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New Beginnings

A new direction

Marmalade House Design

Recently celebrating 15 years of Marmalade House Design, with a brand new website www.marmaladehousedesign.com and a re-launch, and with Spring officially here, there is much to be excited about in our studios!

We’ll be starting painting oils on canvas, in addition to specialist furniture painting and, of course our interior design consultation service and teachings. There’s lots ahead to share with you.

Purple distressed painted cabinet table with carved panel detailing, white marble-effect top and urn-shaped vase with dried florals on dark backdrop

When winter goes, the skies seem just that bit brighter than we remember, the birdsong more varied, and the flowers more colourful.

Interior seating corner with sage green and grey armchairs, geometric yellow chair, small white round coffee table on blue patterned floor.
Light blue painted bedside cabinet with open shelf, topped with white blossom flowers and green leaves against a neutral wall

Above are some of the recent projects we have worked on, from painted furniture to room schemes, put together, of course, with a little of our Marmalade style.

Colour is at the heart of all we do here at MHD, from appreciating it, to painting with it, immersing our designs in it, and teaching others how to use it professionally within the home.

Colours we are inspired by this Spring are terracotta, sage green, power blues, soft pinks, and taupey sand with white. Gentle colours, yet full of earthy richness to bring warmth and freshness into the home.

Six soft colour swatches in terracotta, sage green and taupey sand with white, plus muted greys and gentle pink tones for spring interiors

For foodie lovers, we also celebrated our relaunch with a truly delicious upside-down marmalade polenta cake. Recipe here:

Marmalade Polenta Cake with clementine slices and sticky marmalade glaze, golden and rust-red wedges on a deep blue backdrop.

Marmalade Polenta Cake

4 tbsp Demerara sugar

3 small clementines scrubbed and thinly sliced plus the set of 1

150g soft butter

150g caster sugar

6 tbsp marmalade

3 medium eggs

150g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

125g fine cornmeal or polenta

150g greek yoghurt, plus extra to serve (optional)

3 tsp whisky (or use orange juice for alcohol free cake)

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C fan 160 C, gas 4 and grease and line the base and sides of a 22-23 cm springform cake tin. Scatter the Demerara sugar evenly in the base of the the tin then add the clementine slices

  2. For the batter, cream the butter and caster sugar together for about 2 minutes until pale, using and electric mixer. Add the clementine zest, 3 tablespoons the marmalade and then the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour after each one and whisking well between each addition. Sift in the rest of the flour, the baking powder and a pinch of salt, then add the cornmeal or polenta, yoghurt and 2 tablespoons of whisky. Mix until just combined, then spoon into the cake tin. Level the top and bake the cake on a tray for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes.

  3. Gently warm the remaining 3 tablespoons of marmalade in a small pan with 1 tablespoon of whisky. Carefully turn the cake out onto a serving plate or stand and remove the lining paper. Brush the warm marmalade glaze over the clementine slices. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with the extra greek yoghurt if you wish – YUM!

And in those quiet moments when the studio is closed for the day, a favourite current read is Sunday Times best selling novel debut novel by Lucy Steeds, which is all about – guess what – colour! Being set in beautiful Provence also helps.

The Artist by Lucy Steeds cover for New Beginnings, teal background with orange lettering and sunlit illustrated countryside with olive trees

We hope you enjoy reading the latest from our studios, and we will be sharing more of our oil painting projects in the next blog.

Thank you, Vanessa x