All posts tagged: out and about

The Grafton Arms – My room for the night

Published by Karen Knox

If you guys follow me on Instagram, then you might be aware of my trip to London last week for the Amara Blog Awards. Don’t worry!! Today’s post isn’t about the awards, **everyone breathes sigh of relief** it’s about the hotel I stayed in whilst down in the capital. It was so very lovely it deserved its own blog post. (And no, I didn’t get a free stay or paid to write this post. I was a bog standard, paying customer.) The Grafton Arms is just over a mile’s walk from Kings Cross Station, which was a big selling point for me as I didn’t want to deal with busses or tubes. A 20 minute walk west into Fitzrovia, me pulling my purple trolley dolly with Google maps as my guide, and I was stood right here. Nice and easy. The interiors have all recently been refurbed to an extremely high standard. I was genuinely impressed. They even had some familiar faces on the walls… Recognise the Marquis by Thierry Poncelet from the Red Room Project?? The Grafton …

Popping my public speaking cherry #designupnorth

Published by Karen Knox

Just a quick one today peeps, i’m still recovering from that last blog post… I hope you read it as it took me an age to write. Anyhoo – just wanted to let you all know that i’m making my very first panel appearance. I know! And you’re invited. Do read on… (I’m one of the friends) If you don’t know my northern insta buddy, Nicola Broughton (aka, The Girl with the Green Sofa) then here’s the low down. It’s going to be fun. For you that is. I will no doubt be shitting myself and hiding behind a large Kentia Palm. I’m more than happy mouthing off on here where I can go back, delete, edit, re-write, but in front of actual, real life people, i’m a bit shy I am. And if I have to speak into a microphone, well then i’ll be mortified as you’ll definitely hear the remains of my childhood lisp and my hybrid north west, Yorkshire accent. Hopefully the next two weeks of elecution lessons will have paid off in time. …

My first trip to Ikea for 2018

Published by Karen Knox

It was a dark and dreary Sunday. I was up at 6am (stupid body clock) and I had a mission to complete: Operation ‘Charlie’s Big Boy Bed’ If you remember, we updated his room last autumn with some super sneaky bespoke joinery which not only solved the toy storage problem but also allowed us to fit a full sized single bed into his bedroom without re-wiring light switches or knocking out a chimney breast. S-weet! As we wanted to give Charlie the option of having little people over for sleepovers (when he’s capable of sleeping past 6am – does that happen?) we wanted to go for a bed that served that very purpose. Something white, without a footboard, something that didn’t have an ornate headboard, something that provided function of sleep and allowed the plywood storage wall to be the main feature of the room. Cue the Egzigu bed from La Redoute Two of these simple white bed-frames stacked on top of each other would solve everything and soon enough, courtesy of La Redoute they …

The MADE Supperclub #designupnorth

Published by Karen Knox

Something design and events related happened up north last week! I know! And not just up north, but in Yorkshire. And not just in any ole venue with any ole brand, it was hosted by MADE at Redbrick. The very first #MADESupperclub, Yorkshire style. And I was on the invite list…. which is just as well as I would have been kicking off big time if I didn’t get one of the 14 golden tickets. And what a lovely do it was too. Very chilled and intimate which meant I got to chat to nearly everyone. People meeting people Claudia from MADE and Katie from Come Down to the Woods Kerry Lockwood and Lisa Dawson Ellenor from Dowsing & Reynolds on the left Canapes Amy from This Style Rocks and Claire from My House Candy Victoria from Apartment Number 4 Nicola Broughton from The Girl with the Green Sofa and me **waves** in my sheepskin because it was frickin baltic outside. There was a lot of camera phone action going on that night which is …

The Coach House at Middleton Lodge #designupnorth

Published by Karen Knox

The hubster and I have just got back from a mini break. I thought you guys would like to see where we stayed as it’s just a little bit special. Middleton Lodge is a Georgian Palladian mansion set within 200 acres of open countryside, on the outskirts of Middleton Tyas, a small village in North Yorkshire. Designed by the architect John Carr, it was built between 1777-1780 for George Hartley Esquire. Today, Middleton Lodge is now home to the Allison family who have lived here for nearly 40 years. Their home however, is also available for hire for private wedding receptions, functions and film location shoots. A short walk away from the main house is The Coach House. Originally built for the carriages and horses of George Hartley Esq, it’s now the ground’s hotel, restaurant and bar. The horse-shoe shaped building has that perfect Georgian symmetry and proportion, with rounded archways, feature windows, pale brick walls, and original beams. With the flowering beds in the central courtyard and the April sunshine beaming down upon us, this spot was like its …