The Design Sheppard Rounding up the very best in interior design today

#PinItForwardUK with Pinterest

May 23

I’ve been using Pinterest for as long as I can remember so I was pretty shocked to find out recently that it is only officially launching in the UK this month. Don’t get me wrong, I think a UK launch is well overdue and when I was asked to get involved with the campaign I jumped at the chance. Being a blogger, Pinterest is a tool that I rely on quite heavily and I can honestly say that I don’t know that many people who aren’t already using Pinterest. However, whilst it may be hard to believe, there are people out there in the UK who may not know about this inspiring, creative and quite simply addictive tool.

Interview: Dave Young of Young & Norgate

May 03

Young & Norgate

Images by Artur Szyperek

As many of you will already know, I don’t live in London like most of the other design and interiors bloggers that I know. I live just outside Dartmouth in South Devon, which is the most beautiful rural location and I absolutely love living here. Admittedly I do miss out on a lot of the action as I can’t get to London as quickly or as easily as I’d like, but I still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Those of you who have been to Dartmouth will surely understand this and those of you who haven’t…what are you waiting for?

Anyway, I used to feel a bit down about missing out on the London-centric design scene, until I realised what great talent there is locally here in Devon. I am now super excited about discovering all the awesome designers, makers and craftsman that are based in this area of the country and I will be featuring more of them here on the blog in the future. One company that I discovered last Summer is Young & Norgate and I was lucky enough to attend an open studio event at their workshop in Budleigh Salterton. There I met Dave Young, who is one half of the talented design duo, along with Ross Norgate. Dave was kind enough to show me round the workshop and agreed to take part in an interview for us. I absolutely love the work of these guys as I am sure you will too. Anyway, read on to hear what Dave has to say.

Currently Coveting: Bird by Splinter Designs

Apr 12

Bird by Splinter Designs

Today will just be a quick post as I am still on holiday in Poland with my husband. I am trying not to work, which is a challenge, but I couldn’t resist sharing this with you. These cute little decorative birds are just adorable and I love the pop of colour that features on the underside of each bird. The are produced by Splinter Designs, a British Design Studio founded in 2005 by designer maker Jacob Pugh. Jacob’s shop stocks a range of beautiful products that combine contemporary design and traditional craft skills, all handmade in the UK. Bird, which is available in sycamore wood or the darker walnut wood, is my favourite product and I think that one of these little fellows would look just perfect on my mantle piece! What about you guys? Would they make it onto your wishlist? Read More…

New Wallpapers from Barneby Gates

Apr 10

Barneby Gates Dogs Wallpaper in Charcoal

As you read this post I am off on holiday with my husband and our friends enjoying some much needed time for rest and relaxation. We’re enjoying a break in the mountain resort of Zakopane in southern Poland plus a few days in the beautiful city of Krakow. However, I didn’t want to leave you without having a post lined up in my absence for wallpaper Wednesday, so here it is! These fabulous new papers are from Barneby Gates, one of my favourite wallpaper producers, What I love about their papers is that they have a quintessentially English feel to them, but with a contemporary twist. Take these two new papers for example, which both present a widely recognised motif given a refreshingly modern update.The Dogs features a large scale, contemporary houndstooth pattern when you see it from a far, but once you get closer you see that the pattern is in fact made up of sweetly entwined racer dogs. Paisley on the other hand is inspired by a collection of antique Indian textiles, but features a super bright print on the softly aged background. I love these papers, how about you?

The Living Furniture Project: Recycling Furniture, Employing the Homeless

Apr 08

Furniture produced by Donna Walker & the Living Furniture Project

Furniture range produced by Donna Walker & The Living Furniture Project

Just before Christmas I was contacted by a lovely guy called Alastair Sloan who wanted to tell me all about a project he is currently working on as he thought it might be of interest for me and for you guys, my readers. Well I’m not sure about you, but this is most certainly the kind the thing that I love to write about and I was only too pleased to include it here on my blog. It’s a truly worthwhile project and I really respect what Alastair is trying to achieve here and the way he is going about it. But instead of me trying to explain it to you, I’ll let Alastair tell you all about it himself in this video that features an interview Alastair did on Radio Shoreditch in February. And then once you get the general gist you can read the the interview that I have done with him about The Living Furniture Project.

