Show and Tell: The Summer House

As Summer is officially over, I have to share our Summer House with you before the last of the sun!
All images by Adam Crohill

You may remember a while ago I created an Eastern style inspiration board for this space. Whilst some of these elements have been incorporated into the room, when it came down to it, I ended up being so influenced by the recent Nursery board I created that the Summer House theme altered slightly and became a much slicker pink, gold and white design.

Our old very worn sofa is the first thing you see on entering this room. It didn’t quite fit so one morning we ended up hacking off an arm resulting in a make-shift chaise longue! Piled on the sofa are various cushions; chevrons sourced from H&M, ikat style from an Uzbekistan eBay seller and a pom-pom fringed one from Homesense. I would have loved a Moroccan wedding blanket for this space but found a more purse pleasing gold and cream number in Homesense.
The pouffes were a purchase from Marrakesh, picked up by a friend who had to brave the EasyJet baggage weight restrictions to bring home both a pink and a gold version (Thanks Larissa!)
The John Lewis string curtain creates a very soft barrier, separating the ‘lounge’ from the study/dining area. I edged it in a pink Sass and Belle pom-pom trim to break up the white and add a little detail.
The white tables originally started life as an oak nest of tables, but thanks to my friend who runs a paint shop, they are now a beautifully finished white.

Mr C has a severe dislike of Ikea but you have to hand it to them for chic and cheap storage solutions. The Ribba picture ledges are ideal for clustering together mini gallery installations. Here I’ve combined my beloved Sarah and Bendrix print with another Jessica Durrant creation. Dotted in between are a Chanel card (from Spitalfield Market), a few snaps, a gold lip print from Pearl and Earl and one of the photo booth strips from a trip to Paris’ Palais de Tokyo. The gold ‘X’ was found in Oliver Bonas last year when they decided to reduce all their Posh Graffiti offerings to 50p!

On the other side, we put up three high gloss white Lack shelves, again from ikea.
I’m still not convinced by the arrangement on these shelves but am happy to have found a suitable home for the Gold Skull Money Box from Urban Outfitters , as well as the gold champagne flutes discovered at a local vintage fair.

I learned from our previous house that a small space lends itself to a circular table (after years of squeezing into a tiny nook with a square table) and so we went for the inexpensive Docksta table, coupled with of Eames style chairs to create an area suitable for a spot of dining or a bit of blogging. My sister bought me some absolutely smashing stationery from Blott to jazz up the desk. Erasers in the shape of various biscuits(!) plus gold pencils and a clear stapler and tape dispenser. I stashed them in a Matthew Williamson soap dish with some giant gold paper clips.
Keeping the pencils in order is a skull whiskey glass picked up last year from Zara. Finally I framed an Eiffel tower card given to me by a close friend and added a sumptuous smelling Voluspa candle to the mix.
I had long admired the strings of paper garlands that are adorning various weddings at the moment so commissioned the fabulous Pom Pom Studio to create one in custom colours. I strung this across the ikea curtains that are shielding various trashy novels, garden furniture and unsightly speakers from view!
Ironically we think we’ll use this space more in Winter than Summer. thankfully the previous owners installed aircon and heating so it should be an ideal spot for hibernation on a Winter’s afternoon.

Hope you like!

Lauren