RedFish Designs

August Summer Break 7

2011-08-07T16:32:00.000+01:00

A day's planning

August Summer Break 6

2011-08-06T19:17:00.001+01:00

Haven't I seen you somewhere before?

The August Break 5

2011-08-06T19:13:00.003+01:00

Know it's a day late but Friday nite's alright.....

Culinary Inspired Paints

2011-08-04T17:29:00.004+01:00

Eco-friendly paints from de le Cuona.

Rich raspberry, bold glistening marigold, delicious smoked chocolate hues and calming unassuming greys, sounds like paint on a plate. What more does a designer need?

The August Break 4

2011-08-04T13:24:00.007+01:00

Could that cloud be breaking? This is for you Jo Jo x

Day one for me on The August Break 2011 challenge. Let's hope I can keep it up...

Children's Spaces

2011-08-02T08:55:00.008+01:00

As much as our environment shapes who we are and how we act (and as we all know have a great effect on how we feel in general), children's spaces normally need to be far more multi-functional than that of our adult environments.

Sleeping, studying, playing are all everyday occurrences within their spaces but most importantly it is widely documented that their environment has a direct impact on their development in general. Textures, colours, patterns, shapes are just a few 'tools' which can be used to aid this.

In my old advertising life I worked on many children's brands and one thing that was consistently at the forefront of any research was the importance of 'play'. Many parents put play into a box which is seen as 'time out' and some even see it as time wasting, for e.g. they feel their children should be reading a book or learning a new subject, unfortunately a sad reflection on our competitive world. However, play stimulates many development factors of a child; creative thinking, interactivity, self-esteem and general social skills such as sharing etc. It's their one chance in life where they can be in charge and by doing this allows them to develop as a person, learning their boundaries as they go. Plays role therefore should never be underestimated.

Putting the play theory together with the 'tools' means you are able to develop the perfect children's space.

Over the next few weeks I am going to be exploring this area of design in my quest to bring together some simple and some elaborate children's interiors.

And my parting thought, many times when we are designing a child's bedroom we forget to tap into one of the key inspirations, the child themselves, after all their minds are at times far more creative that ours.

Now for the first board in the series is Harry's Room. A vibrant space for a young lad using a combination of shapes, patterns and colour. Penguin wallpaper is complimented by a colour range of off blues brightened by striped blinds with an indigo denim trim and a height chart wall sticker. The playful feel is finished with a large mushroom lamp, antique style 1920's race car and good old fashioned wooden toys.

Suppliers:
Isak Penguin Wallpaper Turquoise
All paint colours Farrow and Ball, Great White, Skylight, Blue Ground, Drawing Room Blue
Ian Mankin Worthing Stripe
Ian Mankin Indigo Denim
Shelving via Pininterest (sorry lost original link)
Punkin Patch Thomas Bed
Baby Face Striped Rug
Baby Face Gingham Bedding
Harry's Toy Box
Egmont Large Mushroom Lamp
Marquant Vintage Toy Car
Boudie and Fou Wall Chart

On Yer Bike

2011-07-28T12:30:00.004+01:00

Douglas and Gordon have for years struggled to express their personality within the muddled estate agent market. Therefore when 'i am' associates re-branded and designed the interiors of their offices D&G were at last able to run with the big boys. One of their values D&G hold dear is their ability to be innovative and caring within a profession rarely associated with these qualities. But caring and innovate they are and to highlight this back in April they announced a new addition to the fleet, a vintage style bike.

This is a brilliant idea for this brand, highlighting their values perfectly and at last someone is jumping off the 'branded mini' wagon and into a unique branded transport area. I am just wondering if they have male and female versions? If not I feel they may have missed a trick - using old butcher's bikes for the men in the office would allow them to leave their property newspapers onboard for people to help themselves when they are left in the streets.

I just do hope no one has uttered the 'office bike' gag.

http://www.i-amonline.com

Rummaging on a grand scale

2011-03-16T09:00:00.005Z

Those that know me know that I love a good rummage, but this is a rummage on a rather grand scale. Reminiscent of the recent sale held at our beloved Chatsworth, much of the late Dutch Queen Juliana's possessions are going under the hammer with Southerby's in Amsterdam this week.

