British Hills

Sunday, October 26, 2014

A friend of mine tipped me off to this gem. I really wanted to share it with you because A. it is amazing, and B. it is in Fukushima. I know the aftermath of the earthquake is what everyone thinks of but honestly, Japan has moved on. This place is a testament to life after the Great East Japan Earthquake, as it is called here. Things are returning to normal. Well, normal medieval England...


British Hills was crated by the Kanda University of International Studies and the Kanda Institue of Foreign Languages in 1994. Originally intended as a place of immersion in English language and culture - it has grown! Plus, I hear the scones are fabulous.






This is the refectory, but Harry Potter may have been filmed here - just kidding. It is perfection!


The tea house, the Ascot



And what would a British-themed resort be without a pub? Welcome to the Falstaff.




Oh and there are barracks




There are no words because this doesn't even look like we're still in Japan. It is better than a theme park nicely nestled in the Hatoriko Highlands! And it is only two hours via Shinkansen (bullet train) form Tokyo. Thanks so much to Keiko for telling me about this gem!

Photos all via British Hills, if you're interested in the current status of radiation, click here.

unpainted inspiration - mimi williams in atlanta

Friday, October 24, 2014

Do you follow Veranda on Facebook? I have been following them for a couple months now and it has lead to at least 100 pins. Today I saw this feature of Mimi Williams' Atlanta high-rise apartment. I absolutely love how she completely embraced the white and light. So peaceful.









sourced from the article at Veranda

high - low english roll arm collections

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

I've been browsing for a new sofa lately. I still absolutely love our chesterfield from Chesterfields of England. We've had it for several years and it gets better and softer every day. But I would like to move this into a study in the next house. Who knows where that will be but certainly bigger than our house here in Japan - most are! So we'll need something else for a family space.

Today I noticed that Ikea is debuting an English Roll Arm collection called Stocksund


It can certainly give the look for less compared to the Pottery Barn Carlisle collection.


Love these rooms with Roll Arm sofas.

 
sourced from Pinterest

sourced from Houzz 

sourced from Phoebe Howard's portfolio

And even in color, so fabulous.

sourced from Lauren Leiss's portfolio, her first house

sourced from Sophia Coppola's apartment
Here's the Ikea one in action

sourced from Ikea