colour

Bright and light…

| wendymaz

This week we’ve been focusing more on “housekeeping” or I suppose you could call it “Spring cleaning”!  We’ve been putting together our schedule of work for the Summer and one aspect of this is that the website (www.hemliv.co.uk) is due for a re-vamp.  With this in mind, we’ve been doing some photo shoots as part of the process – watch this space to see the end results…

Among all this admin though, it’s great to be able to do something creative too and to that end we’ve got two new textile prints that we think will sit nicely in the popular colour scheme of brights and whites.  Avoid off-whites and creams for this scheme as it’s a pure white shade that will show the brights off to their best advantage. An all white scheme creates a fabulous backdrop for introducing pops of colour with textiles, pictures and lighting.

Daisy design in blue and Sunburst design in pink both from HemLiv
Floral wall mural from Photowall
Summer brights in yellows and blues
White Roswell sofa from Funique
Colourful doorstops and draught excluders from HemLiv
Lampshade in summer colours from HemLiv

If you don’t want to commit to an all white scheme, perhaps invest in a white sofa and add bright cushions or throws to get the same effect but on a smaller scale.  Or crisp white bed linen with pillows and table lamps to add a burst of colour – the possibilities are endless and ever-changeable.

Make us feel like Summer’s on its way but, for the moment at least, it’s back to “housekeeping” for us!…

More soon,

Love HemLiv xx

Bringing the outside in…

| wendymaz

As the days are staying light for longer with some sunshine making an appearance too, plants are starting to come back to life with leaves and blossom rapidly sprouting and birds busy nesting, all of which makes us feel like Winter is on its way out. (Fingers crossed!!)

Nature is waking up in all its splendour, and it’s easy to bring some of this Spring exuberance into your home by using one or more of the wildlife inspired items on sale in shops at the moment.

HemLiv screenprinted leaf lampshades
Sissinghurst Castle dinner set from Anthropologie
HemLiv hand printed cushion
HemLiv draught excluders and doorstops
Flower measuring spoons from Laura Ashley
Henry Holland rug form Habitat

There are the obvious floral and foliage designs such as this Henry Holland rug from Habitat or these screenprinted leaf lampshades available from hemliv.co.uk  but if animals and birds are more your thing, there are plenty of designs to suit you too.

Lamphade in Sanderson Squirrel and Dove wallpaper from HemLiv
Hand drawn Hare print from HemLiv
Quirky bird eggcup from Hannah Turner
Bunny print cushion from HemLiv
Garden bird glass – part of a set from Liberty, London

Add a small touch of nature with this quirky bird egg cup from hannahturner.co.uk or make more of a statement with a lampshade available from hemliv.co.uk in squirrel and dove wallpaper by iconic company Sanderson.  Whichever trend you decide on (or maybe you’ll mix a bit of both!) Spring is finally here both outside and inside!

Have fun creating your very own nature trail!…

Love HemLiv xx

 

A bit of “zing” for Spring!…

| wendymaz

At this time of year the weather can be unpredictable, to say the least, and we find ourselves longing for a bit more sunshine and a little less grey.  Of course an easy way to bring a glow into your life (short of jetting off to the Bahamas!!) is to introduce some uplifting colour to your home through paint, textiles and print as seen below.

wall-color-mint-green-gives-your-living-room-a-magical-flair-9-555
Spearmint and Aqua room

This lovely combination of spearmint and aqua has a fresh, clean feel which is a welcome relief after the dull days of Winter.  Add a touch of chartreuse yellow or lime to really make the room zing!

All of a twitter fabric from HemLiv
Stamp print from HemLiv
Turquoise alpaca throw from ultimatesheepskin.com
Pier Print from HemLiv
Aztec fabric lampshade from HemLiv
Rug 640 x 473 from Home Deign Ideas

White frames for pictures and other white accessories such as vases or furniture such as coffee tables  will “pop” against this backdrop and give a modern vibe to your room.  The thought of all those lovely colours is making us feel happier already – whatever the weather may throw at us!!