Interested viewers from around the world have been found musing through a maze of oak tables, silver, threadbare armchairs, marble mantle clocks and giant chandeliers. Walls lined with oil and watercolor paintings with images of where once they were homed. And with much respect to the late Queen, even the paddles are orange.

I felt for one bidder, described as a collector and a royal fan, and was hoping to buy some antique porcelain he was quoted as saying

"I have the same problem as the royal household, where do I put it all?".

I know the feeling!

Delicate Days

2010-10-29T12:00:00.004+01:00

Aedh Wishes for the Clothes of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats

Photo courtesy of BendyChange

Foraging Foray

2010-10-02T09:53:00.005+01:00

Autumn is here in all it's glory and we are off this weekend foraging in Epping Forest for 'shrooms! Not sure what to expect, except the guaranteed influx of rain which is due tomorrow morning. So wrapped up to the hilt, basket and flask at the ready we are off to join Andy Overall for a day with a difference. If I can manage to get the camera out without it and myself being washed away I'll be back early next week to unravel the adventure! Have a lovely weekend one and all, now where are my wellies?...

Mushroom shots courtesy of fungi to be with
Deer shot courtesy of Iain West

A sad sad day in our household

2010-08-28T11:23:00.003+01:00

The 4th August was a dreadful day, one which we had dreaded for a long time. Our dear sweet boy left us, drifting away calmly while he slept. Our hearts are broken, a massive gap in our lives has been created and our house is so quiet. We will miss you dearly Jo Jo, you gave us so much unconditional love and joy, more than we could have every asked for. Sleep peacefully, we'll never stop loving you. xx.

4 Sleeps To Go!

2010-06-12T18:57:00.008+01:00

Everything in my life has been on hold for a long time now and in four days time I am able to reclaim my life again. I have to admit I have had a ball being back in advertising, with some real challenges, but most importantly some great people and colleagues that I have worked with. However, now I am ready to get back to RedFish, my interiors, my vintage buying exploits, sourcing wonder pieces for people and getting Teacups & Pearls truly up and running (more on that another time). So my first challenge is to create and build a website for RedFish and Teacups & Pearls, and for this I have given myself three weeks. I am going to use this space to show the countdown and see if 3 weeks are possible. Let's see shall we?

I leave you with a thought, my best friend T believes that if you think hard enough about something it will begin to happen. There is one thing just recently that has happened in this way, but I will save that for another post as the culmination of the thought is on Monday and I dont' want to tempt fate.

The thought I do leave you with is that today at the market I bought 4 1920's pen illustrations of ladies head fashion and a sale poster scamp for Derry and Toms (which I will share with you when I find their full history). Derry and Toms were one of the largest department stores in 1920's London. They were rivals of Selfridges and Swan & Edgar attracting vast queues on their opening sale days and standing the test of time until they sadly closed on January 13th 1972. Most people would then have known the building to have been taken over by Biba with the amazing Rainbow Restaurant and the famous Roof Gardens, commissioned by Derry and Toms, and now owned by Richard Branson.

So imagine my surprise when I am part way through researching the history of the illustrations I had bought and clicked onto a blog I read regularly Ted and Bunny. Her latest post was about yellow and how much she would love to wear it but sadly cannot and the last time she had bought a yellow piece was in Biba on in the old Derry and Toms building on Kensington High Street - weird, random, coincidence?

Catwalk Capsule

2010-03-06T16:28:00.004Z

Would love to be wearing this today, grey and yellow hues with white accents - bring on the sunshine!

All images courtesy of Anthropologie

Getting Away From It All

2010-03-02T11:36:00.001Z

We all have dreams, some of us are lucky enough to live them, some of us tiptoe around them and others just continue to dream.

Mr S and I have been dreaming and talking for a long time about what we would like to do if we were ever to get out of the big smoke. I guess we are still at tiptoe stage, however, we do have a small list:

A boutique B&B,
A Delicatessen with a vintage tea room,
An interior business we could combine with the B&B,
A goat farm or
A combination of all of the above!

