Morning all & happy friday too you & here we are again with Friends Feature Friday & we have some more colour inspiration today as Laura from Dreambox Interior Design joins us to guest post with her Colour Psycology series. Enjoy & have a great weekend
Sarah xx ........................
Title: Colour Psychology - Purple

I have currently been working on a new project for an award winning beauty salon in Suffolk, which has inspired this months colour psychology post. Purple!

Purple is strongly associated with royalty and wealth, symbolising extravagence and richness making it a perfect choice for clients looking for glamour, luxury and sophistication.

Grey and taupe shades compliment this colour beautifully and enhance that feeling of glamour and luxury and the darker the shades the more sultry and mysterious.

Because purple is a symbolic color in religions across many cultures and eras it is also known to portray feelings of spirituality, serenity and thoughtfulness, perfect for bedrooms!

Tip: To avoid overpowering a room with purple, use it as an accent colour.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Laura. x
Dream Box Interior Design
www.dreamboxinteriordesign.blogspot.com

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Colour Inspiration - Brown & Blue

Heres a little more brown & blue colour inspiration today, the gorgeous colour pallette I have chosen for my lounge & dining room revamp. The paint is now on the walls & the new wood blind is now up in the lounge, its really starting to look rather lush.



http://www.design-seeds.com/2011/09/blueberry-cups.html







http://pinterest.com/stitchcake/home-sweet-home-decor-diys/




http://pinterest.com/babancat/blue/



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home plans

We are in the throws of a makeover at home right now for our
living area & dining room. I moved in with my partner Neil last year with the intention of buying a family home together, but have since decided to stay put. This however means I am finally aloud to pick up a paint brush & put some of my personality into our home.
As you probaly already know I have a real ecclectic taste & love anything shabby chic to modern country & also have a bit of a passion for morrocoon style too. This however is not to my partners taste at all & he already has complaints that our bedroom has gone a little too girly for his liking. So we have come up with a scheme thats reflects us as a family. Blue has become a must have for the colour pallette, blues/turquioses/aquas happen to be my favourite colours because of thier tranquil & tropic feel. I love blues teamed with browns & beiges as they are complimentorary of each other, the cool tones of blue warmed with cosie neutrals. Here's a little inspiration that has got me a swooning....



....I cannot wait for our plans to come together & show you what we have been up too xx

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An Accent Of Orange

Im not normally a fan of very dark rooms but I think it works well here with the gorgeous pops of orange. I do like a brown & orange colour pallette its a delicious combination...makes me think of the chocolate oranges I used to get in my Christmas stocking though (yummy). 


Chocolate coloured walnut kitchen units mixed with orange gloss makes a real wow factor in this kitchen the winning colour statement makes a real impact against the dark walls.



In a total contrast with this white room below orange accent cushions give this space some warmth & personality.

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Make It Monday

After talking about flowers being the jewellery of the home over the weekend I thought this Martha Stewart tutorial I spied over on Decor8 the other day was just perfect for Make It Monday

                                                Coffee Filter Flower Baskets

Pre-ruffled and strong enough to get wet,  coffee filters make perfect flower-making materials. They're cheap too!
Used here are some pretty paper cups & bowls for the flower's centers. The small bowl works really well as the centre of the flower. Martha has used food coloring to dye them and food coloring to paint the bowls and cups as she was filling them with sweets. But if you're not making these to hold edible items, or you're only dying the coffee filters, you can use thinned paint.

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flowers for the home

 

The sun is shining & the blosom is appearing on the trees & its all making me think of beautiful spring flowers to cheer everything up. Flowers are as they say the costume jewelry of your home. When you walk into a room with beautiful, brightly coloured flowers it certainly lifts the mood of the room. Whether you just want to add a bit of self- expression & cheerfulness into a room or you are looking to make a lasting impression on a potential house buyer there is nothing quite as inviting as the fresh aroma & beautiful colours of flowers to hit the right tone. There is so many different ideas on displaying your gorgeous arrangements, whether you use a simple & plain vase or a brightly painted one, choose one that works with the room.

You can use milk bottles or wine bottles, jars, candle holders to teapots, whatever takes your fancy really. A row of bottles is a lovely idea, each with an individual flower. Be creative.  For table settings have fun with several different sized vases to vary the height of your table decorations. I like to use lots of little votives with small flower heads in, simple but effective.

