The broad spectrum of this new website offers shoppers in the United Kingdom a wide variety of products for the home interior. No items are actually sold from the site but rather helpful categories and direct links to places where the buyer can discover what they are looking for. Most of the regular domestic home interiors are included such as the bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen. Also present are categories covering cookware, bakeware and related kitchen accessories.

Further categories cover dinnerware, kid’s furniture, home decorative accents and even flooring as well as various miscellaneous spheres such as wallpaper, clocks, bars and lighting. If you live in the United Kingdom and are looking for tasteful additions to your home, then why not pop on over to my new Décor and Furniture Shopfront and see if you can pick up a bargain via the categories and gateways provided.

There’s also a small blog section that accompanies the new interiors website which is being and will continue to be regularly updated regarding interesting and eye-catching designs and products based in the United Kingdom. Any news from the world of British interior design will also be highlighted. Bookmark now to stay up-to-date.

1000 interior details for the home and where to find them by Ian and Geraldine Rudge is the perfect book. It’s published by Laurence King, is available in softback and can be found on Amazon.

It’s designed to be dipped into and browsed through since there is so much to look at and enjoy. In fact, there’s far too much to absorb in just one reading.

The book is divided into seven chapters, covering walls and floors, doors, windows and stairs, heating and cooling, kitchens, bathrooms, lighting and home technology. This book however is by no means your usual interior book. Designed to appeal to anyone interested in improving their home environment, this book will appeal to amateurs and professionals.

There’s one page of text introducing each category, in the form of an interview with a leading architect or designer who has specialist knowledge of the chapters subject.

The best feature about the book is that the products selected all come with a where to buy website, which ensures that all the products can be easily sourced. The book was published in 2009 and includes some of the newest and most inspirational ideas for every space in your home.

This was a guest book review by Nerys Irving-Jones.

It was fashionable in the 19th Century Europe for aristocratic and upper-class families to commission artists to represent their home interiors in watercolor paintings. These were collected in albums and became heirlooms to be passed down from one generation to the next. The most beautiful were also given to visiting guests especially if they were royalty. The House Proud book showcases these 19th century watercolor interiors together with historical facts on the social, political and economic developments of interior design for the domestic home.

‘House Proud’ is an ideal gift for someone you know who admires 19th Century Interiors and who has an interest in this period of time, particularly in Europe. The splendid cover of the book means it will make a wonderful coffee table book which can be displayed for casual reading when guests and family visit. There’s something exquisite about watercolor interior paintings which I first came across at Art School and has never left me.

You can buy this book from here: House Proud Book – 19th Century Watercolor Interiors.

125 illustrations in total.

The following assortment of pictures show how the Moravian Star pendant light fits into many types of interior. Due to the geometric shapes of the star as well as the cloud white art glass material they are made from, the lighting fixture is both visually attractive when the bulb is on or off.

Notice how the light from the Moravian star pendant lamp compliments colorful interiors such as this one.

You can read more about the Moravian Star from my earlier post which is linked to at the beginning of this post.

All images in this post were found via Style Carrot.

Essaouira is an old port city in the West of Morocco. The historic center of the city is called Medina and has been included as a UNESCO World Heritage Listed city. It’s within the walls of the old city that the 200 year-old White House is situated. Bought in 2002 for $60,000, the building has been renovated and adapted to the needs and desires of the British couple who purchased the old Moroccan house with its whitewashed façade. The result of their work on the Dar Beida is presented below:

The dining-room table was bought for the equivalent of $40 from a Moroccan roadside cafe.

Old French signs were purchased from a flea market in Marrakesh. Once back at the White House they were re-purposed and arranged to form new words. The photo directly above shows the scene in what is called a Riad, otherwise known as an interior garden. You can read more about these here: Moroccan Riad.

Some of the skulls on the wall were found on the local beaches around Essaouira. They were bleached and then hung up. However, the collection grew and became more of a serious hobby when friends began bringing skulls for the pair to place on their walls. Amongst the collection are camel, cow, bird and dolphin skulls.

The kitchen counter is made from tadelakt which is also a material used in bathrooms and traditional steam rooms, known in the Arab world as hammams.

Tadelakt is again used in one of the bathrooms. One notices too a whale vertebrae positioned on one of the bathroom shelves. This is in keeping with the collection of animal skulls in the other room. The bathroom in this Moroccan home has been given an old-worldly North African feel to it.

Many of the rooms in the White House contain beautiful molded fireplaces, one of which can be seen in the picture above in the bottom right-hand corner. These were designed by the couple and compliment the interiors tremendously.