And, it is with this dream that I gleefully stumbled upon this wonderful small boutique B&B in Hastings, right near the coast. It's not totally what we dream to have, but there are beautiful snippets of the building and interiors that can't do anything but make you smile.

So if you like what you see in this post why not pour yourself a steaming cup of tea, click on here and plan that long deserved weekend away. We can all dream.

2010-03-01T19:18:00.005Z

Lucienne Day - 1 January 1917 to 30 January 2010
Thank you for your inspiration.

Happy New Year in March!

2010-03-01T14:49:00.008Z

It has rained, snowed, blown a gale, given us warm sunshine and rolling clouds in blue skies, what a mixture 2010 has dealt us so far. I am really glad to be back in this space, although I have not written for months now, it is not to say I have had nothing I have not wanted to share. So with a smile on my face and limbered fingers I am back.

I have to say I was glad to see the end of 2009, it was a mix of a year. Although I was glad to see the end, what an end it was. This year was our turn to share Christmas with Mr S's Mother. In the eight years of knowing Mr S he has never once moaned about it raining. But for some reason, which all became clear eventually, he was very unhappy this Christmas Eve about how wet it was. So with Christmas Eve in full swing he asked me to help him quickly in his Mother's garden - "now?, but it's cold and wet, why do I want to go into the garden at 7 o'clock on Christmas Eve?"... "ok, ok, I'm coming".

Oh my, what a sight. Lining the path tea lights flickered, round the pond the bushes and shrubs aglow and twinkling, down to a large Christmas tree with fairy lights dancing. A roaring fire in the chiminea sat opposite two empty chairs, a lace tablecloth adorned the table that held a bottle of Tattinger sitting to attention in an ice bucket with two champagne glasses, just waiting to be used. Now for those of you who know me, I am never lost for words, but at this point my mouth ceased to work, my heart skipped a beat and my lip started trembling!

Mr S wanted to talk to me, and talk he did, what he said was joyful and touching and with no further ado he knelt on the soddened ground and asked "will you marry me?". My, what is a girl to say? To begin with it appeared I could not respond, my voice had left my body, however, luckily, as quickly as it had disappeared it returned and I muttered through tears of joy, "yes, of course I will". Then onto my finger he slipped a beautiful sparkling diamond solitaire that he had lovingly chosen and with both of us smiling madly at each other so begun our life together, forever.

Camping and a fresh outlook

2009-04-24T16:52:00.003+01:00

Yes, I haven't blogged for a while now, Yes, I have been a bit lapse, No, I have not lost interest. Mr S and I have just been camping for four glorious days down in Sussex. Long walks, bird song, great food on the barbie, weather was grand, wish we could have said the same about the caravan! Joking aside we had a magic time which has inspired many new ideas, keep checking back as they will be on here soon. In the meantime have a great weekend, fingers crossed the sun stays out, I'll be back soon with more on our glamorous get-away!

Spring has sprung

2009-03-25T09:08:00.004Z

This weekend brought us two inspirational events - firstly spring, which seems to have rapidly disappeared as the week has developed, but also the 40th anniversary of Eric Carle's much-loved classic The Hungary Caterpillar, which was originally published in 1969 and every time I see the book or illustration I can't help but smile.

Eric's original idea came to him while he was working in his studio.

"One day I was punching holes with a hole puncher into a stack of paper and I thought of a bookworm and so I created a story called 'A Week with Willi the Worm'. Then my editor suggested a caterpillar instead and I said 'Butterfly!' That's how it began."

Eric, who turns 80 this year, is still very young at heart and receives some 10,000 letters a year from children who have read the book and as testament to great work has sold more than 29 million copies around the world and has been translated into 47 languages. It still sells on average one copy every 30 seconds. Which just goes to show whilst many fads come and go simple and inspirational work lives forever.

