Bring on spring

As someone famously sang ‘It’s been a long cold lonely winter’, but now green shoots are appearing – if not in the economy, in our nearby fields and green spaces.

Celebrating Valentine’s Day is always a marker, for those of us in the northern hemisphere at least, that warmer, longer days are soon on the way. Time to prepare for summer’s long lazy lunches in the garden, for mixing fresh salads and cool drinks, and for evening dinner parties with the daylight as a backdrop.

But before then it’s the welcome arrival of spring and what better time to add a splash of colour to your home. These gorgeous cushions below are hand printed in Scotland by Marram Studios on Scottish linen union and bring a touch of nature into your sitting room.

Red Umbels Linen Union Cushion by Marram Studios

Teal Alliums Linen Union Cushion by Marram Studios

Out and about

The Home show in London is the definitive homewares and interior accessories event which takes place annually in London. This year it was an amazingly vibrant experience with some of the newest and best British designers on show, many for the first time.

The award for the best stand on the opening night went to HAM whose fun products captures unexpected moments from the lives of a pig, a horse and a rabbit on a range of beautifully crafted and 100% British-made homewares.

Another award winner was British printmaker Jessica Hogarth whose illustrations of quintessentially English country cottages and seascapes stunningly enhance her product range of tea-towels, prints, cards and wallpaper.

Despite the bad news for the High Street – summed up by the fall of HMV, Blockbuster, and in retail sales – the people Pablo Blue met at London’s Earls Court earlier this month were optimistic that 2013 was going to be a good year. Consumers are making more considered purchases for the home, one that offer timeless style, high quality and beautiful design.

Strong levels of orders taken, new enquiries, and a thorough determination to make retailing work, whether online or in town, were the main take-home messages from exhibitors.

The weather outside may well have been cold but the welcome was warm, and the designs on offer fresh and imaginative after a previous year which was necessarily patriotic due to the Jubilee and Olympics.

All in all, time well spent, and we will definitely be returning.