It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

Over the weekend, I began my Christmas set up for Mufti - a bespoke furniture company located in Notting Hill.

Mufti may be a little store but it definately has a BIG reputation, with clients being drawn to the 'relaxed sophistication' of their original designs.

Everything you see is hand crafted and made only of natural materials...

When planning my Christmas set up I wanted to ensure that I wasn't taking away from the raw aesthetics of each unique piece. Subtlety was key - making the Mufti accessories the heroes amongst all the glitter and feathers...

(In the image above, the mirrored tray beautifully displays a selection of gift ideas).

(One of the many 'mini displays' I have scattered around the store).

If you are the one hosting Christmas at your place this year, why not try this cute little idea...

Instead of giving your guests their gifts as they arrive, why not turn them into their place setting! Here I have chosen these gorgeous leather cuff link boxes. What I love about these is that women can use them for their precious pieces of jewellery too. Each box is wrapped with some ribbon and finished with a leather ornament that could perhaps have the persons name embossed on it.

Another really simple idea to dress up your Christmas dinner is taking a beautiful dyed or embroidered piece of silk fabric and wrapping it around your chairs. To create the effect above, simply tie the fabric around the chair, gather the top and secure it with ribbon. Then all you need to do is pick your favourite ornament and attach it to complete the look.

There are plenty more Christmas ideas to come so stay tuned for those but until then, please take a look at the Mufti website for some more fantastic Christmas gift ideas:

www.mufti.co.uk/shop

Or you can visit the showroom:

Mufti

25 Kensington Park Rd

Notting Hill W11 2EU

Alvin Booth

Another artist that has grabbed my attention is Alvin Booth - an Englishman who first started out as a hairdresser before moving to New York in 1989 to pursue a career in photography.

The sculptural form captured in each shot is mesmerising. Each photograph is printed and toned by hand, giving these modern methods an old world look which I love!

His fascination with the human figure is shown using many techniques but the most striking for me have been the more abstract ones where the silhouette has been diffused and reduced to bare lines.

To create this contemporary concept, Booth has used latex, leather, metallic oils and gold powders. This simple technique highlights the curvature of the bodies beautifully and is further enhanced by his labor-intensive technique of producing grainy sepia-toned prints that have been detailed with burn marks and other calculated 'distress' effects.

If you are interested in taking a closer look at Alvin Booths body of work, pick up his book 'Corpus'.

Michael Wolf

Since I last posted, I have been working on a number of different exciting projects that have introduced me to an array of amazing suppliers and designers here in London and abroad.

Majority of my time has been spent sourcing artwork which I have always found a challenge as it's so subjective! One artist that I have completely fallen in love with though is Michael Wolf.

This very talented German photographer grew up in America and has spent the last 10 years or so working as a photographer and author in China.

What I love most about his photography is that it's both intimate and removed - one photo in the series will show the exterior of a massive city building with the next capturing the raw emotion of a commuter in a packed subway.

Each shot is raw - taking the responder inside an improvised senario that highlights the 'complex cultural identities' of the location. They truly make you think and you can't help but get lost in all the small details that have been cropped and presented to you.

For more of Michael's work visit www.photomichaelwolf.com