Until next time,

Love HemLiv xx

 

Finishing the job…

| wendymaz

It’s very satisfying when you finish, or get very close to finishing, a home project and that’s how we feel with our kitchen diner.

Finally it feels like the scheme is coming together, with a palette of soft blues and greys finished off with touches of coral and copper all of which are echoed in the large Venice pictures on the wall.

Sometimes though, finishing a project is the hardest thing to do!  You start off, full of enthusiasm, with paint charts, a Pintrest account and a general idea of how you want the finished room to look  and, once the main areas have been completed (usually quite quickly!) to your satisfaction, then work slows to a trickle while you research finishing touches.

Because actually, finishing touches are what make a room scheme come together. Whether it’s a statement picture, a collection of cushions or a favorite rug or lampshade those are the things that bring your room to life and make it your own.

Coral linen cushion from HemLiv
Aztec cushion in coral from HemLiv
Warm Pewter paint from Dulux
Coral throw 900 x 600 from Not on the High Street
Celestial rug from £99 Modern rugs UK
Lampshade in Lace Spiral from HemLiv
Three Little Birds cushion from HemLiv
Birch Bark Vases from Not on the High Street
Venice pictures available from HemLiv

We’re almost there now, with maybe a coral throw on the arm of the sofa and a rug on the floor.  We are loving this one (above) called Celestial by Modern Rugs UK with its painterly feel and the mix of colours – gorgeous! Also rather taken with these Birch Bark Vases found at Not on The High Street to add a bit of texture to our scheme.

Room sorted!! Think we need to try out that comfy corner with a hot drink and a delicious piece of cake while we sit back and admire our handiwork! Not for too long though as we have the rest of the house to do!

Where did I put those paint charts?…

Love HemLiv xx

 

Blue sky thinking…

| wendymaz

Follow my blog with BloglovinWith storm Doris raging across the country as we type, we’re trying to focus on happier things which set us thinking about summer sunshine and outside living. (Much imagination needed here!!)

Gorgeous shades of blue conjure up thoughts of idyllic days spent by the sea enjoying the warmth of the sun, outdoor picnics relaxing on deck chairs and cushions, balmy evenings watching the sun going down and socialising with friends. (Are you with us?!)

Deck chairs and cushions from HemLiv
Blue throw from ellalou.com
picnic basket from picnicbasket.com
Coastal cottages and floral cushion from HemLiv
Turquoise alpaca throw from ultimatesheepskin.com
pink sun umbrella from xs-stock.co.uk

Contrast your relaxing blues with a shot of tropical pink (a popular accent colour at the moment) to really bring the feel of a hot summer ever closer. Florals team well with stripes and the graphic print of our Aztec fabric or, for a seaside feel closer to home our Coastal Cottages fabric is inspired by the Cornish resort of St Ives.

Back to the present time though and these shades of blue add an extra dimension to the popular greys and creams of the moment – go for pale tones to add an airy lightness to a room or go as dark as you dare for a more dramatic effect!

image from pintrest
image from pintrest

Happy decorating!

Love HemLiv xx

HemLiv on tour…

| wendymaz

Last week HemLiv HQ went on tour for a few days, heading East towards the county of Suffolk. It’s somewhere we travel to fairly frequently as we have family living there and one of our favourite places to visit while we are there is the Snape Maltings.

The Maltings consist of a cluster of buildings situated on the River Alde which is best known for its concert hall but also house a collection of galleries, restaurants and shops, including an interiors/lifestyle store.  Whilst there, we came across this lovely display in various greens (Pantone colour of the year!) which we thought would look lovely teamed with our hand printed leaf cushion against a backdrop of “portland stone” walls and textural natural flooring to complete the look.

Carrying on with the green theme, we are trying out a few new ideas including these quirky fabric baskets which we think are a great storage solution for odds and ends.  These are prototypes for a potential new range, so still work in progress – watch this space to see how they develop!

Fabric basket WIP from HemLiv
Fabric basket WIP from HemLiv

Finally, although it was very cold while we were away (it even snowed!!) this week has seen some gloriously sunny days which make us feel like Spring is DEFINITELY on the way and here are a few more pictures taken at Snape Maltings that echo that feeling.

