Cosy Home Blog ~ Interior design blog: Helping you create a cosy home

June 17th

Lavender might just be the perfect ingredient for a cosy home – as well as that lovely scent, with its undertones of British country summers, you can use it for decoration and cooking as well.

If you’re using it as a cooking ingredient, it’s best to grow your own if you can, so that you can be sure it’s free of pesticides. If you don’t have any growing space available, track down organic lavender at specialist nurseries, and pot it up to go on the kitchen windowsill. Lavender likes full sun, well drained, sandy soil and flowers in the UK from July to September. Here are our five favourite ways to make use of this beautiful plant.

1. Baking with lavender

If you’ve only ever used lavender for decoration or aroma, you might be surprised to know that it also works well as a baking ingredient, giving a delicate, floral flavour to cakes, biscuits and frosting.

Photo by Jason Walsh

Lavender shortbread

4oz (125g) butter, softened
2oz (55g) sugar
6oz (180g) plain flour
1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers or 2 teaspoons fresh flowers, chopped

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the flour and lavender until you have a smooth paste, then turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, and roll it out to about 1cm thick. Cut the dough into rounds with a pastry cutter, or into fingers, and place them on a greased baking tray. Bake them for about 15 minutes until pale golden. Sprinkle with lavender sugar.

Tip – to make lavender sugar, dry several sprigs of lavender and strip the flowers off. Mix them thoroughly into a small jar of white sugar, seal the jar and leave it for several weeks to take on the flavour of the flowers.

2. Savoury cooking

Lavender as a savoury ingredient is more unusual, but works brilliantly. As a general rule, you can adapt any recipe that uses rosemary to use lavender instead.

Roasted salmon with lavender (serves four)

Four salmon fillets
1 teaspoon lavender salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Grease a baking sheet, and lay the salmon fillets on it. Drizzle each one with lemon juice and a little olive oil, and sprinkle over the lavender salt. Bake for around 10 – 15 minutes. Serve with new potatoes and a green salad, for a light, summery meal.

Tip – make lavender salt in exactly the same way as lavender sugar, above. Use good quality seasalt for the best results.

3. Decoration

Lavender’s one of the prettiest of the summer flowers, with its deep purple blooms and silvery-grey foliage. Make a cottage bunch with sweet peas, lavender and sweet williams to grace your kitchen windowsill, or, if you’ve got plenty of lavender plants, cut the flowers and hang them in bunches from the ceiling to dry. Not only will they look lovely while drying, they’re also useful once the process is complete.

4. Relaxing

Lavender is one of the best known aromatherapy herbs, promoting sleep and soothing tired muscles. You can make your own lavender bath salts quickly and easily, and a jarful tied with ribbon makes a pretty gift. Lightly crush a tablespoon of lavender seeds with a pestle and mortar, mix them into a cupful of sea salt crystals and add a few drops of lavender essential oil. Keep the jar until winter, and every time you open it to use some of the bath salts, it’ll remind you of summer days in the garden.

5. Scent

Even if crafts aren’t really your thing, lavender sachets for drawers and wardrobes are so aromatic, they’re worth the tiny amount of trouble to make. Just sew a simple bag from sheer fabric such as chiffon or coloured muslim, leaving the top open. Fill it with lavender seeds and dried flowers, and tie a ribbon tightly round the top to seal it. You can also make a ‘no sew’ version – cut a cicle or square of fabric, pile the seeds into the middle, and gather it up with a ribbon into a little pouch.

Lavender also makes lovely pot pourri, especially when mixed with dried rose petals. If you’re lucky enough to have an Aga or range cooker, you can freshen the kitchen and remove cooking smells by filling a small dish with water, adding a few drops of lavender oil, and leaving it on the back of the cooker overnight.

By Sara Walker

Tags: baking with lavender, cooking with lavender, uses for lavender
Posted in Cosy Houses | No Comments »

Bluebellgray red rose floral watercolour design tray

June 14th

We love all the floral designs in the Bluebellgray home products collection.

If you’ve been hankering after the red rose tray, then head over to Liberty, as it’s currently reduced in the sale.

The tray is handmade from Scandinavian birch wood and features a distinctive watercolour floral design – perfect for summer entertaining.

