Christmas Interior Styling with Vintage Constance Spry Style Vases

At last it’s time to get the house ready for the festive season ahead and yes it has to include my large collection of Constance Spry style mantle vases.

When she was unable to find the vases she wanted, visionary Bohemian florist Constance Spry commissioned The Fulham Pottery to create a collection of her designs. These were based on her sketches of the Roman, Greek and Phoenician vessels she saw in Tunisia while holidaying with her artist lover Gluck. The vases were perfect for her loose asymmetric flower arrangements with their wide boat shape and splayed foot. The most popular designs of these unconventional vessels were copied and reproduced for the mass market in the British potteries. Perfect for making a bold statement, add style to any interior with the cool and classic shapes of Constance Spry style vases.

The signature style of floral designer Constance Spry is visually extravagant yet thrifty of purse a style that fits well with the festive season. From the 30s into the 60s the Avant Garde florist dominated British floristry bringing her innovative approach to the flowers of royalty and high society. Her teachings and floristry books reflect her democratic vision elevating her to an icon for housewives hungry for her thrift and clever design style. Her book ‘A millionaire for a few pence’ reflects her teaching that something original and stylish can be created for next to nothing.

Increasingly contemporary floral designers are moving away from imported flowers, and they have adopted the concept of thoughtful flowers. As it was in the past they are embracing the sustainable trend of home grown flowers rather than imported, choosing to source seasonal and local flowers. Rest assured even the simplest of arrangements of British grown flowers can be stunning and impactful, generous groups of seasonal flowering plants will carry you well into to the new year. Pack low Constance Spry style vases with flowering plants like cyclamen with their pretty marbled leaves and their sweet perfume. A simple sheath of amaryllis combined with pussy willow and the last brave twirls of clematis shooting out of a large ewer will be long lasting while making a spectacular statement.

For a continuously evolving seasonal display generously fill a classic Constance Spry style mantle vase with a carpet of moss then stud with seasonal bulbs. When the blooms begin to shoot up, add gnarly twigs to support the stems ready for flowering. Hanging miniature vintage glass bottles are ideal for holding fresh berries and fragrant fresh flowers grown from bulbs. Then bling up the twinkle with a crowd of candlesticks and simple white candles.

For a more flamboyant style follow Constance Spry example and seek inspiration from still life compositions of the Dutch Masters. The rich sensual layering of texture, exotica and colour, are perfect for a vintage Christmas. Known for plundering her clients cupboards and attics for suitable vessels the economy in creating a scheme like this lies in the adaptable ethos that a mismatched collection of vintage is good. Follow suit and gather together a collection of vintage vessels to hold jewel like collections of sweets, fruit, nuts and glass decanter of cordials to decorate your festive table. At the centre place a Constance Spry style vase filled with a generous collection of flowers and foliage. Choose flowers in large bunches and bright colours, lilies and chrysanthemums are plentiful, add in hedgerow foliage with seasonal holly and ivy. A dramatic collection of candlesticks with a bold harlequin collection of coloured candles will bring more sparkle. Keep thinking outside the box, design a series of vignettes, for a stunning centrepiece, at its simplest, fill a Constance Spry style gondola vase with a tumble of seasonal fruits with citrus and bay leaves not forgetting a bright jingle of gold doubloons.

@amandarusselldesign

Amandarusselldesign.co.uk

Soulfoodstudio.com

If you like this post check out my posts on Simple Styling Tips Using Plants, Constance Spry Vases for Everyone and Styling your Dartmouth Flower Urns.

Simple Styling Tips Using Plants

Plants greenery and flowers bring life to any space, it’s about rotating them and presenting them in different ways preventing spaces from becoming static

I’m a big fan of groups, putting together a arrangement of contrasting shaped succulents on a beautiful antique plate highlights their differences making a bold statement.

The same goes for when flowers and leaves are scarce in the winter garden. Just taking one of each to display in antique medicine bottles is enough to bring the garden in, making a welcome relief in the darker months.

Don’t forget rules are made to broken, don’t underestimate the joy that splendid isolation can bring to a skeleton sprig picked from the winter wayside.

If you like this post check out my post on Styling Interiors with Plants

‘Love My Dress’' Blog Post

The wonderful ‘Love My Dress’ has featured ‘A Beautiful Shoreline Wedding’ by stylist Nancy Straughan using some of the vintage Stoneware vases from my shop!

From the blog… ‘I stumbled upon some of these images on Nancy’s gorgeous Instagram account and knew that I had to share with all of you. Inspired by the colours of the shoreline and with subtle and elegant hints of the coast, these styling ideas are completely relatable and achievable for your own wedding.

“After deciding that I wanted to launch my styling company back in December 2017, I took to Instagram stories to see if anyone would like to be involved in a shoreline inspired styled shoot. I was blown away by the generous responses as I never really believed that anyone would be so kind to donate their time and skills to my project.” to read the full blog post click here!

