Houseology launch giveaway!

Have you heard that Occa-Home is changing? Houseology has been born and I am running a wondrous giveaway in celebration of the launch.

As well as creating a site filled with the most beautiful designer furniture, lighting and accessories for you to buy, Houseology wants to provide you with everything you need to make informed, stylish decisions for your home – because, let’s face it, not everyone finds it easy to style their home. They’ll bring you tools and technology to help you on your design journey as well as insightful articles, ‘how to’ guides, inspirational images, practical and informative videos, ideas and advice.

I’ve been perusing the brilliant ‘Buying Guides’ because at this time of year I’m always thinking about additions to our roof terrace. Using the advice in the ‘Outdoor Furniture Guide’ I have chosen five GORGEOUS pieces for your garden that will transform your outdoor space into an additional room that can be used all through the summer.

All you have to do to win your choice of one of my five favourite pieces (I WISH I could enter myself!) is complete the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post and keep your fingers crossed!

1. Chimenea

The perfect addition to any outdoor space, especially in this country with our cool summer evenings. This wood or charcoal burning steel chimenea will help to turn your garden into an outdoor room. Isn’t it wonderful?

Houseology launch giveaway! | Apartment Apothecary

2. Bistro set of table and two chairs

This Garden Trading set of table and two chairs in a lovely clay colour is perfect for evening drinks on a terrace, balcony or patio. The simple French style is the perfect addition to any outdoor space.

Houseology launch giveaway! | Apartment Apothecary

3. Cacoon tent

This cacoon tent would be an amazing retreat in your garden for your kids this summer, adding an extra play-space to your home, filled with cushions and toys and easy to hang. The stylish design will look great in any outdoor space.

Houseology launch giveaway! | Apartment Apothecary

4. Rustic steel planters

I love this set of three vintage style Garden Trading planters. They will look beautiful planted up and add a rustic vibe to your garden or outside your front door. I would love these for my balcony.

Houseology launch giveaway! | Apartment Apothecary

5. Globe light

These are amazing! I want a pool full of them! An LED colour-changing globe light that measures 35cm in diameter, which can be placed indoors, outdoors or even floats on water. Taking the indoors outdoors never looked so good.

Houseology launch giveaway! | Apartment Apothecary

Which would you like to win? Just enter here…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Competition open to mainland UK residents only and some items have a two week delivery time depending on their size. Entries close at 12am on June 15th.

Shopping in Hastings

I have to move to Hastings. No, seriously.

And it’s all Ruth and Jeska’s fault. On Saturday they arranged a Gathered Cheer Social down in Hastings that involved a tour of the best shops, a walk along the beach front, lots of blogger chat and lunch in a pub – bliss!

If you are a fan of antiques, vintage and unique homewares then Hastings is the place for you. Just in case you fancy a trip to the coast any time soon, I will tell you about some of the wonderful shops that Jeska, who writes on of my favourite blogs Lobster and Swan, took us to so you don’t miss out.

We got off the train at St. Leonards Warrior Square and I immediately bought two lovely stoneware bottles at Arthur Green’s Antiques Centre, which is just opposite the station. We then stopped off at the most wondrous florist called Bobo Flower and Garden Shop on London Road. Oh my word, the Peonies!

Next stop was Norman Road, which I enjoyed the most. We went to an amazing traditional haberdashery, full to the brim of ribbons, bobbins, fabric, linen, beautiful cabinets and haberdashers drawers. You know one of those shops where you want to buy the display cases. Yeh, that.

Shopping in Hastings | Apartment Apothecary

At the end of Norman Road is ‘Shop’, which was full of beautiful homewares from ceramics to gorgeous throws (and an incredible wooden board that Sarah-Lou bought that I’m super jealous of).

We wandered along the beach front to the old town from Norman Road and chatted and laughed and took photos. So lovely.

Shopping in Hastings | Apartment Apothecary

We arrived at the old town and it was so pretty with its winding streets and brightly coloured painted houses; it turned out to be such a treasure trove.

Shopping in Hastings | Apartment Apothecary

First stop the beautiful Butler’s Famed Emporium with so many wonderful trinkets and vintage loveliness.

And on to Robert’s Rummage. I can’t describe this place, you just need to go for yourself and find your own treasure.

Shopping in Hastings | Shopping in Hastings | Apartment Apothecary

And we finished at the amazing Hendy’s. Walking in there was like stepping back in time and I could have bought ALL of it!