Posted in Kitchen accessories | No Comments »

Upcycled vintage lace doilies from The Linen Peddler

June 5th

We love the way these vintage linen doilies have been given a new life and a contemporary twist.

The Linen Peddler – aka Jane Howarth – specialises in upcycling vintage linens, including lots of good old doilies. These little beauties have been adorned with images inspired by Alice in Wonderland tea parties, such as teacups, cakes, and jellies.

As they’re handmade items, stocks are limited, so if you see a design you like, it’s worth snapping it up. At £10 and under, you can’t go wrong.

The vintage lace doilies are available from The Linen Peddlar store on Not On The High Street.

Posted in Dining | No Comments »

Five ways with…French chic for your kitchen

June 2nd

If you’ve always admired the effortless shabby chic of a French farmhouse kitchen, it’s easy to add a few typical French-style accents to your own home.

1. Enamelware

Every self-respecting French home has a couple of pieces of enamelware – tall jugs, milk cans or wash pots. These latter are wall-mounted pots with a spout, which were filled with warm water to give basic washing facilities.

The best place to track down authentic vintage enamelware is to plan a trip to France, and visit a local vide grenier, or car boot sale, where you can pick up vintage enamelware for a couple of euros.

Alternatively, most brocantes (junk shops) will have a selection, although these will be a little more expensive than vide greniers. Find a list of events at www.vide-greniers.org.

If you’re not ready to set sail for the Continent, try ordering new enamelware from online companies such as Franksy Kitchenware or Loop the Loop.

2. Painted furniture

Photo by apartment28

The French have a lovely attitude towards furniture – buy the best you can afford, then never, ever throw it away. You’ll often see old French furniture given a new lease of life with a coat of paint, and the most attractive pieces are those that have been painted many times and gradually and naturally distressed over the years. You can replicate the look simply and cheaply, and it works particularly well with small tables or kitchen chairs.

Sand down your chosen piece of furniture to remove any traces of wax or varnish, then paint it with two coats of white eggshell paint. Leave it to dry completely, then paint with a coat of matt wood paint in a shade of grey or blue.

We like French Grey, Lamp Room Grey and London Stone from Farrow and Ball; Blue Grass and Antimony from Fired Earth; and Highland Falls and Steel Symphony from Dulux.

When the top coat’s completely dry, use a piece of sandpaper to remove the coloured paint at areas of high usage, such as corners or backs of chairs, so that the paler paint underneath shows through. If you’re painting a set of kitchen chairs, painting each one in a different colour gives a quirky, mismatched effect.

3. Mismatched china

Photo by 4028mdk09

Use mismatched china in different patterns but the same colour scheme to create a charming vintage effect. Plates and cups should be on display, rather than hidden in cupboards.

Patterns in blue and white add the right Gallic touch – try mixing florals patterns with stripes. Vintage china’s great fun to track down – try car boot sales on both sides of the Channel, as well as charity shops and online auction sites.

4. Embroidered Linen

White vintage napkins and tablecloths, embroidered in pale thread with initials and monograms, are guaranteed to add a little French glamour to your British kitchen. At the risk of sounding like we’ve got shares in Eurotunnel, genuine vintage linens are best picked up in France – you can find them in brocantes and vide greniers easily and cheaply.

To remove rust spots from vintage fabrics, saturate the mark with lemon juice and cover it with salt. If it’s a sunny day, spread the linen outside for an hour or so until the lemon juice is completely dry, then wash the fabric. If the weather’s more Britain than Bordeaux, leave the fabric in a dry place for 24 hours before washing.

For a modern alternative, try Not on the High Street - you can even order your own personalised linen.

5. Copper pans

French cookware is world famous, and several well known French manufacturers still make copper pans for use by professional chefs. Modern versions are lined with stainless steel, to make them easy to clean, and the old, vintage versions have fallen a little out of favour for everyday use as they require constant polishing and scouring.

Many a set of old copper pans in France now adorns the kitchen wall rather than the stove, and would look equally as good in a British home. Vintage pans are available in all shapes and sizes, but the smaller pans, used to make sauces or heat brandy to flambe desserts, often make more practical ornaments.

Track copper pans down (apart from, ahem, in France) online at auction sites or specialist sites like La Belle Etoffe or Rosy Vintage.

