Anything that has to do with interior design, soft furnishing, wall art and finding a rhyme into designing a space etc. I am attracted like a moth to the light. Since the purchase of our first home early in 2017 and finally the end of, what seemed an eternal cycle renting in London, I properly started developing a passion for anything to do with Interior design. I am sucker for any design magazines out there and as you can imagine my Insta is booming with accounts by local like-minded people that have a similar passion for design from high end to much more affordable.
So when the invitation for the new launch of George Inn in Barford landed in my inbox I was utterly excited, as you can imagine.
The George Inn, is at best described as a charming village pub right at the heart of the beautiful and very picturesque Barford, but this 17th century establishment surely had more to offer than just a 'local pub'. In 2017 the restaurant and the bar have been entirely redecorated from top to bottom to offer a beautiful, quirky and relax atmosphere much to the delight of locals and tourists alike. On the 7th of October 2018 the pub was officially launched with 9 stunning new en-suite bedrooms, which I had the delight and privilege to view 24 hrs before the official grand opening.
Shortly after arriving at the event I was offered a glass of Prosecco and not long after that I had the privilege to discover those new bedrooms. Leading off from a large set of double doors there is a more than welcoming garden seating area. I then followed the path that lead me directly into each of the 9 en-suite bedrooms with direct views of the beautiful and tranquil Cotswold landscape.
The first thing that struck me was that all the en-suite bedrooms had been designed individually to offer a more unique experience for each guest. The vibe of each room was to keep a rural feel, very cosy but to a high standard with many quirky designs individually placed in each room, from fish eye mirror, to vintage wall art print and the many beautiful accessories. Each room is individual but yet very luxurious. My favourite was the 'honeymoon' suite with the exquisite oversized bed head and the striking sun mirror. I would happily stay there for my honeymoon due in 2019. Also I absolutely love the mixing and matching of texture from wooden furniture to gold ornaments and soft furnishings. Each room within it's own right has a beautiful and cosy atmosphere.
Also one thing that I have to add it that in each room every little detail has been well thought out, we could tell that every little detail has been looked after and nothing has been left half done or badly done and this is what luxury is also, when the tiniest little detail has been taking care of. I'm not going to lie but I secretly just wanted on jump in and have a quick nap on all those beautiful and extra cozy beds, I'm sure I would have had the best night ever! Also I absolutely love that each bathroom is as large as my first London flat back in the day! I would enjoy the waterfall shower and you know hours of pampering as you do in such beautiful bathrooms. A little added plus is that each bathroom is fitted with two sinks, this something that I truly appreciate in an hotel.
Overall I absolutely enjoyed my time at the George Inn, seeing all those gorgeous bedrooms gave me so many ideas for the redecorating of my own house, as we still have the kitchen, bathroom and landing to decorate from a 70's nightmare to a more contemporary look. I am also planning (not like he knows yet haha!) but go on a date with my partner for a cheeky meal at George Inn as I also had the chance to try some finger food during the event and it was so yummy to say the least. So look out for my food review, coming soon to you.
Thanks to all the staff at George Inn and the PR company for their welcoming and if you ever visit the Costswolds or live near by I strongly recommend this charming establishment for just a quick drink and lunch or why not just stay over.
** all the words are from my own thoughts **
This is official we are going to celebrate our wedding Summer 2019 and now that we decided on the date I have been thinking about the decor every single day. In fact even before our confirmed date I already knew what I wanted and what I did not wanted.
To put things in perspective, I don't necessary want to follow the 'traditional' aspect of our wedding celebration and by that I mean I won't have any bride's maids, flower girls, best-man, table sitting plan, church ceremony, fancy table service and all that jazz.
But don't take me wrong I absolutely love a traditional wedding, whenever I am lucky to be invited to one, but for my own wedding I will not bother with traditional protocol. We wish to do our wedding on a budget, as we rather spending the money on a honeymoon (planning to do our honeymoon in Japan) and spending our money on carry on redecorating our house but still we want to make the celebration special and fun.
What we agreed on & what were really important to us its to be with people we love, have good food & drinks. We are only going to invite our very close family and only very close friends.
And with a non traditional wedding goes a not so traditional decor. I do not want (and actually never dream of) of castle/ fancy hotel/ fancy manor location, awful meringue puffy dress that cost a house, heart shape cheesy stuff, tacky but expensive diamonté decor and certainly NO flower matching the bride's eye shadow and groom's socks, because lets be honest no one would ever remember those details apart the bride (probably the groom won't remember either!) so we'll ditch all that and keep the decor on a budget and of course still within a theme, but we are not going to stress out about it and certainly not spend a mortgage on it.
