These days, in our increasingly environmentally-aware society, many designers are looking to promote design that makes use of found objects, saving more waste from landfill and bringing new life to pre-loved furnishings, homewares and furniture.

Kei Ng and Brian Richer are the Toronto designers behind Castor, a design duo established in 2006. Castor design lighting and furniture and are interested in the ‘middle ground between art and design’. The reuse of materials is also an important part of Castor’s aesthetic. Burnt out bulbs to make lighting, a rusty shipping container to make a sauna… this recontextualisation of materials is a primary design consideration.

Lighting designs by Castor

Reestore are a Bedfordshire based studio who design and manufacture a range of handmade products for the home and office. The current range includes chairs made from shopping trolleys, roll top baths transformed into sofas and magnificent desks produced from aeroplane wings.

I particularly love Max the Bath Tub Chaise, a contemporary twist on the sofa briefly featured in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. ‘Max’ is created from a vintage cast iron bath and upholstered in the fabric of your choice.

Max the Bath Tub Chaise by Reestore

The Texas based company The Weld House specialises in converting old car parts into beautiful new furniture designs. This fabulous dining table is made from the roof of a 1966 Chrysler Newport!

1966 Newport dining table by The Weld House

“We are a small company specializing in handmade steel furniture. Our passion is delivering functional works of art that have a rich American history. By combining the colourful, reclaimed sheetmetal of 20+ year old American automobiles with the attention to detail and heavy gauge tubing from The Weld House, you end up with an heirloom quality piece of furniture that is truly one-of-a-kind.” – The Weld House.

As we’ve seen from these designers, recycled materials can be reused to create some really incredible new designs. Any of the pieces I have featured would be a real talking point! I love discovering new, innovative pieces and would love to know what furniture you have come across using reclaimed items?

Geometric hallway

If you feel you would like to make a statement, the best way to do this is by creating a feature wall. This is easily done with multiple frames or striking wallpaper. Choose your focal point, add a stronger, more vibrant colour and for minimum effort you really can achieve maximum impact. If you decide on a multi-framed wall, keep frames at eye level or slightly above but you don’t need to align the tops of the frames. Hang the photos at various points to create the illusion of height.

Chic storage

Make the most of your space, however limited, by organising it well. Invest in some good storage and maximise the space you have by using shoe racks, wicker storage and coat hooks. Choosing the right colours for your hallway is important. Leave it looking more spacious by selecting pale, light colours or warm and welcoming by choosing warmer shades. Add a rug or runner for comfort and if you have space perhaps consider a console table.

Creative flow

Create flow from one room to the next by using the same colours in each room but don’t think you have to restrict yourself to a single colour palette for your whole house: mydeco.com community member yaabza created this beautiful hallway using the mydeco.com 3D planner.

Fancy hallway/living area by mydeco.com community member yaabza

By using similar colours in each room, yaabza has created a direct flow from hallway to living room. The console and wall lamps create a focal point.

egrimsley, another mydeco.com community member, chose light, pale colours for this hallway, making it seem larger. Cleverly arranged storage and comfortable seating helps this hallway to make a lasting impression.

Blue hallway by egrimsley

Why not have a go at giving your own hallway a makeover by uploading your floorplan with the 3D planner? Let us know how you get on!

Chloe with some of her work

When it comes to finding a beautiful, vibrant piece of art or cushion for your home, any one of Chloe Croft’s masterpieces could fit the bill. Her work is made from scalpel-cut paper and the resulting images are as intricate as they are striking. She has translated these designs into a fantastic range of prints, canvasses and cushions and we are very proud to have her on board at mydeco.com. We recently caught up with Chloe and put a few questions to her about her work, life and inspirations.

What first led you to create images with strips of paper rather than, say, a pencil or brush?

I think any creative person’s world is mainly visual and I see images as colours and spaces. I think it stems from doing fashion drawings for ten years or so (I did a fashion degree and a fashion masters degree at the RCA) where you break images into constructions -which is how I do my pieces. I feel more comfortable ‘painting’ this way as it allows me to use colour in a way that I don’t think you can achieve with paint, it’s definite and committed: if I’m not bold it doesn’t work and I kind of like that pressure.

What made you take the leap from fashion to interiors?

Thats a funny one, I think being creative is sometimes hard to pigeon hole. I absolutely loved fashion and designing clothes but there are often industry trends and boundaries that I found quite restrictive. When I do my artwork I feel really free and just make pieces that I couldn’t find and would really love to have in my house.

Loving Budgies cushion

You obviously have a love of, and are inspired by animals – flamingos seem to be a particular favourite. What is it about them that appeals to you?

