Our signature Candle, the fragrance of Honeysuckle, a pinch of cinnamon and zest of citrus, all wrapped up for Mother’s Day.

Whenever you see a home filled with books you know you will never be bored with the owner’s conversation. 

At our home and studio, books are everywhere, to flick, to get inspiration from and relax with, curled up on of our favourite armchairs. 

A big book worm is Karl Lagerfeld.  You can see how Karl displays his books, at his Parisian home, in the documentary Confidential.  His book obsession lead him to open up his own 7l librairie, on the Rue de Lille, but for those of us that feel that’s a little extreme, to solve our obsession of book collecting, and need more practical ways to inventively display our collection of books, here are some tips and images, on how to stack yours.

Bookcase available to buy at our showroom.

A bookcase, designed by Kelly Wearstler, at the Viceroy Hotel at Santa Monica.

Bespoke libraries and bookcases are available at Ian Thompson Interior Design.

Placing objects in between rows of books provides an added dimension, also lay some books flat with a small object set on top.  Use the shelves to also display hanging art.

Fix the TV via vertical brackets on bookcase spines, to give the illusion the TV is floating, and it also hides cables etc .

Mark Sikes reading room.  Note the picture lighting on the bookcases so that you can read their titles.  Adding wall lights to the divisions between shelves will also provide great light.

Beautiful Chrome and Oak bookcase available at our showroom (Lamp also in stock too).

Bespoke bookcases in open plan rooms creates intimate spaces.  (image via Architectural Digest US).

Black and Glass Bookcase available at our showroom (as is everything else in this photo).

Wall display in a nursery, a lovely idea for inspiring young book worms.

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Bespoke bookcase, again, used in an large room to create, an entrance into, an intimate space.

Available bookshelves at our showroom.

Put current picture books on coffee tables or benches in the living room so guests will feel free to thumb through them while relaxing.

It was very clear from the Paris Interior Show that wallpapers are here to stay.  It is a great key item to quickly change the look of an existing room with relatively little cost.  We have a vast range to choose from at the showroom and are happy to assist with choosing the right one for your room.

Wallcoverings dramatically change the atmosphere in a room, here are some tips to make sure the look is in trend .

• For the a subtle look in a soft palette, use heavily textured wallpapers, it looks as if the walls are covered in fabric.  Otherwise it can look flat and dated.
• Bold patterns add drama to a room.  If you’re timid with loud patterns use them in areas where you want a pop of drama but don’t necessarily want to relax and watch TV in, such as the Hall, Dining Room, or bathroom.
• If you love to have the walls covered in the same fabric as you are using for the curtains, we can have the fabric backed in paper so you can easily create the look.
• Never, never feature walls.  It will look like a bad 1990’s TV make-over where they didn’t have the budget for the whole room.  Instead pick a range that has a complimentary plain to go with the feature, it makes the room look seamless and doesn’t visually reduce the size of the room.

A beautiful Gilvered wallpaper, right up to trend with the Golden Look

Fornasetti in Milan, the cloud wallpaper on the ceiling.

For more of his range available at our studio look at a previous blog here.

Pierre Frey wallpaper, available at our showroom, used on their landing at their offices in Paris.

Ralph Lauren wallpaper, available at our showroom.

Cole and Sons’ new range of wallpaper, introducing over-scaled borders, for 2014.  Available at the showroom.

More from the Fornasetti range.

Range of wallpapers that give a wall panelled look edged with a greek key border.

One of our favourite books in our Design Library, Howard S Slatkin’s book “5th Avenue Style, A Designer’s New York Apartment”.  Howard Slatkin’s family ran a textile firm, just as Ian’s family did, where the love of wonderful fabrics and designs first budded.  He then became an Interior Designer and is brother to Harry who has recently revamped Belstaff (I’ll show you Harry’s home next time). It’s grandiose, flamboyant and very very opulent, not for everyone, but the level of detail in each individual item has to be admired.  The book gives great detail of how he developed is New York apartment over 3 years, before and after photos too, here are a few of the after.

Foyer

A lot of the rooms have jib doors.

Main Living Area

Every home should have a 1930’s bar.

All the detail must be beautiful in candle light

Never enough space for beautiful artwork

Every space has very beautiful objet d’art, carefully considered.

Jewel colours and layering of textiles.

Walls beautifully covered in deep textured fabric.

The kitchen switches and cleverly been painted to match in with the delft tiles.