 It really is the finishing touches add the wow factor!

images all sourced from pinterest

http://pinterest.com/annalis66/bottle-and-vase/

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Tranquil Bathroom Styling

I have spoken about spa like bathrooms a few times on here but there is something very inspiring & alluring about tranquil feeling bathroom spaces. We all want somewhere we can relax after a hard day at the office, somewhere we can chill out & leave our troubles behind us. Opt for soft colour pallettes & neutral furniture to make a winning scheme.

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Quaintly British

I totaly love this image, I am so proud of being British & this gorgeous union jack makes a wonderful statement I would certainly love to have one of these hanging on my wall.

My love of the union jack is even seen in items on my boutique

www.finishingtouchinteriorsboutique.co.uk

These pretty hand stitched neutral union jack cushions & tea cosies have a real shabby chic feel to theme to them, i feel in love with them & knew stright away they were perfect for the shop.

RULE BRITANIA!! xx

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A Pop or Two Of Red & Blue

A blend of white on the walls, the curtains & furniture are a perfect blank canvas that is brought to life with some fun pops of colour with strong reds & blues in the accessories from art work to vibrant, patterned cushions. The gorgeous leopard printed stalls dont look out of place either. This room is fresh yet fun & full of energy. It has a really happy vibe about it & scores a perfect 10/10 with me.



The large piece of artwork is a bold statement placed with the beautiful orange vases but works brilliantly. A great choice of accessories & artwork works wonderfully in this gorgeous space.

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Make It Monday

In todays home made home series we look at making a Roman Blind

 
Before you start, you'll need:
• 2.5cm-square wooden batten the width of the blind
• Length of self-adhesive hook and sew-on loop fastener the width of the batten
• Main fabric (we used Gabrielle Lavender, ref 3274/805/CU, £60 a metre, )
• Border fabric (we used Mojo, ref LF053C/22, col Lilac, £33.90 a metre,
• Lining fabric
• Matching thread
• Lengths of narrow wooden dowelling, the width of the finished blind minus 3cm
• 12mm plastic rings
• 4 screw-in eyelets
• Wooden acorn
• 3 lengths of cord, each the width of the finished blind plus twice the length
• Wall cleat


Step 1) Fix the wooden batten inside the window recess to the underside of the window frame. Press the self-adhesive hook fastener along the front of the batten.
Step 2) To work out the size of your blind, measure from the top of the batten to your required finished drop, adding 2.5cm each for the top and bottom hems. Decide how deep you want the plain border to be and subtract this measurement from the finished drop (remembering to add 2.5cm for seams). For the width, measure the length of the batten and add 2.5cm for each side seam. Cut out your main, border and lining fabric to these measurements.
Step 3) Right sides facing and matching raw edges, stitch the border piece to the lower edge of the main fabric taking a 2.5cm seam. Trim seam allowance and press seam open.
Step 4) Right side up, lay out your main fabric on a flat surface. Place the lining fabric on top, matching raw edges all round. Pin all round, then stitch the side and bottom edges, taking a 2.5cm seam. Remove pins.
Step 5) To create a dowel pocket along the bottom edge, stitch a second line of stitching 6mm from the raw edge. Insert dowel. Trim seam allowances and turn through and press.
Step 6) To create the pleats, lay the blind lining side up and measure 5cm from the top of the blind. Mark with a pencil line across the width of the blind. Divide the remaining length of the blind into 20cm to 30cm pleats, finishing with a half pleat at the bottom. Mark each section with a pencil mark as before.
Step 7) To make pockets to hold the dowels at each of the pleats, cut 8cm strips of lining fabric to the width of the blind for each of the marked pencil lines. Fold each strip in half along the length and stitch the long raw edge and one end, taking a 1cm seam. Turn through and press.
Step 8) Centre the pockets along the marked pencil lines and pin and tack in place. Machine stitch each long edge, through all thicknesses, being careful not to pucker the fabric (see illustration).