In this small communal room there are a selection of art pieces, one of which is by British artist Allan Forsyth. In return for his gift he was invited to stay at the Dar Beida for three weeks.

A Joe Colombo chair was purchased by the British pair from a furniture dealer in Casablanca. It cost $2,000. The circular table was bought from a local flea market in Essaouira. Notice too the creative construction of the shelves.

The bird cage, painting and various other items in the home were purchased from markets and shops in the Essaouira area.

The Moroccan White House has four bedrooms in total. Perhaps the most impressive is this rooftop bedroom which opens up onto a rooftop terrace. Like in one of the previous pictures, shelves and wardrobe space have been carved into the walls.

You can read more about this Moroccan home here: A White Cavern in Morocco.

The city of Gorgan is famous for the Great Wall of Gorgan but the Fruit House has its own wall which surrounds the property. The barrier provides both security and privacy, the latter of which is the main reason for the family’s desire to spend the weekends in peace and quiet away from the busy and bustling life of Tehran. It’s due to the family’s 13 year-old son that the house was given a fruit theme which can loosely be seen in the style of the interiors.

The family commissioned well known Iranian architects to design the property. Apart from giving the instructions that the house must have two bedrooms and be of a rustic nature, pretty much everything else was up to the young architects Mohammadreza Ghodousi and Parsa Ardam, the founders of ZAV Design & Built Company based in Tehran. There was an added request made by the wife which was to make the interior white and with a lot of natural light.

It took three years to complete Fruit House and cost the family $20,000. The home impressed a panel of judges in Iran and they gave it third place in a competition for residential work in 2008. The family were also delighted with the results, the husband stating: “We left everything up to them, I think it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Across the living room walls are lines from an 18th century poem which have been written in Arabic calligraphy. These are quite common in Persian homes and are something that can be considered for your own homes in North America or wherever you reside. The calligraphy in your case doesn’t have to be Arabic. It can be in any font or language you decide upon. The Arabic calligraphy in this Iranian home is very elegant and this contrasts well with the rough hewn style of the wooden dining room table made from pine wood.

One notices in the hallway, a circular skylight which is another feature common to Iranian architecture and style. This provides further access for natural light to filter into the open plan space of the Fruit Home in the city of Gorgan.

In the kitchen area, beside the dining table, there is a three-layered bench also made from wood which was specifically designed to hold fruit. A coffee table is also present which was once a munitions box from the war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s. This has been covered in decorative cloth.

Little niches in the wall offer places where dishes, textiles, urns and ornaments can be kept and shown. These are carved into the wall. Small incandescent lights that have been recessed into the ceiling contribute to the swathes of natural light that fill the interiors during the day time.

The square where the house is situated was originally built in the 1840′s but part of it then collapsed twenty years later when a tunnel being dug beneath the site gave way. Their side was rebuilt, first being used as industrial space, then as a series of squalid bed-sits which it remained for a number of decades. More recently, the house was repaired and given a new façade in keeping with the rest of the square.

Antoni Burakowski and his partner moved into the house four years ago. At that time it had no electricity, bathrooms or details from the original period. It was basically an empty shell. That said, the proportions and structure were in relatively good shape and provided a backdrop from which to work on. Luckily, the pair were not under any time restraints and worked on the house with care and consideration.

Many people in Britain jokes about the influx of Polish immigrants over the last decade, especially Polish builders and plumbers. This recent tradition was carried on when Burakowski’s elderly Polish father, a builder of 87, came over to help with the refurbishment. Most of the plastered walls were left as they were without added paint, so they would match the interior style Antoni wanted. The floorboards were however stripped.

The pair are fascinated by the history of the location and have preserved as much of the original building and decor as possible. An example is in the entrance hall where a large brick wall is visible. This is part of the original structure from the 1840′s that survived the tunnel collapse.

Antoni and his partner have also taken unwanted items from around England to add to their home. These include the doors with a fanlight seen in the hallway which come from an old Yorkshire wool factory. Beside these is a bamboo side table which originates from the 1920s and was used in Stanley Kubrick’s film Eyes Wide Shut.

Knowing where to find quality second hand items for the home is an important aspect of decorating interiors. Owing to Burakowski’s design connections this has been easier for him than most. In the bathroom the tiles on the wall are made by the company that supplies the tiling for the walls on the London Underground railway. The yellow bath and the green basin, made in the 1930s and 1950s respectively, are from an old sanitary-ware maker and were originally used as display examples.

The sitting room is also filled with remarkable collections, many of which are located in display cabinets from the Oxford-based Ashmolean museum. These collections include Clarice Cliff ceramics, Brentleigh Ware and beautifully colourful Murano vases. On a nearby Danish teak sideboard stand lamps from Los Angeles and vases from Hungary. A curly gilded metal table with matching chairs, made in the 1940′s, is also present.

