One of the good things about New House is where we are...

New House has been in the rural county of Herefordshire for years, and it's had a big influence on us.

Our 300 yr old buildings are not the most convenient, but because of this we developed all our little blind pulls and homewares as they are small and easy to handle amongst our well-loved steep staircases and old wood floors. Time moves slowly in Herefordshire too, so New House always looks to the very long-term, with our contemporary designs often rooted in slower, more traditional ways.

We live and work here, but there are some great places to visit, and on Saturday I went to Ludlow.

Ludlow is one of Britain's prettiest towns, and is so vibrant with an amazing culinary scene.   

My poor photos don't do the place justice.

 

After tea in De Greys, we then went to the Ludlow Food Centre where you can watch cheese being made and 80% of the food sold is local.  

 

   

Granley Blinds new showroom in Cheltenham

I was going through Cheltenham today and checked-out Granley Blinds lovely new showroom :

Granley is one of New House's oldest customers and an important cornerstone in Cheltenham's retail scene just a stone's-throw from the Art Gallery. If you've got a blind and live in Cheltenham, then you've probably bought it from Granley Blinds as these people are real interior blind experts! :

 

 

 

Granley are in Clarance Street, so visit if you can!

Flirtatious tea towels

I'm sure there was no wind until I put Charlotte's new tea towels on my washing line and tried to photograph them. 

We sell quite a lot to garden shops and a keen gardener myself, challenged our amazing illustrator Charlotte Farmer to create some cunning flowerbed or allotment-themed designs for Spring. Charlotte certainly dug-for-victory and came up spades with wheelbarrow loads of designs. Today I've been trying to get some pics.

They hang great on the line (until you point a camera) and then the flirty little devils move in every direction like the Can-Can

I did get get them still when I moved my line into the orchard - but it was the end of the day, the light was going so I may try again tomorrow!

 

However I did get some good ones of Marianne Westman's reissued 1950's classic Frisco, and Charlotte's Royal Tea mug :

New House buys an extra flashgun

Taking white-background shots for the website is a real art, and I'm under instruction from the clever Steve Tustin of Petersen Creative .

Steve is one of the unseen strengths of New House and the graphic designer who's defined our look for years. All our designers love him, and his attention to detail is incredible.

Following his good advice I have invested in a second radio-controlled flash gun (a Canon 580EX 11) to sync with my 430EX11. I bought it second hand (through Amazon Marketplace) from a Rosanne  ....thank you Rosanne!

Unpacking in front the fire:

 

 Trying the 580 for the first time - do I need to read the manual???

....err.... yep!

Going back a few days

Whenever I am traveling, I love to visit an art gallery or museum. I abandoned my visit to Heimtextil in Frankfurt and I went to the Schwarze Romantik - von Goya bis Max Ernst (Black Romantic - Goya to Max Ernst) exhibition at the Städel Museum, which is on the banks of the Maine along with many of Frankfurt's great galleries and museums.

The walk to the Städel and my bad photo of the Museum itself :

Germany has always been the Capital of Gothic - and did I love Schwaze Romantik? Well no. There were too many eerie paintings of graveyards, paintings of the dead, witches chopping up babies, ghosts and scenes of evil devils for me. But I did loved the mix of Goya, B & W early film, William Blake, Füssli, von Max, and many others. It was an eye-opener and not a 'safe' exhibition. I doubted that many UK galleries would attempt such a scary, non-boxoffice-safe exhibition - Well Done to Städel!  

As well as the Black Romantic exhibition, I enjoyed many of the other paintings on display, especially the Expressionists (like Kirchner or Otto Dix).

Sorry we are shut today, Friday 18th Jan

Sorry! But New House never opened today due to the snow. We tried to get there, but as New House is at the end of a tiny Herefordshire lane we were defeated with cars sliding everywhere.

This is my cottage taken at 4.30pm :

It's a Winter Wonderland, and I've been out with food for the grateful birds. I've also been dropping mixed-grain into the hedges as I've occasionally spotted tiny (rare) pigmy voles round the cottage. They are so tiny, that if they do not eat every 2 hours they die, so I hope my grain is a help to them.

Our local farmer went up our lane with a snowplough a few hours ago, but this is what life in Perrystone Hill looks like today. On Monday New House will be open again!

One of our favourite fairs

Top Drawer / HOME opened today at Earls Court, and it's always one of New House's favorite shows.

The venue

 

Our stand

                                                   Sybil doing some paperwork (I think)

We got a lot more items on display due to the cunning use of pallets and old fruit boxes.

We showed lots of new products from Charlotte Farmer and Marianne Westman. Today (Sunday) our weave and trend expert Laura was on the stand, Charlotte will be there tomorrow, and Melanie on Tuesday. We hope to see you!