What do you do with your Dulux paint?

My God son, who, as you might have guessed, is an avid Chelsea football Club supporter.  He has just had this amazing mural/portrait of Didier Drogba painted on his bedroom wall, by his mum.  I am sure his friends are all wishing they had mums who were such talented artists!  It has all been painted in Dulux trade paint, supplied by ourselves - we supply paint for anything and everything...

You really ought to have a look at some of Zoe's murals and portraits on her facebook page "Paintings by Zoe".  They are wonderful, and in case you were wondering the portraits are not painted in Dulux paint!  So with the Olympics soon to be upon us, perhaps you have a favourite footballer, athlete or other sporting hero you might like on your wall.

Exiting new wallpapers from Osborne & Little..

Osborne & Little - Zanella

The great thing about really top quality design is that you can’t – ever - go wrong with it. It’s just like cooking: actually really hard to mess up when you are working with really great ingredients.

With this in mind, if you haven’t already done so, you really need to get onto Osborne & Little’s new collections.

They are sheer brilliance… every bit as understated and intelligent as you would expect from this wonderful company. The quality radiates from them.

Osborne & Little Rabanna

Your first port of call is Rabanna - a collection of wallcoverings featuring seven different themes – Rabanna, Canestra, Houndstooth, Chambray, Zanella, Cordovan and Tabaret – which together offer 45 choices of discreetly-patterned and lightly-textured wallpapers. All beautifully complementing O&L’s larger-patterned fabrics and papers. The collection takes its name from a Madagascan raffia, and its inspiration mainly from textures and materials of the East.

O&L Canestra

O&L say Canestra is a basket weave, but rather it reminds me of the canework  inset in elegant Edwardian chairs. There’s nothing old fashioned about the geometric nature of the pattern, or about the colours: soft and seductive shades of purple, duckegg blue and stone all just oozing class.

Chambray is a linen effect, in delectable natural colours which largely repeat the Canestra palette. Zanella and Rabanna are both dramatic holographic foils in really sophisticated, night time patterns and colours. The former comprises sparkling dots to give a shimmer effect, while Rabanna is a horizontal swathe of textured grassy stripes in the signature blues and greys of the collection plus a grassy green/grey.

Cordovan and Tabaret taken woven goatskins and watered silks for their inspiration, while Houndstooth brings us back to the UK - and as the name implies, supplies more than a whiff of Savile Row for your walls.

Classy, contemporary and clever. I could use any (or all) of them and would not fear an instant of regret.

I was going to go on to extol the stunning Metropolis Vinyls (which we love so much we have featured it on the cover of our new customer leaflet) and O&L’s wonderful new fabrics… but time just doesn’t allow right now. Look them out for yourself – or drop by again for Part 2 in a day or two!

New from Scion...

Centre paper is Dragonfly

We’ve just added the new Scion range of wallpapers to our website - and it’s well worth a look...

Its first collection, Melinki, is retro-themed but fresh and crisp at the same time, with more than a passing whiff of Scandinavia in its styling.
Their cream wallpaper with birds on has a lovely seaside feel (very appropriate in our coastal location!) and is specially tangy when teamed with the multi-coloured stripe.

Even better, at only £30 a roll Scion is less expensive than comparable other ranges, with the bonus of offering matching fabrics too.  These are not available on our website, but are available in store or on our freephone number 0800 1522 722.  It’s great value and I think it’s going to be very popular among our style-savvy customers who don’t want to spend the earth getting an individual, quality result.

I really like it.

Flight from Melinki Collection

Marston & Langinger paints

The exclusive Marston & Langinger paints are the latest addition to the range of premium paints we stock online and instore.  They come in 72 lovely colours that protect surfaces for up to 12 years - and all are endorsed by the Eco Flower and the Nordic Swan marks, the toughest environmental accreditation in Europe. Visit http://www.finestpaintandpapers.co.uk/section.php/388/1/marston___langinger#.T4gEQ9XrSSo

As crisp and appetising as a homegrown salad

Harlequin Folia Collection

This deliciously fresh kitchen, part of the Folia collection from Harlequin, would put a smile on your plate before you got anywhere near your food…

Crisp aquas, crunchy lemony-limes and pretty, pretty stripes and patterns everywhere. Can’t you smell those scones baking? And taste the lemon meringue? And don’t you love the mix-and-match look.





Notes to self:
* Get a pulley, Julia, even if you don’t need it. They always create a warm family feel. The slats can be sanded stripped wood, or painted.
* Make sure any house you buy has its kitchen opening directly onto the garden (many don’t). Just deal with the inevitable muddy footprints from children, pets and husband.
* White walls in working spaces work well and are easy and economical to refresh.
* Big tables are welcoming, generous and great for communal jigsaws. Keep one on the go at one end.

20% off Sanderson...hurry offer ends 29th March

Opal wallpaper from Colour for Living

Calico Ducks from Colour for Living

Fabric against the back wall is Dalarna

Farrow & Ball & Macmillan Cancer Care..

We are holding another Colour Your Home evening with Farrow and Ball later this month, following the huge success of our first one which took place in Birkenhead last autumn.

This second in the series will be in our Sefton Street showroom in Liverpool on Thursday 29 March 2012.
Once again the evening will start with drinks and nibbles at 5.45pm, followed by Farrow & Ball’s design expert Kirsty Ardis giving an inspirational insight into the art of transforming your home through the simple use of colour.  Her presentation lasts around 45 minutes, and will be followed by a Q&A session.

Tickets are just £5 and must be booked in advance. (Proceeds to Macmillan Cancer Care). All attendees will receive a lovely F&B Goodie Bag to take home and will be given free entry into a prize draw to win the "Living with Colour" book by Ros Byam Shaw (worth £30).

To reserve a place call 0151 709 9481 or go to www.finestpaintandpapers.co.uk.
Don’t miss it!
129 Sefton Street, Liverpool, L8 5SN

All attendees will be entitled to a privilege discount of 10% off any F&B products ordered on the day of the talk, plus a lovely F&B Goodie Bag to take home and free entry into a prize draw to win the "Living with Colour" book by Ros Byam Shaw (worth £30).