Not a great way to end the week....

 

Breakspears Haven will not be going ahead. It seems the correct permission for us to renovate the house was not gained. The plans won't be approved.

Frustrated - yes. Worse however is that I promised these young women and their babies a haven, and a new start.

We had much donated and hadn't even got started. Sarah Beeny has been amazing and the list of products and companies she gathered for us was extraordinary.

Creating havens for people is really important to me, so we will gather together, put our thinking caps on and 'make like a phoenix'. 

 

Things we love ( this week )

I have always loved botanical art. I can't paint and draw badly, so are always amazed at the skill required to create something so beautiful, accurate and timeless. 

You'll be thinking this is an old painting. It isn't - it's by the very talented Riona O'Shea. I met Riona when we were sharing a large studio and loved seeing all the flowers in various states of 'blooming', waiting for her to create.

Riona has offered to create hand printed wallpaper for Breakspears. 

Can you imagine how lovely it would be to open the front door to a wall of flowers? Amazing and absolutely everything I want for the house. I'd like as many artisans creating as possible. 

Every young woman in the house wrote about flowers and how much they loved them, so flowers they shall get. 

Off we go!

 

 We'll we've done it. Today is the day we launch Breakspears Haven. 

You can find all about it here, but in a nutshell 

Breakspears Haven is a CSR project to transform a Centrepoint service into a haven for homeless teenage mothers and their children. We aim to do this through cost-effective, soulful design that offers much more than a functional environment.

Centrepoint provide an amazing service helping homeless young people. I wanted to redesign the environments they live in, into havens so that they have a chance to know what home is, and can be.

The very lovely Sarah Beeny is our patron - which will help me enormously and she was such a great person when we met.

We need furniture and fittings and we need tradesmen and labourers. We of course will be making quilts so we need lots of volunteers to make individual patches, but there is so much to do.

So, please visit the website. If you want to be kept up to date please send me your email address. And of course it goes without saying that I would be very grateful if you get in contact with any friends or family that may be able to help.

Off we go! 

Family

Tomorrow I launch the Breakspears Haven project. All day today I've been contacting the Press, flagelating myself at the lack of my html skills... and trying to ensure that everything is on THE list. 

And throughout the day I've been thinking about why I'm doing it. Partly to be able to redesign a home of course, but mostly because there are nine young women with nowhere to live and no family to support and surround them. Frightening enough on your own, but they also have to think about a baby. The start of their own family and an opportunity to 'wipe the slate clean', or turn towards or away from something. 

I think any form of family can be what you need, as long as you are happy, healthy, love  and are loved. For me this means adding Stan to ours. I know it's not a standard set up but we all eagerly await his homecoming and for our 'family' to be complete.

One for the weekend...

This weekend I'm going to...

Read the beautiful new book from Lena Corwin.

 

Visit Monks House before it closes down for the year. Beyond excited about this one. 

After a romp through the South Downs, we'll eat (or drink) here.

Then on Sunday, we'll go to visit our new 'son', who is just three weeks old, but will look a little like the above when he comes home.

And last, but definitely not least, I'll be making sure everything is ready to go on this as we launch on Tuesday.

Home, family, food and nature - does it get any better?

Handmade gifts

Hands up all those who love receiving hand-made gifts! Hands-up who loves making them!!!  Hands-up who feels a little terrified of whether it will be loved or scoffed at!!!!!!!!!

I recently sent my nieces dresses that I'd made out of antique silk saris. It was only when I joked with my sister 'have you checked my stitching?' that she realised they weren't 'purchased'. I was terrified she'd think they weren't good enough. She was quite amazed I'd made them and the girls love them. 

O & F each made their dad a silk scarf for his birthday last month. They did everything - choosing the fabric, cutting, pinning, sewing and hand-stitching. The proud look on their faces was wonderful and Ed was thrilled.

I'm sure we all would love to make things for friends and family, but are just a little nervous of what they'll think - is it good enough, do they understand the thought that's gone into this - will they care!!!!!. Start small - make some jam, or biscuits, or a little cushion. Just remember it's a lovely thing to do and think how happy you'd feel if someone turned up with a cake for you - just because.... We used to do it all the time. Think of what we've lost, but more importantly what we could get back.

For our Breakspears project, I'm going to ask everyone to help me make quilts for every mother and baby in the house - can you imagine receiving a quilt that has been put together by many hands - just for you?

What would you like to make and who are you going to make it for?

Oh and let me know if you'd like to help with the quilts - you don't have to be in London....I have a plan.

Image from Donna Hay - who has wonderful recipes on her site.

Date for the Diary.....

Please diarise October 4th......

Our Breakspears project launches then...

You won't believe who I'm meeting this week. She's going to be our patron.

If I was American I'd say 'She's major'!

Thought for the week -

On Monday I visited Breakspears to check out the rooms in more detail. I'd sent over a questionnaire to each of the girls so that I could get a good understanding of what they wanted from Breakspears. I'm not talking about colours or tv's, but about what home means, and specifically, what Breakspears means. One of the questions was "What does home mean to you?"

Lots of response and some very emotional. But this answer I think sums up what everybody, from the Queen, to you and I, to those that are less fortunate want and need.

Private

Secure

Clean

Relaxed

Personal

Love

Comfort

Happy

That's all it is isn't it?

Breakspears Haven - the starting point

When I start an interiors project, I always start with a questionnaire. Part fact-finding mission e.g. hate red with a passion, have four kids so need big table - and part emotive analysis. A lot of observation but also a few questions that have nothing at all to do with their physical needs.

The questionnaire for Breakspear's has been different again. It's their home, but only temporarily. They move through it and new people take their place. A little bit like a hotel - but not many hotel's can change your life..... 

It's not about the light fixtures, but it is about the light. It's not about what colour the walls are but it is about how that colour makes them feel. 

Tricky? you bet. So fantastically exciting though.....

We're launching the project officially in the next month or so. I'll be calling for volunteers and shamelessly asking for help from everyone.

Freedom

Freedom - such a luxury that perhaps we take for granted. There are those that truly aren't free. But there are also many of us who have our freedom constricted in other ways. Free to leave your desk in your office, free to decide when you'll have your lunch, free to decide where and how you'll live. I'm working on my project for Breakspear's and these thoughts are prevalent.

I believe that as human beings, our individual need is to be ourselves, free to think, play, dream, realize our talents and skills and ultimately free to shake off the rules of the outside world.

Doesn't this all start with home?

Breakspears Haven

This is Breakspears.

This is my new project. Breakspears is home to 9 young homeless mothers and their new baby. It's run by the very good people at Centrepoint who help these young women to get on their feet, get on with their lives and get on with building a future for them and their child. It's a great house, but I want to turn it into a haven. Somewhere that proves good, solid and emotional design can improve the way you live and how you feel.

I've been waiting and waiting for a media partner to say yes to help me spread the word, but very good news means I don't have to wait any further.

I'll be launching a campaign to ask you for your help soon. Last year we built a library for Centrepoint, which we are very proud of. This year, we are hopefully going to help young homeless people feel good about where they live.

This is extraordinarily exciting.