I love all animals and I give a percentage of my sales to WWF and am looking to do a series of endangered animals to help raise awareness. Flamingos are so fascinating as they are rather ethereal and their natural colourings are so intense. They are a wonderful animal to recreate.

We know that you’re also available for private commissions, what has been your most interesting work to date?

I love doing commissions as I am always pushed out of my comfort zone. I have done many interesting and incredibly diverse pieces including chinese dragons, landscapes, dinosaurs as well as many stunning horses, dogs etc. I’d love to do a life-size horse soon!

Archie limited edition print

Apart from creating your work, do you have any ‘crafty’ hobbies or interests?

Not massively as everything creative seems to come back to and be reflected in my work! I’ve always subconsciously gathered information and then I see it in my work.

If you could sum up your home in three words, what would they be?

Elegant, bespoke, vibrant.

Flamingo and Flowers original

What is your most prized possession?

Can I have two? My sewing machine (it has seemingly started every idea in my life) and my medical scalpels to do my artwork.

People might not know that you are also a renowned fashion and wardrobe stylist. How do you balance your different work?

That is always a hard one, I’ve done fashion and wardrobe for years and really enjoy the totally different lifestyle it brings and I also love the ying and yang of my work life. It is tough to juggle sometimes but it’s always great to be busy, I’m much happier working than relaxing!

You can shop for all of our Chloe Croft pieces here at mydeco.com.

It's easy to bring a Jubilee feel to a room

Partying for the Jubilee will often involve friends coming to your home. This colourful Union Jack doormat will set the mood as soon as guests arrive. The doormat is currently on offer for under £25 allowing you to add a splash of colour for less cash.

Union Jack doormat

Featuring one of the most iconic images associated with London, this Double decker “Routemaster” print would be a good addition to your home. Available in a range of 4 different patterns, this version featuring the Union Jack instantly gets you in the patriotic mood. The prints are a £20 each so you can add the Jubilee spirit to your home for a very affordable price.

Double decker "Routemaster" print

Wall stickers are always a good way to add decoration to your home for the short term and are especially good for parties. The Queen Elizabeth II wall sticker is 40cm high and available in 15 colours. They are only £13 each so why not choose 3 different colours to create your own montage to The Queen?

Queen Elizabeth II wall sticker

Cushions are also another great way to bring some Jubilee spirit into your home. If you want to keep your accessories for longer than the celebration weekend try to consider something with a celebratory theme but in a design that won’t tire quickly. The rather colourful Jubilee bee cushion by Natural History features a bee and crown in regal purple. The crown gives it a Jubilee theme but after the party has finished you could easily team it with purple cushions to keep featuring it in your home.

Jubilee bee cushion

However you spend the Jubilee, remember that it should be a fun celebration. Choosing to add a few simple pieces to your home now will help you get in the mood for the Jubilee weekend in early June – let’s just hope the rain stays away!

Today I chose colours I’m not really drawn to. Apricot and peach give me the shudders, reminding me of girly rooms from the 70s with dusty dried flowers, floral wallpaper and macrame. Mind you, I think it’s about time macrame came back…

Here’s the room I started with last time. In my opinion the console table from Rowen & Wren (used last time) would work in just about any room. They have lots of other really lovely pieces and you can see their interview with mydeco.com here.

Basic room

Now we know that these colours are near each other on the colour wheel as they are both saturated, light versions of orange and red orange (top right corner of my colour grids).

Saturation and value grid - orange

Saturation and value grid - red/ orange

No matter how hard I try, I just can’t get over my fear of apricot or peach wallpaper, so I tried creating a patterned look with paint instead.

Peach and apricot wall

Extending the analogous scheme all the way round to colours I like better (like the violets) creates a balanced, co-ordinated room without a colour clash.

Analogous colour wheel

Analogous colour room

Don’t think I go straight from idea to colour wheel to completed design quite as easily as shown above!  Here’s a step along the way where I have thrown on any promising looking items, before editing them back to something I like.

Reading about colour schemes and creating colour schemes are very different – if you fancy it you have the perfect tool to use: the 3d planner. Now, why don’t you give it a go?

Yves Andrieux & Vincent Jalbert take antique fabrics and do something wonderous with them. Their shop in the Marais district of Paris is an Aladdin’s cave of treasures. Clothes, bags, cushions, curtains and throws like you have never seen before.

ADDRESS: 55, Rue Charlot 75003 Paris

Shop in Marais

Want to cook like the French? Then you could do a lot worse than book a lesson with Laetitia of Zest en Maniere. Her cookery school in the 9th arrondissement even offers 2 hour courses for teenagers.

