willowswardrobe

2009-06-29T14:23:00.007+01:00

Betty held a shoe party last night. She asked all of her friends to come over for cocktails and have the once in a life time opportunity to buy from her vintage shoe collection which dates back to the glory days of the 80’s.

Her Armoire is positively stuffed with exquisite shoes, but thanks to the recent trend for fierce teetering heels with platforms, room is getting a bit tight. So it was time for a bit of a clear out, Roger Vivier and Terry Havilland were much in evidence

as were some of her more delightful confections from gay Paris. (Including some little Chanel pumps that have seen a lot of action along the Rue de Rivolli.)

Shoe storage is never easy but Sweetpea & Willow have a very elegant French chic solution with this wire fronted Armoire.

Simply cover your shoe boxes in pretty wallpaper or wrapping paper, print off a picture of your shoes and attach. Et voila! A stylish solution to the shoe mountain that lurks in the bottom of your wardrobe.

If you want to turn your friends pea green with envy then consider buying this gorgeous and very chic bookcase. Imagine all your shoes lined up on the lovely lilac shelves! Lush!
From the Sweetpea & Willow Designer collection, the ultimate in shoe storage!

Looking forward to a very organised shoe collection!

Tata for now!Jillx

2009-06-22T14:55:00.005+01:00

Shameless plug for Sweetpea & Willow

We think that we have a really lovely website, if you agree, you could help spread the word by nominating Sweetea & Willow in the House Beautiful awards at http://www.allaboutyou.com/House-Beautiful-magazine-awards/v1

All the big retailers have their names listed, but if you take the survey (it takes 3 mins honest!) and put us in under ‘other’ we might be in with a chance.

Did you know that Jacquie started Sweetpea & Willow just three years ago from her kitchen table while on maternity leave?

She never went back to her old job because Sweetpea & Willow proved so popular. We now have a huge warehouse/office complex and a dedicated Irish website. We also have a beautiful showroom filled with lovely French and vintage style furniture, all styled in room sets to give you décor ideas to create your dream interior!

Jacquie has just had baby number 2, so watch this space, she has great plans for the future and we might see Sweetpea & Willow number 2.

Jillx

2009-05-29T15:08:00.008+01:00

Jolly hols in Cornwall with Betty and Doris.

Betty and Doris have just returned from their annual jolly to the West country. After much deliberation it was decided that this year they would divert from their usual routine of motoring down to Salcombe and try a brief sojourn in Port Isaac, Cornwall.

This is because Doris harbours a secret passion for Doc Martin (from the TV show of the same name). She found out that the show is filmed there and was hoping for a glimpse of her guilty crush.

Betty went along with the plan because she had heard that Laurence llewelyn Bowen has a gorgeous little shop there, filled with Frou frou home accessories perfect for complimenting her French furniture and Boudoir bedroom.

http://www.sweetpeaandwillow.com/catalog/Bedrooms-Beds/c4_20/index.html
They adored Port Isaac with its cute winding streets and picturesque harbour. Having negotiated the practically mediaeval cobbled street that leads to the harbour, they installed themselves happily in the sun outside The Mote Restaurant http://www.the-mote-in-port-isaac.co.uk/. The perfect vantage point to watch Martin Clunes aka Doc Martin do his thing. http://www.itv.com/Drama/contemporary/DocMartin/default.html

Several large G&T’s later they decided to have dinner in the Restaurant. Doris was most impressed with the Moroccan Décor and the Inlay Mirrors. http://www.sweetpeaandwillow.com/catalog/Mirrors/c12/index.html
Bette was less impressed with the rowdy film crew who dropped a bottle down the stairwell which nearly cut off her decorating arm.
Happily they ended the evening singing sea shanties with the local fishermen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW5IdBWmWGc and staggered back to their cottage at dawn.

