Going Boho Part 4: Super makes & Supermodels

Sienna Miller, I love you with every strand of my copycat hairdo. But for me, boho style still starts and finishes with Kate Moss. So it’s right that I end this mini series back where I started; with the woman who works a style statement like no other and a look at some of the boho pieces that can give your home the Moss factor.

                                                            

The Peacock Chair has celebrity form. After a lull in popularity during the modernist movement, it was the comeback king of the 1960s and 70s and the perfect throne upon which a style icon could strike a headline grabbing pose.

From screen sirens such as Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot...

To rock Gods and Goddesses such as Mark Bolan and Stevie Nicks...

Show off in your very own investment piece of home fashion history with this natural Peacock Chair from Graham and Green.

Natural Peacock Chair £795 www.grahamandgreen.co.uk

Original peacock chairs command a high price on ebay and Gumtree but checkout less ornate versions that still crop up at a fraction of the price. Click here for Peacock style chairs currently on Ebay

The cane chair can pack an equally fashionable punch, even if it’s not super fancy. In fact, modern shapes work brilliantly for a skandi-boho vibe. Scour your second hand shops for retro shapes like these.

Better still, keep a beady eye out at house clearances where gems like this lovely bamboo and cane dining chair are sometimes foolishly thrown out. 

                                                         

There it was getting damp and stinky when I spied it poking out of a household skip. The rules are, you must still ask the home owners permission before taking their junk. So of course it was with the neighbour’s blessing that last week I made off (faster than you can say BT Broadband) with a 30 year old heir loom under my arm. 

Here it is with another freebie and a great way for you to WOW your friends with your creative handiwork.

This cushion used to be a detailed crocheted evening dress that once stretched nicely over my baby bump. With bump now of high school age, there really is no need to revisit this fashion moment but EVERY need for it to be reborn as a one-of-a-kind accessory. Just like the baby in fact.

Now, I’m no seamstress (sigh) but even I could manage this easy transformation in a day. Cushion pads come in different sizes, as do dresses so it’s not difficult to find one that slots nicely into the body of a dress so that two sides of the cushion cover are already taken care of. I cut off the strappy bit at the top of the dress and stitched one end, then folded the other end over so that the detailed hem became a pretty overlap. The crocheted loops make it suitable for a buttoned flap, but with cotton or sturdier fabrics you could insert a zip. Simps.

Delicacy and detail is one way to go with cushions that look cool on cane furniture, the other option is Moroccan or ikat inspired prints. This bright and beautiful handmade cushion from Att Pynta is a little vision of boho loveliness too.

 £42 www.attpynta.com

One more nice cane and cushion combo is clean white - again, more of a skandi take on the trend. Here’s another charity shop find -  a vintage pine and cane bar stool found for a fiver. It makes a pretty kitchen perch, paired with the simple white cushion, handmade from antique French fabric. What do you think?

OK, so I’ve been a bit jammy with my junk shop finds of late. Agreed. What if your neighbours and town folk are more scrap heap savvy than mine and the only cane, rattan or bamboo furniture you can find is a bit, erm, naff?

Then spray it, of course! 

This one was a dodgy red colour before a can of silver spray paint transformed it in less than an hour! The cushion is once again made from vintage fabric, this time I’ve gone for a retro look because it lives in my more psychedelic girl cave. Like it? Why not let me know what you think below.

More wicker wonders to try…

Another fabulous way to work the wicker trend at home is in the bedroom. I just adore this romantic boho headboard. Perfect if you like your walls plain and your textiles plenty.

Find a similar style here for £175 www.ebay.co.uk

There is a romanticism about fancy canework that suits me and my insane girliness.  Caught as I am in the swirl of the current seventies revival, I could happily surround myself with a heady mix of the stuff right now.

                                                             

But I get that this is not a style that will suit everyone. And thankfully, you’re not all hopeless victims of fashion like my poor self. You may want to dabble in boho, giving just a fashionable nod to the trend without upsetting the husband or the bank account, right?

If this is the case, look out for a quirky little style statement that says, “I know an interiors trend when I see it.” How about a magazine rack for a bit of cane-but-not-insane accessorising? 

Dealers are getting wise and this one was a rather hefty £20 for a market find... but I bet your granny has one hiding somewhere?

So there we have it. There are all sorts of ways you can use cane to great bohemian fashion effect, it’s just a case of finding your boho mojo. 

How to know if you’ve stumbled upon an interior heir loom or a fashion faux pas? I go by the four letter rule, WWKS, which in style speak means, What Would Kate Say.

I think we could all agree that this is a boho no-no, right?

That’s me done on this series, but please do let me know if you have any burning questions or want to share some super stylish makes. It would make me so happy to hear from you and to connect on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Please click on the links down the side.

