Sorry!

I have been bad… there has been a Bright Inside blogging drought! But as it’s a new year and I see that people have been visiting while I’ve been away I guess I better get on with it again!

The past couple of months have been crazy – I’ve been getting my company Mariposa ready to do business and then Christmas madness also took over a bit. I may not be the best at always following through on my DIY projects, but this Christmas saw me knit for England. When I wasn’t working, eating or sleeping I was knitting. I thought I was going to do myself an injury! I’m still finishing off a jumper for my sister (don’t worry she did get something to open on Christmas Day!!!)

There were EIGHTEEN mug hugs and coasters to go around our beautifully/rudely (depending on the recipient) painted mugs, a Doctor Who scarf, a Yoda hat, a very cute top for my niece and a hat for my best friend. We even made some Christmas cards – though a combination of sticker madness and knitting fatigue meant they weren’t quite the sophisticated designs I had in my mind!

Santa was good to me and now I have my very own sewing machine, so perhaps there will be an improvement on the home DIY this year.

So as it’s a new year I will try my best to get back into a blogging rhythm. I also have another project in the pipeline, but more of that soon…

A taste of things to come

Sorry for my disappearance last month. It’s been a busy but very exciting time. I left the safety of my job to set out on an adventure with my own company Mariposa!

I’m still getting into the swing of things, so my posts on Bright Inside might take a while to settle into regular updates, but I don’t plan to disappear for quite so long again!

I thought I should warm the blog up again by posting a few things I’ve spotted during my hiatus…

Glitter Spoons by Leif (via Good Design Makes Me Happy)

Biscuit themed cushions of Nikki McWilliams (via Good Design Makes Me Happy)

My Writing Desk by Inesa Malafej of Etc. Etc. (via Design Milk)

Toilet Monster (via Rare Bird Finds)

If you want to see what I get up to in between my Bright Inside posts, you can find my thoughts of the ethical and economic kind on the Mariposa blog. I also have a personal blog, where I post anything else I find interesting, at helenthornber.com

Coasting along…

I love tea, and if it’s possible my other half loves tea even more. As a result we are frequent coaster users. However I’ve been having quite the coaster dilemma recently. There seems to be a lack of interesting, fun and colourful coasters about. I had a brief moment of hope after discovering the Skutta Coaster at IKEA, which now live in our lounge, but after extensive Googling I couldn’t find anything else to meet my coaster needs or wants.

SKUTTA Coaster by IKEA

Last weekend when I was looking through the TENT London exhibitors I finally had a breakthrough when I found some fabulous coasters by a local North East designer, Bettina Nissen. The Shadow Coasters are available from Designed & Made.

Shadow Coasters by Bettina Nissen available from Design & Made

I also came across the cute Spill Coasters from Domesticity.

Spill Coasters by Domesticity

Even with these discoveries I’m still disappointed by the lack of coaster inspiration, especially with some gorgeous illustrators and designer producing mugs, tea towels and everything else apart from coasters. If you have spotted any lovely coasters please leave a comment with a link, and point us in the right direction!

Our last TENT London picks

The third and final TENT London blog is here… (if you missed the other two you can read them here and here)

We start with something calming yet playful from Abigail Edwards - Seascape wallpaper.

Seascape wallaper- Summer by Abigail Edwards

If that’s a bit calm for your tastes perhaps Cocobolo by Rex Ray is bright enough? Flavor Paper take the idea of wall coverings to a whole other universe!

Cocobolo by Rex Ray available from Flavor Paper

There’s something eerie but appealing about the Curiousa & Curiousa website. Their designs seem to fall somewhere in between Alice in Wonderland and Miss Haversham’s mansion. Look a bit closer at the “cute” fabric designs and you feel like you’re in a world of fairytales gone wrong. As for the gorgeous hand blown glass lampshades – I want them!

Curiousa & Curiousa

The Balloon lamp by haoshi is definitely for those who like happy fairytale endings…

Balloon Lamp by haoshi

Towards the end of my online TENT London experience I discovered Thomas & Vines. They are a flock coating company (which as I understand it means they can coat pretty much anything in any colour you choose) but they also do their own range of chairs, mirrors, lampshades and chandeliers – available in lots of different colours of course!

Baroque Wall Mirror by Thomas & Vines

So that’s it from my armchair round up of TENT London 2011… it’s been fun! Hopefully I’ll make it down South for the real thing in 2012!!!

Furniture at TENT London

This is my second TENT London post and this time it’s all the fun and quirky furniture I’ve spotted… (if you missed the first blog it’s right here)

First up is Anthony Hartley. I spotted his chairs and drawers a while ago, and I am totally and utterly in love with Edna 3. If like me you love these drawers then head over to his website to drool over more photos of his gorgeous furniture.

Edna 3 by Anthony Hartley

Sticking with the theme of bright primary colours, Adam Xander’s X Bench seems to come in any colour you can imagine!

X Bench by Adam Xander

I’m very taken by this vanity table by Furniture Magpies. All their pieces are regenerated furniture, and either one offs or limited editions.

Vanity Table by Furniture Magpies

There’s something very quirky and unique about the furniture from Bloq, as well as bookcases they do all sorts of storage and tables too. The new products they launched at TENT London aren’t on their website yet, but they promise they are coming very soon!

Bookcases by Bloq

That’s not all folks… on Wednesday we’ll have the third and final round up from TENT London. See you soon!

