My Cool Shed – now available!
My Cool Shed: An Inspirational Guide to Stylish Hideaways and Workspaces, the follow up to My Cool Caravan and My Cool Campervan is out now! Order your copy now from Amazon by clicking the link below. Perfect Father’s Day gift! Read The Independent’s review of My Cool Shed here.
Click here to buy My Cool Shed from Amazon.co.uk

The blog of Jane Field-Lewis
Read Jane’s latest blog posts:
My Top 10 Vintage Caravan Styling Tips
My Cool… endpapers
Dale Chihuly at The Halcyon Gallery
My Glamping Inspiration and Top 10 Glamping Tips, as they appeared in The Gardener magazine

My Cool Caravan documentary
The full-length version (9:35 mins) of the fantastic documentary created by Babanuki.

Jane recently contributed to El Pais, the Spanish newspaper, for an article about the trend for glamping and renovating caravans and campervans. The article is in Spanish, but Google will kindly translate for you. Read the article now.

Inspired Camping recently interviewed Jane about her caravan experience, and what inspired her My Cool… book series. Click here to read the interview.

Read Jane’s entry in the ‘What Inspires The Camping Experts’ piece on Inspired Camping:
‘I am by nature a workaholic. I have a busy mind and find it hard to relax. There is something about the nature of the passage of time that changes when you are camping. You absolutely have to slow down… It’s easier to ‘drift’ to enjoy idle conversation, to tell a story, or a joke. It is that mental space that does it for me every time…‘ Read more

1.Enjoy yourself. Decorating can be fun!  Doing up your caravan gives you the opportunity to do something different from what you would do at home.

2. Assess carefully before you rip anything out. In my caravan the original 70s orange/brown plaid heavy weave upholstery fabric isn’t exactly up my street but started a train of thought for a grooved up 70s retro look. Similarly, if yours is a gorgeous old Carlight, aim to restore rather than replace, and get advice where necessary from professional restorers.

3. Fix things first. Give the caravan a serious clean, repair any leaks and carry out any interior and exterior repairs. Then, take time to track down any missing bits and bobs such as hub caps, indicator light covers, etc. This will give you a good canvas to base your styling on.

4. Use your imagination. As much as  vintage florals & bunting are in fashion there is a world beyond!

5. Find an inspirational item to start with. For me it was the upholstery, but an unexpected item like a chandelier or a picture can inspire a look.

6. You don’t have to follow the crowd. The 1950s are currently a cool vintage style, but that isn’t the only one. Follow what you like.

7. Pay attention to flooring.  Unless your caravan is just a ‘showhouse’, you’ll want flooring that will withstand regular use. Flooring must be easy to clean, and to use this as a strong design feature usually pays off (see the black and white checked flooring in Diddy in ‘my cool caravan’, pictured above).

8. Add in an iPod or radio.   Idle days, rainy evenings, relaxed breakfasts… you’ll have more time than usual to listen to things

9. Add some books.  That literary classic or modern blockbuster that you have been meaning to read, short stories and quiz books all have a place on those lazy days, too.

10. Make yourself a simple sunshade.  Something that’s quick & easy to put up means that you can enjoy seeing your retro caravan, rather than covering it up with an overpowering full on awning. It also means you can get those nice stripy vintage camping chairs & table after all!

Jane’s new book My Cool Shed is now available! Order your copy from Amazon now.

When I am writing and art directing/styling a book, there comes this truly lovely moment when the main photography is shot, and the copy has been written, that allows me to take a step back at look at the project from a distance.

The sharp eyes amongst you will have already noticed that the end-paper of the my cool… books have a particular design approach. For My Cool Caravan and My Cool Campervan, I researched and obtained  vintage models of caravans and campers and used them to create an wallpaper-like design from images of the models.

Each of the quirky and individual cabins featured in My Cool Shed are unique and individual spaces – there are no standard models to be had. So it wasn’t initially clear what was the best approach to pursue with regards to the end papers. However, I find inspiration often comes from seeds of ideas cast long ago, and just left on the ‘back burner’ to do their own thing.

Vintage ephemera has always been a secret passion of mine.  I have a hidden stash of it at home. I absolutely love it and buy when I can. These are delightful items of little monetary value but are representative of the very small details of everyday life.

