet. I used eggshell on the pegboard as it needs to be really strong to withstand wear and tear.

Step 3:

I then used Mini Moderns wallpaper remnants to line the shelves of the cabinet and the pattern reflects the pegboard wall. I spread a very thin even layer of PVA glue over the shelf and laid the paper over it very carefully to ensure I didn’t trap too much air. If you don’t have wallpaper you could also use wrapping paper but use a very small amount of glue as otherwise it will wrinkle.

Step 4:

I put the wallpapered shelves into place and then varnished the paper to make it hard wearing and to avoid scuffing.

After…

So, I have finished the first corner of my new home office – better start stuffing that cabinet with all my craft supplies and finishing off the floor! Thank you to Direct Blinds and fingers crossed that I win this brilliant competition.

Katy x

katy 6th July 2014

Wimbledon prints

I think this is my favourite time of year: the promise of summer, sun, Pimms, strawberries and holidays. I’m also totally in love with Wimbledon (although very disappointed there’s no Andy in the final today. Boo.)

If you, like me, love Wimbledon and a good bit of design then these gorgeous prints that are sold at the London Transport Museum may well be right up your street.

Wimbledon prints from London Transport Museum www.apartmentapothecary.com

Print by Frederick Aldo Cosomati 1922.

Print by Herry Perry 1931.

Print by Frederick Charles Burton 1930.

They are all original London Underground posters and cost £14.95 for an A3 size print (they are available in a range of sizes). As you may have seen, I do love these vintage tube posters and I featured some that I own a few weeks ago. I think the bold colours and simple forms and fonts would look great on any wall.

Happy tennis watching!

Katy x