If you like this post check out my post on Spring Flower Living Wall: Kokedama Inspiration

Wild, Romantic Shoreline Wedding Styled by Nancy Staughan

When talented stylist Nancy Straughan puts her mind to a project you know it’s going to look stunning. With wedding season in full swing Nancy used her wealth of styling know how to create a beautiful otherworldly experience peppered with unexpected twists. Thinking outside the box stylist Nancy designed her take on the elegant romance of the Lady of the Lake combined with the raw passion of Wuthering Heights.

The first floor assembly room of The Drapers Arms a beautiful Georgian Islington pub is the ideal location for an intimate wedding venue. Here natural light streams in through the tall elegant sash windows, lighting up the duck egg blue room with its painted checkerboard floor, period fireplaces and dark bistro style chairs.

Elemental, the theme draws on a rich combination of bleached and watery tones combining them with a comprehensive collection of textures, from silks to twigs and coral, to fresh and dried flowers. To make her spell binding vision a reality she drew a group of skilled artisans around her, do check them out to see more beautiful work by them, details below.

Location

The Drapers Arms http://www.thedrapersarms.com

The People

Stylist, Nancy Straughan http://www.nancy-straughan.com

Stationery, Paper Knots http://www.paperknots.co.uk/

Photography, Caro Hutchins http://carohutchings.com/

Flowers, Hazel Gardiner https://www.hazelgardinerdesign.com/

Cake, My Little Cake Tin https://www.instagram.com/mylittlecaketin/

Props, Re-Found Objects https://www.re-foundobjects.com/

Extra crockery Limehouse

Ceramics http://www.limehouseceramics.com/

Stoneware bottles, Soulfoodstudio https://www.soulfoodstudio.com/shop/

Calligraphy and signage by Hannah Watt https://www.instagram.com/hannahlwatt/

Embroidery by very talented friend, Olivia

If you like this post check out my post on Constance Spry Vases for Everyone

Constance Spry Vases for Everyone

With her innovative approach society florist Constance Spry brought bohemian vision
to floristry from the 30s beyond the 50s into the 60s. A visionary, her books on flower
arranging and cooking influenced a generation of 50s housewives. Much copied,
mantle vases in her style became a must have for every 50s homemaker hungry for
her look.

Their cool and classic designs are perfect for making a bold statement, adding style
to any interior. The vases often come in a family of sizes, a different one to cater for
all your floral needs, short or long stemmed.

Follow the 30’s society florist example and add more than just flowers. Extend a
bunch of market or garden flowers and make them altogether more interesting by
mixing in gnarly twigs for height, vine trails for waft, infill with garden foliage then add
flowers.

Or generously plant up with a cushion of moss studded through with spring bulbs, or
fill to overflowing with fresh fruit, with bunches of grapes and summer stoned fruit.
Ring the changes by displaying it empty, as a stand alone sculptural piece. Your
imagination is the only limit to how you choose to style your vase.

When you’re looking for these vintage pieces expect signs of wear. More often than
not the surface of the glaze will have slight crazing and there will be scattered iron
spots on the interior, which add to the character of ceramics of this age.

If you are interested in seeing more, go have a look in my shop, where theres a big
selection.

Styling Interiors with Plants

Take your time and have fun styling with plants, here are a few tips to set you on your way.

• Move plants around and give them a new spot so they don't look samey and static. Move them around and style up with a variety of hero objects, you might have a collection of pots, a favourite beach find or a treasure picked up on an adventure

• Before you get cracking with the styling, first tidy up and clear your space. Remember beautiful styled images are about what's in front of the camera. You maybe very aware of the cluttered corner behind you, but so long as the view in the shot is clear, nobody else needs to be any the wiser. Tidying completed, gather together the pieces you have chosen to work with in one place.

• To construct the narrative, choose plants of different heights, leaf shape and colour. Start to layer up the plants along with the hero object. The rich texture of green on green gives the hero a backdrop shine out from. Alternitively choose just one plant or a frond or leaf and display alone in a vintage ceramic vessel with a couple of shapely pieces. With space around, you will be able to observe the design and beauty of the plant and leaf construction.

• Remember, be generous at all times. Try a variety of groupings, taking images as you go along a clear space where your hero sings in glorious isolation can have as much impact as a large curated collection.

• Be brave, remember rules are there for breaking. Try a variety of groupings taking images as you go along. When you look back over them note how very slight changes to the styled arrangement can make a world of difference.

If you like this post check out my post on How to style your home using Sylvac Urns

Styling your Dartmouth Flower Urns

Pedestal vases were inspired by the 30s to the 50s ceramics designs of the international household name, high society florist, Constance Spry. The most popular designs were copied and reproduced in the 50s for the thousands of housewives who read her books. To style an interior treat as a stand alone gorgeous sculptural statement piece, or fill with grasses, flowers, trails and twiggery.