Next day it was a trip to Rock and the ferry to Padstow. This gave lots of ideas for decorating schemes. The colours of Cornwall are primarily grey and white, with touched of blue and flashes of yellow.
These are the ideal colours to use in a French inspired room. Sweetpea & Willow have some lovely new country style furniture in the new Bordeaux range which would look lovely against French grey walls.

The following day was spent trawling the art and antique shops which yielded up some rather intriguing finds, including a stuffed black-back gull in a Victorian case and a pair of bronze hares.

All in all much hilarity was had in Cornwall, The Mariners in Rock rocked. Boscastle was spell binding and Polzeath was teaming with fit surfers!!

Tata B & D

2009-05-08T14:35:00.006+01:00

Sweetpeaandwillow.com french garden furniture.

Sweetpea & Willow are french furniture specialists and we have some of the most stylish garden furniture available on line. We think that your garden should reflect your personal style as much as your home interior.
For this Summer we have sourced classic, elegant garden furniture and accessories that will enhance your outdoor space and be enjoyed for many summers.
Our wooden lutyens bench is crafted from mahogany and is amazing value at only £290

For a courtyard or Patio with paved floor you can't go wrong with our Corinthian stone bench.

The curved benches are £185 and the table is £308, a staggering bargain when you consider that these will last for ever.

Cottage Gardens are ideal for wicker furniture and this magical wicker glider chair would be really sweet hanging from a tree or pergola.

We want to share our love of Sweetpeas so we send these gorgeous fragrant flowers to all of our customers.

Have a lovely Summer.

Jillxx

2009-04-21T15:00:00.008+01:00

Don't call the House Doctor, do your own make-over and save your pennies to spend on gorgeous french furniture.

Why wait until you put you house on the market to do a spot of house doctoring?
Smarten up your entrance-way now and enjoy an instant pick-me-up from French furniture experts Sweetpea & Willow,
Re-paint your front door in this season’s French grey and give it some smart new ironmongery in silver or chrome. Put out some scented pots of French lavender or smart topiary buxus, whatever suits your personality.

Hallways are great for giving a make-over with maximum impact with not a lot of effort.

Create ambience with lighting. A chandelier is great for glamour but can also be kinetic with the way that light dances off the crystals. This large crystal fountain is absolutely jaw droppingly gorgeous and over the top.

For something a bit smaller, this ten branch tangerine illusion chandelier has huge personality and presence.

Don’t forget to use side lights for a softer lighting effect. Sweetpea & Willow have some lovely statement lamps, the Fifi chrome table lamp

and Santi black lamp are modern classics that look great displayed on a console table.

French console tables are ideal for hallways, they are narrow and don’t take up a lot of space. Look for one with drawers if you need somewhere to tidy away keys and mail. For sheer show stopping glamour this Tangerine console can’t be beaten. it’s really happy on its own without a mirror or any pictures’, leave it to speak for itself!

This plain silver console looks great paired with Sweetpeaandwillow.com ornate figs mirror.

If you hall is big enough for a chair, the stylish pearl velvet and black chair is lovely with its tactile velvet seat.

Sweetpea & Willow have five styles of mirrored console. The deco influence makes them ideal in modern interiors, although this Savoy console has the Louis curves that make it fit with a more traditional interior.
Mirrored furniture is ideal for making a small space seem bigger, so use it if your hall is very narrow. This rectangular Venetian mirror works well with most of the mirrored consoles. but to indulge your decadent side go for this Frascati Venetian style mirror.

Hope that you’re inspired by Sweetpea & Willow consoles to do a spot of redecoration!!

Love
Jill xxx

2009-04-03T13:35:00.007+01:00

Sweetea & Willow. French furniture experts are branching out with a new Antique and Collectables section. ......................

I have a bit of a penchant for Fornasetti, I adore his designs for ceramics and I’ve been coveting his wallpaper for ages for my study. Think that all the heads staring down at me would force me to think!
We have just launched an Antiques & Collectables section on Sweetpea & Willow and there is an absolutely incredible Vintage Secretaire there. Designed by Gio Ponti in collaboration with Fornasetti it is absolutely unique, the design was inspired by Galeazzo Allessi’s Palace of Genova. So it has a great witty fusion of modern design with Romantic classicism.

