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Anyone who knows me personally will know that I’m hugely passionate about nutrition. If you catch me after a few wines (the irony is not lost!), then it’s all too easy to get caught in one of my rants about childhood obesity, misleading packaging and poor education about nutrition. So our latest ‘Fabulous and Fearless Women’ interview is a brand I’m really excited to share with you.
Founded by Alicia Porter and Lucy Sinclair in 2014, Fruity Beauties has evolved from festival trading to becoming stocked in the UK’s largest online retailer Ocado, amongst other smaller independent retailers with their Five Fruit, Organic and Fairtrade bars. As well as being delicious, they are a wholly socially conscious brand aiming to tackle issues they feel passionately about, including the growing problem of childhood obesity in the UK. I’m lucky enough to call both Alicia and Lucy very good friends of mine, and I’m so happy to be able to share their incredible journey with you all.
Who doesn’t love rugs? We love them for their ability to add colour, texture, pattern, warmth, and layers. All these things together add up to a must have in interior decoration. You need to choose the right rug for the right place though, don’t just be swayed by falling in love with a rug – make sure it’s the right one for you. To help you make your choice we have put together a little rug buying guide. Included is the essential ‘how to care for rugs’ and ‘rug stain removal tips’, to help you make the most of your special rug. This is not a definitive guide, but will help you make choices based on the most widely used rug materials.
How durable are different rug materials?
The most common materials used for rug production are wool and various synthetic fibres. Wool has the advantage of being warm in winter and cool in summer, and is naturally flame retardant. It is durable and shampoos well, but will shed fibres to start with. Acrylic is a super soft fibre that takes colour well, but is not as stain resistant as other synthetic fibres, so will not be so durable in high traffic areas. Viscose is another fibre that gives a super soft look, also with a shine, but again not as hard wearing in high traffic areas. Polyester and polypropylene are soft shiny fibres that are highly stain and moisture resistant so, along with wool, are the ideal fibres for high traffic areas.
We all love a before and after, right? Well now it’s my turn with my Victorian terrace colourful and maximalist living room. If you are a lover of calm, neutral schemes, this might not be your thing, but I make no apologies, because this is my room and I absolutely love it!
This is my first house (well mine and the boyfriends), so it’s been amazing to finally decorate it exactly as I like. I should point out, when I say ‘I’ and ‘me’, what I really mean is ‘we’, but since all he actually cares about is the size of the TV, I have free reign with the decorating. Which is just as well!
It’s a two bed Victorian terrace, so small, or should I say compact – a much nicer word. But small rooms have their challenges, in particular trying to fit in all the many things I love! So, I started with a mood board of ideas to get the creative juices flowing, which I shared in the teal living room scheme reveal, so you can see where I’m coming from with my scheme.
Crazy, colourful, and totally inspiring sums up our house tour this week. Rachael’s vibrant home is a wonderland of striking colour combinations and fun décor. So much so it won’t be to everybody’s taste, but we Audenza ladies think it’s fab. And it embodies what we always say ‘decorate for you and nobody else’. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the zany picture show.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, who you live with and what city/country you live in?
My name is Rachael. I’m a mother to two beautiful girls, Gabriella – 8, and Florence – 4. We live together in a semi-detached, rented house in Sheffield, England. Most of my friends and family will call me crazy – but all the best people are right?
13 Jun 2019
‘How to choose your interior decor colour palette’ sounds like we have all the answers – oh if only it were that simple! Just write out a prescription and off you go to the paint store, interiors store etc. Unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever way you look at it, colour is a complex subject. It’s very much ruled by your personal, emotional reaction to colour. I dislike blue, blue toned colours such as teal yes, but blue, is a no no, something my mother (a blue lover) can’t get her head round. But apparently blue is the favourite colour globally, so obviously I am in a minority here. So really, we are talking about how to analyse your reaction to colour, and decide what it is you like.
So, in this post we’ll guide you through our top tips on choosing an interior décor colour palette.
31 May 2019
Finally, a new floor in my garden room retreat! Since I moved in 8 years ago I’ve despised the hard ceramic floor in a shade of beige, but couldn’t decide what to have instead, so I left it. Until the green oasis revamp that is, then I knew it had to be a variation of black and white tiles, similar to an old-fashioned glass conservatory. But, as is usual for me, I didn’t get around to it for a while, until researching for the rest of the downstairs hard flooring, I came across these amazing tiles from Amtico. I love everything about Amtico, its ability to disguise itself as anything you can think of, from slate, to wood, to ceramic, and on and on, the range of patterns and designs you can create with them, and then, its durability – my 5 kids roller skated and skateboarded on my previous Amtico hall and kitchen floors and they still looked good when we left 25 years later! So, what’s not to love?
17 May 2019
So, in this post not only do you get to see our gold luxe round drinks trolley styled 6 ways, it’s also a chance to see how our customers style our fabulous gold round drinks trolley in their own homes. And, for one lucky person, there is also a chance to win said fab gold drinks trolley, plus a whole load of gorgeous cocktail inspired goodies – full details at the end when you’ve finished drooling. What more could you wish for to jazz up your cocktail nights? To get in the cocktail mood we have given each image a cocktail inspired name that we think suits the styling.
I’m a maximalist through and through. So, you can imagine how hard it is for me, surrounded by all the lovely Audenza products, to pin down what I actually want in my new home. It’s a small Victorian terrace so I’m limited by the size of the rooms, but it has good bones. I wanted to start with the front living room so we have somewhere welcoming and cosy to come home to that feels like us (I should, possibly, say me, as all my boyfriend really cares about is the size of the TV, but that’s good as I have very strong opinions on what I like!)
The latest addition to our ‘Fabulous & Fearless Women’ column is Kerrine Bryan. As well as being a highly accomplished electrical engineer in the energy industry, Kerrine is the co-founder and author of Butterfly Books Limited. Noticing that misconceptions and biases in careers are formed from an early age, Kerrine launched Butterfly Books to publish inspiring career themed children’s picture books for 3 to 7 year olds. Such as their recent collaboration with the British Army for ‘My Mummy is a Soldier’.
Having enjoyed maths and science at school, but not really knowing what career options where out there, Kerrine very nearly trained to become an accountant (like her mum). It was only thanks to her maths teacher sending her on an introductory course called the Headstart Scheme at Glamorgan University, that Kerrine was introduced to engineering, an industry that she has now been working in for 14 years. By raising awareness of careers from a young age, Butterfly Books aims to reduce the national skills gap problems, as well as promote gender equality in all careers.
We’re celebrating the natural world in all its glory with our new spring/summer range at Audenza. All Creatures Great & Small is designed to bedazzle and bewitch in the glory of gold, with shots of colour and texture for glamorous living, with of course, a hefty dose of Audenza quirk.
As you know, we’re rather partial to the more-is-more approach to decorating here at Audenza HQ, but the beauty of this look is that you can add as much, or as little, as you want, to add a playful vibe to your interiors. Layer up with plenty of plants and foliage for a really lush display; it helps to lift any scheme and give it some oomph. If you’re not green fingered, then it’s best to go for faux plants – it works out much more budget friendly, than plant mass-murder!
