Light and dark

Today's post comes from the Ideal Home Show and as you can see from a quick look at the photos, there's a lot of lights, and mostly set against dark backgrounds - hence the title "light and dark"  - and that got me thinking about how exhibitors show off their items on their stands. And of course, there's a chance to admire the lights, the setting and the pure extravagance that seeps from the photos. Or I think it does anyway.

I think the lanterns above are super stylish and a classic whatever their finish. I've a wooden lantern of the same shape, and while that's good and equally timeless, these are more lust-worthy.  I know though that it'd be the more industrial looking light that MOH would be swooning over, and if I'm honest that's ok as I'd happily find space for something like this.

The setting has a hint of sitting room, or house about it doesn't it?  But one that's decorated in most likely a more modern style that many of us no doubt have.  And they do look good, but how do you choose just one?

The one thing that wasn't dark on this stand was another of those statement armchairs, this one a gorgeous orange velvet. And it really was, and I'm not sure I ever thought I'd be admiring an orange velvet chair, but I am and I was.

Even the drinks trolley fits in with the decadence, and it could be on this stand that my "need" or perhaps acceptance might be a better word, for this opinion-dividing piece of furniture started. I do quite like the one below, and think if you're going for a drinks trolley then you might as well go bold.

Initial research also shows that you also need some kind of retaining guard to stop your bottles whizzing off the end when you stop suddenly, which at some point I'm sure you're going to need to do.  Many trolleys also have built in bottle holders - it remains to be seen if the one I will opt for has what I've already determined to be necessary features, or if I'll see one I love so much that they will just go out the window!

What I learnt about the stands, apart from the black background, is that repetition often works well.  For me it's best demonstrated with the photo above, and with the photo below.  Although I've included that, not only for the yellow chair, but also for the lightbulb shadows on the wall, they're just as good as the oversized bulbs I think.

I've no idea though whose idea it was to put that yellow chair out of my "stroking" reach!

A new light that's right at home

Recently I took MOH along to a blogging event at Habitat to celebrate their new lighting range, which is definitely worth a look. I'm a big Habitat fan, and remember spending my teenage Saturdays mooning over their items. Back then I suspect my focus was on smaller items, but over the years, it's a shop I continue to go back to regularly.

The event, complete with its own hashtag #HabitatLightClub, was a great night out and it's not every day you can say you went to a club in the basement, in the light department of a Tottenham Court Road shop, now is it?  Well we did, and ssshh don't tell anyone we don't do clubs very often now, but we had a great night, and look out for a post next week on some of the light range and more from the store.

But before that let me show you the light we left with.  And yes, that was the other reason for taking MOH along as his parcel carrying skills are second to none.  Which was handy as the Bobby Metal floor lamp is made of sturdy stuff, it was easy to carry home but after I'd trekked him to Charing Cross apparently he was starting to feel it.

But you need some weight in a floor lamp, don't you?  

This weekend MOH realised his other job, and that was to assemble it. It was relatively easy, but I took one look at the picture instructions and tactically retreated to do something, anything - me and picture instructions really don't get on.  But he did a fab job, and with a lightbulb sourced more quickly than I expected it wasn't long before we were in business.

What I hadn't realised when I'd selected the light was how well it fits into our colour scheme. The grey, the almost brown red and the yellow, I know it sounds horrendous doesn't it, but look at the picture below and you'll see just what I mean.

And yes, that throw is an earlier Habitat item, which still is very much in use.

Here's a closer look at the weighted base, and I'm loving the knobbly shadow that's formed around four o'clock.  And to show it's not just the throw that's full of colour, the rug is too!

So with my lamp raring to go, there was only one thing for it. 

Yes, to get comfortable and stuck into my crochet again!  I'm not sure if I've followed the pattern for this square exactly right, but I'm liking the effect so it's staying, and will be part of the yellow Granny Square blanket that's underway.

What do you think?

* This is a collaborative post with Habitat, but all views and opinions are my own.

Lighting a dark corner of my bedroom

Even before we redecorated our bedroom the mirror and space I use for my dressing table was a long way away from natural light, and despite the overhead spotlights often darker than I'd like for putting on my make-up. It was easily fixed of course with a table lamp, and once that was in place everything was fine.

That is until the lamp stopped working.  The last time I turned it on, it wouldn't turn off unless I pulled the plug from the wall, so that was pretty frustrating. But it made me realise I needed to replace it with another lamp, because since then we've decorated our bedroom in more dramatic colours.

The light needed to be functional and direct light upwards so that I stood a chance of applying my make-up in a non-Alice Cooper like way, and so when I dried my hair I could see what I was doing. A lamp with a shade wasn't going to help me much and so my hunt began. It turned out it was easier than I thought.

As I quite quickly spotted this light - the Claudia 2 Way Modern Touch Table Lamp - by Iconic Lights, and thought it'd be just the thing. And it is. The finish is Black Chrome, and if I'm honest I'd not heard of that before, but luckily it goes well with the darker, more dramatic decor and is what I hoped it would be. Shiny like chrome, but black. But not too black.

Oh, and in case you're thinking wow that's tidy (and for the record so am I), it's not. The majority of my make-up and other paraphernalia is in one of the top drawers and out of sight. I know where everything is, well the stuff I use regularly and I much prefer it this way, as it means I can pretend I'm tidier than I actually am!

Here's it lit up.

And despite knowing it used touch technology, of course the first thing I did once it was in place was look for the switch!  Thankfully though I'm past that now and have programmed myself to touch the base three times to get it to the bright setting I like. There's low and medium too, as well as off.

I expected the base to quite quickly be full of make-upy, smeared finger prints - but it isn't, in fact it's hard to spot any, which is just brilliant!

I was impressed that it arrived with bulbs so I could use it straight away - and a spare bulb - how often does that happen? When I'd ordered it MOH's first question was about which bulbs it took. I had no idea - it's G9 btw - I just hoped that it would be a useful and stylish addition to the bedroom, and stop me from scrabbling around with plugs to turn the broken lamp on.

I've been using it for two weeks now and I it's definitely both stylish and useful.  The lack of fingerprints are a bonus too.

And I think it looks just right in this space, don't you?

The Claudia 2 Way Modern Touch Table Lamp is available from Iconic Lights for £25 in three colour ways - black chrome as I have here, polished chrome and antique brass. And that seems very reasonable to me.

* I was sent this lamp to review as part of my role as one of Iconic Lights' approved blogging ambassadors, but all views and opinions are my own.