It is worth at least £85 000 which makes it a wee bit out of my reach at the moment.

More in my price range is our local antique market! I popped in yesterday as I am always on the look out for quirky vintage finds and found a fab chair. Poor husband is not happy as I have a huge collection of chairs and am fast running out of places to put them all!

Black Rococo chair Gilt bedroom chair Black & White hide chair

(These are some of my favourites from Sweetpea & Willow) Anyway I just had to have it, it’s an old church chair with a shelf on the back for hymn books. I love the way the top has been worn away by hundreds of hands and the honesty of the design. Number One son can have it as a homework chair – he can put his homework sheets in the back.

I think that is part of the huge appeal of antiques, the romantic idea that they have been loved by generations and that they are just on loan to us until we hand them on to the next generation.

We have some Gillows of Lancaster card tables with beautiful carving and clawed feet. They have the quality that is impossible to replicate today. Withan undisputable provenance they are available as a pair.

I'm not sure how they would have been used originally but having a pair makes it easier to place them in a design scheme, symmetry being important.

Hope you’re enjoying the beautiful spring weather,

Love
Jill xxx

2009-03-16T14:50:00.006Z

Boudoir Chic

Sweetpea & Willow French Furniture was on Tonight with Trevor McDonald last Friday. Unbelievable but true. Imagine Trevor McDonald sitting at one of our pretty dressing tables doing a piece about boudoirs.

It might not have actually been the man himself but I simply can’t get the image out of my head.
Just shows how popular the Boudoir look is when it makes the Evening news. We are specialists in French furniture and the boudoir bedroom is a major part of the French look.

We have vintage style dressing tables in a Deco mirrored style,

white painted distressed Louis style dressing tables

and the most ornate carved Armoires and beds for the ultimate in Rococo and Baroque glamour.
Dressing screens are great for adding a bit of ooh la la

and for a truly decadent boudoir use our Black rococo bed and new Amy Black mirrored bedsides.

Finish the look with a black chandelier and black venetian mirror.

Then buy yourself an enormous box of Choccies lock the door and indulge!

2009-01-20T13:31:00.005Z

Decorating the Whitehouse,

(Ssshhhh! we have just shipped some furniture to one of our ex Prime Ministers. So if Michelle wants a recommendation.....)

Michelle Obama is going to redecorate the private rooms at the white house, a dream job for an interior designer, so here are a few French furniture tips from Sweetpea & Willow………………

Michelle obviously has great taste she’s elegant and stylish and adores colour. Jacquie O decorated the public rooms back in the sixties with a bit of French Louis inspiration. We think that Michelle O should follow the example, updated with her own style and colour sense. Sweetpea & Willow can offer some fabulous inspiration with our beautiful, hand-finished French Louis style furniture.

So here are a few suggestions and if the Whitehouse want to give us a call we are happy to ship French Furniture to the USA.

All of our designer French furniture can be painted in practically any colour. Michelle Obama likes colour-contrast in her wardrobe and we can suggest some rather gorgeous colour combinations for her.

Turquoise corner unit and tangerine cupboard

Lime console table and pink bombe chest.

Royal blue chest of drawers and tangerine console

Pink strawb chair and Black and pink side board

And for a calm retreat for the president and first lady a six foot French white painted bed.

2008-12-04T15:02:00.007Z

Sweetpea & Willow featured on Channel 4 The Home Show on Wednesday 4th December. The Home Show was doing a feature on French Style Furniture, so they came to Sweetpea & Willow and filmed in our showroom.
Glass classical style lamp

It was great fun having a film crew in and very flattering that they chose Sweetprea & Willow as having the best examples of French Furniture.

The Home Show filmed our Black Rococo chair, Black and white baroque style c hair, Classic lamps and white painted armoires.

We were delighted to advise Angela Brady of The Home Show on French Style Furniture and were really thrilled to see our showroom looking so lovely on screen.

