FLOCK Interiors

FLOCK Interiors Beautiful homes, happy hearts 🌿 Learn, style & create spaces you love with Nikki

Home interior courses and lifestyle workshops

FLOCK is the brainchild of leading businesswoman, commercial and residential interior designer Nikki Hemstock, who has many years ‘experience in the industry. She was previously co-director of the locally-based JSA design and build company and has an impressive client list including: The Conran Shop; Hoopers Department Stores; Osprey London; Oliver Sw

eeney and Orvis, to name but a few. Nikki aims not only to share her passion for design, but to empower others to create stunning, nurturing spaces. INTERIOR COURSES & WORKSHOPS

The courses are personally run by Nikki and are aimed at anyone who is interested in home decorating with either a specific project in mind, or simply a desire to explore and develop their individual style, along with students who want an insight into the role of the interior designer. The venue
A converted threshing barn set in stunning grounds in Cockington Country Park an historic village in Torquay.

🌦️ Morning folks!A little tip and a little muse for this Thursday morning...I was supposed to be visiting my cousin toda...
04/06/2026

🌦️ Morning folks!

A little tip and a little muse for this Thursday morning...

I was supposed to be visiting my cousin today, but the weather has had other ideas. She has the most wonderful cottage garden and I was really looking forward to escaping into it for a few hours, but with the rain forecast we’ve decided another day will be much better.

Talking of rain... haven’t we had some! We certainly have here in Devon. The good news is that all this wet weather creates perfect conditions for sowing seeds directly into the ground.

One flower that’s guaranteed to give you months of colour right through summer is the Californian poppy. They were absolutely everywhere at Chelsea Flower Show this year, so if you’re following the trends, now’s your chance! Simply scatter the seeds where you want them to grow and they’ll reward you with masses of silky blooms from early summer right into autumn. They’re easy, cheerful and loved by pollinators too.

This photo is a bank of them in the park and I think they look absolutely glorious.

I know I’ve said that I don’t really bother with annuals, but I’m having to make a little exception and buy a few that self seed this year…my plan is to let them drop their seeds so they come back on their own next year, then I can enjoy them without the effort!

On another note, I’ve had a lovely influx of interior design enquiries recently. It always makes me smile because I sometimes spend so much time talking gardens and plants on here that people forget interior design is actually my part time job!

I’m certainly not complaining though. Helping people create homes they love is one of my favourite things to do, and it reminds me of something I always drummed into my son: do what you love and it will never really feel like work.❤️

Have a lovely Thursday everyone, whatever the weather! ☔🌼

❤️

Good Morning folks 🌿A lovely bit of rain came yesterday which has perked the borders and pots up no end. 😃A little tip t...
02/06/2026

Good Morning folks 🌿
A lovely bit of rain came yesterday which has perked the borders and pots up no end. 😃

A little tip today….

A couple of years back, my sister was saying that she never buys those bags of salad leaves from the supermarket. Instead, she grows rocket in pots and just nips outside to pick what she needs. I think she does a bit of sowing every few weeks to keep it going, but whatever she’s doing seems to work because she’s got fresh leaves all summer long.

At the time I remember thinking that was pretty clever, and since then I’ve become a bit of a convert myself.
Which brings me neatly onto my Tuesday tip ... leaves! 🥬

If you’re still buying those bags of salad leaves from the supermarket, it might be worth giving this a go.
Back in early May, I potted up some cut-and-come-again salad leaves and they’re still producing enough greenery to keep me happily munching away weeks later.

Compare that to a supermarket bag that costs a few pounds, comes wrapped in plastic, and has a habit of turning into a soggy yellow mess at the back of the fridge before you’ve finished it.
Growing your own means you can pick exactly what you need when you need it. No waste, no plastic packaging, and you know exactly what’s gone into growing them.
It’s honestly one of the easiest things you can grow.
A pot, a bit of compost, some water now and then, and you’ve got your own little salad bar sitting outside the back door.

A few tips for June sowing:
🌱 Sow little and often rather than all at once for a steady supply.
🌤 Give pots a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day.
💧 Keep watering regularly as containers dry out quickly in warm weather.
✂️ Pick the outer leaves and leave the middle growing for that lovely cut-and-come-again harvest.
🥬 Fresh, economical, less plastic and surprisingly productive.

