An interior brand I love: Artfinder

I'm on a mission to introduce you to some of the UK's cutest interior stockists. Whether you're an interior stylist, budding interior assistant or just love finding home decoration sites to spruce up your home, keep an eye on this feature.

I'm working hard to collect a little black book with a list of favourite shops, so that for ANY interior look you want to achieve, all that's needed is a glance through my little black book to know where you'll find the goods to create your dream rooms. 

Last time I shared with you a brand with a lovely "sharing is caring" ethos.

This week let me introduce a brand I'm turning to, to populate my home with (fairly) affordable art from independent artists - authentic art.

 Since moving into my own place, I've noticed that one of the trickiest parts of decoration, making  a house a home, is finding affordable art that speaks to you.  I despise art work that's mass-produced. Not in a poncey "art expert" kinda way. Not at all! It's  more the thought of canvases sold in Primark that seem to people, to be the only affordable option for them - and everyone has the same! I hate that. 

You'll see  in my "How to create a gallery wall" post that I try to source art work that has deeper meaning other than just suiting a room.  We have a very sweet quote I love, taken from Lord of the rings. Mine and Neil's fave film. 

Whatever you choose to hang on your walls should be sentimental  + meaningful to you. Whether it's a quote that inspires you, an illustration you love, or fond photographs and family memories. 

That's why I wanted to share Artfinder with you.

It's like an Etsy for art work. It's a place that champions the talents of  local artists from  97 different countries across the world, so you are sure to find something unique, affordable and meaningful to the places you've been to , lived in and love. 

My family are all from the Emerald Isle and I've been wanting to bring in concepts of my celtic heritage to my home. I've been spending a lot of time on the Artfinder website to discover new and emerging Irish artists, and scenes from Sligo + Mayo, where we spent many a family holiday, and have found some stunning paintings in different colour schemes available for me to get hold of. The above is a painting by Lesley Birch and I've pulled in colours and fabrics to fit how I'd scheme the room around it. I'd use Sligo Oatmeal fabric from Ulster Weavers (I love the herringbone, tartan, celtic feel) to complement the look. 

Artfinder also have  a whole array of Brighton artists (this city has a huge art scene I was surprised at a simple search flagging up over 10 pages, whereas Ireland had much fewer!) . Tania Rutland is one to watch for moody and atmospheric works, but there are lots of sketchy  illustrative styles for a more modern look too. 

I urge you to have a look around the Artfinder website for places that mean a lot to you. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the art work you'll find from even the most remote places. 

What sort of  art do you love inside  your home? Are you on the market for things to hang on your walls?

Fi xoxo

www.artfinder.com

Step by step guide to make your home more colourful

I was inspired by

Graham & Brown

's press release last week, introducing popsicle colours to interiors. Think washes of watercolours married with strong statement fabrics. I love it. It's a particularly nice trend for the Summer months.

Here's how I'd introduce colour to a room step by step. I hope it helps you if you're thinking about redecorating. 

1. Choose 3 key, bright colours that complement one another

And use these colours to guide your choices when you're out shopping for room accessories. Opt for materials, furnishings and statement furniture in these shades... but don't go overboard. Limit yourself to 30% of the room in these colours. 

You might notice the shades I've chosen resemble my blog design. There's something about these 3 contrasting shades that I love together, although I think it breaks every design rule in the book.

Clarke & Clarke

have some brave and beautiful fabrics for every home that continue to inspire me (see the pic on the right for an action shot). All of these shades are taken from their material collection and can be used for upholstering anything from cushions to sofas to curtains for a bold statement.

2. Next, find a texture or base shade that complements the colour scheme 

Think about neutral shades for this. Ideally a blank canvas paint you can coat on the walls in a muted tone that plays down all the bright colours yet brings them together. 

Valspar paint

is a fantastic choice if you want to give your walls a fresh lick of paint. With over 2,000 pre-mixed colours, the choice doesn't stop there. If there's a fabric colour you want an exact match with, they can mix it identically for you. We recently painted our bedroom a matt, neutral '

Summer Gray'

from Valspar's collection which was a dream to work with. I'll show you photos once the place is tidier ;)

Don't feel obliged to coat your room all one colour though, you could choose to wallpaper one accent wall for more texture to pastel colours. I love this Vintage Flock design by

Kelly Hoppen for Graham & Brown

. It's neutral enough to not clash with colours, and adds a bit more detail to the primary shades I've chosen. 

3. Invest in good quality furniture with changeable covers

I often find myself wanting to change colours schemes regularly particularly when I see how fast interior trends change. Furniture stockists like

Loaf

make it totally possible to buy an excellent quality piece of furniture with the ability to change the covers. Their range of materials are next to none. If I was on the market for another sofa, I'd ditch DFS and head to Loaf as my first port of call. Delivery is a million times faster than highstreet chains too, so you won't have to resort to camping chairs for 10 weeks like we had to when we bought with DFS. The classic button style 

Dixie sofa in Bahama plush velvet

would look beautiful with contrasting cushions from

Clarke & Clarke

. 

4. Make a pinterest board of home furnishings you love in shades that work with the scheme

This is my favourite past time. Take a look at the

board

I made when I re-decorated my mum's bedroom. She loved the colour lilac, so I went mad on creams and purple tones to decorate her room with.

George at Asda

enabled me to redecorate her room in under £200, their homeware range is fantastic if you're working to a budget. 

The pro's of making a pinterest board of all your potential purchases is that Pinterest can alert you when products go on sale, so you can hang about and save pennies whilst getting creative. High fives all round. 

Some things I'd pin for this look:

Chevron throw

- Oliver Bonas

Watercolour canvas quote

- Graham & Brown

Empress Rose cushion in magenta

- Clarke & Clarke

Pineapple candles

- Oliver Bonas

Leila pouffe

- MADE

I hope this has inspired you to add new colours to your rooms. I think it pays to be daring when you're redecorating. If it doesn't work out, it can always be replaced.