So what's the theme?
We are extremely lucky that my fiancé's mother own an absolutely gorgeous and massif orchard. So Yaaassss!!! You guessed it!! Its going to be a field / Orchard wedding celebration theme!! Think: marquee, hale bales, paper lanterns, cosy blankets, buntings, own grown field flowers etc. Its just going to be perfect! A bit like a picnic but like a very nice and special one where everybody could feel comfortable and have fun.
Since this idea have been germinating in my head, the day have been engaged (lets say the groom is pretty happy with anything I asked), my mind have been fusing with ideas and I noted them down also as most bride to be out there, I spent a large amount of my free times scrolling down Pinterest and wedding magazine for even more ideas.
So here what I found online on a budget and that I am hoping to incorporate in my own way (not exactly copying it, as I like making it more personal, but I am sure you know what I mean) .
Decor ideas for the outside:
As for the food we are thinking buffet and canteen type of tables as for our table decor still keep within the simple field theme so think: up-cycling jam jars, own grown field flowers, natural jute runner, up-cycling fallen branches from local wood, terracotta pots, paper buntings/ lanterns, fairy lights for the evening etc.
Decor ideas for the inside of the Marquee:
Vow frames decoration ideas :
Also we are going to do the 'I do' vows under two beautiful plum treas, placed few meter away from each other, we are thinking to use drape, paper lanterns , lower pots, our vintage Moroccan rug etc. So here some pictures I found and inspired me a lot about it.
I hope you like my Pinterest tour inspo for my upcoming wedding , I am also thinking to do a similar post about wedding dress ideas so let me know if its something you would like to see. and if you are engaged or married I would love to hear from your wedding experience, theme etc. tell me all by commenting below.
We are very lucky to own a family National Trust membership so pretty much whenever we can we are always off on an adventure to visit our local National Trust places or during any holidays around Britain.
Today our choice was Canon Ashby 25 minutes drive away from Banbury in Oxfordshire. Actually it was our second visits and it is one of our favourite local National Trust so far. We went there just under a month ago and back then we were told about the Harvest Festival which was happening on the weekend of 29-30th of September. I mean who would miss an Harvest Festival, right? So without hesitation we got the picnic ready, woolly jumper and off we went on the Harvest Festival weekend at Canon Ashby.
For the quick little introduction Canon Ashby is a house of over 400 years of history
including his absolutely stunning English and cottage like gardens, its orchard, its vegetable and fruits garden, its bee hives and their massif field were roam freely cows, sheep and chicken. This beautiful estate offer everything for a family day out from history, harvest trail, wood cabin and natural play area for kids, farm animals, an absolutely beautiful cafe with its adorable coffee garden were you can enjoy an afternoon tea and a shop to find all your favourites from honey, chocolate, biscuits, plants grow on the estate, local artist product such as potteries etc.
At our arrival we were welcome by the prettiest most Instagramable little market ever with few stalls of food producers, apple cider making stall etc. Straight away we had to try the apple juice fresh from the press, all the kids around absolutely love it. Then I could not stop taking pictures of a traditional and stunning gypsy caravan.
Soon after we decided to do a tour of the English garden and the Cottage garden but our 19 months daughter just wanted to see the many sheep in the field near by which is also part of Canon Ashby estate.
Then lunch was calling and due to the many picnic areas we had not a problem to find a place to sit and put our fit up. After munching on home made sandwich then we visited the house which was beautifully decorated with autumnal colours, think : pumpkin coming in all the colours and matching plants. Also something that I would like to mention, especially if you have young kids, but the Vistorian nursery in the house have many Victorian type of toys which kids could play with freely. This was such a plus as it is true that visiting an ancient house it is not always easy with a toddler but not at Canon Ashby.
After the visit we went to enjoy the Morris dancers which were performing in the front garden were all the stalls were, the sun was shining, the air was smelling of apples, it was warm and the whole dancing was amusing and delightful and enjoyed by kids and adult too. Honestly this was the plus that made that day even more beautiful. After a quick visit to the coffee shop for a cake and a tea and also a visit to the vegetable and fruits gardens we decided it was time to go home.
Honesty if you get the chance to visit Oxfordshire or just live around I strongly recommend you stop at Canon Ashby. You wont regret also they always things happening throughout every months so check this link for more detail.
Have you been to Canon Ashby or any other National Trust ? Tell me all by commenting below.