IN the same week we were also on Homes and property show on ITV. Alison Cork kindly recommended our chandeliers.

We were also on 60 minute makeover in October with one of our Baroque style mirrors.

Also in October we were on Fashion 156 tv with the models using our dressing mirrors and dressing tables. all very glamorous!

2008-11-17T12:34:00.006Z

French Furniture from Sweetpea & Willow

Sweetpea & Willow have moved into a new showroom/office/warehouse complex!!

Harry packed everything onto the van, we followed on (dilly dallying in the coffee shop on the way), and we moved in the next day. Unfortunately we had to leave Mr Salmon the Christmas ghost behind, hope he’s not too lonely.

The new showroom is an absolute joy!So lovely to have a space that really does our furniture justice. We can now style each section with a new theme every season.
At the moment we have a glamorous black and pink entrance with mirrored wall lamps,

carved Japanese style screen

and new pearl velvet baroque chairs with pink cushions and a silver chaise.

The upper floors are very traditional French. French grey on the walls lit by some stunning chandeliers.

French carved dining tables and chairs with a selection of candelabra. And some inspiring bedroom sets.

We are featured in Evening Standard Homes and Bargains this week and so have a full diary of appointments. Ring our customer services dept. for availability. Hope to see you soon!

Heritage looks

2008-09-26T14:12:00.008+01:00

Decorating with Old English Charm

Betty has asked me to put together a design scheme for her winter drawing room based around an English eccentric theme.

Winter because she lives in her conservatory in the summer, which is trés français filled with white rattan furniture and bird cages (don’t like to tell her the parrots are a step too far, I’m sure she should have gone for song birds). From where she serves up her sundowners (gin and a slice) from porcelain tea cups.

So for Betty this winter it has to be a Heritage English look. At Sweetpea & Willow we are best known as experts in French style furniture but I think that we can pull off a Trad. English scheme with our usual élan.

I thought about putting in a carpet. See this website for some great ideas http://www.comebacktocarpet.com/makeover.html they are doing a lot to promote carpets in the press and have some amazing striped ones but I still prefer rugs. I saw The Rug Company at decorex http://www.therugcompany.info/default.aspx they have an absolutely perfect rug designed by Vivienne Westwood which is a faded Union Jack. Too British maybe or maybe just a bit tongue in cheek.

Walls will be pale grey/white with loads of oversized pictures of dogs!! Bulldogs, corgi’s, King Charles spaniels…specially screen printed in hyper real colours. Fierce!! Furniture is from the Sweetpea & Willow designer collection. This range is hand crafted from cherry wood, with real old fashioned craftsmanship -mortis and tenon joints and hand painted finishes.
Details, like the handles, which are antiqued brass really make you realise just how good the quality is. I have seen a few of the commodes in the Sweetpea & Willow showroom and the finish is excellent, I’ve played with the drawers and they glide beautifully and the paint work is like silk, really tactile.

There are three sets of drawers which fit the bill, the chest Anglaise, The Alexis chest and the Alfred chest.

Seating has got to look like it came from a Gentlemen's club, sweetpeaandwillow.com leather chairs and sofa have a lived in look that says 'I'm here to stay'I was hoping to get hold of some antlers to go above the door but no joy, so I’m making do with a brace of antler lamps.

As for the rest of the lighting I thought that we should have flickering candle light as well as side lamps and a central chandelier.

This wall sconce is great for making the light dance from its mirror around the room, very romantic and Victorian.
I love the brass finish on this chandelier which is a real statement piece, I hate to say the W word but it has wow factor in abundance. To finish the scheme I’m looking for a stuffed squirrel and three fishes to take the place of traditional ducks. Looks like the wellies and rod are going to get an outing!
Love

Jill xxx

100% Design

2008-09-26T11:34:00.004+01:00

Sweetpea & Willow visit London Design shows
I always think that summer is over when the interiors shows are on, but this year they really seem to have crept up on me far too early. This week I did 1oo% design http://www.100percentdesign.co.uk/page.cfm
and next week I’m hoping to fit in Decorex and Focus.