Getting comfortable for TENT London

If I could click my ruby red shoes today there would be one place to be better than home, and that is TENT London, taking place at the Old Truman Brewery until tomorrow (Sunday 25th September). As I’m getting my own business up and running I’m going to have to wait a while before I have the time and money to head off on Bright Inside road trips. I’m not one to be beaten though, so I’m relaxing my own sofa, drinking tea and doing an online tour of all the exhibitors so I can still bring you my TENT London picks!

As I’m only up to D in the A-Z list and already have 10 things to share I’ve decided to split it down into a series of three blogs, starting with the comfy stuff…

I can’t start a blog about TENT London without mentioning Contemporary Lab. The lovely Emma is down there showing off the best from graduate designers, including the new Asian inspired cushion range by Sophie Strickson.

Asian Inspired Knitted Cushion by Sophie Strickson

I love the Warm Hug Cushions by David Ross Design. With rumours that snow could arrive up North in a few weeks I can’t think of anything better than a cushion and hot water bottle all in one to survive the cold months ahead!

Warm Hug Cushions by David Ross Design

Jo Price and colour seem to go hand in hand… her chairs and ottomans are beautiful!

Jo Price at TENT London

I couldn’t decide which of Zoe Murphy‘s pieces to post, they are all beautiful. In the end the fabric on her Patchwork Silk Footstool won my heart, but it was a close tie with her Margate Collection.

Patchwork Silk Footstool by Zoe Murphy

I couldn’t think of anything better to end the first TENT London post on than this fabulous sofa from Couch Design. I think my own sofa is a little jealous right now…

Bohemia by Couch Design

I’ll be back on Monday with the next instalment of TENT London 2011…

We’re tweeting

Just a quick post to let you know Bright Inside is now tweeting at @brightinsideuk

I was wondering what to do about the cool stuff I spot in between blogs and I thought I’d set up a Twitter account to share it with you. If you spot anything colourful for the home then tweet @brightinsideuk  and we’ll RT it.

Hope to tweet you soon!

Calendars that last forever

It might seem an odd time to write about calendars, it’s only September and we’re not quite into end of year mode, but that’s the beauty of these three calendar concepts… they work ever year and you don’t need to wait until January to start!

Binder Clip Calendar by Shantanu Suman

Shantanu Suman designed  the Binder Clip Calendar, a calendar which can last forever, to “save paper”. Using three sheets of paper (30, 31 & 28 days for February) and seven binder clips for the days of the week, it may be the solution that means you never need to buy a calendar again!

Hand-made perforated calendar by Harrington&Squires (via deeply IMPRESSED)

The Perforated Calendar by Harrington&Squires doesn’t technically fall into the category of an everlasting calendar, but on first glance I thought it was, and with a few tweaks to the design it wouldn’t be far off. I thought it deserved a mention anyway for being so pretty and showing up at just the right time!

Monthly Measure Calendar by Sebastian Bergne (via MOCO)

If you thought the first idea was impressive, Sebastian Bergne takes it even further. Comprising of only a star and a wooden ruler his two piece Monthly Measure Calendar is probably durable enough to survive for many years to come, and would be a lovely addition to any desk* (*my desk). It was launched at Maison&Objet this past weekend, so I”ll be keeping my eye on Sebastian’s website and online shop to hopefully snap one up for my office once they go on sale!

Wool Modern

As an avid knitter I was rather taken when I came across the Wooly chair by Susanne Westphal on Design Milk.

Wooly chair by Susanne Westphal (via Design Milk)

I thought I’d do a bit of research to see what other wool inspired home wares were out there and discovered that Wool Modern is on until September 29th 2011 at La Galleria (Pall Mall, London). “Wool Modern is the 2011 highlight of the Campaign for Wool” and it has Prince Charles as it’s patron. I’m not quite sure how I missed it!

As I searched through the exhibitors my initial excitement began to fade, there was some lovely things, but just not bright or fun enough for here.

Thankfully, just as I was about to give up hope I spotted the Hi Ho Rocking Horse Chair by Jared Lim. As someone with fond memories of rocking horses as a child, I love the idea of this grown up comfy version!

Hi Ho Rocking Horse Chair by Jarrod Lim (Available at Heal's)

And not long after finding this I hit the jackpot… Melanie Porter. Melanie makes some gorgeous chairs with bright knitted covers, and some fantastic and unusual accessories, like the Robert Clock.

Rasha by Melanie Porter

Robert by Melanie Porter

I’m gutted that I can’t make it to London for the exhibition, but hopefully the Campaign for Wool keeps going strong and I can make it down for whatever they have planned in 2012!

If you make it to Wool Modern let us know what it was like in the comments below… 

A cosy nook

I love reading, yet somehow finding the time and space to do it can be challenging, especially when theres so much else going on. I love the idea of creating a cosy nook somewhere in my home that is just for reading, so inviting that I make time to chill out and relax.

Reading nook by decorology (Flickr)

Image via remodelaholic

Doing a bit of nook research (as you do) I came across these Mediterranean and Moroccan nooks and love the brightly coloured cushions against white walls.

Cote Maison (via the style files)

Image from jj locations

I definitely think I’m onto something with the Moroccan and Bedouin tent influences below. Lots of luxurious cushions and a cosy atmosphere perfect for losing yourself in a book and forgetting about the rest of the world. Now I just need to find a nook to make my own…

Images clockwise from top left - travelpod.com, youandyourwedding.co.uk, apartmenttherapy.com, feefeern.wordpress.com