War is declared in Duntshill Road

2009-03-24T10:39:00.004Z

This little beastie has returned - the Chrysolina Americana as it is known in horticultural circles, or more commonly The Rosemary Beetle, is not a welcome guest in our garden. Our small patch brims with green hedges, white roses, herbs and lavenders and it is the rosemary and lavender bushes that this little chap delights in. They are not new to the UK the Royal Horticultural Society reported them first in 1994. However they first visited us two years ago, and now every year I am on beetle watch starting in early spring through to the summer and to my horror this morning I spotted the first of our yearly visitors. Although they look lovely with their dark green and red stripes they unfortunately strip the lavender and rosemary and can eat an amazing amount of just one bush in one day! So beware, if you have these plants in your garden go now and check them - and believe me don't feel cruel.

Happy Mother's Day Mum x

2009-03-22T11:06:00.004Z

Although I can't be with you today I am sending a huge hug and kiss to you Mum - wouldn't these be lovely with a up of coffee? xx

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mum's out there - enjoy the sunshine.

2009-02-28T17:30:00.008Z

Wednesday was a challenging day. It started off with me not concentrating and tripping up the escalator at Baker Street Station (at least it was up!) and cracking my knee on the edge of the next metal step - s**t that hurt - it was bizarre the different emotions I experienced.

Terror - I see moving metal approaching me very quickly
Confusion - What's going on? I'm not meant to be down here, sprawled completely un-lady-like
Possessiveness - Grab tight of everything on person - mobile, travel card, handbag, document you were reading on train and bag which was on shoulder with "stuff" in it, which on reflection could have been surplus to requirements this morning
Shock - Think I might cry now, the bottom lip is quivering - luckily it was only for a split second as it could have been even more embarrassing then tripping in-front of hundreds of rush hour commuters!
Worry - Have I ripped my trousers? I have a meeting at a large advertising agency in half an hour with people I haven't met before, is my knee bleeding?
Relief - Safely in office, no rip, no blood, bowl of porridge/banana/maple syrup, time to gather thoughts for meeting and get a cab to large advertising agency with only 5 minutes to get there before meeting, it's just not going to happen.

Time to compose myself and metamorphose myself back into 37 me and not 63 my mother who regularly trips up! Perhaps I should take more water with it!

this is so old skool, it kicks

2009-02-22T17:46:00.004Z

Great colours, great individuality, just a great idea...

I know "I want" doesn't get but...

2009-02-17T13:01:00.004Z

Wanting to go back soon...

2009-02-15T17:39:00.007Z

Dehillerin is a national Parisian treasure and not one for the faint hearted. As a tourist you can very easily receive a sharp tongue, as a local a furrowed brow, however if you show any form of cuisine professionalism and knowledge of the relevant equipment you are welcomed with a smile and open arms. I do therefore question why they have their door open to the public - perhaps a naughty game they like to play?
Mr S and I have a healthy obsession with cooking and cookery shops and this very often extends to foreign supermarkets and food shops (there are worst obsessions I promise you!). So when we happened upon this wonderful establishment on our last trip to Paris, it was surprisingly by pure fate rather than detailed planning. It definitely didn't look as sharp as the image above, at first we thought it was shut - the windows were covered with cardboard and dusted with a fine layer of Parisian debris and grime as if someone had "sprinkled liberally" to give the finishing touches to the ultimate cook shop recipe.

We were in heaven - gleaming copper, paring knives that sat comfortably in the palm of your hand, roasting trays crying out for a wonderful piece of pork, baking tins to make any cook quiver with excitement and untold ranges of saucepans I would have given my left arm for (not my right mind you, otherwise I wouldn't be able to use them!). No wonder I sigh contently every time I think of this magical place.

Love is in the air

2009-02-14T18:39:00.004Z

Mr S and I are not into the big commercial valentine's thing - don't worry am not going to bore you with our thoughts - but we do recognise the day and with that I wanted to wish you all a happy, happy valentines day - spread the love x

images from:
red book
red door
red handles
red jelly

raindrops..

2009-02-09T19:28:00.010Z

..keep falling, keep falling, keep falling - it's been the sort of day that either you go out fully togged up in waterproofs or shorts and flip-flops. Had a little tweet today, re-jigged the colours on the blog and new image for banner, worked on my website and started to design a birthday present for Mr S (very exciting). I so want to share but more on that later when I am further along and I know he is not going to peek.

