The absolute must-have accessory

You can't pick up a fashion magazine without being told that the right accessory can bring any item in your wardrobe right up-to-date. It seems to me there is one accessory that these days no one should be without - an accessory that's always in fashion, that marks you out as someone with imagination and style, but more importantly a conscience, heart and soul.

That accessory is a shopper. Plastic bags - any bag that a store gives you - are way out of fashion. I can't believe there are still stores that give them out and still shoppers who use them.

I've just been browsing some favourite websites and found a great choice of fun, statement-making and even patriotic, if you happen to be English, shoppers for inspiration.

I hope you already have one (or, like me, two or three). If you don't, I hope you'll get one (or two...). And don't leave home without it.

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(Images: 1 & 4 - Catherine Colebrook 2,3 & 5 Not on the High Street.com, tape generously offered by Pugly Pixel)

A special detail to end the week

It's just a sign for a ballet school. No need for anything special - the signboard says it all.

But why oh why settle for ordinary and functional? Why, when with a little thought, some time and imagination a mere sign can be transformed as this one has.

The ballerina soaring up into the sky captured my attention, made me stop, stare and wonder. And as I walked away with a happier, lighter step made me want to sign up.

It's special details, taking time and care, never settling for ordinary that make life better.

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(Image: PPT)

Hat envy

I'm not typically a hat fan. People often just look slightly ridiculous in hats. But I do love a wide-brimmed, floppy sunhat, so perhaps that's why I love this hat - seen yesterday at Royal Ascot.

Wide-brimmed heaven and floppiness galore! I also love love love the hydrangea and the way it and the bow look as if they're floating. I'd love to try this on...but I'd probably look ridiculous.

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(Image: Telegraph)

Secret gardens

Can't resisit a little more on the subject of special, hideaway places at home. Who isn't tempted by a secret garden? A place to get lost among trees and flowers, with birds and butterflies for company. And a few special people too.

Imagine a perfect day.

It starts with a pre-brunch stroll under the arbour...


























Then you follow a hydrangea-lined path to brunch in your vintage greenhouse...

A late-afternoon snooze in the sunshine...

The day ends with dinner hidden among the trees...

When can you come over?

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(Images: Architectural Digest, l'elegance du herisson, The Secret Garden, Sandy Koepke Interior Design)

Believe in magic

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(Image: Shabby blogs)

A special detail to end the week

It's often the smallest, sometimes overlooked, often not crucial detail that makes something special - be it a table setting, an accessory, the colour of a door. I'm always considering and too often staring at small details that take my fancy and make something interesting for me.

I love this image. It's just paint brushes in pots. But one pot, with its delicately-painted garland, hints of pink and yellow and the rough gluing of the cracked piece, makes this image. 

These details turn simple paint brushes into a still life worthy, I thought, of saving and using for inspiration for how I display things in my home.

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(Image: Jordi Canosa)

Escaping at home

I love the idea of a small space somewhere at home whose main purpose isn't wrapped up in cooking, eating, sleeping, watching or all the doing that goes on at home. A place that's more for just enjoying and being. Maybe it's a place that's just for you. Maybe you share it with others. Either way it's somewhere to escape to - for thinking, reading, hiding, plotting and planning, or all of those with someone special as well as chatting, laughing, tea-drinking, reminiscing and debating.

I've been thinking about spaces and how to use them a lot recently as we're house hunting. These are some of the special spots, which look perfect to escape to, that I've found online.

A view, lots of cushions and it's tea time...

Cozy, sunlit and flowers on the table...

 

My favourite because it's a real nook in the snug sense of the word, it's surrounded by books and the view is, I think, of Paris...



A shady spot in a courtyard...

Most of the spaces I've chosen involve a view or being outdoors and books are an important feature. Clearly some of my must-haves. Could I re-create a space like one of these in a new home somewhere?

And here is one just for fun - we should always be dreaming after all.

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(Images: Perfect Hideaways, Architectural Digest, Unknown, Samode Hotels, Architectural Digest)