Interiors inspiration from Yorkshire

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Plates, paperweights and trays

As I had a day in London last week - I was invited to the Garden Press Event in Islington - I thought I would make the most of the time and pop along to Liberty in the West End, quickly hopping on the tube to reappear in a part of London that is probably more well known, and well visited than Islington.

I’d seen some enamelware that I was keen to buy, and even more keen to avoid the £9 postage fees for, so when I saw that Liberty was a stockist well, it was meant to be wasn’t it? It’s been a while since my last visit, and it’s always an interesting place to window shop. Sadly the enamelware didn’t happen, and I was a tad disappointed by the range they had which was shoved in a corner and took up a whole two shelves. Sigh. I still want the small tray and the small sauce dish, so have ordered online and only winced a little at the high postage costs for three very tiny items.

Yes, I could have trawled around any number of shops in the West End and beyond, but I’m really not that much into shopping. But while I was in Liberty, I did have a mooch around before hitting the fabric and haberdashery departments!

Sidetracked by the lobster and cat’s eyes

I have no need for any paperweights or glass tray-plate-things, but I couldn’t help but admire them and how they were displayed on a simple wooden table. The glass tray-plate-things remind me of those that as growing up older relatives or neighbours would have on their sideboards filled with boiled sweets, or next to their bed for their jewellery. I’m sure there’s a million and one other uses for them, but that’s where my memories took me.

I’m still not sure if I like the tabby cat paperweight or not, I think it’s the tongue for me. Maybe it’s because there were two - double trouble - that I’m not sure. The lobster was a lot less disturbing, and I daren’t look at the price, though I’m sure without looking it was “too much”.

Next I was drawn to a brightly coloured table mat of a hare with what looks like artichokes for ears, yes really.

And that led to the trays

In fact it led to many trays - all of them with drinks emblazoned on. Not all alcoholic - there was tea and coffee too, but for some reason I don’t have photos of those. My next stop after my Liberty mooch was the pub, so perhaps that was it.

Fun aren’t they?

Though again they’re not cheap, starting from £40 and upwards. So if you want a fun boozy or non-boozy tray Liberty could be the place for you - some are available on their website if you’re really keen. And if you want to pop the lobster plate in your basket for me that’d be appreciated, though you’ll have to go in person as thankfully that’s not on their site.

Still feeling slightly miffed about the enamelware, but less so having raised a smile at these trays, I decided to head up to the fabric and haberdashery, that was more successful - though with all the colourful fabrics on show, I think I am probably the only person to leave with two grey patterns, but I’m still sticking to my brief for the extended floral fancy quilt.

I think I took even more photos in those departments, so I’ll share those separately - but before I go an only in Liberty. In their remnants basket there was a bargain silk 1.3 metre remnant for £175. I didn’t leave with that either (it wasn’t grey) but that did make me smile!

Mostly gold interiors inspiration

Unbelievably it has taken me this long to get myself back to Margo & Plum, which I first visited back in 2022 when we were still checking out if this was somewhere we wanted to move to. In that time it looks as if they’ve made Bottesford their base, and added a cafe too. Yes, I don’t know why it took me so long either, but on a particularly cold and grey February day we headed the eleven miles for lunch, and a spot of interiors spotting of the more opulent kind.

I surprised MOH by falling for this monkey clutching a bottle of wine (sadly empty) - and he’s right it’s not my usual style, but I while I left it there for now, I can see this coming home with us at some point. I think it would look great in our hallway, which is also our wine store area, but we’ve a little more work to do planning out how we can use this area better, and we shouldn’t skip straight to the ‘making it fancy’ stage. We shouldn’t, which is a shame!

They had plenty of other ‘gold’ items that would go alongside these - and that’s part of the reason the monkey stayed on the shelf, as I think there might also be accompanying purchases when the time comes, just to make him feel at home of course.

Perhaps this pair of leopard candle holders?

Though I’d put these in our lounge, which incidentally is where my ornate green vase with exotic birds also lives. MOH bought the vase as a surprise birthday present a few years ago, and he did good. It was funny though as he remembered it, and how much I liked it, but couldn’t remember where we’d seen it and so spent hours internet searching - thing is, if he’d read my blog, he would have had his answer much more easily. Has he learned his lesson? Absolutely not!

Or perhaps a pineapple? Though I was torn between the gold metal and the green glass versions…

Or the bottle stop with extra bling? Though to be fair we don’t often have much use for a bottle stop, but I don’t see that as a reason not to have this bling-y one, as you never know when you’ll need one!

I didn’t leave completely empty handed though - the coasters under the bottle stop came home with us, along with some fake eucalyptus stems which I’m using in a vintage enamel jug along with fresh stems, to bulk them out a bit!

So not my usual style, but each of the things above would easily fit into our home alongside things we already have, and which we’ve bought to furnish our new home. MOH knows we’ll be back, it’s just a matter of when!

Lunch at the Margo & Plum cafe

Having the cafe is a real boon for the shop, and it was busy which is always a good sign - especially when it’s a little off the beaten track. It also provided an extended showroom space, showcasing how their items could be used, which is also clever.

But the star of the show was this fantastic jukebox.

Isn’t it great? And it was on ‘free play’ so even better - I think we’ll be back for this alone. Well, and the monkey and a slice of cake of course!