Serious about stoneware

My current obsession is stoneware- the rustic-finished, mismatched ones that look so darn pretty on any table.

I was in the market for some basic dinner plates and since i didn't want to spend much on a proper dinner set at the moment, it was proving to be a difficult task. The basic range from Tesco, Sainburys and the like were all either plain or had an overdose of designs on them. Being a fan of minimalistic designs on dinnerware (or anything rather), this was a definite no. 

That's when i came across the stoneware range from Ikea and instantly fell in love with the simple dinner plate. At £2.50 per plate it was a steal and the green border was very similar to the Denby ones. I love the size, the look and feel of it and the slight class it beings forth, by just being stoneware. Its a bit on the heavier side, but hey, you win some, you lose some right!

Denby also has some gorgeous stoneware, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend a fortune on everyday dinnerware. Also, they haven't brought out a new collection in ages, and I'm slightly bored with their azure, monsoon and heritage collections, which are forever on sale, but even then quite expensive.

Nom Living at the Columbia Road Flower Market has some really interesting ceramic stoneware pieces and i can vouch for the quality, but the only problem is, they are open only on Sundays and we all know how the chaos on Sundays :)

And my favourite of the lot Anthropologie...sigh! If only they didnt cost an arm and a leg. Its a store i can spend hours browsing. They have the most gorgeous kitchenalia and I do have a few precious pieces from there, but not enough to quench my prop obsession. Their sales are pretty good, so keep a look out and splurge.

I'm trying to collect a few unique pieces for 'the home' and for that,  I've put together an inspiration board of sorts which I'm lusting after at the mo... 

N

(Image courtesy Pinterest, with original sources on my board My Kitchen Antics)

Our Story

So it all started with our homes. You see, of the three of us, G is currently setting up her new home, N is frantically searching for one and S is constantly rearranging the furniture in her dream home. So whenever we get together {which is pretty often}, we talk 'homes'. Just like the way some men talk sports, or teenage girls discuss boys, or new mothers discuss their precious babies, we natter on about whether to have a circular dining table rather than a rectangular one, the merits of an electric fire to a wood burning one, the new range in our favourite furniture shop's catalogue.  We constantly pin house photos, stalk lifestyle blogs, send each other home tour links, explore home decor shops  in and around London, flag textile exhibitions, compulsively buy home accents and hide those from our husbands, the list goes on and on. Basically we super obsess about homes. Rather the decor side of our homes. So much so N and S recently did an Annie Sloan paint workshop, and currently are in the process of painting up every other piece of furniture they can lay their hands on. G on the other hand is battling with husband and builders in trying to keep her vision of her home from going haywire. 

Why this blog: Since each of us are doing a lot of research and constantly emailing links and photographs to each other, we thought we will store all our stuff in one place. So this blog is our virtual scrapbook for all things to doll up our homes.

Who are we: G = Gayathri is an IT consultant by day, a fledgling food blogger, mommy to a cute boy and a harried second home setter. In her first home she had an extensive collection of Ganeshas. In her second home, she has decided to go country and shabby chic.

N = Nisha, the frantic house  hunter is actually a macaron baker by profession. Yup sounds like a dream job, doesn't it? She will beg to differ, specially on days she bakes around 600 of them tasty little morsels. N also has a food blog and is a nifty photographer. 

S = Suchi, the day dreamer, has exhausted all home shows on television, and is looking for inspiration elsewhere. She knows exactly how her dream house should look and feel like. She also has a food blog, but she has realised that she spends more time checking out lifestyle blogs than working on her blog. 

Our connection: We met and connected through food blogging and now supporting each other's home obsession.

What can you expect to find here: Lots of home inspirations.