Installment 2 of our 'Interior design inspirations travel blog'

Tarifa - From our stay in Gaucin we made our way down the mountains, through the other white washed villages that form like a string of pearls in the Andalusian countryside. Our next stop was Huerta Las Terrazas, located just outside the now melting pot of cultures and former remote fishing town, Tarifa.

Set on the most southern tip of Europe, this boutique self catered casita overlooks the mountains of Morocco. Surrounded by three acres of national park the main house is full of artifacts from the owners travels round the world. This provided the perfect place from which to take day trips to Tarifa and its neighbouring towns and villages. We stocked up with some delicious local food and wine for the week and spent our evenings taking stock of what we had seen.

The white washed town of Tarifa still boasts many traces of ancient Rome. Whilst the town has seen modernisation, it has been incorporated within the ancient city walls. The surrounding villages are made up of traditional rustic Spanish country houses, farmhouses and villas with high beam ceilings, terracotta roofs and wood burning stoves.

Local culinary delights

Tarifa church

Traditional Andalucian terracotta roof

Tarifa streets

The entrance to a traditional townhouse

Our latest find...

Household Wants Indicator

We're always excited when we source a new piece at talking points, particularly so when we we find something that we haven't seen before. Yesterday, whilst on a sourcing trip to Kemptown we came across this fabulous find, a 1930's 'household wants indicator'. The owner of the indicator would have flipped the tag next to the particular grocery that had run out to remind them to buy it the next time they went to the shops. Several of the grocery items on the board no longer exist...what an unusual piece!

Taking inspiration from our travels...

Here at talking points interiors we love to travel. There is nothing like some time away in new surroundings to provide inspiration.

Now that our blog is up and running, we plan to update you on our travels as and when they happen, bringing you our inspiring thoughts and fabulous finds from along the way. Over the next couple of weeks I will start our 'interior design inspirations travel blog' by featuring some of our recent destinations...

Installment 1 of our 'Interior design inspirations travel blog'

Gaucin - a beautiful white washed mountain village commanding sweeping views to Gibralter and the Rif mountains of North Africa. Situated against the looming dark backdrop of the Serrania de Ronda the village is rich with colour: white washed walls, terracotta roofs, cool green olive groves, bright red poppies, yellow mimosa and pale pink almond blossom. The village is home to a number of artists and you can see why, with it's stunning views, tranquil surroundings and array of colours. From an interior designers point of view the mixture of Roman, Moroccan, Spanish and Arab influences provided by the areas history provide a great deal of inspiration. Many of the villas still contain their old beams and Rhonda tiled floors. Our beautiful little boutique hotel Rural la Fructuosa contained an ancient wine press which has been preserved and presents a great setting for the hotels famous restaurant. 

Hotel Rural la Fructuosa in Gaucin

Moroccan lanterns

Moroccan rug used as a wall hanging

Addiction to vintage trunks!

Here at talking points interiors we admit to having an addiction to vintage trunks; so much so that we have been painting them in an array of colours. Our latest inspiration is the use of vintage trunks as tables...from coffee tables to bedside tables.

After a client in London had purchased a canvas trunk with Bentwood trim painted in Farrow and Ball "off black" in "dead flat" seen on our website they requested to use our bespoke services to transform it in to a piece that would create a great 'talking point' for their flat. We set to work creating a coffee table using a rounded sheet of perspex. We are so pleased with it that we are currently developing a line of similar pieces including a trunk painted in Designers Guild "Peony" which will look fabulous in a little girls bedroom!! Enquiries to info@talkingpointsinteriors.co.uk

A weekend sourcing trip to Brighton produced these brilliant finds..

A sourcing trip to Brighton is always exciting since both my mother and I grew up there. It's one of our favourite places in the UK for inspiration with it's eclectic mix of people and its distinctive creative vibe. As well as visiting some of the local delights such as Bills produce store for lunch and taking a quick dip in the sea we were hard at work sourcing pieces for our collection. Here are some of our brilliant finds. I hope you'll be excited about them as we are....

A decorative delight..

This large and bulbous blown green glass carboy was originally used for fermenting wine. The neck is signed "VIRESA". It is beautifully shaped and the colour is bottle green. This is a brilliant object to be used in a number of decorative ways.

Antique woods mix and match...

This French antique pine desk and English antique oak chair make a great piece together. The vintage bird cage was found on a sourcing trip in Sussex a few weeks ago..

This unusual mirror mounted on to oak and ceramics caught our eye. The mirror is largely distressed which really adds to its charm.

Our stand at Lindfield fair

We had a great morning at the Lindfield fair on Friday where we exhibited some of our smaller pieces....

Our latest project

We have finished the restoration of this beautiful Victorian chaise longue:

http://www.talkingpointsinteriors.co.uk/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=36:chaise-longue&Itemid=139

Barbara Wiggins leatherware has arrived!

The gorgeous Barbara Wiggins leather - ware range has now arrived.
http://www.talkingpointsinteriors.co.uk/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=37:barbara-wiggins-vintage-satchels&Itemid=135

They will be on our stand at the Lindfield craft fair on Friday 16th July.

Now in their 25th year of creating and developing products their range is handmade in the UK with the same 'artisan' approach, keeping the unique quality and integrity of the product. The range includes white and brown leather satchels, super bubblegum pink children's leather satchels, crackled purses and pencil cases as well as diaries and notebooks.