Where to shop – Page 17 – Apartment Apothecary

katy 3rd December 2014

Christmas present wish list

Today’s post is all about my desire for more! These are *some* of the items on my wish list at the moment (I always have a wish list, it’s not just a Christmas thing) and I’ve got my fingers crossed that at least one of them ends up under my tree this year. Does anyone else email their Pinterest ‘Things I want for the home’ board to their partner at Christmas and birthdays? Please say it’s not just me!

1. Moroccan Pom Pom blanket, Maud Interiors 2. Ercol Holland Park Armchair, Occa-Home 3. Bloomingville mint vase, Occa-Home 4. Niki Jones Concentric rug, Occa-Home 5. Stacking rings, Great.ly 6. Linen Works Rose bedlinen, Occa-Home 7. Uashmama Alle bag, The Future Kept 8. Tom Dixon scented candle, Occa-Home 9. Nord Hamam towel, Occa-Home 10. Geometric print in pink, Holly’s House

Obviously, the thing these items have in common, apart from those sweet rings and the beautiful bag, is that they are all home accessories. Basically, that’s all I ever want to receive – lots of beautiful things for my home. I NEED that rug for my hallway (watch out for the before and after shots in the new year – it’s been a long time coming), I’m desperate for dusty rose coloured linen, which would look so beautiful with that Moroccan pom pom blanket, and those towels! I LOVE those towels. Writing this has cast me back to being a young teenager after I had painted my bathroom in my family home. I remember asking my Grandmother for a set of new towels and bathmat to finish off my bathroom makeover; what a strange thing for a teenager to ask for, but how I loved them!

So, there’s a little insight into my obsession with filling my home with all the beautiful things. What’s on your Christmas list?

Katy x

Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Occa-Home but all the views and opinions are my own.

katy 27th November 2014

Apartment Apothecary Great.ly shop

I am so excited about welcoming you to my Great.ly shop today. How funny to hear myself saying I have a shop! Let me explain how Great.ly works.

It’s an online marketplace where tastemakers and makers work together – makers share their products and tastemakers (like me) curate a collection of their favourite items to make a shop. My shop has a focus on interiors and home accessories (obvs) and I have tried really hard to gather only items that I, myself, would buy so I hope that you like them too.

Here are a few things that you’ll find in the shop at the moment – I’m quite into black and white, pastel blues, greens and pinks at the moment so expect to see a lot of that. Also, there is FREE shipping this week until December 2nd so now is the perfect time to make your first purchase!

Unique planters – which I always think are so difficult to find – and affordable vases (visit my Planters and Vases collection here). Lots of goodies for the kitchen and table to add a bit of character and colour (visit my Kitchen and Dining collection here)…

There’s a lovely selection of cushions and blankets that you won’t see anywhere else (visit my Pillows and Throws collection here)…

There are so many more pretty things to look at in my shop – artwork, stationery, storage and furniture. All the prices are in US dollars but they convert to pounds if you click on the product and shipping is usually no more than buying within the UK (remember it is FREE until December 2nd!). There’s a link in my sidebar that will take you straight to the shop, so keep checking back for more stock. You can also visit my shop and buy lots of lovely goodness HERE.

You never know, this may well be the perfect place for Christmas presents that you still haven’t bought!

Katy x

katy 25th November 2014

The Bespoke Boutique giveaway

Hello lovely readers! I’m excited to be teaming up with The Bespoke Boutique this week to give away one of their beautiful lampshades, that are made from vintage silk kimonos. I’m always looking for home accessories that are unique and have a story behind them, so when I came across these lamps I fell in love. They are handmade and hand stitched, which make them of the highest quality and the stunning shades have the power to completely transform any room. I also love the cool, sculpted Figura lamp bases that offset the traditional beauty of the silk kimono shades (how cool is that hot pink base?)…

The lamps are currently being stocked in Anthropologie or you can buy them online, but you have the chance to WIN one of the bespoke kimono shades here, that has been made especially for this giveaway! Very exciting indeed. It is 100% silk and retails at £110. All you have to do is enter below and the giveaway will end at midnight on Monday 1st December. I will announce the winner, which will be picked at random, on Tuesday 2nd December. Entrants must be UK based.

Win this beautiful lampshade made from a piece of vintage kimono from Japan. The shade is 100% silk, hand stitched and features small blossom in reds, oranges and black on a white lining. It will fit any standard lamp base or pendant and measures 30cm x 28cm.