Cooking the French way

If you can’t go in person there are some fabulous recipes on her website. Her Pan Fried Apple Balls are to die for.

ADDRESS: 37, rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, 75009, Paris

Cookery lessons chez Zest en Maniere 

Though not French but Belgian, Agnes Emery has a shop in the 11th arrondissement with the most amazing fabrics, furniture, tiles, rugs, wallpaper etc. Pieces for your interior like you have never seen before. Well worth a visit if only for inspiration.

ADDRESS: 18, passage de la Main d’Or 75011 Paris

Out of the ordinary at Emery et Cie

A haven for lovers of natural fabrics. Organic cotton and linen, merino wool from France, virgin goosedown, pure essential oils, hand-blown recycled glass… if that isn’t enough to tempt you then I give up!

ADDRESS: 6, rue Pavée 75004 Paris

For lovers of the natural

There’s jewellery then there’s Camille Lescure’s jewellery. Her designs are more like items of clothing. I mean, where else have you seen jewellery you can hang on your knickers? Her shop in the 2nd arrondissement is a delight to the senses.

ADDRESS: 85, bis rue de Charenton 75012 Paris

Jewellery that mimics garments

Paris can make you hungry. Passing through all those fabulous food markets in the morning leaves you wanting more. My all time favourite place to go when this happens to me is Chez Marianne in the Marais district. I never have a clue what I am eating but it is always delicious! This restaurant-deli serves Middle Eastern and Jewish specialties and is a bustling, friendly place to rest your sore feet.

ADDRESS: 2,rue des Hospitalieres-Saint-Gervais, 75004 Paris

Chez Marianne

If I had to put these addresses in order of preference then Merci would have to be No 1. The ex owners of Bonpoint, the luxury children’s clothing label, opened Merci in the 3rd arrondissement in 2009. What I love most about this place is that you can breathe: three floors of gorgeousness are open and airy and every display makes you smile. And any shop that hangs plastic flowers from their toilet ceiling has my vote.

Scenes from Merci

On my last visit I came away with a set of plastic beakers in the colours of Laduree macarons, a porcelain onion and a roll of waxed vintage newspaper: I can think of nowhere else this would happen!

ADDRESS: 111, boulevard Beaumarchais 75003 Paris

My Merci finds

Last but not least; La Belle Ecole. This is the place to go if you want to be French without the passport. Situated in the 7th arrondissement this school offers courses in culinary art, tasting art, the art of flower arranging, French Etiquette, French Elegance and French Art & Design. I have the advantage of being able to stay with my daughter when I go to Paris and I can tell you now living the French way is hugely liberating.

ADDRESS: 26, rue Saussier Leroy 75017 Paris

Lessons in how to be French

Trend Bible's Natural Selection trend forecast

With an emerging consumer backlash to mass-produced goods comes a desire for simplistic, tactile and primitive forms, hand-crafted and hand-woven materials. Products that build an emotional connection resonate with jaded consumers, who are exercising a much more considered approach to shopping. In part this is because of the continuing squeeze on disposable income, and also because of a desire for original, authentic and beautiful products following a decade of fast and cheap goods.

We highlighted this consumer mood in our Lifestyle Trends for the home Spring/Summer 2012 forecast within our trend direction Natural Selection; a story focusing on the absolute essentials, the perfect edit of pieces for the home, where the art of manufacture and the skill of the artisan are celebrated, and where hand-rendered techniques and naturally occurring imperfections are revered.

Trend Bible Natural Selection moodboard

Published back in 2010, our report highlighted that real, tactile and human elements within products play a significant role in purchasing decisions made in times of economic uncertainty.  A new and engaging dialogue is beginning to arise between artisan and customer. Consumers want products with integrity, authenticity and longevity. In terms of design, we can expect to see rough and raw natural materials – such as washed leathers and untreated wood – alongside recontextualised traditional elements made modern to cope with the requirements of tomorrow. Pattern and colour are played down allowing us to see the technical aspects of production.

We are starting to see this crafted aesthetic come to the forefront as we move into Spring Summer 2012, as the influence spreads from early adopter to late majority status. Here we share some examples of how this trend is unfurling.

Trend Bible's Maison et Objet report

Basic household objects are themselves becoming centre of attention; in previous years we’ve seen things like wooden clothes pegs and the light bulb become icons in design. At Maison et Objet, there were many references to tactile, simple and familiar materials, like the humble ball of string, used as inspiration for door stops and candles. To see all of our reports from Maison et Objet, visit the Trend Bible blog.

