Style at the Sipping Room

Now the weather is starting to turn, autumn’s really on its way isn’t it? I’m sharing some interiors inspiration from The Sipping Room, a bar in London’s Docklands. It’s full of fur, either cushions or throws, and is just the snuggly kind of decor that feels right for now, and for before we put the heating on. You haven’t broken yet, have you?

The bar was the venue, or rather the base, for the launch of Heston’s Everdure range in the UK. The launch took place outside, as it’s hard to launch a barbecue range indoors isn’t it? The day was sunny, but that was deceiving and I’m pretty sure at one point we were quite tempted to head inside. But the food, and oh the food, that was outside, and who was going to turn down food cooked by Heston’s team? Exactly.

I’ve already shared the loos from there, like you do. Or rather, like I do. And they did quite possibly have the prettiest geometry… The bar’s interiors though was quite different and much darker, full of wood, texture and pops of colour. And it worked.

There were spaces for dining and socialising, and in each space there was lighting and comforting throws, or cushions.

The bar, as you’d expect had its own design treatment with clever lighting and inviting high stools, which you couldn’t help but just perch on while your drinks arrived. I’m sure the space has a buzzy and vibey feel on usual days, but being there for a private event meant I got to take photos I wouldn’t usually get to take, and it was great.

There was one similarity with the loos, and that’s the quotes. This one, so true, hey?

Women are made to be loved, not understood.
Oscar Wilde.

Dark and blowsy

It’s not quite the golden loo that went missing from Blenheim Palace, and I don’t have anything comparable. But I do have plenty of loos. Or rather photos of them. This one’s one from Grand Designs last year, where of all things they had a whole section dedicated to the smallest room, and the Lavatory Project. Who’d have thought hey?

Today’s Lavatory Project is potentially a bit marmite, if you can be a bit marmite!

I’m very much of the opinion that you can go bold in a small space, and especially in a downstairs loo. But then again I don’t have one, so it’s easy to say that isn’t it? I like how the frame of the mirror is also dark, and the wall lights either side of it too.

There’s hints of copper too, which works well with the pink flowers and the splashback tiles.

I’m not sure about the potted plants in the loo, or the gardening tools, but I guess some artistic licence in this environment is allowed!

Yes, see what I mean about the watering can. Though it’s a very nice watering can!

And with a room with dark decor, light is even more important than normal. Alongside the wall lights, there’s an overhead industrial pendant light - the sort that you regularly see on Salvage Hunters (yes, I’m still working my way through hundreds of episodes), though this one picks up on the copper theme again.

What do you think?

Add your personality with Identity Papers

It’s another archive post today, this time from the 2017 Grand Designs Live show at Excel. It’s crazy, I remember this wallpaper like it was yesterday, and so I was pleased to see that the company, Identity Papers, were still in business.

It’s another one from the Design Arcade, which gives people two or three metres by one metre to display their wares, and share their ideas.

This wordsearch paper was brilliant. Without the white picture frame the random letters wouldn’t have made any sense at all as you wandered by.

Digital wallpaper printing makes it all possible, and it’s completely customisable. At the time, and again now, I thought this would be a fun approach for a downstairs loo, or as an alternative to a blackboard wall in a kitchen, or playroom.

Speaking to the people on the stand at the show, yes it made that much of a mark on me, I remember them saying that it all started with the words. And I can see why.

The wood effect wallpaper on the adjacent wall and on the lampshade are also wallpaper. The woodgrain geometric shapes can be mixed and matched, I think they’re a much more subtle approach, but for me the real star is the word search paper.

The other style that I was keen on was the photo grid wallpaper, which again is entirely customisable and would make a really special memory wall. The wallpaper books below show what a vibrant option this could be.

You can tell I’m a fan, but what do you think?

Would you use customised and very personal wallpaper in your home?

I think the challenge would be, what words to include, what would the theme be, and how much checking you’d need to do to make sure no unintentional rude words crept in by mistake. That could be embarrassing!