Lunar Funiture by Stellar Works

Apr 05

Lunar furniture range by Stellarworks

A while back I interviewed Architectural Interior Designer Staffan Tollgard here on the blog and at the time he told me about this beautifully sophisticated new furniture range that he is stocking in his showroom this year. The Lunar Range is manufactured by a company called Stellar Works and when Staffan was telling me all about the company he described it as “an amazing cross cultural design and manufacturing company, which has a Danish design director, Japanese owner, and French historic expertise in the form of the furniture company Laval.” When you know this and you take a much closer look at the collections it does become apparent that the furniture is a beautiful melange of Eastern and Western design traditions.

Designing With the Evernote Smart Notebook by Moleskine

Apr 04

I don’t normally blog about this kind of thing but as soon as I saw it I knew this could be an absolutely great resource for the designers amongst you. Moleskine has teamed up with Evernote to introduce a Smart Notebook. You can fill this Moleskine book with ideas and sketches, then let the Evernote mobile app bring them to your computer, phone and tablet with a simple snapshot. Just take a photo of any page in this book with Evernote’s new Page Camera feature and it instantly becomes digital so that you can save it, search it and share it with the world. This is possible thanks to the book’s specially formatted paper, designed specifically for use with Evernote. Check out the video for more details and if any of you are already using it please leave us a comment to let us know how you find it!

Interview: Surface Pattern Designer Helen Stevens of Surfacephilia

Apr 03

Surface pattern design for wallpaper, cushions & Ceramics by Surfacephilia

Being an interiors geek, one of the aspects that really fascinates me is Surface Pattern Design and when I come across a really great designer I love having the opportunity to not only feature their work but also to interview them to find out a bit more about what influences their designs and what inspires them. So I was extremely happy when I was first contacted by Helen Stevens of Surfacephilia as I had not come across her work before. As soon as I lay eyes on her website I fell in love with her beautifully intricate and slightly bohemian designs. I couldn’t wait to find out more about Helen and I’m sure you guys can’t either so I hope you enjoy the interview with her below. As always, let me know what you think about her work in the comments, you know I love hearing from you!

Pets Rock Cushions by Takkoda

Apr 01

Pets Rock Cushions by Takkoda

Now, tell me this is not hilarious! I just couldn’t resist sharing these quirky cushions with you as they make me chuckle to myself every time I look at them. The brainchild of a company called Takkoda, the Pets Rock range of cushions, mugs, coasters & placemats, stationery and homewares is sure to put a smile on your face too. The guys behind this “world of daftness”, as they call it, photograph real pets in their homes and capture their natural expressions in their natural state. Then later they develop their characters by dressing them up digitally to bring out their iconic personalities. The thing that gets me is just how much these these animals look like the celebrities that they are being dressed as. The ones you can see above are the ones I have shortlisted in an attempt to chose my favorite but I haven’t managed to narrow it down to just one yet. What about you? Got any favourites?

Ombre Paint Effect Tutorial from Dulux

Mar 29

Dulux Flocking Paint Effect using SapphireSprings4 and BermudaCocktail2 Image courtesy of Dulux

I don’t know about you, but every year as Spring approaches I have this overwhelming urge not only to do a massive spring clean at home but also to change things up a bit and give my home a refresh or a new look. This year the urge is particularly strong and I’m already looking into paint colours that I can use to paint over all the magnolia walls in our home. At the moment I am totally sold on Lime Squeeze from the Dulux Home Factories range.

Anyway, just in case any of you are currently considering giving your home a much-needed lick of paint I thought you might be interested to learn a bit more about the ombre paint technique. I first learnt about it a couple of weeks ago at Meet the Blogger in London where I attended a workshop run by Dulux. There, Marianne Shillingford, Creative Director at Dulux, gave us a crash course in how to achieve the ombre paint effect, also known as flocking. Read More…