How to Mix Patterns Like the Pros

Sir Mix A Lot is in Da House!

Dandylion Designs "Fandango" with Casadeco "Moire" 

Combining prints brings excitement to a room—but how do you make it work? Set small patterns against large ones, limit your palette, and include one big solid (on sofa, floor, or wall) in the scene.

Kit Kemp Haymarket Hotel

Try starting out with 3 varying scaled patterns. Try a large floral, one medium geometric and one small classic pattern or stripe to work with. 

bhg.com

Kit Kemp, design director of the Firmdale Hotel group in London, is a renowned master of mixing colors and patterns. She suggests to begin with selecting a large-scale print with several colors , then build off the colours from within this. Make sure to counter big, bold patterns with areas of solid color or neutrals.

Kit Kemp Number Sixteen

Freshhome.com

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Flower Power

Flower Power!

Adding cut flowers is the quickest and easiest way to add life to any room.
It just makes your home prettier!

postcardfromparis.com

It seems like a simple tip, but adding floral arrangements, live plants and natural items such as vases of shells or rocks, can really add that final touch to your interior scheme. (Freshome.com)

stylecaster.com

As if you needed any more reasons to add flowers to your home, researchers claim that smelling floral scents can to put us in a good mood and make us feel less anxious and stressed. Bonus! 

sarahsarna.com

Different types of flowers can have different affects on your mood, less saturated and brighter colors are generally more relaxing, while bold saturated colors will energize you. (huffingtonpost.com)

bhg.com

stylecaster.com

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EGG-celent Easter Entertaining

The long weekend is almost here, and I know I am looking forward to a few days off and eating chocolate to my heart’s content. Let’s hope this Easter brings some lovely warm weather with it!


Easter is usually a time for some great get-togethers, and I just wanted to share a few of my handy dandy entertaining tips.


I like to make things as easy as possible so that I can enjoy myself as well…so the big thing is KEEP IT SIMPLE!


Decorate with spring flowers , painted eggs , or even tissue paper garlands… anything that will give a nice colour pop to a room.

Very creative decorating ideas on blog.Brika.com

Honeycomb Garland from ohhappyday.com

Use a bright coloured linen to dress up your table… maybe even one from the Dandylion range? 

Lovely table setting from Umbinco.com

Or use a white table cloth and have pops of colour, whether it be with coloured napkins, flowers , or vases filled with Easter eggs or sweeties. The possibilities are endless!

Learn how to fold Bunny Ears Napkins on You Tube

Foiled chocolate eggs in an antiqued vase

I’d love to hear what your plans for Easter are and any tips you may have.


Have a hippity-hoppity Easter everyone!

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My love of Pink!

Jem and the Holograms, Tarina Tarantino, Betsey Johnson, Elsa Sciaparelli, Sophia Webster and, of course Barbie... these are my shocking pink heroes!

Pink has traditionally been thought of as a feminine colour, but I find it be very empowering and versatile. 

In color psychology, pink is a sign of hope, it inspires warm and comforting feelings, and the deeper the pink, the more passion and energy it shows. Combining pink with other darker colors such as dark blue, dark green, black or gray, adds strength and sophistication to this colour.

In honor of my favourite colour, I thought I would give some helpful tips on using this oh so roarsome colour in your interior scheme.

Decorating with hot, bold, bright pink can be tricky, but think small and powerful, (like me!) and you can’t go wrong.

When used right, hot pink is an amazing accent colour and can bring life in to your interior.

Try adding a piece of pink furniture to your room to make a statement, or painting an accent wall, or if you don’t want to make such a big commitment cushions, vases, or even a chandelier in bright pink will add energy to an otherwise calm room.

Try using bright pink with softer colours, like a pale pink, soft grey, or taupe for a more subtle approach or alternately use with darker colours for a more dramatic statement.

One of my favourite ways to use hot pink is to mix with gold for a sophisticated yet fun look.

Let me know how you get on, and please share your tips and secrets for decorating with bold and bright colours.