Shopping in Hastings | Apartment Apothecary

After all that shopping we were ready for a delicious late lunch at the Crown Inn on All Saints Street, which I would definitely recommend. It was really good food and perfect pub decor.

Thank you to Ruth and to Jeska for hosting and organising the perfect day as well as the lovely ladies who attended and made it so much fun – I totally loved it and will be back. With a car. So I can buy everything.

Katy x

P.S. You can sign up to learn more about future Gathered Cheer socials here.

 

Samsung curved monitor review

I’m going to be completely honest with you, when the lovely folks over at Samsung got in touch about trying out their 34 inch curved monitor my initial thought was, “what about my aesthetically pleasing home office?!”. Jules is always trying to convince me that function trumps form and in this instance I have happily acknowledged that this monitor makes my every day work so much easier and more pleasurable and because it is a sleek flat screen it fits right in. As soon as the monitor arrived, I quickly figured out its functions and I am now completely hooked. I don’t think I will be able to go back to a small laptop screen (and lucky for me, the monitor is staying!).

Let me tell you a bit about how I use it and why it’s made such a difference. I’m not going to use any technical jargon as I don’t understand that stuff but you can find out all of those details here.

Samsung curved monitor review | Apartment Apothecary

Firstly, this screen is huge at 34 inches so I can have multiple screens in one. As you can see below, I can have my emails, social media, blog, Photoshop and whatever else not only open at the same time but viewable so I can can work on different things simultaneously and keep an eye out for social media updates and so on. I hook my lap top up to the monitor, which sits in front of it, and work on blog posts and I can see the post developing on the monitor, rather than having to constantly hop between tabs. This is a revelation.

Samsung curved monitor review | Apartment Apothecary

Another major benefit of this screen is that it is curved, which makes it so much more immersive than a flat screen and perusing a site such as Pinterest becomes a completely new experience. The photographs are wonderfully large and clear and I can get lost in a world of beauty.

Samsung curved monitor review | Apartment Apothecary

The last thing that I have discovered about the curved monitor, which is amazing, is that you can split the screen in two. One side can be hooked up to my laptop and one side can be hooked up to someone else’s laptop. This is going to make collaborative work so much easier and more enjoyable – perfect for my big desk, too, as two of us can sit side by side. Anyone fancy a joint project?!

I’m sure there is much more to discover about this new addition to my working life. I’m totally sold (and Jules is totally jealous!).

Katy x

 

*This post was written in collaboration with Samsung.

Soak and Sleep

I have to say I am not a particularly good sleeper, much to do with the fact that I sleep so lightly so I will wake at the drop of a hat. I’ve also come to realise over time the importance of being completely comfortable in bed in order to get to sleep. So when I was invited to a brilliantly creative and fun sleep event last week held by Soak and Sleep, I jumped at the chance. I got to see and feel their sumptuous bedlinen for myself, all made up in the gorgeous Artist Residence hotel bedrooms – heavenly. And, yes, I did end up jumping into a few of those beds.

I’m going to whisper this next bit…the truth is, I didn’t really need the beautiful beds, pillow consultation, yummy drinks, canapés, yoga exercises and delicious Pact coffee tasting of that evening to fall in love with this company. All I had to do was look at the collections and the amazingly low prices, which is something I don’t normally talk about on the blog as who am I to say what is or is not affordable for others.  But when I see beautiful, beautiful 100% French linen bundle from £85 and next day delivery – I’m so sold!!!

I figured you’ve probably seen enough of my bedroom of late, so here are a few images from Soak and Sleep’s lookbook…

Soak and Sleep | Apartment Apothecary

Soak and Sleep | Apartment Apothecary

Soak and Sleep | Apartment Apothecary

Soak and Sleep | Apartment Apothecary

Soak and Sleep | Apartment Apothecary

My favourite of the range is the soft blue French linen – it was made up in one of the hotel’s Art Deco beds and the colour is perfect for my bedroom. During the event we also had a pillow consultation and I found my perfect pillow, which is made of wool. I can not wait for it to arrive and I’m so looking forward to Soak and Sleep’s Summer of Linen!

Katy x

Customisable wallpaper

I’ve had this thing with huge world maps since I lived with friends at university, one of whom stuck one up above the dining room table. Without fail the map inspired conversation about where we had visited, where we dreamed of going, plans for the future and so on. At times we would find ourselves drifting off whilst staring at the map: “Is China really that big?”, “Where’s Chile?”, “Shall we go to Argentina?”.  Ah, those carefree students days!

