Sep 19 2015

Dining Room Inspiration with Homify

Posted on September 19, 2015 by admin

We’re finally making decisions when it comes to furnishing and styling our new home. I’m already bored of the plain magnolia walls and the furniture we hauled across from our old place. We had always planned to upgrade and replace bits when we got settled, and 8 long weeks is long enough!

I’ve always had a keen eye for interior design and once dreamed of becoming the next Patricia Urquiola or Loredana Sava- I’ve never been one for fluffing up spaces with MDF creations or “feature walls”, rather I prefer to invest in key pieces and accessorise around them to create a cohesive theme.

I also don’t believe there’s such a thing as too much research. Even if there’s one single thing in a photograph that inspires you, layering 50 of these onto a photo editing suite or CAD design tool, begins to really inform your sense of style. Often this is revealing too. You might think you want a contemporary Scandi-inspired dining room, then fall in love with an 17th century Welsh dresser that totally transforms your original vision. With this in mind, before you begin knocking down walls and shopping for accessories, it’s always worthwhile taking time to create a mood board of textures, colours and lighting effects that work together so you don’t end up with a Llewelyn-Bowen-esque mess.

Hünkar Proje / Özel Alternatif by Sonmez Mobilya Avantgarde Boutique Modoko

I’ve always been a huge fan of regency architecture and baroque-style interiors and want this little 70s terrace to reflect this. Not in a grandiose way, the space wouldn’t take it, but more of a subtle nod to the past. This house is smaller than our last home, but closer to Dexter’s new nursery, and (hopefully) school in a year’s time. It was always going to test us in terms of space yet we’re determined not to spend all day tripping over Lego or a menagerie of Fireman Sam toys. Our dining room therefore has to double as a space to stow away toys at the end of an evening.

Refectory-style dining tables with benches therefore would work well you can tuck the seating out of the way during the day. This maximises the floor space so you can invest in blanket boxes or storage trunks to house the kids bits when other grown-up shaped people come round to play. A large mirror will also create an illusion of space and depth that our dining room is so seriously lacking.

Helmsley : Classic style dining room by Prestigious Textiles

Helmsley by Prestigious Textiles

Lighting-wise, I’m hope to pick up a reclaimed chandelier to act as a focal point. This is where I can really go to town and be as bold, ornate and pretentious as I like. The room is rather dark so I’m aiming for something really captivating that will make a feature out of any shadows cast on the walls and French doors when it’s dark outside.

Residência A & F by Lyssandro Silveira

If you need inspiration for an interiors project, I’d thoroughly recommend Homify. This is a platform that allows both acclaimed and up & coming designers, commercial agencies and retailers to showcase their products and projects. It acts as an amazing resource for home decor inspiration with some 300k images and 670k home and living ideas. You can select a room or style then browse a catalogue of images to help hone your individual style or guide a project of your own. Once you’ve seen something that captures your imagination you can embed the image to your website, share via social media or save to an “ideabook” - allowing you to create a digital scrapbook of ideas for your home.

It’s well worth a look if you’re a bit of an interiors addict like me. Go check it out.

Jun 9 2015

Fabulous Father’s Day gifts from Truprint

Posted on June 9, 2015 by admin

I’ve showcased a bunch of Father’s Day gifts on this blog; from novelty items, to alcohol to chocolate. All of these come highly recommended by the daddy of this household (I mean, name a dad who would turn down beer!) but none of them would last a lifetime.

Photo gifts do exactly that. Whether it’s a mug or a placeholder, canvas or photobook, these are the pressies that really make an impact and will find themselves permanently on display, or eventually stored in a memory box, to be cherished ad infinitum.

It might sound cliche, but a picture really does say a thousand words. This is especially true if you have children and they constantly change before your eyes; Chubby cheeks hollow out, baby curls give way to scruffy barnets, and gappy smiles are filled in with the adult teeth they’ll have forever. Hovering with your camera when they’re young is the best possible way to preserve those memories, and just flicking back through pics taken a few months before can make you well up.

We made those smiles, we made those gangly legs, we made those sticky-out ears - it’s the closest thing to a miracle we’ll ever experience

(every mum & dad I know have had this very same conversation)

Truprint have a great range of Father’s Day presents that really embrace this sentiment. Gone are the days of expensive photoshoots with professional photographers, then flicking through proofs to pick out the ones where you all have your eyes open. Nowadays, most of us have access to a digital camera or camera phone and can capture the expressions and memories that really mean something to us - that aren’t staged in a studio somewhere.

When you have the perfect snap, you can add it as a screensaver to your laptop or your phone, or go one better and get it on canvas. And for this Fatther’s Day we’ve done just that.

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This picture of Heidi is the first we’ve had blown up of her. I had a thousand to choose from, but this one means something extra special to us as it’s the first proper smile we managed to capture on camera. She was quick to do everything - crawling, walking, talking - she’s only 13 months and this little girl is well on her way to getting a masters degree. But this smile, at 4 weeks old, just melts our hearts.

CREATING IT

For a canvas project, uploading a photo is simple and there are even pop-up tips to help you get the best out of the experience. The project screen is easy to navigate with all your core options in drop downs on your left hand side and handily, your project sub total is always displayed top left so you can see what your creation costs as you create it.

Hovering over the photo, you’ll also be given the opportunity to further edit it (zoom, effects (sepia, black and white, tint etc), brightness, colour enhancement and red-eye correction). It’s a very simplistic editing suite compared to some others I’ve come across, but perfectly adequate and easy-to-use.

