Bring the Great Outdoors indoors; peek in your pad Designer Susan fills home with art made from items found on nature walks.Byline: Laura Davidson Inspiration for decorating your home can be found in the strangest places. Susan Hamilton gets some of her best ideas when she is out walking her pet boxer, Keira. From driftwood on the beach to pebbles scattered along the riverbank and wild flowers growing in fields, Susan has used them all in her designs. She said: "My fiance is always teasing me. I take the dog out to the beach in the car and come back with a boot full of stuff for the house. "I can't help it - I think wee bits and pieces you find around the place can really inspire you. "I've got a wine rack I made with legs that are decorated in pebbles. It's nice to create things that no one else has." Former Woolworths shop assistant Susan, 34, of Prestwick, Ayrshire, runs her own business, Beau Interiors, making curtains, cushions and soft furnishings soft furnishings Noun, pl curtains, hangings, rugs, and covers soft furnishings npl → tejidos mpl para el hogar soft furnishings npl . She carved out her new career after quitting her retail job and taking a textile course at Ayr College Ayr College is a community college in Ayr, Scotland. Among other endeavours, the college became a Digidesign Certified Training Location in 2006. It has three Pro Tools equipped studios, two of which are 5.1 surround sound control rooms. six years ago. She said: "Like a lot of people, I got bitten by the home decorating bug when Changing Rooms
"It was the best thing I ever did. I love what I do for a living now. I've converted my garage at home into a work room with my sewing machine sewing machine, device that stitches cloth and other materials. An attempt at mechanical sewing was made in England (1790) with a machine having a forked, automatic needle that made a single-thread chain. In 1830, B. and fabrics." Susan and fiance Chris Taylor Chris Taylor or Christopher Taylor may refer to:
Susan bought her house nine years ago after living in a series of rented flats and immediately put her own stamp on the place, starting with the living room. She said: "There was a lot of dark exposed wood and it made the place look gloomy. The swirly blue carpet didn't help either - it was the first thing to go." Susan created a neutral background with fawn carpets and taupe taupe n. A brownish gray. [French, from Old French, mole, from Latin talpa.] taupe adj. Noun 1. walls and added two black leather sofas. She made her own circle-pattern curtains and box pelmet and installed a fireplace with curved mantelpiece. The walls were livened up with a homemade triptych. Susan said: "That only went up a wee while ago. We had friends coming over and I thought the wall was bare so I knocked up these canvasses with leftover emulsion emulsion: see colloid. emulsion Mixture of two or more liquids in which one is dispersed in the other as microscopic or ultramicroscopic droplets (see colloid). Emulsions are stabilized by agents (emulsifiers) that (e.g. and mirrored-discs. I think it worked out well." The dining room next door features Susan's handmade chair covers and more of her own wall art. In the conservatory beyond she has added warmth with heavy curtains and cushions in taupe and duck-egg blue to make the room feel cosy in winter. Next door, the kitchen has high-gloss units in a funky red. The matching Roman blinds are again all Susan's own work. Upstairs, the bathroom was given a contemporary new look with a bold chocolate and lime colour scheme. Wood-effect tiles give a dramatic, Oriental-inspired feel while accessories such as a homemade leather and textile wallhanging add colour. In the master bedroom, the couple created a feature wall using two co-ordinating wallpapers - a metallic pink and a damask design. Susan said: "What I've done in our house proves you don't have to spend a fortune to create something out of the ordinary. Just using your imagination a little can make a really big impact." I take to the dog to the beach and come back with stuff for the house, like pabbles to decorate my wine rack Housefile Four-bed detached family home in Prestwick, Ayrshire. I love: The conservatory. It's a lovely bright space and I can easily change the look of it with new curtains and cushionsn. I'd change: The wooden skirting boards in the living room. It's the only decor left from the previous owners. Next house: We'd love to buy an old barn and convert it - that would be our dream house. CAPTION(S): Bright lounge's neutral walls are livened up with bold circle-pattern curtains and a homemade triptych; Susan, Reece, Charly and pet dog Keira; Funky red units and homemade Roman blinds brighten kitchen; Susan loves making her own curtains in special sewing room; Chocolate and cream dining room has handmade chair covers |
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