When I saw this dining room with world map wallpaper I instantly wanted to copy the idea in my own home. Imagine the cool dinner conversations…

I would like to introduce you to Wallpapered today who make a huge range of different types of wallpaper from the classic (swooning over quite a few of them) to striking nature murals and one of their most popular wallpapers are maps, whether they be world, antique, street – all totally customisable. You can even upload your own image to be made into wallpaper!

Over to Wallpapered to tell you more…

Why do you think wallpaper has made such a resurgence in the past few years and managed to shake off its ‘old-fashioned’ label?

Wallpaper is such an exciting industry at the moment, with new designers, developments in technology and constant innovation pushing it forward. There are fewer rules now, and customers are deciding what works for them rather than being dictated to. At Wallpapered we really embrace this ethos, encouraging customers to create wallpaper that suits exactly what they’re looking for.

We’re also constantly inspired by the creativity of interior design being showcased online. We keep discovering great new blogs and beautiful Instagram accounts (and then wonder where the day has suddenly gone!) – the online community is so important for keeping the industry exciting, pushing the boundaries and inspiring new ways to really personalise peoples’ space.

Map wall coverings are hugely popular at Wallpapered, why do you think people have such an affinity to maps?

Our wallpaper maps are definitely one of our top sellers. I think people have always been drawn to maps; not only do they show us from A to B or make us more aware of the world we live in, they’re also really beautiful artworks in themselves. It’s nice to understand the world around you, where you are, where you’re going and where you’ve been.

World map wallpaper | Apartment Apothecary

Customised local area map wallpaper is a perfect way of adding character to any room.

Everyone loves to make their house a home and to create a space that’s really unique to them. Is this a philosophy you follow at Wallpapered?

Yes, definitely. It’s a way of thinking we really share with our customers. We constantly aim to provide completely bespoke wallpapers for our customers –that’s what they want most from us. It’s great because their requests inspire us and keep us on our toes.

We did this amazing project recently with Ballindalloch Distillery for the Macpherson-Grant family (and their rather lovely grounds!) The custom made map showcased the area around Ballindalloch and the addition of a family tree illustrating the growth of the family over many years. We really enjoyed working on this project and you can read more about it here.

Map wallpaper by Wallpapered | Apartment Apothecary

Personalise your map wallpaper with a family tree.

What makes your wallpapers unique?

We pride ourselves on producing wallpapers that are unique to each customer. Whether that means uploading some of their own imagery, adding a logo to a wall covering or matching the map colours to a sofa; we really try to go above and beyond to make something a bit more special.

In practical terms we print on a non-woven paper that’s much more hardwearing than traditional wallpaper. This means it’s more durable and really easy to hang. Our wallpaper’s are 100% natural and wipeable; which is ideal when that child with mucky paws decides to embrace your newly hung wallpaper. We have a guide of what to expect here.

What advice would you give to someone trying to choose the right wallpaper for their home?

There’s such a great resource of inspiration out there: it’s always fun spending an afternoon going through blogs, Pinterest or your favourite interior magazine and gathering ideas. Ultimately, it’s about what works best for you. It’s a big decision, so we understand the importance of getting it right. If our customers are struggling to pick between a few choices, we send out samples – so they can tack them up on the wall and live with the look for a few days. This always seems to solve the problem and help them arrive at a final decision.

Brick wall wallpaper | Apartment Apothecary

There is a cool tool on the Wallpapered site that allows you to put up your chosen wallpaper in the context of a room, which is always helpful so you can work out the size of pattern etc. This could help with choosing one of Wallpapered’s huge range of texture wallpapers (got to love a brick wall!). Image: Design Therapy

Putting up wallpaper can at times be intimidating, what advice can you give to my readers?

We print our wallpapers to your exact dimensions – so there’s absolutely no waste (and no drama) when it comes to putting it up. We’ve made our whole process really user friendly, as we know customers can be put off by a difficult application. We’ve also got a really useful ‘how to hang wallpaper’ guide, so don’t worry – your space will be looking amazing in no time.

If there’s someone reading this interview considering wallpaper but needs that one last push, what would you say to them?

We think there’s a wallpaper to suit everyone and every home. At Wallpapered, we love chatting to our customers and ensuring they’ll be happy with the final product for years to come. So if you’re slightly hesitant or unsure, we can take you through the stages, give you all the information you need, and our design team can mock up a prototype for you so you can visualise it. Easy!

World map wallpaper | Apartment Apothecary

Thanks so much for the tips and advice! When I move to a house, wallpaper will be the first thing I choose. Can’t wait!

Katy x

 

*This post was written in collaboration with Wallpapered.