Pyrford Court was reviewed by The Times and Country Life last week and it must be the largest and longest running project we have ever undertaken. It has been lovingly restored over the last 10 years and is now available for sale at a cost of 20 million pounds.  The house is steeped in history and every part of this home has been thoughtfully brought back to life with attention to every detail.  I just wish we could show you more pictures of the amazing interiors but as with all our projects we always respect out clients privacy.   

We always like to think we are ahead of whats on trend at Julia Clare and now is official!  Pantone have announced the gorgeous luminous Turquoise tone 15-5519 as the colour of 2010. Reminisicent of tropical waters and escaping from the rigours of everyday life its the colour to use and we have incorporated it in a gorgeous Bang & Olufsen cinema installation we recently completed.  Look on our site for more in this colour - it works so well with browns and neutrals.

We know that trying to match colours on fabrics or wallpapers from a website can be difficult. Thats why we've launched the Colour-Match Service.

You can send us fabric or wallpaper cuttings, magazine cuttings... infact anything and we'll try to match it to a colourway of your chosen fabric or wallpaper.

So if you've a Sofa you want to make cushions for or you're looking to make curtains to match your carpet, simply send us a cutting and we'll do our best to match it!

Oh and it's absolutely free. We'll match it, send you samples absolutely free!

For more details : http://www.juliaclare.co.uk/colourmatch.aspx

Thanks,

Julia.

When making curtains with Goblet headings, use the cardboard roll the fabric came on and cut it into lengths of about 10cm. Once you have worked out your pleats and spaces on the heading tape, push the pieces of cardboard into the pleat allowance for a really professional looking Goblet heading. Nothing I have found works better!

Its been one of those weeks when everything has finally come together on Friday afternoon and what a sense of achievement!  I dont really get involved with commercial interiors so when we decided to instal a commercial size CVO Fire fireplace into a domestic games room, I guess there was a slight sense of the unknown. We got there in the end though - and what an effect. Technology by Bang & Olufsen, real copper leaf wallpaper, colour changing star lights and not one but two B & O screens with games consoles and lazy boys chairs ..........  I want one!

I am so excited by this new product I simply couldn't write this blog quick enough! There I was reeling from a quote I had received for a hand dyed silk rug (which I knew my client had already fallen in love with, but put simply, Obramavich would have struggled to afford) and as I was wondering just how upset they were going to be when they knew the price, I called a new contract to see if they had any ideas on how I could get around this problem. 

 "You could try having the rug made in bamboo" they said.......  Instantly I was thinking along the lines of rough 90's Crucial Trading style natural flooring and it took a while for them to persuade me to take a look at it. They sent me a sample and I could have fallen off my chair when i saw just how beautiful the sample was. I can honeslty say that I would not have known the difference between the silk and bamboo had they not told me AND it was less than half the price AND it is a sustainable source so everyone is happy.  I just had to share this one with you all as it is a real top secret trick and one I intend to use a lot in the future!

I have just finished fitting the most amazing Andrew Martin window dressings. We used Andrew Martin Pushkin velvet in the Amethyst colour as a top curtain with a dark amethyst silk curtain underneath. With a little help from some massive crystal tie backs, we pulled the top curtain up into big voluminous balloon, leaving the working silk curtain underneath just peeping through,  and the hem puddling down on the floor. They just look amazing and we are going to be able to photograph them next month so watch this space for some great images!

What an exciting week ahead! Willa is in with the new Autumn launch from Barbara Barry and Kravett Design. I cant wait as this is a personal favourite of mine!  Im looking forward to seeing lots of cut velvets and beautiful trimmings so we will update the site with the best of whats new later this week.

The contact sheets have arrived for a cinema room we photographed in London. We completed this project with our friends at Bang & Olufsen. I do love looking back over what we have completed - its like Grand Designs revisited! It was a real challenge with a star lit ceiling, a long base storage unit hung from the wall and underlit so it appeared to float off the floor, a bar, skirting lit floors and the biggest flat screen TV I have ever seen!  The accent colour was a deep Teal and looked amazing against the chocolate brown of the furniture. This was an interior you could just curl up in and loose yourself for days! As ever the guys at Bang & Olufsen did an amzing job of the AV installation and I think the clients children took over the room shortly after we left!

Finally on my things to do this week - I am trying to get ready for more curtain making courses here at Chiddingfold.  After the feedback from the radio show on Saturday, it looks like it could be busy this month!

Anyway - must run now but more updates later..... 

Had a catch up with the Osborne and Little and Designers Guild reps yesterday morning which is always a pleasure. 

The new Autumn collections will be coming out soon and so its time to make some space in the showroom for all the lovely new fabrics and papers. 

It seems  we all agree that cut velvets are still the top sellers so far this season so plenty more of those designs to look forward to, and flock wallpaper is still going strong.  Most companies are launching at least one wallpaper design in flock this year, so despite it being so much more expensive than normal paper – it looks like its weathering the credit crunch rather well.  I have a big smile on my face because I love flock wallpaper and as far as Im concerned there aren’t enough walls to put it on!