Inspiring Stores in Royal Tunbridge Wells

I am now aware that Royal Tunbridge Wells is a pretty fancy place to live. This is obvious to all that visit the town by the number of super swanky stores that we have! Here are a few of my favourites.....

Lombok is a UK distributor of Balinese furniture. Now, before you shut your computer down and run away screaming, I must explain. It is furniture from Asia but in a very Colonial Style. Their look is based upon big dark pieces of furniture, think captain's desks and glass doored display cabinets, lightened by the inclusion of natural fibres such as linen, rattan and water hyacinth, and splashes of silver and stainless steel.

Mum and I fell in love with this store and I am addicted to their style. One very simple window display below

shows the inspirational use of dark furnitire and lighter fabrics. They also stock gorgeous storm lanterns which stand almost a metre tall and I was lucky enough to receive one as my early birthday present from mum and dad. I adore it and it has pride of place in my little living room.

I am surprised at how much I love this look! It is quite a change from the white, white, white Scandinavian look that I have favoured for some time. Maybe it is because it reminds me of the Martha Stewart line of Turkey Hill furniture and a bit of Coco Republic as well. If Martha likes this look then it must be OK!

Find more inspiration at http://www.lombok.co.uk/

Another beautiful store that we have is Le Petit Jardin at the bottom of the High Street on the way to the Pantiles. It is a store filled with faded, scrubby garden seats, buckets and plants. They also stock lovely garden furniture and cute gardening gloves and wellington boots. The best thing about LPJ is that it is immaculately styled and draws one in like a magnet from the road. Impossible to walk past without buying something!

After this final store I willl stop bragging, so I had better make it a good one! The honours go to Cook which is a business designed for lazy bones like me in mind! Again this shop is twice as enticing because of the way it is styled. They use lots of red and white gingham, bunting and home made labels. it has a 50's home maker vibe. Oh, and the food is great as well (although one needs to save up for the convenience!).

Lucky girls like me can order online and have the food delivered after hours. if only my freezer wasn't the size of a deck of cards....! Think hearty meals like Beef Strog and Paprika Chicken and "puddings" (deserts) like Banoffee Pie. I will try to ignore the pudding section of the website. Try.