It’s been so much fun exploring this latest interior style crush that it’s given me an idea for a regular feature. Follow now for updates of my new Beg, Borrow, Steal feature where I will be looking at working an interiors trend using my trusty 3 sources:

1) The stuff I have to beg for

2) Second hand or vintage stuff that’s borrowed from another era

3) The high street steals that can help you get the look for less.

Please like and share - Oh and while you’re at it, you could also vote for me in the Amara Interior Blog Awards Best Newcomer category?! Now that would just make my YEAR. 

Click here for details www.interiorblogawards.com Voting opens August 10th so I will have to remind you from my sun bed as I’m off on a little bohemian trip of my own next week. 

Lots of love and happy holidays House Candy Cadettes … (Too far? I hear you ;-)  

xxxx

Going Boho Part 3: Teasing Textures

The Candy Files: What’s hot, what’s not and what’s what at my place. This week…

House Candy = Shag Pile

I’ve found my boho. After some deliberation I have discovered where I sit on the bohemian style scale and it’s round about here. It’s eclectic, but not too bonkers. It’s got colour pops but not full on colour. It’s comfy, with touches of glam and importantly for this post - it’s fluffy underfoot. 

I like the boho rug situation and the artistic mix of pattern and texture. I like the aztec designs and the ability to throw together multiple shapes and sizes. It makes me re-assess my own conventional attitude to flooring - all the practical fitted carpets and boringly plain rugs  - and it makes me realise that if I want to be more boho, I’m going to need a really good shag pile. 

There, I’ve said it. A sumptuous shaggy carpet is the missing piece in my style jigsaw and I think I may have found the perfect one here…

Souk wool rug, £169 - £999 www.westelm.co.uk

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Fine and Candy = Shaggy Lamp

Abigail Ahern has changed my interior thinking for ever. Stuff that once I would never have looked twice at, is now the stuff my dreams are made of. This lamp is a case in point. It’s a classic AA game changer. Consider this the maxi skirt of your boho interior wardrobe. 

(Pssst... I’ve seen it in real life and it is even more beautiful)

Shaggy Palm lamp in white or black £375 www.abigailahern.com

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Candy Pandy = Shaggy off of Scooby Doo

 No matter how much I try to relax into this bohemian vibe, I’m still more of a Freddie girl than a Shaggy girl.

A man that can accessorise… Swoon.

Where do you fit on the boho scale?  Spotted any boho House Candy?
I’d be so honoured if you’d share x

Part 2: Keeping up with the Bohemians

The Candy Files: What’s hot, what’s not and what’s what at my place. This Week …

House Candy = Hanging Chairs

So now we’re into the swing of this series on boho interiors, I’d like to discuss my recent obsession with hanging stuff. That's because if you really want to nail this vibe, you need to know what makes a bohemian tick.

Google boho homes and you will come across a lot of pictures of hanging chairs. When you think about it, you can understand why. Hanging chairs are not a place to be studious; to do homework or to take an urgent video conference. For that matter, they’re not the ideal seat in which to watch a loud, shouty football match or play championship chess.

Hanging chairs are great for doing nothing in.

For feeling inspired in.

For listening to songbirds in.

For thinking colourful thoughts in.

For writing blogs in? I would be so happy to find out.

This gorgeous natural rope number is now back in stock at cool Cardiff interiors store www.paddeco.com Grab yours now in the hope that summer hangs around for a little bit longer. 

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Fine and Candy = Hanging Baskets

Yup, I’m harping on about greenery again. And with good reason, because is there anything else that has the power to change the ambience in a room quite so much as plants? No wonder the bohemians out there love them. And boy do they love them.

They love them in multiples and handmade from crotchet. Get the hang of it here: www.youtube.com

They love them more than curtains: Just enough privacy, not too much blocking of that lovely, inspiring sunlight.

They love simple wire ones. (Well OK, I do) and here’s my effort at making them using wire light bulb shades picked up for £1 at the market. Give them a bit of growing time and they’ll be a little dangling vision of loveliness... honest.

You can get a bigger version of the wire shade from Wilko for £12. Add a cool trailing ivy and you’ve cracked a modern take on the trend. Budget boho bingo.

And bohemians like hanging plants in bedrooms too. Swinging from the rafters. Literally.

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Candy Pandy = Hanging Loose

Currently causing a titter on twitter, the bohemian trend to be #braless is officially happening. Kids, there are two things wrong with the onion bag look. Count ‘em.

Thanks so much for hanging around guys. I’m having a lot of fun with this boho theme, have you noticed? Why don’t you let me know your thoughts in the comments section?

Next week I’m cutting some boho shapes on the floor... which reminds me, I’ve got a present to kick start your weekend. Why? ‘Cos I like you and I feel so bohemian like you. Click here www.youtube/dandywarhols you can thank me later. xxxx

PS. Have a great weekend and thanks for all your lovely tweets, follows etc. You would not believe how happy they make me… Needy? Moi?