Interior design ideas for your home

House and Interior Show Olympia

The way we are living is changing, with smaller spaces to live in British homes it is important to be creative with design.This post is for anyone who wants inspiration on creating a beautiful looking home and garden.  

Outside of food I love architecture and interior design. Architecture and interior design done in the right way can make a space both practical and beautiful. But good design can really bring a building to life. 

Below are some buildings that whilst they may not be conventionally beautiful to me are stunning because they use the space and design in an interesting way. 

Recently when I saw that Kensington Olympia had a new exhibition 'house', I knew instantly that I really wanted to go. The show was divided into three areas: 

• Interior and exterior design
• Gourmet food 
• International art and antiques

I thought it would be nice to share some of the highlights from the day. 

Interior and Exterior Design:
I have admired David Harber and his work for a number of years. This is partly because he came to sculpting later in life, which encourages me to keep alive my desire to make bronze statues in the future, rather than just being a pipe dream.

David uses water, light, and three dimensional design to make the most beautiful works of art for any size garden.

Many of the exhibitors showed off the best of British design and talent. But I specifically liked the winners of this years Design Guild Mark awarded for excellence in furniture design.  

The Hat Tree designed by Ben Fowler and made out of beech is not only beautiful but highly practical. 

The Windsor Rocker designed by Katie Walker is made from one continuous piece of wood. It is reminiscent of the original Wheelwright Windsor chair. 

British designers really are among some of the best in the world. 

Taking one of the most iconic objects of the second world war, the Spitfire; Huw Edwards Jones has built an amazing Spitfire memorial table using restored propellers from the actual aircraft.

I couldn't help but love this next table that reminded me of past fun I've had building and designing in the Minecraft world (does anyone else see a sheep?).

Gourmet Food:

Many a stand were letting you sample their foodie wares, and it didn't take me long to head over to this side of the exhibition to see what was on offer.

Some of the samples were of such high quality that after having a small feast, I waited patiently for them to put out fresh taster plates.

It would have been rude not to try more than one of each type! 

I also bought enough sausages to keep me going till next years show.

You might have thought that after my mini tasters that I couldn't possibly have been hungry, but the legs were getting a little weary so I decided on a rest in a section that just happened to serve afternoon tea. 

Certainly not the Ritz, but a welcome break for tired legs and well received. After all the eating we headed to the next exhibition to walk the food off. 

International Art and Antiques:

The Arts and Antiques exhibition was running in conjunction with the 'Home' show and had some lovely exhibits that would happily adorn my house if the lottery fairy ever blesses me.

We had a wonderful day and since my visit have been actively adding ideas to Pinterest. If you get a chance to go next year then I would highly recommend it; however, you might have to gently nudge me away from the free tasting samples to try ones for yourself.

What's your favourite room in your house? If you could redesign your home or a room what would you do?

I would love to read your comments. Share any design tips you have. 

Chicken and Prawn Rosso pesto Pasta

Italian food is a favourite and is something that I love cooking at home. Tomato pasta dishes that pack flavour and are quick to make always win through. Today I am sharing my chicken and prawn (shrimp) Rosso pesto pasta. 

For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

It serves four as a main meal, takes twenty minutes to prepare and thirty minutes to cook. 

So let's crack on:

1.Take one onion and chop. 

2.Chop one red and green pepper.

3.Chop Two gloves of garlic.

4. In a large saucepan heat a teaspoon of oil on a medium heat and add the onion, peppers and garlic. 

Gentle fry for seven minutes. 

5.Whilst the onion, pepper and garlic is cooking chop the two chicken breasts. 

6.Add the two chicken breasts to the onions, peppers and garlic. 

7.Cook the chicken for ten minutes and then add 25 grams of wild mushrooms. 

8.Gentle fry the mushrooms for three minutes. 

9.When the mushrooms have been mixed and slightly softened add a teaspoon of hot sauce. 

10.Whilst the ingredients continue to cook. Add 40 grams of tagliatelle pasta to a pan of boiling water with a good pinch of salt. Cook for ten to twelve minutes or as directed on the packet. 

11.Returning to the chicken add 170 grams of raw peeled prawns (shrimp) to the chicken. 

12.Gentle cook the prawns, when completed add the pesto Rosso sauce and stir through all the ingredients.

You can make your own sauce if you like it is easy enough to make, I personally like the jar option because it makes the meal a super quick meal. 

13.When the chicken and prawns (shrimp) are coated in the Rosso, chop five basil leaves and add to the frying pan with the other ingredients. 

14.By this stage the pasta should be cooked. Take two dessert spoonfuls of the pasta water and add to the chicken and shrimp. The water will help to bind the pasta to the sauce. 

15. Add the drained pasta to all the other ingredients and stir in until all the pasta is coated. 

16.You are now ready to dish your wonderful meal up.

Sit back relax and totally enjoy the wonderful food that you have made with your own fair hands. Nothing is quite as satisfying.

Do let me know if you would like me to do more cooking posts in the comments below. If there is something specifically that you would like me to cook let me know. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. Hope you have some fun plans. 

National Picnic Week

This week (Sat 13th- Sun 21st July) is National Picnic week, so on FoodieForce I thought I would share some of my favourite places to have a picnic in and around London. 

Picnicking is one of my favourite Summer pastimes. It is a great way to get together with friends and family to play games and share some wonderful food. 

1. Kew Gardens:

The Royal Botanical gardens has to be one of the world's most famous gardens. For me I can easily while away a whole day wandering around the peace and tranquil gardens.

 

The Palm House is one of the largest surviving Victorian glasshouses in the world and is such an architectural masterpiece. 

The waterlily house has the world's largest and the smallest water lilly's in the world. 

The largest water lilly measures a hulking one meter wide. The smallest water lilly no longer exists in the wild and Kew gardens have saved it from extinction. 