By Sara Walker

Tags: French kitchen accessories, French style
Posted in Kitchen accessories | No Comments »

3 Common Mistakes when Choosing a New Range Cooker

May 30th

A kitchen is usually the central room within any home, as it is a place where the whole family eats together and it is a space where you may choose to entertain guests. For this reason, it is essential that any kitchen looks presentable and has the right equipment for it to function properly as it should.

One of the main components of a kitchen is the cooker. Range cookers are hugely popular and a great investment, but as with any purchase, it’s important that you take your time to make the right decision and choose a suitable range cooker that will suit the needs of your family.

Here are three of the most common mistakes to avoid when buying a range cooker.

Spend time measuring up

When choosing a range cooker, make sure you accurately measure the space you have available. What you think might be a couple of centimetres, may turn out to be a much larger gap, and you wouldn’t want your range cooker to look out of place would you? Taking the appropriate time to measure this space will ensure that you are happy with the overall fit of your chosen range cooker.

Also, take the depth of the space into consideration as a cooker that is sticking out from the rest of the units may look unsightly in your kitchen.

Check the colour before purchasing

The actual colour of your chosen range cooker may look an awful lot different when it’s standing straight in front of you, so try to get hold of colour swatches to ensure that the cooker matches your kitchen walls and the rest of your home interiors.

Ask others for advice

A range cooker is a large, electrical item that is essential in your home, so make sure you receive plenty of advice before you buy. Asking your family, friends and kitchen appliance experts will help you to find any faults in different models, and ensure that you make the right decision.

Have you bought a range cooker but suffered a horrible mistake? Let us know below by sharing your tips – hopefully you can help another consumer avoid the same oversight.

***This guest article was provided by Britannia Living, specialists in range cookers and many other high-quality kitchen appliances.

Tags: guest post
Posted in Appliances | No Comments »

Easy homemade gifts for a cosy home

May 24th

Homemade presents are always more thoughtful and personal than shop-bought equivalents. Even if you don’t think you’re particularly creative, artistic or good at cooking, don’t despair – there are lots of options for handmade presents that don’t require you to be Delia Smith or Picasso. Most, once you’ve got the ingredients together, take only a few minutes to put together and cost very little.

Gifts for food lovers

Flavoured chilli oil

Great for adding to salad dressings, drizzling over pizzas and pasta or basting chicken, this chilli oil is simple to make and looks impressive. Collect attractively shaped bottles over the year, and wash them out thoroughly before re-using. Dried chillies are available in packs from Indian food shops or larger supermarkets.

You’ll need: bottles, flavourless oil (groundnut or sunflower work well), 5 – 6 dried red chillies, label, ribbon

Start by sterilising the bottles. Put the bottles and lids in a large saucepan of water, and bring the pan to the boil. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes, then drain the bottles and stand them on a heat-proof surface.
Push three or four chillies into the bottle, then break the remaining chillies up and crumble the pieces in as well. Carefully top up the bottle with oil until it’s about an inch below the stopper, then seal it tightly. Add a gift tag and ribbon. Ideally, this oil should be made a few weeks before needed to give the flavours time to infuse.

Variation: Rosemary oil. In place of the chillies, use a long sprig of dried rosemary and a couple of teaspoons of chopped rosemary.

Chilli seasalt

If you’ve bought a bumper bag of dried chillis, you can also try your hand at flavoured salt. This is great for flavouring roast potatoes, crisping chicken skin and adding a bit of zip to vegetables. All you need is an attractive, airtight jar such as a fancy jam jar or Kilner jar, washed and sterilised as above.

You’ll need: jars, seasalt, dried chillis, plastic bag, ribbon, label

Let the jars cool after sterilising them, and dry them thoroughly. Put two or three chillis in a plastic bag, and roll them in between your hands to crush them. Mix them into the seasalt, and pour them into the jar. Add a ribbon and label. You can vary this by using pretty much any kind of dried herb instead of chilli – rosemary, tarragon and oregano all work particularly well.

Variation: flavoured sugar. Instead of using seasalt, fill your jar with light brown sugar and add a vanilla pod, or a couple of cinnamon sticks, pushing them well under the sugar. Leave for a couple of weeks to infuse, so that your recipient will be greeted with a lovely rich aroma when they remove the lid. These flavoured sugars are great for baking and stirring into coffee.

