Katrin Cargill and more...

photo credit: David Montgomery

You should perhaps dub this post the British Invasion, and when I say British, I am including my native Ireland in the mix. Every Sunday morning, I make a big hearty breakfast for my family...mainly because I just enjoy having us all together eating, relaxing, sipping tea and hot chocolate, reading the newspaper and watching Coronation Street. I usually make pancakes; but on this day I decided to make a full English fry-up - which usually includes bacon or sausage with HP sauce, fried eggs, beans & toast, and a good cup of tea. Now, if it was a full Irish breakfast, it would include potato bread and soda bread, but I only get that at my mum's.

As I was cooking, I got to thinking about the recent loss of so many of our favourite shelter magazines and what it means for the future of actually holding something in our hands that we can flip through for inspiration. To be honest, most of my favourites are now gone and I am so sad for those who are now out of work, and also for their readers (including me). I am also realizing that I may have to look across the ocean for my design mags now, as their style most embodies what I love in home decor.

Enter Katrin Cargill, the designer I professed my undying admiration for yesterday. Katrin Cargill is a designer living part-time in both Texas and the UK. According to her website: "She is a creative producer for the interiors market. For more than fifteen years she has created visual images for advertising, and produced style features for interiors magazines. She has written fourteen books on interior style, designed product for Shaker and The Rug Company, and carries out decorating commissions. Fully trained as an interior designer...her style is of a layered simplicity and an exceptional eye for colour and pattern."

Indeed, Katrin Cargill has an innate gift and talent for combining playful patterns in an unexpected way. She chooses fabric combinations that only the most daring among us might select, and does so with confidence. She embraces colour, yet her interiors don't jump off the page at you. Instead, they rest quietly on the pages of numerous magazines...awaiting our eager eyes, and inspiring us to adopt this quiet style, and at the same time encouraging us to take risks when pulling together a stylish space.

I now bring you more of Katrin's wonderful styling and interior design:

Go ahead and embrace this British invasion. Regardless its origin, she offers up style that appeals to homeowners on both sides of the Atlantic. There is something for everyone!

Blue and White: