Parrots in the Parlour

A blog, I said! ….I mean seriously, me?  I mean, I can write, I love reading, I think I can spell, but write about myself, my life, my work, my home, my experiences, my life?!

I am essentially a private person – I don’t even do Facebook! …. but I get asked so often about my own home, and about how I came to run the leading Shabby chic & French interiors on – line company in the UK……..So, welcome to the world of Anna Elkington, I promise I will try to tell all!

 

MELODY MAISON

So I am the founder and Director of Melody Maison. It started 13 years ago, I founded it from my dining room whilst still holding down another day job, but of course it wasn’t the need of work that propelled it, but the love of all things interiors.

Today It employs 34 people, and is constant hub of activity and we occupy 22000 feet of space (bit bigger than the dining room back in the day!)

In the last 5 years, we have added 2 further companies into the mix, Flora Furniture, which allows us to mix up the type of furniture we sell a little further, and Windsor Browne, which is quite new, and focuses on another interiors passion of mine, the quirky, urban, industrial and gentleman’s club interiors look

 

MY HOME

Since I decorated my own room all by myself at the age of 14 (yes the whole thing was egg yolk yellow and white, nothing came in that wasn’t, even my clothes had to match it if there were to be left out!) I have been hooked

My First project – be kind it was the 80sOf course it was while before I had my own home, but my love of French and shabby chic interiors, looking back was obvious.

My 1990’s first home was frilly, flowery and elegant, and of course was my pride and joy. I didn’t have enough money to do everything I wanted, so I saved, or a learnt to adapt something cheaper into something amazing.

To the day, my love of charity shop, skip, car boot sale and second hand finds, is a source of much joy for me, and fascination for others

The 90’s Look in my first home

Now, I live in a 1920’s detached villa, with high ceilings, large rooms, and lots of original features. I spend a lot of my spare time preening it. I am a professional ‘potter-er’! I constantly potter between rooms, moving furniture, plants and ornaments to new places, and of course, because I see stunning new trends all the time, I am constantly re-decorating. However, as a clutter person, I like lots of stuff , minimalist is not me,  and I do struggle to part with anything, as I generally regret it within weeks, so I have cupboards and sheds stuffed full of ‘one day l’ll find you a new home for you my poppet, until then stay safe under the stairs, and try to avoid the stares and tuts from the rest of the family’ items!

 

Here is a small sample of my collections (I have many!) of the vintage, the pretty and the quirky

 

MY INSPIRATION

I constantly read interiors books & articles, and am mad about Pinterest. I visit exhibitions, and stately homes, and adore visiting new places, and in particular historical places, where I cant help but lap up and photograph any colour or detail that I know will inspire a new project of my own, or a new product for the website. Currently I am loving the strong, rich, very colourful and slightly weird worlds of interiors, my favourite designers right now being Abigail Aherne, and Matthew Williamson

 

ME

Mother, Wife, Director, home lover, (and wine drinker!)  sums me up briefly

When it comes to business, inside I’m just a little girl, winging it in the big world of business, expecting to get found out at any minute! But to the outside world, I’m a hard working, but fun loving 40 something with 2 wonderful, almost grown children, who are my main source of pride and pleasure, and I have a constant hunger for happiness and success in all I do

 

 

Over the next few months I will regularly add pictures and articles about my home, & my business life, so check in regularly for the latest instalment. I hope you enjoy it (who knows, I might actually enjoy it too!)

 

 

Anna Elkington