We are doing a photoshoot today for a magazine. We're styling one of our projects to suit a Trendspotting Twist that they've asked us to incorporate. We're game.

Our challenge is to Anglophile the space.

It's a challenge considering our initial design for the space lends itself more to a Beachside Art Deco inspired cottage.

I've posted some sneak peeks of the space before... can't wait to see what we come up with for an after though..

I'm also aiming to try and do it without using a single Union Jack. Impressive non? Actually it's my twist on a trend.. think 1940's Beachside Cottage transported to say Blackpool on the Sea circa 1940's.... 

We'll also be adding a little Downton Abbey.

Maybe I should finally watch an episode. I see from my twitter and facebook feeds that it's all the rage.

Sluggish Blogger here. Not going to pretend otherwise. I have a voodoo collection for overly cheery people I mean, I'm relentlessly cheerful and optimistic most days but there's a fine line between that and Stepford Wife/Husband territory ya know? My mom used to wake me up as a kid with this sing songy voice... "Meredith, Rise & Shine, Time to Get Up.." 

Throat Punch.

That's what I fantasized about doing to her every time I heard that song sung to me. It got to the point that I could hear her coming down the hall and I would start to imagine a giant hole opening up in the flooring to swallow her before she got to my room. I eventually confessed that this disgustingly cheerful way of rousing me was a fate worse than death and she immediately changed her tune to a simple,  "Meredith, it's time to get up." It was in fact, a relationship saver I truly believe.

I have to confess now that there is a similar Song that is sung in Social Media circles and blogs that reminds me of my mother's insanely cheerful morning greeting. I'm sure, that like my mother's own intent, all is meant to be positive & uplifting. There are just times where it grates on my last nerve and makes me invision taking the occasional ice pick to my eye. Never let it be said that I am wishy washy or lack imagination...

I'm just being honest or true to my "authentic" self. Gawd that's another phrase that sends me round the bend. It's become as over-used as eclectic and ironically, it's often used to describe the most contrived of people/places/things/etc. Whooaaa who pi**ed in my Cornflakes you are wondering? See what happens when I get an extra day off?? Totally dangerous right? No, it's not meant to be bitchy for bitchy's sake, think of it as the Social Media equivalent to Brown (p)Leather Parson Chairs.... that's all. Purging my online soul if you will... Right up there with Collaboration but only on a need to know, when I deem to share it with you basis. That's speshal too.

So maybe, after this purging, things will be like my teenage years when I could wake up without the homicidal fantasies, get my groove on peacefully all the while enjoying breakfast with my mom. Oh did I mention that I preferred to not have any conversation until I had eaten my breakfast and mourned not still being in my warm cozy bed? Ya, I was a complex teenager but then who wasn't right??

Here's some not quite Teenage Decor Porn to kick off the rest of the week - which is going to end pretty fabulously with Moi headed to Sunny (but not Stepfordy) California......

Lots on the go, LA is a week away and I will be off enjoying friends, the Design Bloggers Conference and the sights for certain. I do believe my friend Katie has us all lined up to visit The Ivy, Villa Blanca of RHOBH fame (if you have to look that up, consider yourself lucky) and the best Mexican not found in an actual restaurant.

In addition to my designer hat, I've got a few photoshoots to get ready for (these are perfectionist's nightmares come to life), shopping and packing to do and finishing off a few projects that we've been working on for some time now. The last 10% of any project can honestly take the longest.

We're also getting closer to crazy time at the restaurant we are working on. Demolition is mostly done, now it's time to put Humpty back together again...

Some days I can take it. Others I can't. Currently, our PVR has me apoplectic. It's not letting us record the shows we want and is requiring more brain power than is healthy to expend on it. Let's just say it's become a complicated game of Tetrus.

What does that have to do with a Design Blog you ask... other than PVRs needing a better design both aesthetically & functionally? Um well moving right along... (In an ironic twist, we had to Vote SURVIVOR off the island to resolve the schedule conflict...)

I've been asked to participate in a fabulous piece for a magazine about yours truly. A photo shoot is involved - GLAMAZILLAS LOOK OUT - and my office is the backdrop. Cue the Psycho Shower Theme Music.

My office?

Umm we just moved. We're not exactly done. Did they read this blog where I say I need a deadline and pressure to make things happen in my own backyard? I KNEW this blog would eventually come back to haunt me (wink).

Okay so we have not only selected the gorgeous Tanzania wallpaper from Thibaut, it's ARRIVED AND the installer has been booked.

I also have this sofa. It's not my forever I love you sofa, it's for sale to a good home but for now it has to work.

Inspirations are an ongoing topic here on Sashay. Whenever I'm interviewed or asked to discuss my work, the topic of inspiration always comes up. I think that one of the many mysteries or marvels in the world is how creativity comes to be. Often it's catching a glimpse here and there of something, anything but other times one has to go looking for inspiration.

I'm currently working on a top secret, ultra hush hush project. Not saying what it is is practically killing me. I'm not good with keeping secrets. I mean I'm REALLY terrible but I'm also superstitious. I promise though, I won't keep this to myself for much longer.. just a bit.

However, because I am terrible at keeping secrets, I'm letting you in on some of my inspirations. I've collected these for some time but it's amazing to be able to gel them all together. I will say that I'm looking at pattern, texture and colour combinations. This is seriously like crack for me. I live for this stuff. I lie awake at night dreaming up combinations, I can't walk outside without being inundated with inspiration. I am so fortunate to be able to spend my days absorbing all of this and then creating rooms, spaces, objects that reflect what moved me.