Good luck and get entering!

Katy x

P.S. To enter, just log in to the Rafflecopter below and choose any or all of the options to get as many entries as possible.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

katy 13th November 2014

Room makeover update

As lots of you will know, I did a room makeover this summer and turned our guest room into a home office. There are so many room makeovers out there and I always wonder how the rooms work in everyday life, once the photos have been taken and the room begins to be used. So, I thought I would return to my home office today, to tell you about how it is working out and what I have changed.

This is the home office as it was when I finished it in September…

Home office lighting | Apartment Apothecary

DIY home office makeover

Firstly, for those of you who don’t know, I share the office with Jules, my partner. That is the number one thing I would change – I would get rid of him as his side of the desk is horrendously ugly 😉 On the other hand, it’s really nice to have company all day and take little breaks together and we do end up bouncing lots of ideas off each other most days. We’ve even developed a system of communicating, whereby he puts his headphones on all day (he’s a web developer so needs a lot of concentration) and if I really need to ask a question or ask his opinion on something, I put my hand up – it’s quite a hilarious process to witness!

The real problem that we have found with the room is the lighting. Now that the clocks have gone back and the dark days and early evenings are upon us, there just isn’t enough light in the room. I made a decision to place the desks in the middle of the room so that it could be as flexible a surface as possible: I use it for sewing, pattern cutting, taking photographs on etc. Therefore, I didn’t want lamps on the desk because I didn’t want to have to move them every time I need a clear surface, even though I like the way they look. I chose, instead, a hanging pendant with a soft Edison bulb. The problem with that is it doesn’t cast enough light, now that the days are so much shorter. So, the major change I have made is to add a giant anglepoise light from Dwell to my side of the desk so I can craft to my heart’s content with task lighting but it’s lovely and soft light because of the huge shade. It doesn’t take up any room on the desk because it is floor standing and it can be easily adjusted or targeted to whichever part of the desk I need more light.

I’ve added this giant anglepoise lamp from Dwell to provide more light now the Autumn is upon us.

I also like the fact that the lamp is white as it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, even though it’s huge, and it just merges into the white wall.

The huge shade diffuses the light really cleverly, so that it is not like a glaring overhead light, but it provides the brightness I need, especially when I am crafting or sewing.

I’ve had to add a few candles to the desk, too, to make it a bit cosier in the evenings now – I just have to be careful not to fling fabric over them.

Candles are a must at this time of year.

Apart from the lighting (and each other!) the room is working really well. I was very nervous about having a white floor, but it is very easy to clean and doesn’t get anywhere near as dirty as I thought it would. The only other thing we might change in the near future is to repaint the desk to make it glossier, and therefore more resistant to scuffing. Now, to get back to my sewing under my new light.

Katy x

Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Dwell but the opinions and views are my own.

katy 25th September 2014

Adding a touch of Copenhagen with John Lewis

I instantly jumped at the chance to choose a selection of items from the new Copenhagen collection at John Lewis, with the challenge of adding a touch of Scandi style to my home.

When I re-decorated my home office recently, a lot of my inspiration came from the clean lines of Scandinavian interiors, set against a bright white canvas. This style is very different to the rest of my home but I absolutely love it’s simplicity and freshness. I have been wanting to add more black and white accessories to the room, which are so synonymous with the Copenhagen trend, so this was the perfect opportunity. The black cuts through the white background of the room and adds some definition.

My first choice from the collection is this Marimekko crockery, which is the perfect addition to my desk for stationery supplies – I always prefer to store things in cups, jugs and bowls that I love instead of hiding them in kitchen cupboards.

The Scandinavian String shelving that we chose for the home office has oak shelves so I immediately honed in on John Lewis’s Oak task lamp, which brings warmth to the Copenhagen trend and softens the hard edges of the black and white. You’ve got to love a good bit of flex cable too.

Another addition is the Listrado rug, which adds interest to the white floor and makes more of a design statement. I have positioned it behind my desk and it is now Otto’s favourite spot in the house – those black stripes will be completely covered in white fur very soon!

So totally jealous that my mum is off to the real Copenhagen this weekend. I might have to ask her to bring me home a treat or two 😉

Katy x

Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with John Lewis but the views and opinions are my own.