Out With The Old, In With The New

I'm starting this new month with the urge to transform everything around me; this applies to my wardrobe, beauty/fitness regime and quite profoundly, the decor I immerse myself in.  I'm fairly particular when it comes to the interior design of restaurants and hotels and so I'm surprised to find it's taken me until now to give more serious thought to the personal spaces in which I spend the most time!  Since starting a subscription to Elle Decoration magazine late last year (courtesy of Magazine.co.uk), I've had an intensifying interest in home decor, and when US website UncommonGoods got in contact to introduce their Home Décor collections, it's safe to say that interest piqued...


When it comes to purchasing furniture and accessories, I flip-flop between three options: in-store locally, online and when visiting new countries.  The latter is probably my favourite method due to the sentimental value of purchasing items that encourage you to recall your time in a different country, though I'll admit, it presents the most difficulties - ever tried packing an XL blanket into a suitcase?  I assure you, it's no fun!  It was that wonderful experience that forced me to limit myself and keep the purchase of larger items to shopping online.  With this in mind, the first category over on the UncommonGoods website that caught my eye was the Pillow & Blanket section.  All four of the below give serious 'spring vibes', though I adore cushion designs inspired by nature and so Barry Rosenthal's botanical art-printed rectangular canvas pillows receive a massive round of applause from me!

Psst!  If you're curious about what goes on behind the scenes of the contributing jewellery designers and artists, check out UncommonGoods' studio tours for sneak peeks inside their minds and workspaces!

Moving on to every blogger's dream - perfect prints to line the wall behind our desks!  Pinterest is inspiring in all sorts of ways and lately I've found more than anything it serves as a persuasive voice telling me to create a dreamy office space bursting with pretty accessories!  First stop, prints.  Visit here to start daydreaming about how appealing a line-up of printed macarons could be, leaning up against your magazine file.  At this point, I'm feeling as though I could justify any purchase thanks to UncommonGoods' Better to Give program.  Started 12 years ago, the program has donated over $1 million (approx £700,000) to charities around the world, by donating $1 from every sale to the customer's chosen non-profit organisation!

I find I get most excited with regard to home decor when I discover something both unusual and functional.  Don't get me wrong, I really, really love knitted throws and metallic prints!  However, when I spotted the above bookend designs by Eric Gross, I immediately saw them as the perfect accessory for my growing magazine collection.  As sad as it may be, my magazines have a routine - they start in magazine files as they await being read, move on to being left on any available bare surface while I work my way through them and then end neatly stacked one-by-one on a wall-mounted bookcase.  Do they fall over there?  All the time.  How many candles have they smashed in the process?  Two and counting.  The idea of black cats clawing away at my magazines has never seemed so appealing!

Yep, my interest in home decor has undoubtedly spread from being kept at an arm's length, to now applying to my own personal spaces.  One thing is for certain, with a subscription to Elle Decoration magazine, a growing number of Home Design boards on my Pinterest and having now been introduced to the UncommonGoods website, that interest is only going to grow stronger!

With love,

Gabrielle x

Note:  This post has been sponsored by UncommonGoods, however all opinions are my own.