A little French vintage chic

Some time ago (years it feels like now), I was lucky enough to spend some time studying in Paris, although studying was often interspersed with plenty of time shopping, window and otherwise.

So I was delighted when Florence, the owner of a delightful little boutique between the Latin Quarter and St Germain des Pres contacted me about her new shop not at all far from where I spent most of my time. Normally, I like to keep Her Little Place all about inspiration closer to home in the UK but Florence's shop, La Boutique de Louise, is so pretty I thought it was definitely worth mentioning for Paris day-trippers. Go hunt it out: 32 rue du Dragon.

The tell tale signs that you'll fall in love with it are the French translations of Martha Stewart baking books in the window, propped up against vintage cake stands. Although, for me, it was more the white washed French dressers (in the background of the picture below), aged armchairs and the Atelier LZC prints and postcards on the walls. There are also, as one might expect, random bits of lingerie draped over the dresser handles. Tres francais.

I asked Florence for her tips on how to add a little Parisian vintage elegance into the home. In her lovely written French this is what she said: "Le vintage est associe au retro chic Parisien, au glamour." Gosh, everything really does sound better in French, hey. Translated, she's basically saying vintage is all about retro, Parisian chic and glamour. But, she warns, don't go over the top - or your home will end up looking like some rusty old museum.

It's all about adding little touches here and there - "un style vraiment a soi" (a style of one's own) - but to avoid becoming too kitsch, make sure you source your vintage in soft, elegant colours - pretty little products like this ladylike sewing kit they have in store.

And sometimes the girls put on cakes... and there you have it. A glass cover stand here, beautiful ceramic plates there, et voila: vintage chic, c'est Paris...

Cookie and cards giveaway to say thank you to Facebook fans

...And what a beautiful (and busy) week too! The Her Little Place cookie and card boutique launched last week, I got a mention in Daily Candy, received my first flood of orders and managed to break through the 100 followers barrier on this blog too! Can't argue with any of that!

Thank you to everyone for leaving such nice comments and sending me such nice emails about the shop; it's lovely to hear from you all.

And to say thank you to readers, new and old, and customers alike, I'm doing a little giveaway of a selection of Her Little Place cards and cookies to one lucky person who loves HLP! To be in with a chance of winning, sign up to be a follower and become a fan of the blog and boutique on Facebook, where you'll receive regular updates of special offers and new products.

The card selection I'll send out will be a total surprise, and you'll be sure to love the cookies too.

The winner will be picked at random from Facebook fans at the end of Wednesday 27 January. So sign up to join the fan page on Facebook, and leave me a fun comment to read on the fan page wall to be in with a chance of receiving the special Her Little Place surprise goodies!

Here's hoping this week is as good as last :)

Her Little Place: online boutique now open

I'm very excited to announce the launch of the Her Little Place online shop, the stylish and pretty paper boutique serving cookies and gift cards.

The range of unique and quirky cards has been sourced from independent designers in the UK, while the cookies are home made and beautifully presented and make for a lovely gift. So don't say it with flowers, say it with a box of cookies and a gift card to say "Happy Birthday", "Thank You" or "I love you" instead!

I can handwrite cards with a special message if you want them to go directly to your recipient; or you can have them sent to you blank to write yourself.

Click here to visit the shop, or on the banner to the top left handside. Thanks for visiting!

What's cooking: Cappuccino coffee cake

I made this cappuccino coffee cake for the first time over the Christmas holidays - intended for guests coming over to visit - but when they did a no-show, we devoured it all while watching a Dvd. All the more for us! The frosting is just the best finishing touch, and the coffee in the cake is strong enough to have flavour and subtle enough to still be sweet. I found this recipe in Mary Berry's One Step Ahead.

Call me slow, but I didn't realise until, like, last week, that Mary Berry also did the Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook way back when in the seventies, which incidentally was the first recipe book I probably ever took down from my mother's kitchen shelf when I was maybe ten or something (in the eighties, not the seventies I hasten to point out!). Suffice to say the Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook has been so used, it's almost worn out with the hardback covers almost falling off and smudges on pages. Nothing like a well loved cookbook!

Technically, Mary does this as a four layer cake; I was a little nervous so I did it as three layers instead the first time I tried it a few weeks ago, while this week I was feeling a little lazy, so, er, I just made it as two layers sandwiched together instead. Point being you can divide it as you wish!

