Brit Decor: World Stationery Competition with Old English Company

Only recently I was thinking that it's been an eternity since I posted a competition on Brit Decor, so there's no time like the present to remedy this, right? 

This particular opportunity coincides with World Stationery Day on the 25th April 2018, which means that one lucky person will get to win a set of four rather swish planners from one of my favourite go-to stationers, Old English Company. 

Click here to visit the Old English Company competition page and submit your entry, and if you're inspired by these gorge planners, you can check out their full range by clicking through here.

Good luck folks!

Brit Decor Home:

I realise it's been a very long while since I last posted an update on here about living in a renovation project. In all honesty very little has happened over the last ten months in terms of major building works - as real life pretty much got in the way and our focus had to switch to a family crisis and eventually losing a loved one.

All being well, works are planned to resume again late Summer and, fingers crossed, we can finally think about some nice new flooring once all of the knocking down of walls and re-plastering is complete (walking around on old underlay and temporary flooring is so un-glamorous!)

If I rewind ten months, when our living room ceiling and walls were re-plastered, I was keen to get a basic scheme completed to make at least a couple of rooms in the house feel a little more like 'home'. Without the time to devote to a full design process, I opted for a dreamy pale grey nicely juxtaposed with a warmer dusty pink.

Over the time that we've been living here, I have been wowed by the amount of bright south-westerly light which floods our home every day. This also means that paler colours such as those in our living room, frequently appear bleached. With this in mind I'm now experimenting with darker and richer hues (similar to those of our velvet sofa cushions pictured 'below') in a quest for a cosier and more dramatic scheme.

Watch this space...

All images / Mike Ahern

Brit Decor: On the road / White Horse, Dorking

Lately it seems as though I'm away from dear home sweet home more often than not, but on the plus-side there are two major consolations; one, 'home' becomes even more precious, and two, I get to sample some #interiorforinspo hotel decor (and three, if I include zero house chores!). 

On a recent working trip to Dorking in Surrey (UK) I grabbed a one night whistle-stop stay at the impressive White Horse Hotel, which proved to be a feast for the eyes, and my stomach. I thought I'd share my time there with you...

Whilst the quintessentially 'ye olde' 18th Century British monochrome exterior, complete with slightly wonky sash windows, is echoed indoors within pockets of carefully respected original architectural details, the interiors have been extensively re-designed to a high spec (£4 million if we're talking figures) to accommodate us style-savvy travellers.

My room immediately embraced me with a calm palette of oatmeal, heavenly pastel blue, forest green and warming tan leather,  adorned with on-point brass wall lights. Despite the very British setting, I couldn't help but feel, at times, as though I had been posted in a chic hotel in the heart of Stockholm or Paris, but my imagination always did run wild...

The design-led decor didn't end with my room - the ground floor restaurant, Deli and bar areas each offered their own unique bubble of unpretentious charm, again with a hint of 'Scandi' referenced throughout, and all delivered by some of the most welcoming hotel staff I have encountered in a while.

You can find out more info by visiting the White Horse Hotel website (click here).

All Images / Mike Ahern