Inspired by this trend, an editorial feature in Good Homes’ February 2012 edition depicts Elements as a key trend for Spring/Summer 2012 – where a muted colour palette is teamed with tactile soft furnishings, hand crafted ceramics and linens. Showcasing texture by keeping colours pared down is also a key element, which we also emphasized in our Natural Selection trend.

Natural Selection pieces in Good Homes

British retailer Marks and Spencer’s latest collaboration with design powerhouse Conran interprets the mood for hand-rendered products with integrity within its’ SS12 range, including woven outdoor furniture. We highlighted intricate wickerwork and woven natural materials as being a key component for outdoor furniture this season, where the methods of manufacture are evident and exposed.

M&S furniture collaboration with Conran

Outdoor products following the Natural Selection trend

For more on this year’s Spring/Summer trends, take a look at last month’s guest post from Trend Bible, in which we run through another of our forecasts, Sentiment, detailing how the upcoming Diamond Jubilee and London Olympics are influencing design trends over a cross section of industries.

Elegant, neutral sitting room

Neutral scheme with gold and cream accents

A neutral colour palette gives the perfect opportunity to introduce soft hints of subtle colour. Use cushions, throws and stunning decorative accessories to lift the room and add in seasonal trends. Here are some beautiful sitting rooms with gentle splashes of pale and dusky pinks to inspire you:

Parisian pastel lounge

Parlour in feminine colour palette

Lounge with peaceful decor

See how in the image below an accent chair has been used to give a neutral sitting room a pop of colour and life.

White scheme with hot pink accent chair

I am also fond of soft greys. Some find them cold but I find them calm and relaxing. Team them with an abundance of sparkling glass and walnut furniture to create a decadent and luxurious sitting room.

Grey sitting room with cut glass and silk accessories

As any interior designer will tell you, it is extremely important to have an exquisite lighting scheme in any room, and particularly when designing a relaxing sitting room. Your lighting scheme should bring together ambient, feature and decorative lighting without sacrificing functionality. Combined with elegant furniture, sumptuous fabrics and stunning accessories the right lighting scheme can give a luxurious and relaxing feel to your sitting room. Think lamps, sparkling wall lights and chandeliers.

By using special design features you can make a subtle colour palette come alive with interest and allure. So why not take the neutral route and create a sitting room of calm sophistication; you’ll never look back!

3D room by mydeco.com community member Jeffs design

Historically at this time, according to ‘The Incomplete, True, Authentic and Wonderful History of May Day‘ by Peter Linebaugh, ”Everywhere people ‘went a-Maying’ by going into the woods and bringing back leaf, bough, and blossom to decorate their persons, homes, and loved ones with green garlands. Outside theatre was performed with characters like Jack-in-the-Green and the Queen of the May. Trees were planted. Maypoles were erected. Dances were danced. Music was played. Drinks were drunk, and love was made. Winter was over, spring had sprung.”

Mydeco is home to some great floral pieces with vintage influences, helping you bring ‘leaf, bough and blossom’ into your interiors too. One such piece is the May Vintage Tree Wall Decal – a wonderful design by Inke Heiland. Made up of 7 parts and 90 leaves and cut from vintage wallpaper, each one is supplied with comprehensive instructions, brush and adhesive. The adhesive supplied is an ecological product without any additives or solvents and is therefore nursery safe. This is a limited edition so you can really make your room unique and the decal  is available in several different colours, each showing the tree at a different stage of the year (choose from March, April, May, June, and October).

Vintage tree wall decal

If you want to bring vintage-style floral designs into your home you need look no further than Cath Kidston fabric. This beautiful lampshade is made using vintage Rambling Rose fabric. Each of Cath Kidston’s lampshades is handmade in carefully selected materials and fabric and can be made to order for a ceiling or table lamp fitting.

Floral-lampshade

Bombus create unique art and furniture by upcycling ephemera. Discarded maps, long-forgotten books and antique atlases all provide the perfect starting point for a bespoke design. This framed 3D floral butterfly is made from a delicate, vintage floral illustration and being framed simply on a white background keeps this design fresh instead of twee.

Floral butterfly

Just bringing a few floral items and perhaps a couple of house plants into your home is enough to feel that Spring has permeated. This set of placemats adds a bit of vintage charm without being overwhelmingly chintzy – with each coaster featuring a different decorative floral image.

Vintage floral coasters

Whatever your style, a subtle floral touch can brighten any room. Bring some spring indoors – and let’s hope that the weather outdoors catches up soon!