It’s great fun to check out what’s new and exciting in the design world.

100% design seemed quieter than usual but still had a lot of energy and some really inspirational things.

I was really taken with a few designers who were doing a new thing with decoration taking an almost Victorian vibe and subverting it.

I loved the cushions with cityscapes from conceptual textile designer Charlene Mullen using a hard edged modern scene and making it domestic with soft embroidery.

On a rather more disturbing note are the fantastical taxidermy pieces of Lighting designer Jericho Hands. She pitched a bedouin tent which had a few surprises inside. A flock of pigeons were stuffed and transformed into a fairytale thing of beauty, giving a new take on the chandelier. Even better were the stuffed squirrels running up the outside of the tent, each holding a little light. Squirrels are top of my squish list at the moment (having demoted slugs) so I was delighted to see them used for good purpose. No pics available unfortunately, but see website http://jerichohands.com/index.html

Animals were used for inspiration elsewhere, but not quite so literally (Stuffed!) http://www.petermusson.com/ had some witty little ‘Trophy Kills’ used to decorate the stand. I loved the silver hippopotamus head on purple velvet shield---really! You just had to be there!

It was great to see clock designer Paul Beckett www.paul-beckett.com He says that clock making is a dying art and I guess commissioning your own time piece is pretty expensive. This designer told me that he sells to the uber rich all over the world. His clock takes a very modern plastic composite and combines it with hand crafted bronze wheels for a very modern interpretation of an antique piece.
I also came across this in The Guardian on a clock theme http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/sep/18/corpus.clock about a truly amazing clock that has been designed for Corpus Christi.”it is terrifying, it is meant to be," said John Taylor, the creator and funder of an extraordinary new clock to be unveiled tomorrow by Stephen Hawking at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. "Basically I view time as not on your side. He'll eat up every minute of your life, and as soon as one has gone he's salivating for the next. It's not a bad thing to remind students of. I never felt like this until I woke up on my 70th birthday, and was stricken at the thought of how much I still wanted to do, and how little time remained." Have a look at the article with a video of the clock.

Loads more inspired, am hoping to do a pop up Sweetpea & Willow shop in one of the blow up tents from inflate.co.uk…watch this space it could be popping up near you!1

Ta ta
Jillxx

Sunday Times

2008-09-09T14:37:00.012+01:00

Our drivers and delivery people are all swanning about in new togs!!
They have fleeces and shirts with a very tasteful sweetpeaandwillow logo subtlety embossed on the front. They also have baseball hats in pale grey, hmmm-this could be a step too far or a cunning plan designed to cover up bad hair. Think Harry looks a tad more dapper in his James Bond get up, but this is dreary, wet Britain, so he needs to dress suitably for the climate.

I think that they should have let me design the uniform. It’s an opportunity missed if you ask me; we could have had knee britches and velvet frock coats in our trade mark pale blue which would be trés elegant and head turningly chic. This could be you Harry, loading up your van!!

On another note we had some really great press this weekend. two of our mirrors appeared in The Sunday Times and one in The Mail on Sunday. It is lovely when journalists like our furniture enough to feature it. The phones haven’t stopped ringing with people wanting to buy them!!

Dressing Mirror

Bye for now

Jill

2008-08-15T12:49:00.003+01:00

Sweetpeaandwillow.com sale is on at the moment and I’ve seen lots of very tempting pieces of furniture that I want. It’s really hard to choose from all the gorgeous things especially as they are all at unbelievably low prices. Was £465 now £395

So I have a few guidelines to ask myself before I buy furniture…

Am I going to like this in a year’s time?
I don’t think that there is any danger of French Louis style furniture looking dated any time soon. This style has been around for a couple of centuries and is still looking fresh, it really has a great deal of charm and it can always be refreshed by adding a few cushions or accessories in the seasons fashion colour. Black chest Was £365 now £325

Is it great quality?
Sweetpea & Willow furniture goes through a rigorous quality control process before we send it out; you can often find one of our directors in our warehouse personally checking the furniture. Not many companies do that!

