I’m excited to share our latest piece of furniture with you today: an upcycled oak blanket chest called Matilda. I also thought you might like to see a peek at our inspiration and design process from some pics we quickly snapped during a magazine photoshoot at the studio last week (more news on that next month!).

Chests and trunks have proved to be our most popular pieces at Ruby Rhino and it’s actually not surprising considering how handy they are. They are incredibly useful for providing discreet storage for everything from spare linen and bedding, to books, magazines, kids toys or whatever else you need to hand but don’t want on display.

I love to see them at the end of a bed but the extra bonus for use in a living room is that they can double up as a coffee table to give a fabulous vintage centrepiece.

 

Below is the initial mooboard for Matilda. You'll notice how ideas of purples and greys evolved into the dusty pink palette that we finally created to highlight the inlaid panels. We decided to use our unique cloudy paint effect, which involves several layers of colour building to create a really deep, dreamy finish. See more close-up pictures here.

We couldn't be happier with how Matilda turned out. In fact, when I popped my pillows in for some quick styling, I was so tempted to make a new home for her in my bedroom. The perils of creating something you love is that you never want to give it up!

We hope you love Matilda as much as we do. Buy here, inquire here, or find out more about our new furniture painting workshops.

I’m always on the look out for clever storage ideas and one of my favourites is giving an older ladder a new use. Small ones make great bedside tables or plant displays, while larger ones are great for hanging from the kitchen ceiling for pot holders or leaning against a wall to stash towels, blankets, or even books and magazines.

They’re pretty easy to get your hands on too – eBay usually has plenty on offer, and Bubbledrum and Elemental tend to have one or two in stock. If you like the idea but not the beat-up dirty look (which I love!) then good old M&S has a ladder-style bookshelf in a few different colours which is cool for a sleeker look.

Images sources: One; two; three; four

We're off to Hungary this morning for a mini holiday and our friends wedding in Budapest at the weekend. I'll still be posting each day, but in the meantime, have you checked out The Glitter Guide? It is my new favourite daily read and dose of utter girlie-ness. The Style at Home feature is great to get a peek into the pads of stylish ladies and see gems like this magpie’s nest belonging to Catherine – owner of cute boutique Hallelu.

Just look at all those rings! Aside from being in awe of her jewellery collection, I love her storage idea of what looks like an old thimble case. I often come across them at auctions and flea markets and now have just the use for one – just got to stock up my ring collection to fill it.

Hi friends, hope you're having a great Easter break. What have you been up to? We had a wonderful day celebrating Gav's sister's wedding on Saturday - so much so, that no spring cleaning got done yesterday! But I have been pondering over the storage dilemma and think a metal locker or cabinet could be the answer. Simple and slimline with an industrial edge - it seems like the perfect solution. The Old Cinema and Elemental have some great ones, although a little on the pricey side so I think I'll be eBaying to find one of these babies for less.

one; two; three

Wow, the end of another week and a nice long weekend for many of you. Not for us unfortunately - one of the downsides of freelancing and being self-employed, is no paid holiday! But we're off to a wedding tomorrow which will be lovely, then on Sunday the not so fun task of a serious spring clean. What are you up to over the Easter break? Like anyone with a teeny tiny flat, storage is a serious issue for us. We have no built-in closets or cupboards, and any free standing storage needs to be slimline enough not to take up valuable space. Now I thought I'd be OK with this - after returning from two years of moving around and living out of a suitcase, I was convinced we didn't need excess 'stuff' cluttering up our lives. But of course a certain amount of stuff is unavoidable, like suitcases and bags, spare guest bedding, sports clothing and equipment, winter coats... it's all got to go somewhere, and preferably out of view. While I'm yet to find a solution to the issue that doesn't involve filling up my parents' loft, I have come across some innovative upcycled storage ideas for the prettier things we like to put on display.

one; two - unknown; three; four