Cappuccino coffee cake

225g butter
225g light muscavado sugar
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 level teaspoons of instant coffee powder, dissolved in one tablespoon of boiling water

For the frosting
175g soft butter
350g icing sugar
4 level teaspoons of instant coffee powder, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of boiling water

Preheat the oven to 180*C, and grease your cake tins (if you are going to split into four, just divide the mix into two tins and then split each sponge carefully into two at the end). Using an electric handheld whisk, mix together the butter and sugar first; then add the eggs, then the flour and baking powder. Mix well. Then slowly add the coffee mix and blend well.

Divide the mix between the tins and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Let each of the cakes cool completely before you put the frosting on (I left mine overnight - they'll still taste fresh).

Whisk the butter and icing sugar together and then add the coffee mix to the icing - it goes a really lovely cappuccino colour. Layer the frosting between each cake and you should still have enough to frost all over the top gently with a knife. If you want to, you could always sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts over the top frosting layer to finish. Truly scrumptious!

Have a brilliant weekend - and I'll post back Monday with exciting news of my shop launch!

How to make a moodboard: greys, yellows and greens

A few months ago, I met up with Jeska from Lobster & Swan who very kindly came all the way to London to meet me at the Guardian offices to "teach" me how to make a moodboard for a fun style feature I was working on.

Of course, you and I both know you can't be "taught" how to make a moodboard, really, but it was a lot of fun and as Jeska points out in the piece, it's all about putting colours and textures together that you'd never really imagined going together to see how they lay out. So we began with the backgrounds, which let me place my favourite Miss Print wallpapers in context, and then built around them with some really lovely velvets and inspiring interiors shots to help create a calming but still contemporary and characterful colour palette.

You can read about the moodboard we made here, and here's another picture of the colours together:

I've blogged about yellows and greys before, but lately I'm loving the greens that this moodboard helped me pick out - seen in the velvets and some of the magazine pictures. At the end of last year, Design Sponge did a sneak peek on interior designer Betsy Maddox's Chicago home. She used green to gorgeous effect, as seen below on her dining room walls (click through here to see more pictures)

I have a lime green and purple embroidered rug under my dining table and lately I've "redressed" my sofa to pick out the greens in another rug with an olivey-green throw and more autumnal shaded cushions. Inspired, here's more green for the home:

Moonlight print in light sage, Bold & Noble, £38
Paris map, by Famille Summerbelle, Bodie & Fou, £45
Penguin wallpaper in Wasabi green, Isak, £30/roll
Carved tumbler by RICE, The Contemporary Home, £4.49
Orla Kiely, apples and pears mug, Heals, £7.50
Flora bowls, Roost Living, £32

My Favourite Place: with Roddy & Ginger

After all the distractions of posting on Christmas crafts and baking, I'm back to focus on all things inspiring for the home and picking up the "My Favourite Place" feature, whereby I invite some of my favourite designers to share the most special places in their home.

This week, I've asked Virginia Armstrong, of Roddy and Ginger to share an insight into her house. Roddy and Ginger has a really retro, folksy vibe to it - so it's no surprise to see the theme following through in her house too.

Virginia lives in a sixties townhouse in south east London, and her favourite place? The kitchen...

"Our kitchen and dining area was originally three rooms, but we knocked down the walls to make one living area which takes up the whole of the first floor. It's the centre of the house and family life - it's very much a communal space, somewhere to eat, entertain, relax, sleep, meet, chat and gaze at the view."

"The huge blackboard wall disguises what was otherwise an ugly entrance, but the rest of the room is white, with olive green behind the shelves which gives a really sixties feel and suits the rest of the house. I call it modern retro."

"I have a really serious collecting habit, so almost all of my kitchenware and furniture is sourced from second hand charity shops, car boot sales and eBay. I love the fact that they all have a past."

"I bought the butcher's block from my mum's friend, and won the huge white table off eBay for £100. The ornate mirror I've had forever."

"But the best feature in the room? The view costs nothing but always gets a 'wow' from anyone who sees it."

Her Little Place: online boutique coming soon

Happy New Year! I've had a good few weeks off to recuperate, or try to, and although I'm not one to make resolutions per se, I'm thrilled to start 2010 with a brand new project which I can't wait to share.

In a few weeks, I'll be launching the Her Little Place boutique (watch this space), and to whet your appetite, here's a sneak preview of what you can expect...

Photography: Sarah Ahmed

As you can see, the boutique will be selling two of my favourite things - pretty and unique cards, and gorgeously packaged home made cookies. Cookies and cards - what a treat! I'll be updating on the boutique's opening progess which should be in a few weeks time (everything will be available to buy online).

In the meantime, I'll be back posting weekly - this week, I'm taking a look at homestyle chez Virginia Armstrong, the designer behind Roddy & Ginger and you can read my review of a decade in interior design over on the Guardian today.