Do I trust this retailer?
Well I work here so I would! I think the best thing is to have a look at customer comments section and see that the website has an easy way to contact them if things go wrong. Sweetpea & Willow have a showroom and office address which should inspire confidence.

Is this the best price or should I pay a bit more for a quality service?
Sometimes the cheapest isn’t the best. At Sweetpea & Willow we know that our prices are the best for the service that we offer. We are always chatting to customers on the phone answering all sorts of questions from checking progress of orders to advising on interior schemes to go with our furniture. We aren’t a faceless company that you can only contact via email we really care about our customers, we love what we do and hope that we can pass on our passion for chic French furniture.

2008-07-25T10:52:00.005+01:00

SUMMER BLUES

Looks like summer has finally arrived and we have a month to cram in all the things we could have been doing all summer. I shall be chilling in the garden every evening, getting the most out of my new Sweetpea & Willow garden furniture, fortunately I ordered the Stone range so I will be able to leave it out side all year. You’re probably catch me sitting on it in the middle of winter wrapped up in my fleecey anorak ( joke! I’m going to be sporting a little prada number this Autumn!)

I have been chilling out at the Ealing Jazz festival. It’s close to the office so easy to grab a picnic and head down to Walpole Park and listen to some great live Jazz and Blues. It’s a real family occasion and a lovely atmosphere. Personally I think that Sweetpea & Willow should offer to decorate the main stage next year, it could definitely benefit from a bit of rococo style! Perhaps a couple of giant mirrors and a few Louis chairs for VIPS, (mentioning no names but rumour has it that our esteemed mayor, Boris Johnson will be visiting tonight).

Haven’t heard much from Betty and Doris recently, they have been to Slapton in Devon and no doubt are now planning a total décor over haul. Am expecting requests for Silver pieces as they like to be cutting edge nowadays. Lucky we have a sale on!! Check out this silver chaise longue which is a very affordable £237, I’m going to get them to buy one each.

L8er dudes!!

Jill x

2008-07-07T13:48:00.006+01:00

Have just spent a couple of days in lovely Liverpool, Exploring the incredible shopping centres and searching for superlambbananas! http://www.gosuperlambananas.co.uk/artists.html

I spotted the most and am owed bottle of champagne from Lenny who despite actually being a denizen of the city only managed to spot five! (Em was more interested in spotting sexy red shoes- on a mission to find the hottest pair in the whole of Liverpool).

We also got cultural and went to see the Klimt at the Liverpool Tate. I was expecting to see lots of the type of Klimt paintings that you see adorning student digs but in fact there were some rather surprising Interiors and furniture pieces on show from the Vienesse secession.
Particularly fab were the silver coffee sets and furniture by Josef Hoffman. The simple white and grey painted cabinetry had a very Sweetpea & Willow look.

www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/gustavklimt/ Shopping in Liverpool is a complete revelation. There are several beautiful new shopping centres with every imaginable fashion shop. The style is amazing, all the girls make a real effort and look just incredible, if you ever wanted to know how to run in seven inch platform shoes, these girls will show you how! http://www.visitliverpool.com/site/home There are more hair straighteners and fake bake kits sold in Liverpool than anywhere else in the known universe. We loved the look for massive hair rollers and teeny mini skirts worn with attitude. Totally fierce!

The Cavern Walks are full of quirky little boutiques and beloved by fashionista’s and wags alike. Vivienne Westwood (all hail the Queen) and the wags fave Cricket are here.

Cricket is a mecca for the glamourous citizens of Liverpool and it certainly stocks some hot labels. I thought the merchandising could do with a bit of sweetpeaandwillow.com magic. They need some of our display cases and dressing tables for a much needed boudouir touch. Otherwise that Mary Portas will be knocking on their door!! http://www.maryqueenofshops.com/

TA RA

Jill

2008-06-30T14:41:00.005+01:00

Wayne the cycling demon.

