And then within moments, it seemed, I found myself married, living in Notting Hill, pregnant, and staring down the barrel at self-employment. I attempted to assuage my fears by re-treading familiar routes, and thus made my way to Designers Guild where I bought some dark green and purple silk cushions, which I love, and which my husband - inexplicably - hates. Since then, the cushion collection has grown, and I have been using those initial acquisitions as an excuse for every purchase, in a 'but darling, I thought they could replace the Designers Guild ones . . . ' sort of way. And yet my green and purple silk cushions, which, two children later, are no longer what they once were (banana + silk = not ideal) are still on my sofa, because I love them, and they contrast beautifully with some pale grey linen Chelsea Textiles numbers, and some pink and green ikat discoveries. Also, it transpires that my freelance life is not exactly as I had envisaged. 1.) Those two small children are very disagreeable companions both when it comes to going out to lunch and on prolonged shopping trips and 2.) I actually have to work quite hard, quite a lot of the time.
My affection for Designers Guild, however, remains. So I was delighted to be sent a review copy of Tricia Guild's new book, Colour Deconstructed. It explores why she is drawn to certain colours and patterns (and thus why we are, but I'm not entirely sure that applies to me as I'm seemingly drawn to every colour and pattern imaginable) and, as would only be expected, is full of stunning imagery and pictures of rooms that Tricia has designed. Oh, and the odd inspirational quote, such as "Black is a force: I depend on black to simplify construction" from Matisse. (Which makes me think that my latest plan, to ombre the staircase rods from white to black through every shade of grey, is not just reasonable but a brilliant idea.)
Anyway, images:
Love the chintz - snakeskin contrast.
I dream of a staircase like this.
I love this room. I'm having a bit of an acid brights moment, and seeing this have fallen even more in love with the latest cushions to arrive in our house, which came by way of Yolke:
Yolke cushions - heaven right? Mine have got a neon yellow gimp around them rather than piping.
Back to Tricia Guild . . .
More amazing acid brights and oh my God I love that floor.
I love this fabric. Love it. I've just stuck it on my Pinterest 'Textiles; Birds and Other Beasts' board.
It's all made me fall rather in love with Designers Guild again. So much so that I've become a tiny bit obsessed with these lilac and jade beauties (I only ever buy cushions in pairs these days) which are currently on sale (and if that isn't a sign, then what is?):
It seems, when it comes to Designers Guild, that I've definitely got a thing about purple and green.
www.designersguild.com
Colour Deconstructed by Tricia Guild comes out on the 24th October, and is available for pre-order here
www.yolke.co.uk
