Mothering Sunday is Almost Here

Mothering Sunday fast approaches (Sunday 18 March to be exact) so I am on the hunt for the perfect gift. I am going away for the weekend in question for my friends hen party in Oxford/the Oxfordshire countryside, so I must pull out all of the stops as an apology for my absence.  I have been extravagant in the past, weekends away in Paris, days out in London with tickets to the ballet, meals at Claridges and beauty treatments at Nicky Clarke (rather selfishly the plus one on the gift was always intended for me for some quality mother/daughter time of course!).  However, this year is slightly different as I now own my very own money pit, the official name, Beech House.  From a new kitchen, to coving, doors and door furniture, even down to a new banister, it needs everything to bring it back to its former glory.  I haven't even started to think about the big furniture, fabric and art shop that will be required, however I am extremely excited for this 'visual merchandising' stage of the renovation!  Anyway, I'm drifting off point!  With all of this in mind, I am on the lookout for a thoughtful gift that will not break the bank.  I still want her to feel spoilt, she deserves it after all, but my mother is a great believer in 'it's the thought that counts', a phrase that has been circulating our family for generations, so I am going to put it to the test.  Here are a few off my favourite finds...

You can never have too many candles in your home, especially those from Jo Malone.  They are the epitome of modern luxury and the Lime Basil & Mandarin is my utmost favourite scent and the aroma just lasts and lasts. 

Jo Malone candles from £38.00

The Fortnum and Mason Ladies Hamper is such a treat, with chocolate truffles, rose-scented soaps, pretty fondant sweets and pink champagne, all presented in the cutest basket.  What's not to like! 

The Fortnum and Mason Ladies Hamper, £50.00

This perfect cake stand catches the light beautifully, so timeless, so chic.  Available to buy at Butterfly Lane soon!

Cake Stand, £24.50  coming soon to Butterfly Lane.  

This glass trinket box from Butterfly Lane is delightful, it will look elegant on any dressing table. 

Glass Trinket Box, £5.95.  Coming soon to Butterfly Lane.  

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mummy's out there!  X

N.B.  To my dear brother, I have just written the perfect gift list for mum, therefore saving you lots of time.  You are entirely welcome!     

To pre-order any items from Butterfly Lane please email us at info@butterflylane.co.uk 

Paris Fashion Week: Adore Dior

So Paris Fashion Week is here and the big players in the fashion world are out in force, from Lanvin to Isabel Marant and my absolute favourite of all the shows this season, Christian Dior.  Even though it was spiked with controversy and drama, after all it was only a year since Galliano’s scandal and only the second ready-to-wear show with Bill Gaytten at the helm.  Still rumors circulate about who is linked with the infamous Dior job, will it be Stefano Pilati who has just left Yves Saint Laurent or Raf Simons who has just showed his last Jil Sander collection, watch this space!  Anyway, it looks like Gaytten will be going nowhere fast, as he created a dream like, refined and sophisticated collection for this legendary brand.

Images from The Guardian Online

Wow, the show was just incredible, with lovely, delicate and ballet feminine colours, with cinched waists and splaying, thickly-pleated skirts.  It was pared down and gentle but very polished at the same time.  With shades from mauve through to red wine, powder pink and subtle greys it was just stunning and here at Butterfly Lane we adore a muted colour palette, not only for whimsical dresses but for our homes too. 

Now if I was a Dior dress I would like to sit in a living room of soft and feminine sophistication.  With a pared down colour palette of mauve through to dusky pinks, with hints of pale grey.  Romantic and elegant…

 …and a bedroom full of luxurious fabrics and soft shades of pinks and greys.  

Images from housetohome.com


At Butterfly Lane we truly, madly, deeply love these romantic and luxurious rooms and how we love the soft, flowing fabrics and sparkling glassware.  Why not bring a bit of Dior styling in to your home this Spring  to give your home that Parisian je ne sais quoi.

Happy Shopping…X 

Platters at the Ready

As we approach the Spring (we are in March after all) my mind has started to wander on to the summery dresses, floaty blouses and floral trousers that are filling our shops online, and otherwise, as I type away.  So I have decided to step away from the winter stodge fest that I have been consuming night after night...after night, for as long as I can remember.  My 'it's so cold outside, I deserve something cakey, something indulgent' mentality is behind me!  In order to get body ready for summer time dressing I have whipped up a tried and tested healthy dinner that is super easy and delicious at the same time.  The recipe is also ideal if you're entertaining a group of friends, it's definitely a crowd pleaser.  