Step 9) Slide the dowels into the pockets, turning under the remaining raw edges on the pockets and slip stitching to hold dowels in place.
Step 10) On each pocket mark the centre point of the blind and slip stitch a plastic ring in place. Repeat 5cm in from each side edge of the blind on each pocket (see illustration).
Step 11) To make the top hem, turn the raw edges of the main fabric and lining fabric to the back of the blind by 2.5cm, press and tack. Stitch the sew-on loop fastener in place, close to the fold. Hang the blind from the batten.

Step 12) Screw three eyelets to the underside of the batten so that each aligns with each row of plastic rings on the blind. Screw a fourth eyelet to the edge of the batten where the cords will fall and where the blind will be operated from.
Step 13) Tie each length of cord to each of the three rings on the lowest pleat. Then thread each length of cord through each of the rings above it, and through the eyelets, finishing on the working side of the batten (see illustration). Trim the cords to a suitable length and thread on a wooden acorn. Fix a cleat in place on the wall and use to secure the cords.



Tutorial sourced from - House to Home
Illustration, Michael A. Hill

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Friends Feature Friday

Welcome to this friday guest writer the lovely Hannah Jones from Hannahs Buns who made all the scrumtious delights last week for my Pink Rose Tea Party.......

                                              Pink rose tea party

A good friend of mine and the owner of finishing touch interiors ask me quite a while ago to help her with a charity event she was to organise.  She was to hold a tea party to raise money for Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge.  Sarah wanted me to make some cakes and pastries to give to the guests with their tea and coffee.  The event was a great success and she raised over £500 for the hospital which is great. I made cupcakes, brownies, lemon and fruit tarts and carrot cake which Ive been told by many people its the best carrot cake they have ever tasted. Which pleases me so much I can't tell you. So here are some pictures I hope you enjoy looking at them and thank you for reading.  Hannah's Buns signing out! ;)

                                    

ps...Hannah really does make the BEST EVER carrot cake

Sarah xx

     Thank you so very much Hannah for all your hard work for the pink rose tea party xxx
Hannah is also featuring today over on my cookery blog sharing her corn bread recipe pop on over to check it out
http://sarahjosephscookerycorner.blogspot.com/

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Ecclectic Beauty

I do love ecclectic style, I get a real buzz out of seeing a mix of different tastes it makes for a bit of personality to a space. This gorgeous living area really caught my eye. Its not a look I would personally choose for my home but its certainly got a great vibe to it. The vibrant blue really brings this room alive its beautifully put together & incredibly ellegant.

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Think Pink Teacups & Saucers

Here are the 'Think Pink' Tea cups & saucers I designed & hand painted to help raise money for the pink rose appeal they retail at £7.50 & all proceeds go to the charity which is for the breast cancer unit at Addenbrookes hospital. If you are interested in purchasing one of these please Email me

sarah@finishingtouchinteriors.co.uk

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My Pink Rose Tea Party

Well Sundays charity event went fabulously well & we managed to raise £525.72 so very happy indeed. The venue at The Days Inn Haverhill looked completely gorgeous with 'Pink' being the theme of the day.

 The lovely Katie Daly of www.katiesweddingchaircovers.co.uk provided the beautiful chair covers with pink sashes as well as the gorgeous vintage bird cages & vintage cake stands.Every guest recieved a 'pink' goodie bag & was served tea & coffee to thier table by myself & the wonderful staff at The Days Inn.

 The very talented Hannah from www.hannahbuns.co.uk provided the scrumptious delights, a selection of lemon tarts, cupcakes, brownies & carrot cake that went down very nicely thank you x

There was also various stalls for a spot of shopping from Accessorise me, Getgo books, Eriby Gifts, Weight watchers & my own boutique http://www.finishingtouchinteriorsboutique.co.uk/ 
Theressa owner of Arevoltion Beauty was also on hand to paint a nail or two to glam everything up & contributed all her takings to the charity. (Thank you Theressa x)

The day was a complete sell out & we even had a few extras turn up & managed to squeeze them in. Everyone had a wonderful time & I did spy one or two ladies sneaking to the bar for a cheeky wine or two......

Here's me below with guests of honour mayor of Haverhill Maureen Bryne & Maura Tyler both of whom are survivors of breast cancer.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone involved & for thier support especially the wonderful Taro from The Days Inn who made the day go smoothly. xx

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