Ageing Ordnance survey maps are a particular favourite, especially when they were printed on that fibrous canvas material. Old handwritten letters, preferably written in fountain pen, still in their envelopes and stamped are also treasured. Each of them tell a story, from the style of the curly script handwriting to the fact that they were important enough for someone to keep them.

Thus the idea came to me to make our own miniature cabin models using vintage ephemera, and link the subject matter of them to each chapter in the book. To tie in with the theme of each chapter (writers, artists, gardeners, etc.), cabin models were carefully designed and made from handwritten musical scores and letters, vintage seed packets and maps. The cabins were handmade by my very clever film art director friend Louise Begbie, with photography by Richard Maxted.

I hope you enjoy them, and also hope that, as in most things, a closer look often brings its rewards.

Click here to pre-order your copy of My Cool Shed – out on May 16th!

As things tend to go in life once they appear on your radar you start to notice them all over the place.

Shortly thereafter, I found myself in the very smart tea room of Claridges, where another Chihuly sculpture hangs as a sort of alternative chandelier. Then, on a trip to the US, I spotted one in a  minimalist art gallery in Palm Desert. Its delicate, curvy and brightly coloured pieces looked like something from a deep ocean – an exotic coral or an anemone gone beautifully crazy.

Driving up Park Lane earlier this year I was stunned to see yet another one being assembled in the central reservation outside the Dorchester.

Dale Chihuly has an exhibition on show at the Halcyon Gallery in Bond Street, which I popped along to this weekend. I had a bit of fun asking about the prices, and dreaming on! Most of all I enjoyed looking at the gorgeous, swirling organic shaped pieces and beautiful colour palette he achieves with every piece.

The show is free and is open until 21^st April. That’s only another week so do hurry along!

Further to my glamping inspiration post last week, here are my own top 10 tips for ‘glamping’:

1. Always make a friend of the site owner and your camping neighbours – you’re bound to need practical help or advice at some point.

2. Make your own entertainment. Bring short stories, quiz books or great speeches of the modern world, and enjoy dipping in and reading aloud to family and friends.

3. Fairy lights look magical when used outdoors, so let them twinkle.

4. Make it easy for friends to join you. It adds massively to the fun and you have the time to talk far beyond your normal agenda.

5. You’ll figure out the small things in life that make a difference – a decent tea mug, a sharp knife, a wind-up radio, a goose-down pillow, a lovely old crocheted blanket.

6. Get some comfortable chairs – and a means of wedging them level on uneven ground.

7. Don’t forget a fly-swatter.

8. The details of life really do matter. For me, it’s condiments, a nice bottle of wine and a box of plastic wine glasses with stems.

9. Gather your most attractive blankets – you’ll find they have a never-ending list of uses.

10. Apply the same principles to your own garden and move your dining table as far away from your house as is practicable. The distance just ‘does’ something to put you in a different mind-set.

This article was written for The Gardener magazine’s Spring/Summer 2012 issue. The Gardener magazine is available from The Garden Centre Group at http://www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/

This article was written for The Gardener magazine’s Spring/Summer 2012 issue.

I am not a natural outdoorsy person. I love concrete under my feet and all mod cons. My love of the outdoors, the countryside and fresh air has only recently been acquired.

I grew up in the very last street in Brighton, where the town meets the South Downs. You had two choices: look towards the town or over the back garden towards the beautiful Sussex countryside. I wanted both.

Like many other families in those days, we didn’t travel much. Our holidays were a Hillman Minx, packed to the gills with tinned and packaged food, a tent and the bare necessities of civilised life. We set off with no particular plan. The map of Europe was opened up on the Formica table of the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry with the magical words, “Well, kids, where shall we go?” Over the years our travels took us to Barcelona, Venice and the French Riviera.

None of this really entered my mind until decades later, when I was a self-employed working mother living
in the city. I was lucky: I had some latitude to arrange my time but the long school summer holidays flummoxed me. How on earth do you fill the time in a relatively economical and flexible way?

Then I had an idea. Let’s go permanent camping. Find a nice site an hour from home with a kindly owner, pitch the tent, blow up the air beds and create your own poor man’s holiday home and beat a path there whenever work allowed and the sun shone. Of course, a large garden would work, too.

