Contemporary Interior Design

• Posted on 30th November 2010 by Nicola Holden

This weekend I made my annual pilgrimage to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition on display at the Natural History Museum.  I always love seeing the winning photographs in this competition, and I marvel at the patience and perseverance of the photographers to catch the perfect shot – sometime sitting for hours in freezing conditions!  I take my hat off to them!!

Here are some of my favourite shots from this year’s competition.

The overall winner is Bence Máté (Hungary) with his ‘A marvel of ants’ photograph.  Taken in the Costa Rican rainforest, Bence was covered in chigger bites in order to take this photograph.  I love the fact that the ants, in all their different shapes and sizes, are silhouetted on the leaf.  It gives this photograph and almost abstract look.

My absolute favourite this year is Morkel Erasmus’ (South Africa) ‘Desert survivor’ from the ‘Nature in Black and White’ category.  I love the moodiness of this scene of the wildebeest in the empty Kalahari, with a wonderfully streaked African sky above.

Then there is Axel Gomille’s (Germany) ‘A miracle of monarchs’, taken high in the mountains of central Mexico where the monarch butterflies spend the winter.

I have a love of scuba diving, and have swum with these wonderful creatures on a number of occasions.  Michael AW (Australia) captured his ‘Manta-ray feast’ photograph whilst diving in the Maldives.  Huge schools of manta rays go there to gorge on plankton.

I think Laurent Geslin (France) did a wonderful job of capturing this photograph of ‘Paris life’ for the ‘Urban Wildlife’ category.

The lighting in Pierre Vernay’s (France) ‘Dawn call’ photograph is amazing – captured in Denmark at dawn, just as the very first beams of sunshine lit up the grass.

Kah Kit Yoong (Australia) took this wonderfully dramatic photo, ‘Southern swell’ on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, the slow shutter speed giving the ethereal effect of the sea were draining away at the edge of the world.

I can’t help wondering if the rhino photographed in Greg du Toit’s (South Africa) ‘Golden forest rhino’ is the same endangered black rhino that I saw at Lake Nakuru in Kenya!  This magical photograph was taken in the golden light of dawn.

And, as the snow swirls outside my office window, what better shot to end on than Sandra Bartocha’s (Germany) ‘The magical forest’?

“Design in art, is a recognition of the relation between various things, various elements in the creative flux. You can’t invent a design. You recognize it, in the fourth dimension. That is, with your blood and your bones, as well as with your eyes.”
D. H. Lawrence

• Posted in Art, Culture, Photography | 4 Comments

• Posted on 22nd November 2010 by Nicola Holden

Being African born and bred I don’t have a natural affinity to cold weather. As a result, my boyfriend Nick has been reluctant to show my around his second country (Sweden) other than in the summer. However, on the pretence of stocking up on some decent winter clothes we have braved the cold and have just spent a lovely but chilly long weekend in Stockholm, visiting his family and seeing this beautiful city at a different time of year to usual.

In one of my last blogs I talked a little about Christmas decorations. Being in the middle of a long and dark winter, Christmas is much celebrated in Sweden with great emphasis on light – lamps or advent candle sticks in the windows and candles everywhere. I fell in love with all the beautiful advent stars in the shops and found room in my suitcase for some of these.

I love exploring the home design stores in the different places I visit, and Stockholm is no exception. I think one of my favourite shops has to be Inside & Living in Täby Centrum – a wonderful rich mix of architectural Scandinavian design with eastern influences.

Having recently read an article in Elle Decoration magazine listing some of the top design stores in the world, I was very keen to visit Modernity in the centre of Stockholm – described by Elle Decoration as ‘Mid-20th-century Scandi smorgasbord’. This store mixes big names in Swedish design with other rare and less familiar pieces, giving it a bit of an eclectic feel.

And, of course, how could I not mention Svenskt Tenn – an interior design shop located on Strandvägen in Stockholm. This shop is renowned for its elegant and boldly patterned personal interior design style that continues to pervade the collection to this day.

Let us not forget Swedish design in the Stockholm buildings too. Having been spared the bombings of the Second World War due to Sweden’s neutrality, this city is full of beautiful old buildings. And, on our last day as we wondered around the city centre, the clouds and rain evaporated revealing a beautiful clear blue sky and lots of photo opportunities.

“Design is in everything we make, but it’s also between those things. It’s a mix of craft, science, storytelling, propaganda, and philosophy.”
Erik Adigard

• Posted in Architecture, Culture, Interior Design, Travel | Comments Off

• Posted on 11th November 2010 by Nicola Holden

In the mid to late 1700’s, when most other architects were partaking in the Grand Tour of Europe, and bringing back Neo-Classical architecture to England, the politician, writer and collector Horace Walpole (1717-1797) was creating his summer villa in the Gothic revival style!

Strawberry Hill is indeed a ‘little Gothic castle’, created to provide a theatrical experience for visitors.  And that it certainly does.  Although Strawberry Hill has re-opened to the public, its restoration is not quite complete, and there are still rooms that are not yet open for exploring.

My visit to Strawberry Hill started in the sm gloomy hall which is lit from above by two small windows, and by a Gothic lantern of tin japanned. On each corner of the balustrade is an antelope holding a shield.

