ESPC Feature: Part I

Check it out! As I mentioned here, I was asked to write a little piece for Edinburgh's free, weekly property paper, ESPC, about interior trends for 2013. The issue hit stalls on Tuesday and I'm really happy with how it looks (and reads)! Pick it up from estate agencies and most bank branches, this week only, or like the ESPC facebook page for a sneaky peek. If you want to read my trend predictions check out the ESPC blog next week.

I thought the best way to illustrate my points would be to set up a couple of different room settings so I planned a light and a dark arrangement and asked Rachel Hein to take the photos. Rachel took fantastic pictures of Sebastian and Kingston at the beginning of last year so I knew she'd do a great job. I asked the lovely Dixie of Catalog on St. Stephen Street if I could borrow a couple of items from their gorgeous shop, when I started to panic that a whole load of my stuff chucked together just wasn't going to cut it! They stock beautiful contemporary furniture, lighting and accessories, from the likes of Hay and Foscarini, (two of my favourites)! I spent quite some time choosing what to borrow from the showroom floor and was very upset to have to give back that white side table!
Here's a closer look at the light arrangement which I set up in my living room.

Weathered leather sofa: mine (2nd hand from Retrouvius) | Black and white throw: mine (2m of wool fabric from John Lewis haberdashery department) | Sheepskin: mine (IKEA) | Skull and antlers: borrowed from The Last Word Saloon | Belle & Sebastian poster: Sebastian's (from StrawberryLuna framed in white with black frame interior by Carol Coulter) | Candelabra: ours (a wedding gift (muuto)) | Black vase: mine (IKEA) | Tall jug: mine (from The Adam Pottery by Lara Scobie) | White metal framed tray table: borrowed from Catalog Interiors | Black and white striped runner rug: mine (Broste Copenhagen).

I've always been interested in doing a little writing and I loved the styling aspect of this little project so hopefully I'll get to do some more of both in the future. What do you think of the outcome?
Photographs 1 & 4 taken by me, 2, 3 &5 by Rachel Hein 

My Stylin'

Last week I set up a couple of little corners in two very different spaces for a feature I've been asked to do about the trends for the new year for Edinburgh's property paper. One little corner was in my flat and the other was in The Last Word Saloon. I had lots of fun styling the shots with photographer, Rachel Hein, and the results are better than I'd expected so I'm pretty excited about seeing them, in print, in January.

I borrowed the cushions, the red 'birdie' lamp and that beautiful, white metal framed side table from Catalog in Stockbridge; my new favourite shop. It was very difficult to give that table back...my living room is a lesser place without it. I have notified Santa...

The little art deco table with blue painted top was borrowed from Cherubim, a great little gallery on St Stephen Street with an ever changing stock of interesting upcycled furniture for sale. It's always worth a visit for an unusual statement piece.

The antlers were visiting my flat from The Last Word and the rest of the stuff is mine...received as gifts, bought, found or inherited over the years. 

I promise to share the final shots and pictures of the feature when it's been printed but in the meantime here's a sneaky peak of how the day went from behind the scenes.

If you reeeeaaaaally can't wait you can see some of the shots here. 

Main photograph by Rachel Hein, the rest were taken by me.

Yeah...Ok...Instagram

For snippets of day to day life you can follow me on Instagram...if you like. It can be food and family heavy but hey, that's where my life's at right now...

Instagram users search username 'yeahokbye'. PC users can follow via webstagram here.

Voyages over Edinburgh

I'm on a little roll, show casing home grown talent...so...take a look at the illustrations of Edinburgh born Architecture student David Fleck. I spotted this print on a larger scale in the window at Curiouser and Curiouser on Broughton Street a while back and fell in love but didn't have time to stop in and get it.
What's not to like? Monochrome Edinburgh skyline with gloriously colourful hot air balloons floating over head.
Here's David's story behind it...


'In the winter of 1785 in Edinburgh, all the shops closed for a day and over 80,000 people gathered in the grounds of my old school, George Heriot’s, to watch the incredible spectacle of Vincenzo Lunardi taking one of the world's first ever balloon rides. The whole town caught balloon fever, with Scottish women even wearing large balloon shaped bonnets they named after the famous aeronaut.'

He's having a sale here for THIS WEEK ONLY so...I bought it. Now to work out wear to put it...

First Christmas...

I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas and managed to relax and enjoy some time off.
We received some gorgeous decorations for the tree, from family and friends, for Sebastian's 1st Christmas...which was lovely! They will, of course, now be annual fixtures on our family tree. Can you tell which ones were sent from Australia?

...Enjoy your Hogmanay celebrations and I'll see you in the new year! x

My Kitchen

We got a new kitchen fitted about five years ago. We had the tile splashback applied in July of this year. It's easier to make quick decisions, as an interior designer, when there's a deadline and you're spending someone else's money. When it comes to my own home, little decisions take approximately five years, evidently. It doesn't help that I'm a Libran. Anyway, I love the result. Here's a sneaky peek...

Photography by me