This is when the ‘glamping’ bug took hold and, a year later, a guilty pleasure overcame me. I saw an old mustard and brown caravan. It looked like a little loaf of bread but I bought it anyway. I replaced the pale blue fitted carpet with cork tiles and added authentic 1970s vinyl wallpaper.

And that was the seedbed for My Cool Caravan: true-life stories and pictures of people and their vintage caravans. My Cool Campervan came next and I learned the joy of the journey – the packed lunch, taking
the slow road. Later this year comes My Cool Shed I think you get the picture.

I adore the idea of escape, especially when it is stylish and inexpensive. Whether it is in a tent, a vintage caravan or a shed, a yurt or a tepee, your local park or your own back garden, it doesn’t matter. All can provide that precious sense of escape.

Later in the week I’ll post my top glamping tips!

The Gardener magazine is available from The Garden Centre Group at http://www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/

Last week I received an advance copy of my new book ‘my cool shed’.. . Publication seemed an age away at the time of submission, last Christmas, but now, review copies are being sent out to the press, and the release date is only weeks away. It is available to pre-order on Amazon, the publication date is May 16^th.

It was such a fabulous project to work on, the summer flew by… I was totally absorbed. It took Tina Hillier and I on a trail up and down the land, to Scandinavia and mainland Europe, and we sourced US based photographers for the shoots there. The balance of sheds, hideaways and workspaces that we shot are amazing. From two identical ‘his n hers’ tiny superstore bought sheds that now are used to repair & renovate stylish vintage items to an amazing architectural mini masterpiece on the beach, to an LA garage now converted to a very stylish artist’s studio.

Deadlines are great in that it truly means that you get on with it and have a focus. And it’s  great when a project is put to bed… you can look afresh at your inspiration. Looking back at my reference files I came across some very early images of mine  that had caught my eye. They conveyed a sense of what was behind the unassuming structure of a shed. These simple pictures served as a source of inspiration and understanding to what ‘sheds’ was to be all about..

This row of structurally identical Southwold beach huts was charming but the huts were classic wooden identical huts. A closer look and you see the touch of the individual. The idiosyncratic paint colours, the candy coloured striped banding on some, and most especially poignant to me was the choice of names  that spelt out a very clear message. Have fun, escape from life, have a rest, feel carefree.

Click here to buy My Cool Shed from Anova Books

There aren’t many things in life that are as exciting and consume your attention as much as your own new book project.

It is a strange mixture of enthusiasm nearing obsessive levels and total pre-occupation. Something wonderful for the creator and hopefully engaging for the rest of the team involved. Other things in life and work tend to get sidelined, the journey of creating something from a germ of an idea but an otherwise blank page is without doubt all consuming.

This time the journey took Tina Hillier our photographer and myself up and down the country (more than once), interspersed with trips to shoot across Europe and the US. We came across some incredible places, with incredible talented owners…. it was a privilege in many respects.

‘my cool shed’ an inspirational guide to stylish hideaways is published on 16^th May and is available to pre-order on Amazon.  It features 35 sheds, cabins and beach- houses from around the world where their owners can work, think, chill out and escape.

My aim was to inspire and delight, both in terms of lifestyle and as a design piece and I am excited to be emerging from this amazing creative period and to be getting ready to share this with you…

Book Three has just been submitted. It was six months of travel, art directing and writing. A journey which was an enlightening look into some amazing spaces, and a privilege to meet some truly inspirational people who have found means of creative working in some great little spaces… more about that over the next few months.

Tina Hillier was my photographer of choice for the project…. as one of the most talented emerging photographers around it was a joy to have her on this journey with me. Book projects are special in that they are long enough to tell the whole tale, rather than in just one image. Her talent whether in book photography or the single image is further recognised by the National Portrait Gallery, this year she has an image in the Taylor Wessing Photography Prize at the gallery. Quite something to accomplish from an entry of over 2,500 photographers work.

For me, Styling/Art Directing for a living isn’t a static thing, it is a journey of its own, incorporating new influences, looking forward, and enjoying the benefits of creative collaborations.

Thank you all for your support this year, Thank you for your kind words about the books, and especially I have loved hearing about your own restoration/styling projects and being able to feature some of them here.

Best wishes to you all for 2012.