At times Winter seems a long way behind us, thankfully! Now, where did I put my sunglasses?…

Love HemLiv xx

Spring botanicals are on the way…

| wendymaz

Before Christmas we were very excited to be collaborating with the fabulous local lifestyle store One Forty, supplying them with a selection of HemLiv goodies including our Stag cushions, pompom make-up bags and hand printed lavender bags.

HemLiv Stag cushion
HemLiv pompom make-up bags
HemLiv hand printed lavender bags

Now, in 2017, we are pleased to say that our collaboration has continued with our multi-print draught excluders and doorstops which tap into the seasonal trend of “Spring botanicals”.

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HemLiv doorstops and draught excluders on display at One Forty, Cranleigh

Mix textiles and patterns in sky blues, blossom pinks and crisp greens to create a fresh Spring feel in your home and team these with painted furniture and natural stoneware to complete a relaxed look.

HemLiv hand printed cushion
stoneware plant pot DHgate.com
Painted dresser from Reclamation Place Lyndhurst
HemLiv draught excluders and doorstops
Concrete lamp base Cox and Cox

At this time of year too, daffodils and tulips appear in florists in plentiful supply and for a relatively small amount of money these can be used throughout the house in a variety of containers to really bring the outside in.

HemLiv crochet vases
White vases Loyalhits.Com
Glass vases HotRef.com

Gorgeous! Now we just need a bit of sunshine!…

Fingers crossed.

Love HemLiv xx

Vibrant yellow rooms for Spring

| wendymaz

Gloomy January has finished at last 🙂 and given way to rainy February! 😦

Seriously though, although the great British weather is doing what it does best, it is now staying lighter for longer and it feels very much as if Spring is just around the corner.  To capture that mood within your home introduce an uplifting feel using textiles and prints with a warm honey glow.  This warm shade of yellow adds sophistication to a room and looks great with the ever popular grey and blackened tones which on their own can look a little depressing at this time of year.

 

To create a more exotic look, team your yellow  with a rich rust, introduce Moroccan lanterns, sumptuous rugs and dream of being in sun drenched lands.

HemLiv Aztec in coral
Moroccan lanterns InMyInterior
Rug 454 x 380 Indesignlive
HemLiv Sunburst in yellow

                                                                                                                                                                    Finally, a little reminder that Valentines Day is fast approaching, and if you feel that you want to steer clear of chocolate after an over-indulgent Christmas, we have the perfect heart-lavender-bagsolution for you!  Our popular hand printed lavender bag with pompoms now comes in this lovely red heart design just right for February 14th and has the added advantage of lasting all year round!!

What more could you ask for?

Love HemLiv xx

Decisions, decisions…

| wendymaz

At this time of year when we are busy doing fairs and pop ups around Surrey, we have the difficult decision of what to take with us and how to display it to the best advantage.  At most fairs we only have a 6ft x 2ft table and sometimes they are smaller still! This means we have to think laterally sometimes and over the years we’ve developed a strategy to make the most of our space by going up.  Its almost become a bit of a challenge to see how much we can put out in the smallest space and it’s amazing how the space can be adapted with a bit of thought!  It also means we have somewhere to hide behind when we are eating our hard earned sandwiches!!

2015-11-28-11-08-52
Our stall at a Christmas Fair

On another note, everybody seems to be talking about flamingos after the flamingo march on Planet Earth (so funny) and we have our own flamingos in stock at the moment on cushions, lampshades and the hot water bottles that we sell at fairs at this time of year.

img_24322015-03-11 14.34.30fullsizerender-2

Something about these birds seem to grab peoples attention and apparently, this year, we can’t get enough of them! Certainly the cushion and lampshade combo in the middle picture is one of our best sellers, maybe because it will go with several different backdrops due to the combination of colours in the print.  In fact, having just sold some of these at the fairs we did at the weekend, we’re off to make some more before this weekends fairs!

No rest for us at HemLiv HQ!!  Back to work…

Love HemLiv xx