One of the things we enjoyed on our weekend trip to Malton was browsing around the independent shops - and there’s plenty of those. What I realised afterwards is that it’s not only the interiors store which provided interiors inspiration, so in this post I’m sharing photos from our mooch around the shops, and more.

But let’s start at the interiors shop Interiors at Nine to Eleven who had planned a ‘yard sale’ for the weekend, but had valiantly moved that inside given the weather forecast - that’s where I found my £1 fabric sample. Around the shop there was a riot of colour and pattern, and I was smitten with the green sofa pattern, MOH less so. I’m less sure about the wallpaper but the bold prints definitely do it for me.

A boldly patterned green acanthus sofa with orange and cerise patterned cushions, on a predominantly navy rug with patterned wallpaper on the walls too - lots of pattern

A black and white jungle style print with monkeys and large cats, and flamingos

In another section of the shop it was the black and white wallpaper that caught my eye. I think it’s too ‘tame’ for what I have half an eye out for, mainly as I think this will be an even harder sell than the patterned fabric above with MOH who already thinks our house is too white!

Looking down the stairs at the carpet which is a mix of repeating patterns on each step with blues, beige and greens

Heading back to the stairs and the main shop I did stop and admire the fun carpet, and I mean if you can’t have fun in an interiors shop trying out things to assert your style and brand, then when can’t you?

I kept coming back to these ‘cheeky’ plates by Yvonne Allen, as they just made me smile - and in fact I’ve since bought a set and am keeping up with my ‘making cake era’ just so we can use them, though I did resist the matching cake forks - mainly because they weren’t dishwasher safe and I can’t be doing with that kind of faff, and reminding MOH every time we use them.

Looking around the curios shops in The Shambles we found plenty of tins, too many to make a choice (or even photograph) decanters and a gorgeous wire chicken.

Three shelves of various aged tins - in the centre is a black chinoiserie type tin, which reminded me of one I have

A chicken made of chicken wire, with colour adding interest

Our next stop was the secret whisky bar at McMillans, and there was plenty of good looking interiors there too, no really there was.

The focus is a wooden floating shelf with books, brandy glasses and two bottles. Below it on the wooden unit top are more books and more decanter type vessels

Two weathered wooden what look like barrel tops - one green, one red

Our hotel was it seemed prepared for the weather with a selection of wellies for use in the entrance lobby, as well as chest of dreams (for me at least) which doubled up for room key storage.

A vintage multi-drawer cabinet with 30 small drawers

We’d struck it lucky with our hotel room which had a lounge for our use - and with the weather on Saturday, that was very welcome and very much used by us. Though we still didn’t use the TV, something about being away - we just don’t, I don’t know why.

A traditional styled room with a sofa in front of the fire, two windows traditionally dressed and a series of six portraits hanging between them

A large wooden and weathered table in the foreground with reading books and bookends, another window with the same traditional dressing and two further portraits framed on the wall

So if you’re looking for interiors inspiration and getting stuck, then think about looking in some less expected places - you never know where you’ll be inspired.

If you enjoyed this post and/or are looking to visit Malton and its surrounding area, then check out all my posts from our impromptu weekend away.