‘Do you remember, the very first night in October’… no that’s not right. ‘Ahhh sweet October rain’ – nope not that either. Welcome to October, the sadly songless month. BUT what it lacks in melody, it makes up for with an assault on all other senses. We’ve got stuff to thrill the eyes, nose and mouth. Now that’s quite a month!
Smelling fresh as a daisy courtesty of Penhaligon’s
So we were chuffed to bits to get invited to Penhaligon’s have a scent profiling session. We smelled more amazing perfumes than you can shake a stick at, ate an unreasonable amount of chocolate and came away with predictably opposite fragrances all based on a series of wonderfully probing questions asked by scent impresario Alexandra. If you see us in the street, have a sniff – we dare you.
Working on our Made.com Windows
If you know anything about us, you’ll know we don’t do things by halves. So we’re heading back to Made.com’s lovely showroom in Soho to do a cheeky accessories overhaul in the spirit of showing how switching around the small things can have a massive effect on your space.
Making over some corners with West Elm
Because they are excellent, and because we also bribed them (we’re quite poor now), West Elm are helping us both make over a corner of our homes. We’ll be sharing them right here next week, so keep an eye out for one two wildly different living room peripherals. We’re way too excited about this.
Being shortlisted in the Amara IBAs
You guys are AMAZING. Thanks to your votes, and the bribes we paid to the judges, we’ve been shortlisted in the Amara Awards. Delighted doesn’t cover it. We’ll be spending most of the next six weeks planning our outfits for the awards ceremony in November, and welcome suggestions in the comments. Ideally penis-based outfits for Emma.
Taking ourselves off for a team-building day at Thorpe Park
We are pretty firm on not losing sight of the fact that we are very much friends first, business buds second. With that in mind we like to schedule in time to do fun shit so we don’t end up chatting shop all the time. One of the things we love to do is get off our tits on adrenalin in a theme park so prepare yourself for plenty of stories of us riding roller coasters till we puke (this will take roughly one hour).
Going back to Mars
Not literally. Well, almost. As close to Mars as you can get while still being in London. The Design Museum’s Moving to Mars exhibition touches down on October 18th, and it promises to be pretty awesome. They’ve build a full-scale house that designers predict could work on the red planet, and have bucketloads of ideas about how a zero-waste lifestyle could work there, too. It’s nerdy, it’s futuristic, it’s everything we love about a thought-provoking exhibition.
Eating some fancy fashion fondants
We are really bloody excited that the folks at The Berkeley have invited us to sample their new Prêt-à-Portea. They’ve taken inspiration from the A/W catwalk to create a wonderland of delicious confectionery that really does look as good as it tastes. We can’t wait to pop a Moschino in our mouths and spend some time in the kind of refined surroundings we aspire to inhabit 24/7.
Unveiling our workspaces
FINALLY. It’s finally happening. Emma’s workspace is nearly ready for the world to see, Robyn’s is on its way to completion, and we’ll be sharing the finished results reeeeeeal soon. Follow along on @thecrapflat and @almost_everything_off_ebay for more.
Getting rid of puppy pongs with Polkra
So Robyn is always trying to get rid of eau de hound from her house and when a great home fragrance arrives at Foxberry Towers, she loses her mind. Add to the lovely whiff a container that’s so beautiful it’ll make you want to cry and you’ve got the candle of her dreams. Katie Scott has created the most incredible range of candle holders to which the folks at Polkra have added their own self-designed fragrances, the clever little rabbits. The results? Olfactory euphoria.
Getting deep into colour with Karen Haller
We were jazzed to pieces when we got sent a copy of Karen Haller‘s The Little Book of Colour: How to Use the Psychology of Colour to Transform Your Life. We got to grips with what colour means to us, in our homes and our wardrobes (our two main areas of interest) and even got to ask Karen a question or two about the book:
What made you want to write this book?
This book has been bubbling inside me for years. The more I have learnt about Applied Colour & Design Psychology the more I knew I really wanted to share this incredible tool. I wanted to put it in the hands of the everyday person so that they can see what they can do with colour for themselves. My mission is to share the power of colour psychology with the world. I wanted to create a colour revolution. I had already started to write a book outline and then Penguin publishers approached me. That was back in November 2017. It’s been an incredible journey writing the book with them and I’m thrilled it has launched (August 29th 2019) into the world and last count it’s going to be published in 12 other languages so my vision of creating a colour revolution is on its way! Taking this mission further I’ve set up The Colour Club to support people who would love more inspiration, guidance and joy in bringing colour into their lives.
How would you describe the psychology of colour, in layman’s terms?
Applied Colour Psychology is the study of how colour can influence how we think, how we feel and how we behave. Colour is influencing us all of the time and this is because when we take colour in through our eyes it
goes to the part of our brain where our emotions reside, so colour cannot help but actually make us feel something and react.
Is there a colour you think nobody should ever use in their home, ever, ever?
The one colour I suggest avoiding is the one called Brilliant white – it is a man-made colour that is literally lifeless which we then feel as a discomfort and a dis-ease and you’re likely to not feel comfortable in your own home. That’s the very antithesis of what our homes should feel like.
What’s been your experience of the psychology of colour – any personal anecdotes?
I remember several years back meeting a friend at a café and running late; I rushed in out of breath. I felt myself instantly relaxing, looking at the walls of the café, which were grey. I felt myself unwinding and becoming calmer. However, that ‘calming down’ kept going and going, so that, by the time we left a couple of hours later, I no longer felt relaxed, but really tired. I know now that when I’m surrounded by a lot of grey it drains me. Every colour has positive and adverse effects and when it comes to grey, I feel the adverse side – tired, drained and lacking energy.
If you could give one piece of colour advice to somebody looking to create a balanced home, what would it be?
Besides reassuring people to not be afraid of ‘getting it wrong’ and worrying what everyone else will think, instead focus on choosing colours that reflect your personality and how you want to feel in your own home – creating an environment that nurtures and nourishes you. That’s what my book shows. How to tap into this for yourself. When we surround ourselves with the colours that we resonate with, we connect with the wonderful by-product where we feel good about ourselves, we feel nurtured, supported and happy.