NEW DESIGNERS: Abigail Edwards Seascape wallpaper

Coastal style is always a big look for Spring/Summer. Every year at Ideal Home we’re inundated with ideas, products and everyone’s different take on the trend. It’s an easy look to live with; breezy blues, crisps whites, nautical stripes, distressed wood, driftwood accessories, fisherman’s lamps…you know the sort of thing! It’s always a treat though when smaller, up-and-coming designers interpret the trend in a new way. Abigail Edwards is a freelance stylist who recently launched her own collection of hand drawn wallpapers. Her latest Seascape design is simply dreamy..

Available in black (Winter) and soft blue (Summer), the rolling waves are so soothing to look at, I could get lost in them for hours. This paper would look gorgeous in a bathroom, a downstairs loo or even on a house boat (I actually used to live on one!)

At £59 a roll, the papers are all hand drawn by Abigail and printed in Lancashire at one of the few remaining traditional wallpaper printers in the UK. When she’s not busy styling she is working on two new wallpaper designs, tiles and even table linen. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. Happy weekend all. Spring has nearly sprung!– Alice

Happy flipping Pancake Day!

Wall prints for Pancake Day? Why not? I love yellow. I love lemons. I love Pancake Day and I love these prints brought to you from Etsy…

From the top: 1 & 3. Amanda Katherine Designs 2. Lajlaj – Small Cute Things 4. Freya Art 5. Eco Print. 

Hope you’re all stocked up on eggs, milk and flour. What’s your favourite topping? If you’re stuck for ideas why not try this buttermilk with lemon syrup pancake recipe as seen on Housetohome.  – Alice

NEW: Bemz Urban-Style loose covers for Ikea

Tired of your flippin’ Klippan, Ektorp or Karlstad? Or looking for ways to make your Ikea shopping experience more fun!? Following on from their shabby chic ‘Country-Style’ loose fit linen covers, the people at Bemz are expanding the range and introducing ‘Urban Style’. Slightly edgier, dirtier, scrunchier linens in sludgy whites and greys that look great with industrial furniture, factory lighting and other salvage pieces…yes please!

Fling it over your Nils chair from only £89. The slip covers are also available for a range of Ikea models within the Karlanda, Karlstad, Klippan,Henriksdal, Klappsta and Kivik series…

as well as Bemz bed skirts. Ooooh such linen loveliness:

The fabric is a Belgium Rosendal linen. It is pre-washed to get that soft, vintage-like feel. I don’t actually own an Ikea sofa or armchair (although my living room is crying out for an armchair!) but with Bemz’s custom designed covers in my life, it feels like an affordable, no-brainer. – Alice

PREVIEW: Spring 2012 Donna Wilson designs

Donna Wilson is one busy lady and her homespun goodies just keep on a-comin’. Today I’ve been cooing over her new Spring 2012 collection and wanted to share with you a few highlights from her friendly ‘Woodland’ range.  Hand-made and printed in Stoke-on-Trent, Baby Burt is the newest addition to her egg cup family (joining the lovely Meg, Mog and Beardy Bob). Other bone china includes Fox and Grace the plates along with Bushy Tailed Squirrel and Grey Owl beakers. Too cute!

Other items include this suitably named ‘Handy’ tea towel with bright red nails and bubbles!

More lovely tea towel designs include ‘Acorn Leaves’ and ‘Use My Tail’ and there are gorgeous folksy flower cushions…

Keep your eyes on the Donna Wilson website later this month for the full range and other happy creatures. Hurrah!

And as if she wasn’t busy enough, another piece of exciting news is a little collaboration with Rococo Chocolates. (I know, not entirely home shopping but it’s chocolate….so I can’t ignore..) Donna has created a limited edition range of hand painted Easter eggs, including her own take on the matryoshka Russian Doll called ‘Food Chain’: One little solid chocolate egg with an illustration of a carrot inside another egg painted with a rabbit, all contained within a larger egg painted with a fox. LOVE IT! Beautifully presented in pretty packaging – far too pretty to throw away.

For those that don’t know, this is SERIOUSLY good, ethically traded chocolate. Available this Easter from Rococo stores, donnawilson.com and other selected retailers. – Alice

MUST HAVE: Top salvo buy – London Underground luggage racks

If you grew up in London and were a regular commuter on the Metropolitan Line, you may well remember their high back seats and capacious 1960’s luggage racks with umbrella hooks. When the trains were decommissioned last year the clever folk over at The London Transport Museum decided to rescue the racks, scrub them up and are offering a limited number in three different sizes. Available from March, you can own a little piece of London history in your own home…

What a novel shelving solution! Made from aluminium they are super lightweight but sturdy. Perfect if you need a little extra storage in the hallway or kitchen. Other memorabilia includes a reproduction of the original 1960’s poster that introduced the newly modernised line 50 years ago…

and not sure I’d want to be reminded of the tube this much in my own home, but made to order cushions and cubes are also available in a unique moquette (woven in Yorkshire) based on the Metropolitan line’s distinctive purple and navy, geometric design. – Alice