Brit Decor: Tools of the Trade / ColoReader Review

Boy is it frustrating when you just have to know the official colour of a particular hue, but no amount of colour cards from your favourite purveyors of paint can identify a true match!? Well I have been there and it's not a happy place - Cue a welcome email from from the folk at datacolor, asking me if I would like to review their professional colour matching tool which goes by the name of ColoReader. 

Whilst I've learned to live in this predominantly technical world, I would not describe myself as being particularly adept when it comes to gadgets, but nonetheless I braced myself for a mind boggling learning curve when this neat little package arrived in the post...

How wrong was I!? The ColoReader (just under 7cm in length) is stupendously easy to use - I literally downloaded the app onto my iPhone, switched on the reader and laid it on top of my first colour surface. Within seconds an exact colour match, along with some near matches, appeared on my phone screen. 

From there the App allowed me to co-ordinate colours, suggesting complimentary shades and it also enabled me to name and build my own palettes, complete with note-making facility. You can view the easy steps to identifying colour via the photos & screen shots below. 

This is actually quite the perfect little pocket tool for accompanying me on my travels and from now on, I won't be wasting time scrambling for those colour charts. If you would like to find out more about the ColoReader, you can visit the website by clicking here.

  

All images / Mike Ahern

Brit Decor: Achieve your goals

Did you know you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down? 

It’s easy to think you know what your goals are, but consider your latest new year’s resolutions – how long did they last? If you’re anything like me, not long! Writing your goals down gives you focus. Having them written down and looking at them regularly helps to make them happen.

Setting goals is something that has become particularly important to me in recent years and I love nothing more than to set aside some time for blue-sky thinking sessions. I always try to write down the resulting goals from these sessions too, so that I don’t lose sight of the bigger picture in the day to day chaos of life.

Couple this approach to goal setting with my ongoing stationery crush and you can see why I love these stylish Daily Goal Setter planners from Mål Paper.

With a faux leather hardback cover the Daily Goal Setter is tactile as well as aesthetically pleasing. The pages have been designed to help us identify goals on a daily basis and structure our days in a way that helps us focus on the positives and become more mindful through daily affirmations. 

From a styling perspective, stationery is a great decorative filler for any desktop or shelf, satisfying a love of aesthetics with a need to be organised. These stylish planners from Mål Paper fulfil all the requirements to make a great addition to any home or work space.

The word Mål, pronounced 'mo-l', means goal in Swedish. Taking inspiration from the Scandinavian clean and clutter-free way of living, Mål Paper designs and produces stylish, simplistic and effective stationery that helps focus the mind and improve productivity.

If you want to check out this stunning range of stationery from this exciting new company, take a look at their website or follow them on Instagram @malpaper

Text / Helen Savage / Images / Mike Ahern

Brit Decor: Merits of a good Shelfie

With all of our favourite social media platforms well and truly bedded-in for the duration, for better or for worse (today I'm honing in on the 'better'), it seems that everyone and their dog, literally, and even the odd guinea pig, is now the curator of their own window to the world. I can't complain though, as both of my cats are a regular feature on my feeds - gotta love 'em!

It's exciting, right? You've just created your very own cute corner piecing together some of your favourite homewares and props, and you want to release it into the world. Post and wait for the feedback!

The 'Shelfie' might be a relatively new phenomenon but it's basically another version of what proud homeowners have been doing for hundreds of years: showing off. Putting together a composition on a shelf is also one of the easiest styling tricks in the book for adding an extra layer of background detail to a room, or it can make a strong standalone feature. Personally I'm a fan of both the 'less is more' and the 'maximalist' approaches to interior styling, (cautionary note): just be mindful of overcrowding with the latter 'look'. 

Having completed our home renovations indoors and with just the front garden remaining, I've increasingly found myself in the indulgent position of now being able to add layers of decor detail to newly decorated rooms, and a simple shelfie is definitely the way to go for me.

Our largest guest bedroom also doubles as a workspace (we didn't want to give over an entire room for work) and whilst Farrow & Ball's Dix Blue adds a nice mid-depth of colour, I wanted to elevate the room with additional details. IKEA's Mosslanda picture ledge came to the rescue by offering a crisp white contrast to the wall colour and helping to zone this part of the room into a study area.

However, I've ditched the opportunity to use these two ledges for practical reasons and opted for a more aesthetic curation of objects, plants and artwork instead. The Creative in me couldn't resist working-in corresponding greens and blues with a pop of trending yellow but I know that in an instant I can switch things around and have a brand new shelfie - it's as easy as that!

All Images / Mike Ahern

Brit Decor: Memory Lane Makeover

Until about a week before Christmas I had been basking in the glorious knowledge that after almost exactly two years in the making, our home was complete - no more renovations, no more upheaval, no more furniture changes (at least for a while)...that was until I received a phone call from a close relative to say that her beautiful Wiltshire cottage was in need of a de-clutter (we've all been there, right?).

The moral sticking point in my Aunt's early Spring clean was a particular sideboard which had belonged to my great-grandparents, but this needed to be gone, to clear some much needed space. Had I not been able to recall the sideboard in question, in-situ in my great-grandfolk's home, I may not have given it another thought, but when the question was put to me if I'd like to take on this heirloom, my sentimental side well and truly kicked into play.

Almost without thinking, my reply was 'yes'! You see, I'm a firm believer in making things work, even against the odds. Prior to my Aunt's offer, apart from a couple of mid-century pieces (it is a 1960's built home after all) - our home didn't contain any antique / vintage pieces, and I was concerned about how an early 1900's sideboard would sit within in such a contemporary context.

Thankfully, as soon as the sideboard was welcomed in through the front door, it seemed to change the whole dynamic and rather than sit at odds with everything, it actually enriches our home with character - the sort you just can't buy at IKEA! 

Apart from the vintage teal/brown speckle jug, which also belonged to my great grandparents, I've embellished the sideboard with contemporary accessories, including a newly purchased notebook from HAY, which helps to give this cherished piece of furniture a context in the 'now' and not just the past. In short, I love it!

All Images / Mike Ahern