Going up two flights of stairs takes you into the Library – a large room whose walls are almost entirely covered in pierced work Gothic arch bookshelves.  Unfortunately all of the books, along with most of Walpole’s other possessions, were sold in the great sale of 1842, and so one can only image this room full of books.  Other than the bookshelves there is an ornate chimney piece, a large window displaying fine painted glass, and of course the door into this room.  As you walk round Strawberry Hill it becomes apparent that Walpole ‘borrowed’ design from lots of different sources.  The design of the bookshelves is taken from a side door case to the choir in Dugdale’s St Paul’s.  The chimney piece design is a combination from the tomb of John of Eltham Earl of Cornwall, in Westminster Abbey, and the stonework from that of Thomas Duke of Clarence, at Canterbury.  The Library is also home to a grandly painted ceiling reflecting Walpole’s coat of arms, his ancestors and his links to the crusaders.

Back on the first floor, one of my favourite rooms is the Holbein Chamber – so named because it used to display Walpole’s collection of copies of Holbein drawings.  This room is painted a regal purple, and is first glimpsed through the pierced arches of a screen inspired by the gates of the choir at Rouen.  The walls contrast beautifully with the magnificent white ceiling, taken from the Queen’s dressing-room at Windsor, and the chimney piece, inspired by the tomb of Archbishop Warham at Canterbury.

From there you pass through the Trunk Ceiled Passage, known as ‘the dusky corridor’ as it is lit only by a sky-light window at the end of the passage. The light streaming through an open doorway on the left draws you forward through this space, and into the Gallery.

The Gallery is a truly magnificent room 17m long, 4m wide and 5m high.  The walls are hung with a bold crimson Norwich damask, and the room is lavishly gilded.  This Gallery was the first of Walpole’s great state rooms, and at the time would have been filled with paintings and other works of art.  Once again Walpole has taken inspiration for a variety of sources – the ceiling from one of the side aisles of Henry VIIth chapel at Westminster Abbey, the great door copied from the north door Saint Alban’s, and the side with the recesses from the tomb of Archbishop Bourchier at Canterbury.

From the Gallery you enter the Round Drawing Room, again hung with crimson Norwich damask.  After the grandeur of the Gallery, this room is fairly simple, but still boasts painted glass windows, a beautiful chimney-piece of white marble inlaid with scagliuola and a ceiling inspired from a round window in old Saint Paul’s with frieze designed by Robert Adams (who I wrote about in a previous blog).

The Great Parlour, the Tribune, the Great North Bedchamber and the Beauclerc Closet are still not open to the public, although I did manage to snatch a quick peek of the Tribune with its gilt-embellished ceiling leading up to a yellow glass star inspired by the chapter-house at York.

Horace Walpole has certainly done a wonderful job at pulling together all of the different elements of design that he admired, and combining them to form this magnificent Gothic castle that is Strawberry Hill.  His building evolved over time, with no fixed plan from the beginning, and features added as Walpole saw fit. As the man himself said, ‘I begin to be ashamed of my own magnificence.’!

I would definitely recommend a visit, although I would suggest that you wait until the summer of 2011 to ensure that you are not picking your way around the restoration works.

“Men are often capable of greater things than they perform – They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.”
Horace Walpole

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

• Posted on 04th November 2010 by Nicola Holden

There has been much excitement in the office today as I picked up the Christmas edition of 25 Beautiful Homes. There, on page 118, in all its festive glory, is an article featuring my client’s flat in Primrose Hill! Horrah!!

Whilst we’re on the theme of Christmas, now is the time when everyone is turning their attentions to Christmas preparations – cakes, cards, etc. And, of course, making the home festive. For me, putting up the Christmas tree serves as a reminder of all the places I have travelled to, as I’ve collected Christmas decorations in some of the countries I have been to – ceramic birds from South Africa, black felt angels from Zimbabwe, silk and bamboo stars from Cambodia.

Having a Swedish partner has brought a lot of Scandinavian influences into my life, and Scandinavian themes are the trend here this year. John Lewis have introduced a range of Nordic decorations.

And, whist on the Nordic theme, I have twice come across these lovely wooden trees and decorations from Nordic Design Forum.

And to finish the Scandinavian Christmas just add lashings of candles to brighten up the long dark nights.

• Posted in Interior Design, Traditions | 1 Comment

• Posted on 01st November 2010 by Nicola Holden

Just recently I have had a desperate urge to escape the bricks and mortar that is London, and venture forth into the countryside. The seasons’ changing seems to be passing me by in this city, and I needed to get out. So, whilst my partner was hurtling around a dirt track in a rally car on Saturday, I was exploring the Leicestershire countryside, and soaking up a beautiful autumn day full of wonderful autumn colours!

My goal was Kirby Hall, now managed by English Heritage. Kirby Hall was built in the 17th Century and bought by Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth I in the hope that the queen would pay a visit. Sadly, she never did visit, and Hatton died deeply in debt.

Kirby Hall – 1829

Although much of this vast mansion is now semi-ruined and roof-less, it is still clear that the design style of this great Elizabethan country house was based on the classical French architectural of the period, full of exceptional, richly carved decoration.

The Great Hall and state rooms, including the Billiard Room, remain intact, and have been refitted and redecorated to authentic 17th and 18th century specifications. It was wonderful to stand in these rooms and imagine the grandeur with which they would have been furnished originally.

Later, towards the end of the 17th century, Sir Christopher Hatton, the fourth, added the ornate gardens – described as ‘ye finest garden in England’ in the late 17th century. They are now partly restored and laid out in an elaborate ‘cutwork’ design complete with statues, urns and peacocks!

Kirby Hall may no longer be what it once was, but its beauty remains with us to this day.

“Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten”
Gucci family motto

• Posted in Architecture, Culture, Flowers, Museums | Comments Off