Recipe Idea:  Italian Baked Sea Bass:

BBC Good Food


Ingredients:

• About 290g jar whole roasted peppers, drained and sliced
• 1 red onions, sliced in to thin wedges
• drizzle of olive oil
• 4 garlic gloves, unpeeled
• 3 fat slices of lemons (the rest cut in to wedges to serve)
• 2 sea bass
• 15 black olives
• 25g toasted pine nuts
• handful of roughly chopped parsley

Method:

1.  Heat oven to 200C/180C, fan/gas 6.   Toss the peppers and onions with seasoning plus a small drizzle of olive oil.  Spread on a baking tray and cook for 5 minutes

2.  Toss in the lemon and garlic with the onions and peppers.  Sit on the sea bass, brush fish with a little more oil, season the fish and roast for 15 minutes

3.  Stir the olives and pine nuts in to the veg and roast for 5 minutes more until the fish is just cooked through.  Squeeze over some lemon juice and scatter with parsley to serve.

Finally, accompany with a summery salad and voila, dinner is served!


I adore cooking and creating a feast for my family and friends, but I also love the opportunity of using all of my plates, platters, bowls and jugs that I have collected over the years.  I have something of a problem, who needs umpteenth platters?  Well, I do!  So here are Butterfly Lane's top three designs to get you through a successful dinner party with ease and elegance.  

The White Company always have an amazing and simple selection, and this one is particularly lovely. 

The White Company, £40

Astier de Vilatte have a stunning selection, they have a larger price tag but are so timeless.

Astier de Vilatte, £120

This Colbert Long Platter is elegant and simply exquisite.  It would make a wonderful table centre piece for any occasion.

  

Colbert Long Platter, £199 

Happy shopping...X 

From Stockholm With Love...

Stockholm is fast becoming one of my favourite cities, not only for the seasonal perfect weather and clean air, the constant tread of beautiful people and the truly amazing food (more on the food later, but I must point out that fish for breakfast has not tickled my fancy since returning home surprisingly!).  However, I love Stockholm last but not least for their stand out homeware brands, and I don’t mean Ikea!  I have always been a fan of Swedish fashion design, Acne is right up there on my must-have list and other Scandinavian designers such as Malene Birger are my go to brand for any occasion, so here at Butterfly Lane we were not disappointed with what this city had to offer in the homeware design stakes either.

We visited the abundant homeware stores, and trawled around the large, and the small, of what the city offered and we found the selection at NK (the Swedes equivalent to our Harvey Nic’s) to be truly wonderful and vast.  My favourite discovery was the ceramic specialists Paradis Verkstan who make amazing vases, bowls and candle sticks in pretty and neutral colours.  The pumpkins and onions are my stand out choice; they would look amazing sat on a kitchen worktop or dresser.  

Images:  Paradis Verkstan 

After a hard day interior design shopping I cannot recommend the Sturebadet Spa enough.  It’s the cities luxury pool, gym and spa and was once the haunt of Greta Garbo and is still a favourite of the rich and famous today.  The pool and spa area is so luxurious and steeped in history; it’s a real treat.  

Image:  Sturebadet Spa Pool

Food is always in the forefront of my mind and Stockholm has so much choice, I could have easily had an eating tour of the city that lasted for months!  But here are Butterfly Lane’s two favourite restaurants that we tried and tested during our visit.  All the restaurants were so inspiring for their interior design concepts, I hope they inspire you too.

Restaurant B.A.R:   This cosmopolitan eatery was a buzz of energy.  The brain child of the two award-winning chefs and gastronomic visionars Henrik Norstrom and Peter Johansson, their philosophy is simple:  the closer the producer, the fresher the produce.  The fresher the produce, the better the taste experience.  I particularly liked how they have a fish market within the restaurant, so you choose your fish, chat to one of the chefs about how you want it cooked and five minutes later it arrives at yor table.  Amazing!

Matthias Dalgren at The Grand Hotel:  Ok, so this was a real treat, voted one of the top restaurants in the world, located in the stunning Grand Hotel, the restaurant is split in to informal and formal dining.  All I need to say is that the food was incredible and the service was perfect, I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.  Even though it has been awarded two Michelin stars it lacked the portentousness and stuffiness that I hate, please go if you’re in the city!  I would also recommend finishing the evening with cocktails at the hotels Cadier Bar, it’s old school decadence at its best.