I have only one criticism. I opted for a sold wrap canvas rather than a gallery wrap (e.g. my canvas edges would be a block colour rather than having my photo wrap around them). This was necessary as the image I had selected was a close-up of Heidi and I didn’t want to lose some of her head. Unfortunately however, Truprint only have black available and it would have been nice to have picked out a colour contained within the image to make the edges less of a contrast.

THE QUALITY

I’m really impressed by the quality of the canvas. it’s stretched and secured better than others we’ve come across before, with heavy duty staples that won’t scrape your paintwork. I’m also pleased with the chunky 37mm pine frame which, in my opinion, looks so much better than thinner frames we received from other printers. It also comes with wall fittings and was perfectly packaged.

The colours are great and really pop (despite this being a non high-res pic), and there’s no blurring or bleeding of the print. I’m just completely delighted with it and can’t wait to show Craig on Father’s Day.

*******

In conclusion, I’d happily recommend Truprint for creating canvasses. I’d always advise you shop around for the best deal but it’s always worth reading reviews too. The quality really does vary from printer to printer so if you want the best bang for your buck, make sure you won’t be disappointed by seeing what customers have to say. In this example, for the second time running Truprint have aced it.

You can stay informed about special offers and deals via Facebook and Twitter and check out all their other Father’s Day photo gift ideas on their website.

Mar 23 2014

Memory-Making: Truprint Canvas Review

Posted on March 23, 2014 by admin

Dexter is set to be a big brother very soon, and then I’ll have two babies to spoil, nurture, worry about, cry over… I honestly don’t know how I’ll cope. Given Dexter is approaching two, the need for a second set of eyes is becoming increasingly apparent. From the second he gets up in the morning, to the second the screaming stops at night, it’s hard work. He wants to help me with everything yet somehow manages to mess everything up. From ‘helping’ mummy unload the dishwasher (aka smashing-all-our-crockery) to ‘helping’ with the washing (aka change-the-setting-when-mummy’s-not-looking) I feel like I spend the entire time reprimanding him on my hands and knees.

But Dexter still has this unique ability to melt me. When I’ve said ‘No’ a little too aggressively and that bottom lip trembles, I always manage to find that little bit of forgiveness that eluded me just seconds before. His beautiful baby curls, tiny milk teeth, chubby cheeks, insistence on sucking his fingers then smearing their wetness over every surface… he’s just perfect.

But it’s very true, sometimes you need reminding.

Having canvasses dotted around the home definitely makes you appreciate the fun times. As a blogger, I’ve been lucky enough to review dozens of these, yet each delivery is as exciting as the last. There’s something really exhilarating about ripping open the packaging and seeing your grinning child twice his normal size. So naturally I was thrilled when Truprint asked me to review a canvas for them.

With 30 years in the trade, Truprint are long-time masters of printing. They’ve built a solid reputation in this time and have worked their magic in the heyday of film in the late 80s right through to today’s Instagram and Facebook prints from mobile devices. It’s true, the website could use a little updating with its tiny font and faffy menus, but this shouldn’t put you off.

For a canvas project, uploading a photo is simple and there are even pop-up tips to help you get the best out of the experience. The project screen is far easier to navigate than the homepage too with all your core options in drop downs on your left hand side. Handily, your project sub total is always displayed top left too so you can see what your creation will set you back.

Hovering over the photo, you’ll also be given the opportunity to further edit it - you can zoom in, change the effect of your image (sepia, black and white, tint etc), the brightness, enhance the colour, flip it and apply red-eye removal. It’s a very simplistic editing suite compared to some others I’ve come across, but perfectly adequate and easy-to-use.

There are some minor niggles. I opted for a sold wrap canvas rather than a gallery wrap (e.g. my canvas images would be a block colour rather than having my photo wrap around the edges). This was necessary as the image I had selected was a close-up of Dexter and I didn’t want to lose some of his head. Although my image is really bright and colourful, the solid wrap is only available in black which is kind of disappointing. It would have been nice to have picked out a colour contained within the image to make the edges less of a contrast, but hey ho.

This leads me on perfectly to my biggest tip when selecting a profile photo for canvas. If you can, try selecting an image with ample dead space around the head so you can opt for gallery wrapping - this makes for a much nicer print.

My canvas at 20″ by 24″ (approx 51cm x 61cm) is the largest size available at £69.99 which is reasonable for such a statement canvas (note that you can get much bigger canvases from competitors but this was the perfect size for us). It arrived well packaged in a matter of days. I was also pleased to see that it came with free wall fittings too which isn’t as common as you might think.

The canvas itself is nice and taut and well secured with heavy duty staples on the reverse. A quick feel around the edges revealed no lumps and bumps that could scrape paintwork (a pet hate of mine) so it was instantly ready for hanging. The colours were bright and vibrant (as per the original) and there was minimal blurring despite me picking a slightly out-of-focus photo. I love the super chunky pine frame (37mm deep) which looks so much nicer on the wall than some of the thinner frames we’ve received from rival printers in the past.

We’ve popped ours up in the lounge above where Dexter sits at the dining table. Here’s hoping it works its magic and helps us stay calm and cheerful during Dexter’s daily dinnertime tantrum!

In conclusion, I’d happily recommend Truprint if you’ve got a canvas project in mind. Naturally I’d always advise you shop around for the best deal but can it’s always worth reading reviews too as the quality really does vary from printer to printer. As for Truprint, the best way to keep informed about special offers and deals is via Facebook and Twitter and you can check out all their other photo gift ideas on their website.

Disclaimer: I received this lovely canvas free of charge in exchange for my thoughts.