Wayne has taken to riding his bike into work. This is all the fault of Zoe who sits opposite him and has the pleasure of looking at him all day. She decided that she wanted to enhance the view and so devised a programme of improvement for Wayne.
Firstly he had to wear lycra, secondly he needs to get a tan, thirdly he needs muscular calves.

She decided to suggest a bit of cycling but didn’t expect Wayne to adopt it quite so enthusiastically.
His bike is now parked in the showroom and he has been providing us all with a great deal of amusement by riding it aroundthe showroom dodging between the armoires and dining tables.

Incidentally the tan is coming along nicely and we are all thinking of biking it to work. I have picked out a particularly fetching cycling outfit with divine floral helmet from the cyclechic website.

Love from a very fit Sweetpea & Willow team!

Sweetpea & Willow Expands

2008-06-27T13:46:00.007+01:00

What credit crunch?

If you’ve decided to stay put, and not sell your house for a while you’re in a great position to update your interior without spending a fortune.

It’s never been a better time to shop at Sweetpea & Willow; we have just introduced even more gorgeous home products at realistic, low prices. As well as a NEW Designer range which we have made for our most discerning and creative customers.

It may be doom and gloom for the traditional high street with big names like Ilva going under but newby’s on the block Sweetpea & Willow are fast proving that online etailing is the way to go.
The world of retailing is changing and customers are becoming far savvier to the fact that online shopping is secure and convenient. Sweetpea & Willow have the additional advantage of having a showroom where customers can come and see for themselves the quality and finish and amazing value of Sweetpea & Willow furniture.

We are confident in the future and are expanding steadily. Our Interior design clientele wanted us to source more exclusive furniture and now we are introducing a fabulous new designer range. Great news is that it’s available to everyone at the best price.

Hope you love the new collection as much as we do.

Jill x

Wayne's World

2008-06-13T13:52:00.004+01:00

Hi

I’ve just joined the lovely people (especially Jill) at Sweetpea & Willow as Customer Service manager.

I am really enjoying chatting to all the customers who ring up. Sometimes with some unusual requests. I spoke to someone the other day who has just converted a water tower into a house who wanted one of our gold gilt beds delivering to the sixth floor!! Happily we were able to accommodate her.

I have also been having an ongoing conversation with some people in Romania who are furnishing a castle!! You can imagine the look on Harry’s face when I told him to dust off the dinner jacket and opera cloak and get himself ready for a delivery to Romania.

We also get enquiries about the colour and finish of the furniture. As an online company it can be a bit difficult for clients to envisage the products. We are always happy to send out paint samples to help.

Speak soon
Wayne

2008-06-13T12:42:00.005+01:00

Bedside Tables

Period Living magazine asked me to do a little piece for their July issue about bedside tables. That got me thinking about these useful little tables.

Our bedsides are really versatile and are equally at home in your living room. Use them next to your sofa or armchair as a handy place to put a lamp: put one in your bathroom for an instant shot of glamour and of course put them on each side of your bed.

Tip
Hang a door toggle from the drawer handle in a complimentary colour to your cushions.

Jill Paterson

interior divine: Subdued Victorian style

2008-05-16T11:13:00.000+01:00

interior divine: Subdued Victorian style
Sweetpeaandwillow.com have some pieces that would help you to recreate this gorgeous style.

Crunchie Bar

2008-05-13T14:53:00.009+01:00

Precious Metals

Forget the credit crunch, here’s your chance to stay put and re-decorate your home with rich, luxurious precious metals.

Metallic finishes are a big theme in decorating this Spring and Sweetpea & Willow have got the furniture to give your home the Midas touch at bargain prices.
Gorgeous gilt chairs in Louis style are bang on trend and this range extends to beds and bedside tables.
With Sweetpea & Willow it’s easy style a whole bedroom in voluptuous fabrics and antique gold, French furniture at credit crunch prices.