Looking forward to some of this (above!) tomorrow whilst I carry on with designing the website in a local cafe - it's good to get out - hope you are all safe and dry!

photo courtesy of

It's been a long long time

2009-02-07T16:45:00.007Z

I have been a very bad, bad, bad blogger. Can't believe how long I have ignored you for - sorry won't really cut it will it? Time has flown by many projects finished, postponed, cancelled and some we are trying to revive now - it's tough out there, the interiors industry is taking a battering most of my work is coming from the commercial side of things as residential is hibernating. I am now also trying to get some interior styling work e.g. photo shoots, theatre/tv sets, window displays, house styling etc so if you know of anyone who needs help with their style then please let me know :0

Also in an attempt to get the RedFish name out there have been working on my website (along with my trusty art director!) and man it's hard promoting yourself - it's not one of my strong points - for 14 years or so I promoted some major brands world-wide but when it's so close to home it's a bit personal! (sorry picture of my art director keeps placing itself up the top of the blog and now HERE am frustrated now so am going to leave it where it is! why does it do that?)

So in search of inspiration I have come back to blogging and it's been lovely catching up with all my old blog haunts which I have not frequented for a while - glad to hear you are all well and happy :0

Anyone else on twitter? I have just joined today so am very new to it but it seems quite fun - have just voted on which jacket richard bacon should wear on sftw tomorrow - loads of people involved in it so should be a bit of fun -come and look me up I'm under redfishdesigns.

Also before I run any of you seen this over at polariod? It's great - drag your image onto the polariod camera icon which will be on your desktop and it turns your modern image into a nostalgic polariod shot with all it's colour vignetting and flaws - the camera even makes the sound it used to when it was ejecting your print - mmm memories! Pop over and have a go and don't forget that if you are in a hurry you can give it a virtual shake - think I'll be spending some time on converting my pictures...

Happy snapping!

Never, never, never again ...

2008-05-13T19:32:00.004+01:00

Will I ever put a feather anything in my washing machine. I can't really explain how it happened but the cat's cushion, that I thought I'd wash instead of spending a small fortune at the dry cleaners, exploded - ***t! It was like a spontaneous chicken combustion in the hen coup - Chicken Run had nothing on this - it was absolutely everywhere! And of course it blocked the machine causing it to flood, gulp once or twice and then give up the ghost.

So instead of costing me £8 at the dry cleaners, or £150 to call out an engineer it will have cost me £159 in 10 months time when the maintenance guarantee, that was cheaper to take out rather than call on an engineer or purchase a new machine, runs out!

A 7.30am visit this morning from a nice man from Hotpoint brought more feather carnage. 6 flushes of the machine later (thank god the machine is in the shed, not in the house!) and I have been trying to clear up feathers all day, even Jo our cat began to look like Big Bird!

So the moral of the story .... never, never, never again, ever put anything feather like in your washing machine!

Admin Friday

2008-04-25T10:41:00.014+01:00

image courtesy of

Judging by the insanely false smile this lady loves paperwork just as much as I do! Do you think she is taking dictation from her boss? And if she is, can you guess what is going through her mind - all captions welcome - keep it clean though please!

Friday, is normally an admin day and after much paper shuffling, filing and phone calls I was ready for a break, so decided to toddle off with a bag of goodies for the charity shop. Yes I was meant to be taking things into the charity shop - not bringing anything back with me! (keep it quiet though don't tell Mr S, he won't notice if I quickly wash them and find them homes).

But how could I resist these wonderful Le Parfait jars - I just love them and we use them all the time (can you feel a twinge of justification in my voice?!). There is something about the typography that makes me smile - I'm a bit of a sucker for great fonts and packaging...

So fonts and packaging that make me smile (believe me this is not even the tip of the iceberg!)

all of these items can be found at Labour and wait an inspiring place to step back in time and can be found just off Brick Lane

And the last purchase (thank you Ania x) was this sweet little jug - perfect for heart warming rich gravy....

So I leave you, hoping you have a wonderful weekend, let's hope it's as warming as this daffodil that has kept me sunny through all the admin - see you next week...

