London's Changing Skyline

At certain points in its history, London must go through phases of rejuvenation. During the last 10 - 15 years skilled architects have designed an incredible range of contemporary buildings that have changed the city's skyline. These happily sit alongside the old as if they have always meant to be together. The view from the top of St. Pauls' Cathedral (yes, I managed all of those steps) revealed a skyline full of cranes.

The City of London Corporation that looks after the City on behalf of all who live, work and visit there, have put together a walking tour - Designs of the Times, discover the modern face of the city that leads the walker through the new, dynamic street-scapes of this city.

London has become so cosmopolitan, full of restaurants with state of the art fit outs and the photos below are what inspired me during my recent visit.

The City Information Centre, opposite St. Paul's

source

The Shard

View from the top the One New Change Building

The entrance to a Mark's and Spencer at St Paul's Churchyard

The Happenstance Bar and Restaurant, Ludgate Hill

Wasabi, sushi bar at One New Change Building

Rustic ambiance of Paul's Boulangerie at St. Paul's Churchyard

Feature lighting at Byron Hamburger, One New Change 

Okay, back to reality! Better get transforming spaces in Sydney!

If you would like help to create the space you've always longed for, please contact me here

The Blue Trees in London

I've just recently returned from a trip to London and was so impressed with the vibrancy of the city. It helped that the weather was glorious (must have brought that with me from Australia!) as crowds of locals and tourists flocked to the parks and onto the streets to soak up some warmth.

We were staying very close to St. Paul's Cathedral and walked daily through the adjoining Festival Gardens. Imagine my surprise when I came across these Blue Trees and then found out that the artist Konstantin Dimopoulos, is Australian! This environmental art installation is a collaborative between the City of London, the City of London Festival, and Trees for Cities, and aims to highlight the ongoing decline of urban trees in major cities across the world. Parks and trees are essential for the well being and happiness of residents and need to be protected. A staggering 8 million people visit the City square mile for business or pleasure each year.

The artist, Konstantin Dimopoulos has brought art into the community with this installation and hopes to encourage social change by bringing this issue to a wide audience. 

Coming across something so unexpected in the middle of a well-tended London garden was delightful. 

By the way, the blue paint is a "biologically safe, water based colourant specifically developed for this project ... with no harm to the trees, wildlife, humans and waterways" says the artist.

You can find out more at:

www.treesforcities.org

www.kondimopoulos.com

www.colf.org

All photos above are my own

Blank Slate Interiors offers Interior Decorating, Paint Colour Consultations and Property Styling for residential and commercial interiors in Sydney. To find out more please contact us here.

Meet Our Team for Commercial Projects

When we undertake projects for professional and commercial buildings, we engage our whole team to create a concept that has been thoroughly considered and developed, to meet the brief.

Meet Bev Duncan, a Colour Designer who specialises in the selection of surfaces for interiors and exteriors in the commercial sector.

Jane Skirrow and Bev Duncan

"We provide a complete service using the design elements of colour, shape, textures and form to inspire and create breathtaking transformations to commercial spaces. Our team’s main focus is on a complete exterior & interior concept for Commercial Buildings, Cafes, Restaurants, Factories, Warehouses and Professional Offices.

We create a confident colour palette that includes all forms of materials that are modern and have an architectural and artistic interest", says Bev.

'Before' of foyer of Office Block

New updated paint scheme

Sourced original artwork from Sydney Artist, Melanie Miller

You can see more of Bev's work and contact her at http://bdcolourdesign.com.au/. If you would like to talk to Jane about your upcoming project, contact her here.

Upholstered Bed Head

Several projects have been completed recently here at Blank Slate Interiors and I’ll get them onto this blog as soon as possible. This one involved designing an upholstered bed head for a client. The brief was to keep the look contemporary and unfussy.

                                     Contemporary Bed Head designed by Blank Slate Interiors

My client has a large bedroom, so it was important to make sure that it was the correct size for the room – too small height-wise and it would have been lost! A fabric was sourced from Warwick Fabrics and the neutral colour gives the room a lift and creates a gorgeous focal point!

The buttoning was spaced quite far apart which keeps the design uncluttered and contemporary.

If you would like help designing your perfect space, please contact me here

LRV explained

Choosing paint colours for your project is a challenging task in itself and can be made even more confusing when you come across terminology that you don't understand. What does LRV mean? This code sometimes appears on paint chips.

The Light Reflectance Value (LRV) is a handy piece of information that designers take into account when selecting paint colours. In a nutshell, it is a measurement that tells you how much light a colour reflects or if dark, how much it absorbs - which will affect the outcome of a space.

LRV is measured on a scale from 0% - 100%. Zero is absolute black and 100% is pure white.



(via thelandofcolor.com)


When selecting interior wall colours, 50% is the mid-way point where values higher than this (say yellow) will reflect more light back into a room and darker colours (charcoals etc) will absorb light. If you have a room with copious amounts of natural light, it can be tempered with a colour that has an LRV below 50.



bedroom by Blank Slate Interiors

LRV is also taken into account by lighting designers to determine how many and what sort of lights will be needed in a space.

If you would like help to create your ideal space, please contact me here

Just testing!