More tiles from the London Underground firm can be found in the basement kitchen. Here Antoni has painted unused floorboards a variety of bright colors and created storage units out of them. A huge Georgian dresser stands nearby on which is a large collection of 1940s Beryl Ware china. This amazing collection of china was acquired from a Women’s Institute in the North of England.

One might notice in the dining room, some cream wooden panelled walls. These are in fact the above dresser’s back panels which have been used to adorn the walls. In the foreground are four Eames DSR fibreglass chairs which surround an old refectory table dating back all the way to the 1890′s. In the corner of the same room is a wonderfully bulky 1820′s corner cupboard from Sweden. Antoni Burakowski and his partner stripped the white gloss a previous owner had covered it with, to reveal the original look. Inside is a collection of glass jugs.

These are just a few of the rooms in the fascinating home of Antoni Burakowski who is one half of the famous London fashion duo Antoni and Alison.

One of the first features in the kitchen the viewer notices are the wooden surfaces. The markings on the wood and the solidity and functionality the surfaces produce compliment the metal cupboards and drawers below. It’s only as a secondary realisation, we see the floor is also made from wood, whilst the walls are decorated with delightfully understated tiling patterns. Plastic stools add a further material element to the scene.

The dining area is connected spatially to the kitchen interior. Again, there is a hint of the sophisticated tiling yet most of the room is surrounded by white walls. Here, the main feature again, is the wooden dining table surface. As to the table’s authenticity and type, I am uncertain, but from the pictures it provides a visually resplendent focal point to the interior.

Like in the kitchen, the dining area has wooden floors, whilst the chairs are also made from wood. The danger of too much of one material is averted by the amount of natural light and white walls prevalent in the room, as well as the decorative art.

You can see more designs like this one here: Murdock Young Designers.

Most of the rooms in this large top floor apartment feature sculptural shapes, forms and additions such as staircases and contemporary fireplaces. Wall windows are seen on nearly every wall which gives the artist a bird’s eye view of the city, by day and by night. What wonderful inspiration!

The home library is built into what was once the main staircase of the apartment. Curved steps lead from the kitchen to this small oasis of calm and learning. In the center is an iconic chair by the famous furniture designer Le Corbusier.

The building dates back to the 19th Century and Streijffert has cleverly left hints of this in the designs found in the kitchen. Notice the fittings built out of solid birch with iron handles on cupboards and drawers. Carrara marble adorns the surfaces. Aged industrial lights add character to the wall.

The picture above is the opposite view to the second image of the small home library. It looks into the kitchen space with a wonderfully flowing simplicity. The way the different areas meet with one another reminds me of a river where water flows from one place to the next, with rapid excitement and freedom. The circular window compliments the round steps, both in form and in the amount of natural light it lets in.

This spiral staircase is an eye-catching feature. it’s made from water cut steel and leads from the living room and kitchen area up to the bathroom and bedroom. One the wall next to the spiral staircase are two circular ship windows. The feeling of being aboard a cruise liners is further highlighted by the South African ticket rug to the left.

I love this loft bathroom. As you can see it’s positioned in the roof space and the interior architecture of the room makes the ambiance even richer. A large white Corian bathtub can be seen in the center of the bathroom. Storage for clothing and towels is provided in the form of beautiful African baskets which are placed against the wall.

In the living area, a central fireplace is present complete with a large chimney flue. Step shapes form part of the fireplace design which mimic the surrounding staircases and angled walls. Another Le Corbusier chair can be seen on the left. On the far wall is a wide screen television which cleverly is almost camouflaged in its form.

Vaulted studio windows add a splendid and impressive element to the main studio and working area. Natural daylight is in plentiful supply. Steel beams curve impressively from the floor to the top of the arched ceiling. The tall wall to the left gives plenty of room for hanging art work and sculptures.

You can see more interiors where these came from by visiting: Sköna hem. (It’s all in Swedish however but plenty of pictures)

The interior design pictures below show this beautiful rustic old building which I believe used to be a warehouse. One can see from many of the pictures, distinctive architectural clues to its previous use. The reason I like the images so much is due to the wonderfully charming interior shots of old London rustic charm. Older features have been left intact and even enhanced whilst the décor schemes have been worked so that they highlight the proud history of the property.

I think the pictures speak for themselves and so I will leave you with a selection of my favorites from the collection I found.

What do you think of these rustic interior designs? Which one is your favorite?

You can see many more interior design picture collections from where these came from here: Oak Management.