Love This #73: Sandberg's Swedish Wallpaper Art

It's been a while since the London Design Festival took place, and this year I headed over to the London Design Fair in creative heart of East London. The fair included what has previously been known as Tent London and Super Brands London and was held in the Old Truman Brewery. The building itself is fascinating and I'm sure you'll spot it in future posts, and it's likely it will have its own post too. 

But before we get to that I want to share more about this Swedish wallpaper company, who I saw quite early on. But I was so keen on one of their wallpapers that I carried a sample of it around for the rest of the day. MOH was worried I think because he could see how taken with it I was, and because he knew we had nowhere suitable for it. I knew that too, but I also knew I wasn't leaving without a sample, even if I'm banking the wallpaper for a future project and house.

But it was this wallpaper that caught my eye and drew me over to the Sandberg stand.

SANDBERG SIGNATUR WALLPAPER: VÅRA VISOR

The yellow version of the wallpaper inspired by the songbook ”Våra visor” with the sort of pattern that the more you look at, the more you see. MOH wasn't keen on this one, but I could see this working in either a child's room or a playful part of the house. 

While looking at the yellow and grey Våra visor I couldn't help but notice the wallpaper that captured my heart, and that's this striking and boldly patterned wallpaper. While it has yellow in it, I wouldn't look at this and say it's yellow and that troubled me, as I rarely go for blue. The lady said it came in a yellow colourway and briefly wondered which room we'd redecorate to accommodate it. 

SANDBERG WALLPAPER: TISTLAR BLUE 

But when I found the yellow version I was disappointed, it was more lemon than bold yellow as I'd hoped and the plans to redecorate where immediately shelved. There's a red version which was back in the bold range, but not for me. Which left the blue which had caught my attention, and that I was unable to stop looking at.

SANDBERG WALLPAPER: TISTLAR YELLOW

SANDBERG WALLPAPER: TISTLAR RED

SANDBERG WALLPAPER: TISTLAR BLUE

I've decided that for me the pattern is thistles and that's some of the attraction, along with the bold lines and colours. I've since read that the lines have been softened, and more worryingly that the blue is also available in a fabric. At the moment, having this somewhere at some point is inevitable, but I just don't know when or where.

I'm hoping that the sample which I left clutching goes some way to fill the need for this pattern, that I didn't know existed. That's not going to wallpaper me anything, it might just about cover a book - remember those days when you used to cover your schoolbooks in wallpaper? - yes, me too.  I do have a plan for it and that's as part of a craft project that's underway at the moment. My challenge there is to use enough of the wallpaper to capture the elements I like, but to save enough so I'm not without it. 

Although I guess I could send for another sample if it comes to it. 

When I looked at the Sandberg site to check the names of the wallpapers I've shown here I found myself browsing the site and finding lots more boldly patterned wallpapers and some more subtle ones too. But the thing that I liked the most was the Sandberg wallpaper personality quiz.

I've taken it twice now, on different days, and both times it's made me a Nowstalgic, and both times the Tistlar wallpaper has been shown in the results (admittedly the red version) but that confirms my feeling of inevitability, doesn't it?

Apparently as a Nowstalgic I love "products and patterns that have stood the test of time" and enjoy exploring new techniques that fit in with "relaxed and aged style of the home." That feels right, it also says that auction sites and flea markets are a favourite, that's not so true. But it is true that items featuring favourite colours become must-haves, and the bit about mixing my finds with teak furniture is also partly true. Of course, it's quite general but at least some of it rang true.  

What's your wallpaper personality type?  Take the quiz and let me know in the comments.

Love This #72: Joyful Living, Norfolk

Sometimes when you walk into a shop you just know, don't you. You know it's a place where each time you visit you'd find more than one thing you could leave with. For me it was a case of ooh I like that, and that, and that too. So it was the kind of place that I could quite happily have left with lots of items, the trouble was that I didn't really have time to talk myself into (or out of) many of the items, so I did the next best thing and took some pictures so I can have a leisurely browse and so I can ponder some more.

It was these vases, candle holders and generally shiny things that had me hooked. Not only their design, but the fact they go together without looking like you've tried too hard and that the same design is available in multiple sizes. I'm already in the TOTOATOT frame of mind - yes the This One, This One And That One Too - and it's hard not to be.

I've realised though that I haven't told you where I am. Well exactly where I am. I'm in Joyful Living in Norfolk. It's a shop by Jo Griffiths in the what seems to be ever-growing Drove Orchards in Thornham, just along from Hunstanton or Sunny Hunny as you'll often hear me call it.

On their website they say the items often "feature neutral textures, rather than bold patterns, for calm, easy-going living" and that it's a great "mix of old and new, more beautiful and functional than fashion-led" - I knew there was a reason it appealed to me.

The natural textures, the old style typewriter and my new favourite of diffusers. Oh and some yellow chevroned rugs.

It's the type of shop that I could look round endlessly, but the type of shop that MOH rolls his eyes at. Luckily for me though my dad was there and mum and I sent them off on a exploratory mission down towards the barn to read a sign. My mum's a clever woman, we had time to browse in peace, they were off doing something useful and you know what I don't think we ever did ask them what the sign said.

The shells and the glassware was much more important. As was the potted history of the old medicine bottles and our local chemist, Beales. I do remember having an old gunked up bottle of pink, chalky chamomile lotion in the bathroom cupboard in such a bottle, but that was it for me memory-wise. I'd happily have some of these though.

