The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

The most hotly anticipated opening in UK home retail since Anthropologie in 2009 – US homeware giant West Elm opened it’s doors on Tottenham Court Road this morning! I was lucky enough to get a tour led by it’s creative director Vanessa Holden yesterday with many other excited bloggers.

The loft-style store is split over two enormous levels, with beautifully styled areas showing off the signature West Elm aesthetic. The first floor entrance sparkles with enormous Christmas trees surrounded by baskets full of unusual decorations, beautiful furniture items like mid-century bar carts, marble topped side tables and  covetable accessories like shimmering metallic vases and patterned glass  jewellery boxes.

The space leads on to a Market Style area at the back of the store which includes a coffee shop and a Brooklyn style general store, stocking beautiful utilitarian tools – storage containers hand-scrawled with labels, copper whisks, cocktail kits and artisan food items for the home.

The ground floor spans an extensive bedding collection, featuring the chevron printed curtains, rugs and cushions we have come to love and exquisite mid-century stye furniture which makes me want to chuck all my furniture out and start again. The space also includes a Design Lab area where customers can brain-storm with the staff and enlist a free home stylist service which I cannot wait to use!

Having visited West Elm stores so often in New York, I was curious to see whether the London store would retain the same spirit as the brand I so admire. With easy-going American charm, customer service that extends beyond the check-out [Holden emphasised the value put on building relationships with the consumer through events and extras like the free Design Lab service] and a point of difference in product and competitive price point that the British high street has so been yearning for, the much hyped launch didn’t disappoint. Welcome to London West Elm!

P.S For now the brand has closed it’s UK Shipping service it was running from the US site and plans to re-launch a UK site very soon. Yippee!

This weekend the Renegade Craft Fair came to East London. A curated indie-craft marketplace showcasing the brightest talents in contemporary craft and design it has counterparts in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago and San Francisco.

Despite a very wet weekend, droves of shoppers browsed the cheery halls of the Truman Brewery. Here were some of my favourites.

I Am Acrylic are a Spitalfields based duo who make colourful and imaginative brooches and necklaces out of acrylic. Painstakingly hand cut so each piece is unique, designs feature cute abstract landscapes, cheeseboard brooches and cactus necklaces.

I fell in love with the talented illustrator Kaye Blevgard’s curious ceramic pieces. Beautiful torsos of women, handcrafted regal cats and dishes in the shape of hands etched with delicate markings littered her stand.

Super cute wares from OhOhRachio.

Precious things out of simple materials – bone china jewellery crafted in the shape of diamonds and facets by Moko.

Another beautiful alter ego of the amazing Kaye Blevgard was Datter Industries  - a collection of ethereal narrative jewellery.

Candy coloured ceramic brooches, rings and faceted boulder brooches by Made by Me Me Me – sugary perfection!

Unusual geometric and collage vases and tableware by Laura Lane 

Literally my best find of the day was Eclectic Eccentricity [and i'm not even a jewellery person]  - specialising in re-imagining vintage components – this imaginative brand adorns jewellery with striding dinosaurs, shooting rockets, and mythical trees bedecked with precious stones. LOVE.

Just “Weeks away from Christmas!” all the adverts trill, and frankly I can’t wait. Britain and especially London in my opinion is magical during this season – winding Dickensian streets, Oxford Street lights and sparkling shop-fronts.

One quintessentially English tradition that I just love are Hampers! The magical food hamper where you just don’t know what you’re going to get. The magical hamper that becomes the lifesaver thread that keeps hungry family members going through the days before and after boxing day with it’s steady trickle of pickles and deli chocolates and the all important booze.

I never tend to get any hampers – which seem to mainly be the domain of my mum, mother in law and grandmas but now that I am getting maturer I’m really hoping that some will be heading my way (hint hint). Christmas Hampers have come a long way since the days of kitsch cellophane wrapped packages of tasteless biscuits and cheap wine. Hampergifts is a family run firm based in St Albans who create luxurious hampers containing food and drink of the highest quality. From Chocolate Hampers, to Wine Hampers, Cheese Hampers and Bath and Body Gifts. Filled with boutique food and wine sourced from around the globe, I’m hoping one of these will be arriving on my doorstep this December!

*This post was in Conjunction with Hampergifts

I’ve slowly but surely been furnishing our new kitchen [photos very soon I promise] and sourcing pieces from my favourite brands. In a shiny new kitchen I couldn’t bear to use regular tea-towels and so turned to the inspiring To Dry For - an online boutique specialising in designer tea towels to brighten up dish-washing!

Run by a husband and wife team based in Oxford, England, To Try For source over 100 tea towels from numerous designers and promote work by both prominent and up-and-coming artists and illustrators. Check out the rest of their designs here.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my Icing Class at the Biscuiteers in Notting Hill and since then I haven’t been able to think about anything else but imaginative iced treats.

Just in time for Halloween – The Biscuiteers have released a lovely video showing how easy it is to ice Halloween Skulls! I hope this inspires some of you to create your own iced delights!