Platinum and silver are just as desirable and these pieces are new additions to the website. The colour platinum is marvellous for introducing light and glamour into a scheme.
This Chaise would look equally good contrasted against a black wallpaper or with an icy blue scheme.
We like it in the bedroom, ideal for a bit of boudoir chic.
Upholstered in platinum velvet with black painted legs it is an amazing £395.
The silver leaf finish on this bombe chest has a glow that makes it a real stand out show stopper.

We think it works really well in a bedroom with this cheeky little bedside. (Bedside £174, chest of drawers £495.)

Elegant New Website

2008-04-04T14:19:00.017+01:00

Finally the day we have been waiting for has arrived! The new website is up and it works beautifully. I think that we are going to have to stop describing the site as a boutique, it’s grown into an emporium!!

I really like the little box that lets you search items in a hurry, was a bit mystified about using keywords, thought it might be some sort of code but it just means that you put in something simple like..silver or wardrobe…and the item appears(doesn’t work when you put in Johnny Depp tho’..damn!).

There are some fantastic new pieces on the site. Check out this on trend, vibrant pink, Louis style chair which is exclusive to sweetpeaandwillow.com.

As well as our signature style white painted French furniture we now have silver painted bedsides in a Louis style and silver leaf chests.

We also have some very glamourous chandeliers which are definite statement pieces. These are made from a type of shell which I in my total ignorance had never heard of, capiz, and are combined with gold. I think the large one is perfect for hall or stairwell, the smaller one could be used in any room but I rather fancy hanging three together over a dining table for total opulence!!

Ta ta for now

2008-03-17T15:50:00.001Z

Hi,
Have spent the weekend planning my garden. Not literally you understand, there’s a lot of fantasizing over garden catalogues and pretending to myself that I have a huge garden with rolling lawns and great long stretches of perennial border.
The reality is a tiny suburban plot with a handkerchief ‘lawn’ (muddy patch)! Even if I use loads of containers I’m still never going to fit in everything that I want. I think that the reality is that I need to be very firm with myself about colour and stick to a white and purple scheme with a bit of pink. So I’m buying alliums, hydrangea’s, passiflora, aquilegia’s and papaver orientalis poppies. (For now).

I have lots of seeds that I simply must get started, this year I’m determined to have spinach and rocket on the go all summer.

Love this this very grand planter that I've seen on the website ‘Stone effect urn with Cherubs ’ and I think that this would look fab planted up with some lilac bushes or perhaps a Sweetpea wigwam!

I also think that I can bring a little bit of chic French style to my garden with some wrought iron furniture. I adore this bench and I simply can’t believe that it’s only £225.
So I’m having two!

Ta ta

Jill xx

I Own Britain’s Best Home

2008-03-11T12:45:00.001Z

We had a camera crew in last Friday, filming in our showroom, for a new programme on channel 5 called ‘I Own Britain’s Best Home’.

They really liked our gold gilt range, good to know that our furniture is seen in the best homes but is still affordable enough for all of us people with ordinary homes (and great taste!).
Check out the show it goes out on Thursday 3rd April. Am dying to see inside all these gorgeous houses, as am very, very nosy. I always have a sneaky peek into peoples living rooms if they’ve left their curtains open!
Purely for research, of course, need to get as much décor inspiration as possible.
On another note, the showroom is looking particularly fab at the moment. Jacquie, Sweetpea’s founder and designer, has been busy styling the roomsets with some sumptuous cushions and lovely lights. We seem to be fast becoming the foremost supplier of French Louis style furniture to the Interior design trade. There always seems to be a designer popping in to see what’s new and they invariably walk away having placed an order.

We have some really seductive velvet chairs in mink velvet which are proving immensely popular. These will be up on the website soon.
PS Keep watching this site because we have some very exciting developments coming up…am the worlds worst gossip so am dying to tell … but will be sacked if I do!!!

Au revoir Cherry's

Jill