A mixed bag

2008-04-24T18:22:00.009+01:00

Sunshine, rain, sunshine, rain, thunder, lightening, pouring rain, sunshine..... the only thing we avoided today were high winds and snow.

And after a hard day getting clients to sign off my colour choices, explaining three times where I want some wall lights to the electrician (god you wouldn't think it was so difficult even when I'd drawn the position on the wall!) and hard negotiation to tie my contractors down to a completion date I popped into my favourite charity shop. I'm a bit of a "thrifter" at heart and find it very hard to pass a charity shop without "nipping" in to see what little gems they may have. Mr S always knows what's coming when we come across one - "I'm just going to..." - I don't even get through the whole sentence now without him raising his eyebrows which is my cue to quickly disappear through the doorway before he changes his mind!

So I was very excited to find myself a new case to hold my pens - do you think it will mean I won't loose so many to chippy's (how many pencils do they need behind their ears at any one time?), a Miffy flannel (I love Miffy!) and a brand new Orla Kiely purse - which I am sure will be used mostly to hold my receipts rather than money!

It's been a real mixed bag today.

What is a girl to do?...

2008-04-23T19:13:00.015+01:00

...when she has some lovely ribbon she can't bear to throw away.
I used to visit Peyton and Byrne, a wonderful baker at Heals on Tottenham Court Road, so that I could treat my team to some wonderful "delights".

The business was started up by one of our most shrewd food critics here in the UK, Oliver Peyton, and was named after his Mother's maiden and married names with her recipes at the heart of the offerings.
They not only bake scrummy fairy cakes, like your mum used to, but also produce their own teas, such as the wonderfully refreshing darjeeling, non of that already bagged "builders tea" but proper loose leaf which swirls around the pot to make a delightful brew - and is a nightmare to get rid of when you come to wash up!

After a few visits I had a stash of ribbon sitting in the craft box with no purpose until...

these little fellas turned up from those nice people at ebay (obviously I actually had to bid and then pay for them - darn it!) - anyway back to a nice dream land...

So what was a girl to do - some stashed ribbon just waiting to be brought to life and some cute fellas that are waiting to be dunked in some ink, stamped on my stash, tied on a simple present and shared to make people smile.

Some may call it a cat and mouse game.

To post or not to post ...

2008-04-22T19:52:00.000+01:00

I have now sat here for far too long deciding which template, which font and as for the colours to use that's just another long story and debate!

Months, that's how long it's taken me to decide whether or not I should start this ball rolling or just enjoy flicking on my favourite blogs rather than joining in. But join in is what I have done and this is why I have just spent this morning messing around with the blog (when I should be working) - it's not there yet - oh no - there will be many changes made over the next few weeks - well maybe months when I am able to work out how to make the changes I want to!

Firstly thanks must go to Zoe at Zoe's Knitting Bag whose blog I have been reading for a while now. She is holding a reading and bookmark swap. On seeing this I thought it was about time I stopped just reading blogs and join in - so as I said earlier join in is what I have done and in doing so she kindly put the link to my blog........ oh my god, well on seeing this I thought ***t I should do something about this and not just have some page up that says nothing, does nothing and is just floating there in cyberspace, thanks Zoe!

Anyway as time goes on I will share more with you about what I do to keep myself out of mischief and inspired. Inspiration is what this is really all about - as we all know it can come from anywhere and normally at the most odd moments.

So enough babbling - I really need to go and do some work but before I do I want to share "Humphrey" with you. Still a little more to do on him he needs a little more padding around his belly (unlike some of us!) - poor thing, fancy having your head stuck on with pins and a gorgeous label stuck on your bottom... He came about after buying this fabulous book

Sock and Glove - Creating Charming Soft Friends from Cast-off Socks and Gloves

So one dowdy Sunday afternoon I was restless and needed to create something so I grabbed a pair of socks (obviously new and not worn!) and began to create (in the art sense, not in the vocal sense) and a few hours later...

Well that's it for now, I really really need to go and work, but I have enjoyed doing this so will be back to share more as often as I can and who knows where this will take us - hope you enjoy reading and come back to join me again soon. Spread the word - there is now yet another blog to pass the hours with!