Be Still My Beating Heart...(or.. For The Love of Kate!)

I'm all for individuality when it come to interior design, but sometimes I find a shop (or designer) that so perfectly embodies everything that I am trying to achieve with my home, to which end I could quite happily pick up the entire shop - lock, stock and perfectly distressed barrel, and transport it into my home without altering a thing. Does this show a lack of imagination? If so, I care not, because Kate Forman is one such designer for me, and it's beyond my power to control my love for each cushion, curtain and candlestick ...

This morning I received her latest brochure - which I devoured, heart palpitating, over a cup of Earl Grey tea and a hot buttered crumpet - and from which I, upon finishing the last perfectly styled page, was left feeling bereft at it's beautiful conclusion, like the departure of a lover or the end of particularly spellbinding novel... Yes, I can be quite dramatic like that when it comes to interiors (it used to be shoes), but I have long been an ardent fan of her faded English country, meets French 19th Century, meets classic Swedish, elegantly 'lived in' style. (A mouthful I know - but my own typically overblown description - please don't blame Kate!)

I have a mountain of her fabrics waiting to re-cover various pieces of my furniture, as well as a veritable Everest high pile of plumped cushions and bolsters - still wrapped - ready to 'dress' the house when the painting has been completed.

Hers is one on the interiors sites that I lustfully sign on to and swoon over in the small hours of the night, dreaming, planning and plotting the dramatic decor transformation that is on the brink of commencing at Hill House (Yes Mr Sutton - You heard correctly - the time has COME!). I say the small hours because I do literally wake up in the middle of the night with the 'need' to get a fabric 'fix' before I can rest again - and I suppose - for my long suffering husband - it beats me awaking and creeping out of the marital bed for illicit meetings of a more thrilling kind. After all, I am unlikely to leave him for a cushion...

As you can tell, I have recovered from the temporary style crush brought on by my recent trip to Palm Springs, (I sense that my painted armoires, and artfully scuffed tables are breathing a huge sigh of relief that they are not to be replaced by something orange, glossed and mid-century modern after all!)and I am back to coveting what I love best. Everything old, all that is faded, all that harps back to a bygone era and is painted, chipped or slightly imperfect and above all much, much LOVED. Paula x All Images courtesy of; Zara Hart for Kate Forman Designs www.kateforman.co.uk