If you enjoyed reading this blog post, why not read my post on How to style your home using Sylvac Urns

How to style your home using Sylvac Urns

This Gorgeous voluptuous loop handled mantle urn is a stylists dream. With so many ways to style it up who wouldn't want to fill it with twiggery and flowers or keep it simple with a moss cushion. 

If you liked this blog post why not check out my post Getting the wood aesthetic

How to Style Your Interior With Plants

We all want our home to look wonderful and project our personality without making any costly mistakes. As an interior stylist working on magazines and in interior design, I believe everyone has their own unique style, but pin pointing it can be a tricky one with so many visual influences and different avenues to tempt you. Just now plants are having a moment, we all love a bit of greenery in our home. Firm up your style identity with a few simple styling tricks to set you on the right track when you are working with plants. 

House plants are slow growing and are in danger of making a room appear static and repetitious. Ring the changes, breath new life into a space by using plants as props and showing off your chosen hero object at its best. The styling hero can be anything that takes your fancy, I dip into my shop where I stock vintage ceramics, vases, vessels and figures.

If you like this post why not check out my post about Styling your Dartmouth Flower Urns 

Get the Wood Aesthetic

Natural untreated wood, bang on trend for interiors. There’s lots of about at the moment, but how do you piggy back the natural woody aesthetic without making a huge investment in furniture or flooring?

A few simple styling tricks will help you get the look. When it comes to styling, grouping speaks volumes. There’s so much natural beauty in honest simple everyday items made from wood, curate and style a beautiful contemporary collection of vintage or new well choose well designed, wood utility tools. With their clean lines wooden spoons come carved in a variety of curvy shapes. Groupings bring out their differences, it shows the grain of the different woods and the rich patina built up from years of use.

Arranging gives them the space to talk, stop and take in the beauty. Out on the hunt for wood pieces look no further than the high street and check out craft markets. 

If you like this post make sure you check out my post on making a 'Super Easy Picture Shelf' 

Pantone Green with Pink: How to Work Contemporary with Vintage

A ladder of fresh green fern. Yes please, fresh lively pantone green with pink. What kind of pink? Rose, gold, plaster, copper, combine with lustre, splash with the swoosh of a brush. Styling interiors there’s colour in my blood pumping though my veins, combine colours how does it make you feel?

In the world of interiors and styling colour fashions come and go, how wonderful when a passion collides with the outside world. Pink splatter lustreware yes please! Colour referencing can give vintage and antique a contemporary edge. I always loved my grandfathers collection of Sunderland bowls lined up along his mirrored dresser. The severity of the graphic black steel engraved type against the anarchic abandonment of the splatter and swish of pink.

Kids in tow, oggling Sunderland bowls like his through the window of a bijou Georgian Hexham antique shop, thinking when will I ever have one and when I do, might it get destroyed? Recently I found this vintage mug, I don’t know where, I know nothing about it, I have no idea how old it is, not very. The utility of the shape and the pink lustre eases my need for those bowls. With the pink and green it's spot on for an eclectic contemporary interior.

If you liked this post make sure you check out my post on How to style your home using Sylvac Urns

Look No Further for Affordable Design Icons: Design icons, something to aspire to, often out of reach for the ordinary person

Design icons, something to aspire to, often out of reach for the ordinary person. Good news! Not so with antique stoneware bottles. Sometime domestic ceramics, hardwearing, functional, they were the ultimate peoples product, now they come with their own unique history, I am a big fan.

Bottles like these have always featured in my life. As a child we dug them out of the pond in the spiny, the collection was organic, it grew then shrank, given away when moving on, new ones turning up, to start the cycle again.

The range of whites, like wines, describe with carefully picked words, mellow, creamy, blue, grey, mineral, earthy, stone, muddy, heritage. How do you describe your white?

Easy on the eye with simple utilitarian good looks, lyrical shapes, a curved shoulder, timeless classics they sit happily in both contemporary and classic interiors.

Why not take a minute to hop on over to the shop and take a look at the contemporary vintage ceramic collection on offer.

If you like this post check out my post on Kokedama Moss Ball Plants

Spring Flower Living Wall: Kokedama Inspiration

Can't wait to get out and see what's growing in the garden but feeling a bit cold? Bring outside into the house with moss wrapped bulbs. When I'm styling I'm always trying new ways to bring life, colour and texture to the home.  These moss wrapped hanging Kokedama bulbs are great to bring a fresh twist.  Suspend them to  make a stunning interior living wall, move them around to create a  lush planty corner. Everyday beauty, mixing plants with vintage crockery and contemporary ideas. 

Lots of vintage contemporary ceramic finds for your home over at the shop, take a look. Happy hunting!

If you liked this post check out my post on working with contemporary and vintage