A very sweet inspiration...

When I was a young girl I had a very definite idea of what my future house would look like, the home I would have when I was all grown up. Seeing as one of my main childhood past-times was to draw/paint, I made quite a collection of detailed drawings of it one rainy afternoon with the intention of putting them on my bedroom wall to motivate me with school. I can still remember the design as if I had done those drawings yesterday... Nothing fancy or ostentatious as you might expect a child to come up with, more classic manor home but really quite small. Red brick, white pillars just outside the large white front door and large rectangular windows, all white of course to match. Now I think about it, it was really a very square house indeed but to me at a very young age, it was my dream house and I loved to wonder what life was yet to be like inside.

Though despite all of these drawings and dreams I never once thought about the inside of my future home, not once did I ask myself what colour the kitchen, living room or even my bedroom would be. Which is why it is so surprising that now I am able to choose what decorates my home, I have almost become an interior design obsessive! I am always on the look-out for gorgeous design ideas that I can re-create in my own space, little layout and decoration ideas that not only reflect me but look effortlessly great. I flick through magazines, read through blogs and peruse images on the internet for visual inspiration or unique objects that make me think things like 'that would look really nice in my kitchen'.

I made one such find a couple of days ago when I came across some gorgeous tea-towels in an interior magazine. They have the beautiful illustrations of Charlotte Farmer (www.charlotte-farmer.co.uk) on them and are simply lovely. My favourite is the Family Favourites towel which is a celebration of the British teatime.

I also love Charlotte's Donut Box canvas bag (which reminds me of a very successful Valentine's Day present that I gave this year) and her Time For Tea tea towel with exquisite little teacups. 

Charlotte's illustration style is completely inspiring, it is so down to earth and rugged yet intensely detailed and incredibly beautiful at the same time. And after all, there really is nothing more beatiful than a handful of custard creams sometimes, is there?