Usually I'm not drawn to shells. Well not shells I'd like to have in my house anyway. I find them fascinating, but usually I'm happy that they're in someone else's collection. Not these though, I think it's their whiteness and cleanness. And in the picture below the shininess. Or maybe it's because it's in its own dome. It's gorgeous either way.

When I saw this crocheted throw, I knew that was my cue to leave the shop. For the record I left without the throw, but I was sorely tempted to take the caressing of it a step further, to unfurl it from its rung, to ask the price and then to convince myself it's just what I've been looking for.

In fact it is what I've been looking for, it was that pearlised cotton that just feels nice to the touch. I've been meaning to teach myself to crochet and now I've seen this, it's what I had in mind. I just didn't know that until I saw it. But of course it's slightly ambitious for a first project, especially when I can't even crochet. Yet.

So I left, almost with the blinkers on, but not quite. It was everything about this shop that I liked, even the storage. But I knew it was time to go as staying any longer would be dangerous. So if you're ever in the area, do go along to this shop. But don't leave with the crocheted throw or we might never speak again, that is, unless you leave with it wrapped and with my name on.

Do you know that a shop's just you, as soon as you walk in the door? Or is that just me?

A year in Greenwich Park: October

Now that we're already into November it's time to share with you my monthly post on life in Greenwich Park. As the month progressed there was a definite theme and that will become apparent as you move through the post.  Sorry no spoilers here!

Last month I told you about how I'd watched the sweet chestnuts change from green to brown, but it wasn't until the start of October that I photographed them. And it was on the day they matched my cardy, which made me smile far more than perhaps it should have.

It's still been warm and there's been plenty of blue skies. I found myself catching this view several mornings on the trot and realised that that's the other thing about Greenwich Park, it gives you vistas to other parts of London and views that not everyone gets to see, how special is that? 

That's Canary Wharf in the distance (with the pointy top) and it always looks much smaller than it really is. That's partly because the top of Greenwich Park is quite high up, hence the cycle ride being downhill all the way there and not on the way back.

I've still not managed to cycle to work though, but I know it's getting closer. I'm still enjoying the walk, but I've made some sensible purchases which will help me be seen at night, and that's a good thing, so I'm running out of excuses!

One of the themes of the month is dogs. The dog walkers have been more evident, and sadly so has the dog poo. Especially on wetter days. I've been lucky so far, if you get my meaning, but I'm looking where I'm going more often now. Unlike the dog that came charging at me one morning in pursuit of his stick. He was so intent on his stick that he almost took me out. It was one of those chunky looking dogs, so one second more and timing it wrong, I think I might have ended up closer to the ground than I'd have liked. I didn't, but it was a close call.

The other theme that became apparent is that for those working in the park, it's been a month of preparing and tidying up. The pedalloes on the boating lake have been stored for the winter, the lake has had menn in waders in cleaning it and the bedding plants in the flower garden have been replaced. 

The banana plants, where I turn right, have also been moved somewhere where I presume they'll overwinter. But I know where I turn right now, so although I'm missing their height and structure, I'm coping. 

As well as the blue, cloudless skies there's been days that have had moodier skies too. And on those days where there's threats of rain it's been easy to know if it's imminent as I've heard the rustle of joggers as they've approached in their waterproofs! 

The parakeet population seem to have been in the ascendancy too, their screeching louder than before. It's almost as if they know they can claim the park for themselves once more. 

The photo above and below was in the morning of one of those moody sky days. The evening was much worse. It was dark and wet and moody as moody can be and also the first time I saw the laser of the meridian line for quite a while. I scrambled to take a blurry picture as I balanced my umbrella on one shoulder before scurrying off through a darkening park.

That was my latest walk through the park, or so I thought. The next night it was even later. So a week of firsts, seeing the laser and then hearing the announcement the park was shutting in ten minutes. That's definitely one way of upping your step tempo, I can tell you. There is a car that drives around all the entrances so I wouldn't have been stuck there, but even so, I'd rather be out than in.

With the clocks changing the park opening hours also change. It now shuts daily at 6pm, instead of 7pm, and so that's brought about a new rule for me. As the park can get quite dark (another of my discoveries this month), my new rule is if I can see families and dog walkers still using my route through the park I'll use the park, but if not I'll stick to the road and walk up the street instead. I've done that a couple of times and it's not a bad walk, it's just not as pretty as the alternative.

As well as the yellows and golds, the reds of autumn are making themselves known. The Virginia Creeper is at the exit I take each morning and the hydrangea is one of the varieties in the Flower Garden. One evening, when I'd left work at a reasonable time, I took another diversion there to see just what was going on with the banana plants.

The banana plant bed was half empty and so it was clear they were being moved for the winter. Like other parts of the park the ground was full of the husks of the sweet chestnuts. The Asian community are foraging for the chestnuts, out in most weathers and well prepared too with carrier bags, shopping trolleys and sensibly plastic gloves. I've even seen one man tramping about with plastic overshoes on, I told you there was less rigour from the dog walkers didn't I?

So another month in Greenwich Park has passed already. A month where I've still bumped into my regulars, we're nodding and smiling and I think they are the real stalwarts of the park. A month where the ground staff are busy preparing the park for winter and the shorter days. And a month where I've realised just how dark it can get in there, and while it's pretty and an awesome space, it's not somewhere I want to be in the dark.

What have you noticed about your special place this month?