The café culture in Stockholm is brilliant and the cakes are to die for!  Here is an image of the mouth wateringly gorgeous selection I tried to resist, but failed miserably every day!  It’s a very good job that Stockholm is a great walking city, as I needed to burn off the extra million calories I devoured during my trip!

Image:  Design Sponge

I suggest walking around the Djurgarden Canal at Gardet, it is so beautiful and peaceful and has a wonderful restaurant Villa Kallhagen on the water’s edge (here I am talking about food again!), with stunning water views, open fires in the winter, a stylishly neutral interior (very Butterfly Lane) and an incredible Swedish buffet, what more would you want?  This is really family friendly, laid back and well worth a visit. 

I loved the Swedish cake selection so much that I bought a wonderfully traditional Swedish baking book at the airport on my way home to bring some Swedish cuisine in to my own kitchen.  It’s aptly titled Swedish Cakes and Cookies by Sju Sorters Kakor and has some amazing, indulgent recipes.  My favourite and fool proof recipe is for the divine and traditional Appelkaka (Apple Cake).  The book is available on Amazon for £8.00 and I highly recommend it for some Scandinavian treats!  X

It's A Dog's Life

This is one for the dog lovers amongst us.  Bill & Eddie are my new found and favourite dog outfitters for my beloved pup Maggie, with a whole host of doggy lifestyle products available to buy online.  Selling everything from Bristol glazed ceramic bowls, super stylish leads, home baked organic treats and quintessentially British tweed dog jackets that will keep her stylishly warm and dry during walkies.  Their ethos is that even our dogs belonging should look great in our homes and here at Butterfly Lane we whole-heartedly concur. 

Owner Amy explained her philosophy on their website ‘’So fed up were we of hiding our dog bowls every time a friend dropped by that we decided to get out there and find products to be proud of.’’

My unashamedly spoilt furry friend received a special present from Bill & Eddie in the post this week (well, courtesy of moi!).   A pretty, floral liberty print collar and lead, perfect for her leap in to Spring!  It was delightfully wrapped, almost too good to open!  Thank you Bill & Eddie, you have one happy owner on your hands…and one stylish looking dog!  We will definitely be back for more…X

Fashion Week: Animal Instinct

Fashion Week has hit our capital and it is great to see London alive with creativity and beautiful things for AW12.   I know, I know, you’ll be happy to see the back of this Winter and focus on some al fresco, sun drenched dining…but surely it’s great to have a sneak peak in to the trends for next Winter!  This morning Mulberry took centre stage with a spectacular show, with amazing winter-tastic clothing, and I wouldn’t say no to the new ‘Del Rey’ bag either, any colour, I don’t mind!  The collection was really textural with hand knits and different types of fur, but unfortunately we’ll have to wait until July to get our hands on the collection, so why not infuse this in to your homeware now to be one step ahead of the fashion pack.  Although maybe try a slightly lighter colour palette for the Spring.

Images:  Vogue.com   

Images:  The White Company 

With Mulberry taking inspiration from the film ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures, here are my top picks of well er, not so ferocious creatures to stylise your home with.  Animals are a big trend in homeware at the moment, and worry not this doesn’t mean using real fur or hanging a real stag head from the wall!  Here at Butterfly Lane we are not so cruel! Simply add a cool stag print tea towel in your kitchen, these from  Thornback & Peel are particularly cool, or why not use this bull toilet roll holder from Graham and Green, or my particular favourite is this amazing stag hook from Parlane which has already got pride of place in my downstairs loo!

Some of these animal inspired beauties will be available to buy at Butterfly Lane soon, so watch this space. 

Have a great Fashion Week everyone!  X

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Personally, I'm not overly fussed about Valentine's Day, the less said about sitting trapped in a restaurant eating an overpriced set meal the better.  But saying this, is it always nice to receive a card from your beloved.  Mine read 'We Go Together Like Tea and Biscuits', he knows my penchant for anything sweet all too well, hence him being armed with a lovely selection of the most stunningly packaged macaroons I have ever seen from Laduree.  They have now almost all been devoured!

Men take note, you can send flowers any day of the year, for absolutely no reason at all, you don't have to wait until 14 February.  Being sent flowers is right up there on my most favourite list, there is always room for flowers in my house!  A pretty bunch of flowers really does lift your mood, whether it's a bunch of daffodils, some cuttings from your garden, or something rather wonderful from The Real Flower Company.  They really do the most stunning arrangements, I suggest you check them out.  I particularly love how they are delivered in hat boxes, how divine!  X