I love the Chinese pagoda which stands tall in the grounds and is the perfect place to have a picnic. 

Fancy visiting? Tickets cost £15 for adults and £3.50 for children (4-16 years) www.kew.org

2. Hyde Park:
One of eight Royal Park's in London. The park covers 350 acres and houses the Princess Diana Memorial. 

It is a brilliant place to have a picnic and is near Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guards and Harrods. 

Fancy a foodie treat visit Harrods amazing food hall to get some yummy goodies for your picnic. 

3. Crystal Palace: 

A short walk from Crystal Palace Station, Crystal Palace park has been a love of mine for many year's, my parents used to take me there as a child. With a lovely lake to walk around, small farm and children's playground it is the perfect park for all the family. 

It even has prehistoric dinosaurs. 

4. Richmond Park:

Next up is Richmond Park, a National Nature Reserve and the largest of the Royal Park's in London. Lovely open spaces with free roaming beautiful herds of Red and Fallow Deer. 

The park was originally created by Charles I in the 17th Century as a deer park and has great architectural and historic interest. It has many beautiful places to stop for a picnic and play ball games with friends and family. However, don't pick the mushrooms or ride your bicycles too fast or you might find yourself having a private picnic with the special park Police force.

All this talk of picnics and summer has me lusting after some new goodies for eating outdoors. Below are some of my favourites:

I am loving the Marks and Spencer wicker picnic basket with cups, plates and cutlery £55. 

Want a cheaper option Wilkinson Amber picnic hamper £20 comes with cutlery, ceramic plates and two mugs. 

Add some pretty straws £2.99 and fun games with this vintage tin alley game £19.95. 

The best part of eating outdoors has to be the potential BBQ opportunities. Want to brighten up the experience, look at these beauties created by Jamie Oliver £69. 

Get the taste of summer with some foodie inspiration to make the perfect salad here. 

So whatever you have planned for National Picnic week make sure you enjoy the great outdoors. 

Where is your favourite place to have a picnic? 

Polo in the Park

When we woke up on Sunday morning the sun was shinning brightly and we had the perfect plans for taking advantage of the nice weather, tickets to Chestertons Polo in the park.  

Now in its seventh year Chesterton Polo in Hurlingham park Fulham, hosts the largest tournament in Europe. Over its three days, six cities from around the world compete to win the coveted trophy.

For those of you who are new to polo it has a history going back 2,000 years, with famous players such as Genghis Khan and William Churchill. It is a game played at speed on horseback, with the aim of trying to score goals against the opposite opponent. Today Polo is played in over 80 countries.  

Sunday was the finals day with play-offs for 5th, 3rd and 1st positions.  

Our own London 'Mint' team (in white above) were involved along with others such as Abu Dhabi who were last years winners. What became quickly apparent was the frenetic pace of the game and awesome sounds of horses galloping past crowds only inches away from the side of the pitch. 

So close in fact that when a player scored they would ride around the outside of the pitch and high five the crowd.

Riders are gauged on their handicap with 10 being the highest with only a handful of players in the world reaching this level. The only handicap that I had was tackling the grass with heels.  

We observed a half time ritual, where the crowd are encouraged to come onto the pitch to stomp in the divots with their pineapple and pina colada in hand.

No British event would be complete without staple offerings like Pimms.There was a host of bars to refresh during the action: Pimm's Summer Party, Lanson Champagne lounge, Fentimans botanical brewed beverages and Mahiki cocktails.

There was also delicious food offerings for every possible taste.

We had a wonderful day at the Polo and will definitely be booking our tickets for next years event. It really is an experience to behold and well worth a booking if you get a chance. 

Just make sure you heed the advice. 

www.polointheparklondon.com

J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan

As a child growing up I would often have dreams that I could fly, the process was simple I flapped my arms, gained height and I was off. Flying anywhere and everywhere that my imagination would take me.

I am sure that some of this vivid imagination came from my love of books and reading. I could often be found nose deep in a book, growing up many of the children's books I read had a central character who could fly (Mr Majeika, The Magic Finger and The Magic Faraway Tree) so this helped to expand my imagination. 

One of my favourite books as a child was J.M.Barrie's Peter Pan. So when I saw that the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park had an adaptation of Peter Pan, I got busy booking my tickets.

The Open Air Theatre is set right in the heart of the beautiful Regent's Park.

There is something rather magical about sitting out in the open air watching a theatre production. The theatre has covered dining, homemade burgers on offer and seating to have a wonderful picnic. 

The set design for the show was amazing, considerable thought had gone into making creative use of the space. The set designer Jon Bausor also designed the 2012 London Paralympics opening ceremony.  

I absolutely loved the use of clothing and household props and puppet design, throughout the show to create imaginative housing, under sea creatures (mermaids and fish), the crocodile chasing Captain Hook and the wonderful jealous Tinker Bell made out of oil lamps. 

The absolute highlight of the show had to be Peter Pan (Hiran Abeysekera).

Who managed to energetically sprint and fly across the night's sky with Tinker Bell (Rachel Donovan) and Wendy (Kae Alexander). Squint hard enough, you might just see Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys somewhere up in the night sky yelling at Peter Pan.

Peter with his unending childlike qualities and boisterous antics manages to have the audience eating out of his hands. 

Captain Hook (David Birrell) is artful at wielding his hook and a sword to frighten both his own pirates, the lost boys and the watching audience.

We had a truly wonderful evening, if you live in London or are visiting you definitely need to book yourself tickets. The Peter Pan show runs till the 14th of June so you will need to be quick. 

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre upcoming performances Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (16th July - 29th August) and Lord of the Flies (3rd - 12th September). 

WWW.openairtheatre.com

*Thank you to Tristram Kenton for kind use of the photographs