Gifts for home lovers

Lavender Hearts

Draw a heart template on stiff paper, and cut it out. Lay two pieces of fabric right-sides together, and pin the template to them. Cut the heart shapes out, and machine or hand sew them together, leaving an open slit down one long side.

Turn the heart right way out, and iron it into shape. Add some stuffing – you can use soft toy stuffing, cotton wool or old tights, cut up into small pieces – and a few tablespoons of dried lavender seeds. Hand sew up the slit with matching thread.

Sew on a loop of thread or ribbon, and disguise the stitchmarks with a button, bead or small bow.

Cup of flowers

Combining vintage crockery with spring bulbs or tiny plants makes for an individual and quirky gift. Scour charity shops and car boots sales for old jugs, lidless teapots or cups and saucers. Fill them with compost, and plant with small plants such as violas, voilets, forget-me-nots or daisies, and fill in any bare compost with moss. Tie a ribbon and label to the cup handle.

By Sara Walker

Tags: easy homemade gifts, home made edible gifts
Posted in Crafts | No Comments »

Quirky porcelain teapot wall vase hook

May 15th

As far as wall decorations go, this one definitely falls into the quirky category.

If you love all things tea related, then now you can even hang a teapot (well, half of one) on your wall!

It’s not just a wall hanging teapot though – no, this one can be used as a hook and even a vase! The spout provides hanging capacity – use it to hang scarves, jewellery or a dog lead on – and the lid lifts off to reveal space to pop a flower, pens or makeup brushes in.

To start hanging teapots from your wall, head over to Sparks Living, where the wall vase and hook costs £15.

Posted in Decorative accessories | 1 Comment »

Spring greens: 10 green wallpaper decorating ideas

May 13th

As a decorating colour, green can be fresh, calming and soothing, so it’s no wonder it’s a popular interior design colour choice.

Spring 2013 decorating trends are awash with inspiring greens – here’s a selection of our top 10 best green themed wallpapers for decorating your home.

1. Green berry tree wallpaper

Emerald green and lime berry tree design wallpaper, from the Melinki collection by Scion. £28.80 from Wallpaper Direct.

2. Dainty green wallpaper

Kantu green and white wallpaper, from the Options 11 collection by Sanderson. £35 per roll from Select Wallpaper.

3. Geometric green trellis design wallpaper

Harlequin Erin geometric patterned wallpaper, £39 per roll from John Lewis.

4. Rhododendron green flower wallpaper

Orla Kiely House for Harlequin rhododendron design wallpaper in green, £40.18 per roll from House Decor Interiors.

5. Green leaf design wallpaper

Miss Print leaves design wallpaper in absinthe with white colourway. £59.95 per roll from Eggcup and Blanket Interiors.

6. Ribbon swirl design wallpaper

Confetti ribbon swirl green and cream wallpaper, by P&S International. Reduced to £10 per roll at Home Flair Decor.

7. Fresh green stripe wallpaper

Riviera stripe design wallpaper in shades of green and teal. Reduced to £6.93 per roll at Homebase.

8. Green stylised flower design wallpaper

Wilko Sustain retro style flower image wallpaper in green, £8.50 from Wilko.

9. Green tree design wallpaper

Arthouse Boulevard tree design wallpaper in green and cream. A bargain at only £7.89 per roll from I Love Wallpaper.

10. Amy Butler green wallpaper

Amy Butler Georgia field design wallpaper, reduced to £14.40 per roll from Wilko.

Posted in Wallpaper | No Comments »

Top 10 afternoon tea essentials

May 10th

Afternoon tea has always been our favourite indulgence – after all, what could be nicer after a long, countryside walk than a pot of tea with homemade scones and jam? Make it even more of an occasion by investing in some beautiful crockery and accessories – it’s an oasis of calm in a busy world.

1. Ulster Weavers: Ducks tea cosy

Keep your tea piping hot with this tea cosy, priced at just £11 from Ulster Weavers. In duck egg blue and French grey, and decorated with a pattern of cheerful looking ducks, it’ll make any teapot proud.

2. Pots ‘n’ Pictures: ceramic bird bowl

This gorgeous sugar bowl, handmade and painted by ceramic artist Katherine Morton, is almost enough to tempt us to take sugar in our tea. A real conversation piece, it would be equally useful for jam or cream. £30 from Not on the High Street.

