Table Top: Natalie Marchbanks

This week Natalie Marchbanks, the founder of Block Print Social chats to us about her love affair with coffee books, her table top styling and the power of a HAY mug.

My table is a heavy old thing, scored in the farthest back corner of the clearance section at Liberty. I’m not sure that I would have recognized the beauty in its scratched wood or industrial iron frame, but luckily my mom – who was visiting from Texas – helped me to see it. She has an incredible eye for furnishings and a way of teasing out the potential in old, forgotten things.

I forget the origin of the rug (a shame, I know) but it’s another vintage piece, picked up at Retrouvius Reclamation and Design. I’m convinced that old furnishings carry their former lives inside of them and then breathe that life into the newer items in my space, like my sofa. I also enjoy knowing these items have stood the test of time – it gives me hope that they’ll stand up to the abuse I’ll inevitably (if not accidentally) show them.

I’m slightly obsessed with coffee table books and keep a rotating collection of three or four on my table at all times. In the current mix are:

Interiors, by Martyn Thompson - There is so much visual inspiration in this book, and I never grow tired of seeing inside people’s homes.

Great Houses of Texas, by Lisa Germany with photography by Grant Mudford - A Christmas gift from my husband and a small tribute to my home state.

Freunde von Freunden: Friends of Friends - I love Freunde von Freunden’s online publication and their book does not disappoint. The photo stories and interviews with creative folks never fail to put me in a creative state of mind.

Same goes for Faculty Department, by Justin Chung. Boy, do I love to snoop around in other people’s business!

The votive is by Glassybaby, a wonderful maker out of Seattle. Their votives glow like none I’ve ever seen and they make them in almost every colour under the sun. 10% of every votive goes to help causes around the world (they’ve given away almost $3.5 million so far!), which is how I justify my Glassybaby craze when my bank account statement is being a Negative Nancy.

I’m never without a notebook and I love this Palmeral notebook from House of Hackney. The open book you see is Guided London by CEREAL; I’m always on the hunt for inspiring places to visit here in the UK capital.

I like to flip through books like this one, read my favourite blogs, and peruse Pinterest over a cappuccino in the morning. I’m convinced cappuccinos taste better out of this HAY cup and saucer – though there’s no scientific evidence to support my claim.