Contemporary Interior Design

• Posted on 22nd February 2010 by Nicola Holden

Saturday dawned bright and sunny (although still very cold), and so I took my camera and headed out for a walk around the heart of the East End of London – Brick Lane and Spitalfields Market. This area of London has long been celebrated for its diversity of cultures, and serves as a ‘melting pot’ fusion of east and west.

Walking around this part of London I captured a few photographs of this rich tapestry that is the East End today.

As a personal touch, I try to incorporate some of my photographs into my interior design schemes, where possible.

• Posted in Art, Culture, History, Photography, Travel | Comments Off

• Posted on 15th February 2010 by Nicola Holden

On Saturday I felt the need for to delve into some art and culture, and so decided to visit Sir John Soane’s Museum, which is somewhere I should have visited ages ago!

Sir John Soane, (1753–1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. His architectural works are distinguished by their clean lines, decisive detailing, careful proportions and skilful use of light sources.  His best-known work is the Bank of England.  The Sir John Soane’s museum is located in Soane’s original house at 12 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, close to Holborn tube station.  Soane established the house as a Museum by means of an Act of Parliament in the conviction that ‘the study of classical principles of design should be the foundation of an architectural student’s education’.

Soane bought the house in 1792, and used it as his home and library, but also for the entertaining of potential clients.  He eventually extended the house into two neighbouring houses to enable him to experiment with different architectural ideas, and also to house his growing collection of antiquities and architectural salvage, many of which he acquired on his ‘grand tour’ of Europe.

His aim was to display his collection so as to educate and inspire ‘Amateurs and Students in Painting, Architecture and Sculpture’.  Some of the objects in Soane’s collection include the sarcophagus of the Egyptian King Seti I (carved out of a single piece of Egyptian alabaster), Roman bronzes from Pompeii, paintings by Canaletto, Hogarth and Turner and an ivory table and chair set of late 18th century origin, believed to have been seized from Tipu Sultan by the East India Company.  The small Picture Room has a total of more than one hundred pictures, additional wall space being provided by the use of hinged screens.  There are also 7,000 books and 30,000 drawings.

His interior designs include the ingenious use of mirrors to expand the apparent space.  In the small breakfast parlour, Soane has used over 100 pieces of mirror, together with stained glass windows in skylights, to create ‘a succession of those fanciful effects which constitute the poetry of architecture’.

This museum is well worth a visit!

• Posted in Architecture, Art, Culture, History, Interior Design, Museums | Comments Off

• Posted on 10th February 2010 by Nicola Holden

This time I’d like to take you into the world of Nicola Holden Designs – my interior design company.  Interiors take a little while to come together – from initial concepts to sourcing of furnishings and fabrics, and finally to a completed design.  I spent a couple of days last week photographing my latest interior, and here is what I have achieved.

This is the view as you walk through the front door.  My aim here was to draw the visitor into the space, and to provide an initial ‘wow factor’.

The brief for this room consisted of four words – retro, funky, dark and red.  My client is delighted with how it turned out (and I’m very pleased too – this room was such fun to put together!).

In the bedroom he wanted a Chinese styled sanctuary – a calm, de-stressing space that nurtures and nourishes.  This theme is carried through to the small en-suite bathroom.

“The visual image is a kind of tripwire for the emotions.”
Diane Ackerman

• Posted in Interior Design | 1 Comment

• Posted on 01st February 2010 by Nicola Holden

One of my loves in life is sharing good food with friends, and I take great pride in my culinary skills. I made this the other night for friends. It is a Rick Stein recipe from one of his books that I bought almost a year ago when I was down in Padstow.

Roasted salmon on roasted tomatoes with salsa verde

Salmon Parsley Mint Capers Anchovy fillets Garlic Tomatoes Chilli flakes Thyme

1. To make the salsa verde chop the parsley, mint, some of the capers, anchovy fillets and a clove of garlic together, and season with salt.
2. Line the base of a roasting tray with the sliced tomatoes, the rest of the capers, garlic slices, chilli flakes and thyme. Add some olive oil, water and salt.
3. Place a salmon fillet on top of the tomatoes, skin side down, season with a little salt and cover with the salsa verde mixture.
4. Season the cut face of the second salmon fillet, and place on top, skin side up. Brush the skin with olive oil and season with salt and chilli flakes.
5. Roast the salmon for 25 mins in a hot oven, and then cut into portion-size pieces, served with new potatoes and green beans.

This dish was so easy to produce for a dinner party, totally delicious, and looked good too! Just the sort of dish I love!

I also made Rick Stein’s crab linguine with parsley and chilli for starters, and crème brulee for pudding!

• Posted in Food | Comments Off