After talking about New York recently, it got me thinking about some of the amazing stores in and around Soho and Greenwich and I know we have really only scratched the surface. Whenever I go into a fashion store, for example, I can't help focusing on the styling and interior design, wherever I am and the Paul Smith shop in Soho is utterly breathtaking. Yes the merchandise is beautiful, quirky and of undeniable quality. But the interior styling is one of the best I have ever seen.

The Paul Smith name is of course, synonymous with stripes, but the Union Flag and anything a bit 'Mod' is also a bit of a trademark. I was unsurprisingly totally inspired by this particular store and when I came home in February, I had to set to work and vent that creativity!

These tables above were the result.I am a serial customiser and upcycler - it's a bit like an illness! I bought each of them from our local Oxfam furniture shop. They were both heavily varnished  a very dark colour and I had to work quite hard with a sander and some wire wool and nitromorse to get them back into shape. I used acrylic paints and about 4 final coats of wax, applied by hand, nicely sealed them.

Would Paul Smith be amused?!