3. The Contemporary Home: Eclectic cutlery set

We’ve fallen in love with this mixed-up cutlery set from The Contemporary Home – it looks like we spent hours rummaging through the vintage shops to put it together, or maybe inherited it from a favourite but eccentric aunt. Add a little quirk to your tea table for £29.99 a set of 16 pieces.

4. Hanne Rysgaard: Cow face milk jug

Funny, nostalgic, stylish, practical – we like these milk jugs from ceramic artist Hanne Rysgaard so much, we’ve had to use four adjectives. Hand made in Bristol, they’re even microwave and dishwasher proof, for those who like afternoon tea on the MOO-ve. Find them at Hanne’s website, starting from £36.

5. Julia Davey: Dorset beach hut ceramic butterdish

This cute dish, hand decorated with stylised beach huts by ceramic artist Julia Davey, makes us think of afternoon tea in seaside cafés on sunny days. Accessorise with fresh scones and the sound of the waves lapping at the shore. £24 from www.juliadavey.com.

6. Portmeirion: Crazy daisy two tier cake stand

Daisy, daisy, give me your answer, do…

If you thought that floral cake stands were old fashioned, how about this funky, fresh design from Portmeirion? A modern twist on an old favourite, priced at £44.

7. Sibona: Beehive cotton napkins

Afternoon tea just isn’t the same without proper napkins. We love these hand embroidered napkins from Sibona – the cute beehive decoration makes us think of summertime, and fresh honey for our crumpets. £7.50 each, available from www.sibona.com.

8. John Lewis: Botanist Teapot

This classic teapot decorated with beautiful, subtle butterflies makes us long to take afternoon tea in the garden, complete with a rose arbour and the cast of Brideshead Revisited. Sigh. Priced at £25 from John Lewis.

9. Fairmont & Main: Little red dot teacup and saucer

With its simple design and enamel dot design, there’s something appealingly 1950s about this cup and saucer. Perfect for a proper afternoon tea, including hot buttered toast and seed cake. Priced at £9.50 from Fairmont & Main.

10. Izzy Design: Camellia Parrot Cake Plate

This stunning plate is almost too pretty to use! The design represents the three main tea producing countries – India, China and Kenya, and couldn’t more appropriate for afternoon tea. Designed and decorated by Izzy Design and Illustration and available from Not on the High Street, £18.

By Sara Walker

Posted in Crockery | No Comments »

Floral flower blossom cushion from John Lewis

May 3rd

Cheery cosy cushion

Do you change and update your cushions? A cushion or two is often one of the easiest and affordable ways of brightening up a sofa or bed and it’s amazing what a difference a change in cushion style or design can make, especially as we move from one season to the next.

This colourful blossom cushion is full of the joys of spring, with its vibrant depiction of floral blooms, and would be a great way of livening up a sofa.

The cushion has a handmade look to it and is sold by John Lewis.

Posted in Soft furnishings | No Comments »

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1. Baking with lavender

2. Savoury cooking

3. Decoration

4. Relaxing

5. Scent

1. Enamelware

2. Painted furniture

3. Mismatched china

4. Embroidered Linen

5. Copper pans

Spend time measuring up

Check the colour before purchasing

Ask others for advice

Gifts for food lovers

Gifts for home lovers

1. Green berry tree wallpaper

2. Dainty green wallpaper

3. Geometric green trellis design wallpaper

4. Rhododendron green flower wallpaper

5. Green leaf design wallpaper

6. Ribbon swirl design wallpaper

7. Fresh green stripe wallpaper

8. Green stylised flower design wallpaper

9. Green tree design wallpaper

10. Amy Butler green wallpaper

1. Ulster Weavers: Ducks tea cosy

2. Pots ‘n’ Pictures: ceramic bird bowl

3. The Contemporary Home: Eclectic cutlery set

4. Hanne Rysgaard: Cow face milk jug

5. Julia Davey: Dorset beach hut ceramic butterdish

6. Portmeirion: Crazy daisy two tier cake stand

7. Sibona: Beehive cotton napkins

8. John Lewis: Botanist Teapot

9. Fairmont & Main: Little red dot teacup and saucer

10. Izzy Design: Camellia Parrot Cake Plate