Who works here?
Viv Mansour, designer at Ish and Chi the store and blogger at  Ish and Chi the blog

What does a typical day look like for you?
I work two days a week as a lecturer and on the other days I look after my son at home and work on my little business. The days I spend at home are crazy. I get up at 6am (sometimes earlier) to feed my son. He usually has a little nap in the morning so I use the time to get myself ready, squeeze in breakfast, check my emails and print off any orders that might have come through.

I usually spend the day out and about with my son and it is not until he has his long sleep in the late afternoon/evening that I begin working on orders. If no orders come through that day then I potter around in the studio working on personal projects or new designs for the business.

What inspires you?
Creative people, blogs, fashion photography and flipping through magazines but sometimes it is random things, like little sketches my mother draws as she's talking on the phone that sets off designs in my head.

What (or perhaps who) organises you?
In this case it is 'who organizes me' - my husband. He's good at reminding me of the things I need to do, any appointments I need to keep etc. I'm not very good at keeping a diary and I can be a bit of scatter brain at times. I'm learning to use my iPhone a lot more to keep all of my contacts and check emails.

Talk us through what’s on your desk at the moment?

1: Vintage wardrobe. When my husband and I moved into our home he brought along this wardrobe that he had before we married. It wasn't in a very good condition so I painted it white with blue inserts. It now functions as a place to store my fabrics, papers and other bits and pieces in it.

2: Moulin Rouge print. The large print is a poster my sister bought back from her trip to the Moulin Rouge and gave to me as a gift. I had it framed and it now sits proudly on my desk.

3: Fabrics. Inside the wardrobe, I’ve hung the fabrics I use in my designs to keep myself organised and to also help me easily mix and match fabrics when I’m working on new designs.

4: Clipboards. I dressed up the clipboards with some of my favourite fabrics and I use them to store photos I rip out of magazines and other things that inspire me.

5: Pens and paintbrushes. Old milk jars I picked up years ago. I didn’t know what I would do with them at the time. Now they hold pencils and paintbrushes.

6: Antique sideboard. I spoilt myself by buying this old sideboard from ebay. It contains everything I need to pack orders. The mirror that hangs above it was given to my by my parents. When they renovated their home a few years back they threw away most of their old furniture items and this is one of the few remaining pieces so it is pretty special to me.

7: Doll collection. On top of the sideboard I’ve now displayed a small Kokeshi doll collection. My husband bought me the 3 kimmidolls to kick-start my collection and I bought the other two dolls from ebay (front left and back right).

8: “Stop smile breathe, life is beautiful". I love this message and like to remind myself that life really is beautiful. Printed via The Bright Side Project.

9:  Alice and Wonderland Prints. On the back wall I have hung some of my own designs along with a set of Alice in Wonderland prints bought from Etsy seller The Black Apple. They give me something to look at when I'm daydreaming.