These salad leaves have been earning their keep since early May. Can your supermarket bag say the same?
Any good garden centre will have them. These were purchased from .
Have a great Tuesday folks. 😉

🌱

Hi folks,What a busy, sunny weekend in Torquay! With the airshow overhead and the bay packed with visitors, it certainly...
01/06/2026

Hi folks,

What a busy, sunny weekend in Torquay! With the airshow overhead and the bay packed with visitors, it certainly felt like summer had arrived.

Now that No Mow May is over, I’m keen to bring a little structure back to the grass area. My plan is to cut the top section where it stays dark and damp (and seems to be a tick hotspot), add a few pathways through it, but keep a central meadow area along with the ox-eye daisies behind the terrace border. Hopefully it’s the best of both worlds plenty of flowers and wildlife, while giving the dog somewhere to enjoy without coming back covered in ticks and grass seeds!

Talking of low-maintenance gardening, (which I’m working on)! one of my favourite tricks is growing plants that self-seed. Plant them once and they’ll often return year after year with very little effort.

Some of my favourites are:

🌿 Borage
🌸 Cosmos (although they can be slightly difficult)
🌺 Nasturtiums
🌹 Poppies
💙 Cornflowers
🦊 Foxgloves
💜 Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella)
🦋 Verbena bonariensis
🌼 Ox-eye Daisy
🌱 Quaking Grass

Top tip: Leave spent flower heads standing through autumn so they can scatter their seeds naturally and create next year’s display for free.

So, what’s your approach now that May is over? Are you reaching for the mower, keeping things wild, or trying to find a balance between the two?

I’m all for keeping things wild 🤣

A mix of 📷 from my garden and a few courtesy of Crocus, a great plant supplier.

Happy Monday. 😃💐🌹🌱

Look away now if you’re not a rose fan! 🌹😂Up early again this morning taking the dog for a wander before it gets too hot...
29/05/2026

Look away now if you’re not a rose fan! 🌹😂

Up early again this morning taking the dog for a wander before it gets too hot and I made a beeline for the parks rose garden because I knew all the roses would be flowering and wow, they really are incredible.

The scent in the muggy air was heady and sweet you definitely don’t need perfume, you just walk through and get completely wrapped up in all those gorgeous heady rose fragrances.

I’ve taken photos of a few of my favourites, although I could easily have photographed hundreds more! If you love roses, you really should go and have a look while they’re looking so beautiful.

Last pic is one of mine!

A few years ago the whole garden had to be dug up and completely replanted as part of a huge restoration project, and lots of the roses were supplied by Beales Roses. King Charles visited too when he was Prince of Wales, which was lovely for Cockington.

Anyway, enough rose rambling from me 😂🌹

Hope you all have a lovely day whatever you’ve got planned 🐾

A fab exhibition definitely worth a visit….
28/05/2026

A fab exhibition definitely worth a visit….

No Mow May!Woke up ridiculously early this morning because the heat in the valley is just too much 🥵 26 degrees in the b...
28/05/2026

No Mow May!

Woke up ridiculously early this morning because the heat in the valley is just too much 🥵 26 degrees in the bedroom last night! Anyone else suffering? but stepping out into the garden so early, when everything is quiet and the light is soft, really is one of my favourite things.🥰

Taking a few photos this morning made me think how far this terrace border has come.

Back in July 2024 I had it completely dug up and replanted.

I added the wire fence so the plants could clump up and weave through it naturally, creating a softer backdrop to the terrace and breaking up the huge stretch of grassland beyond.

Now look at it 🌿✨

Thanks to No Mow May the ox-eye daisies have completely taken over the meadow and the border almost melts into the grassland. Foxgloves, roses, self-seeders everywhere… it all feels so much more billowy, softer and relaxed now.

Honestly, plants are amazing, what a show they put on and the difference a couple of years can make still surprises me…💚

Enjoy your day folks. ❤️

Morning folks phew what weather we’re having, isn’t it just fab. ☀️🌞☀️Thought I’d share a few shots of the new pergola l...
27/05/2026

Morning folks phew what weather we’re having, isn’t it just fab. ☀️🌞☀️

Thought I’d share a few shots of the new pergola located in the courtyard carpark.

The final trims were added to it last week by my very clever neighbour, and I love how it frames this little gravel garden corner.
Looking forward to seeing the pink climbing rose beautify it now. 💐🌹

It’s become the perfect place to stop for five minutes with a coffee while the dog enjoys a safe wander around 🐾☕️ or i’ll rephrase that…dig around!

Just the log store left to build behind the gate and this area will finally be complete.

Last photo is the “before” amazing what a tiny pergola can do 🤎

Too hot today to do anything much so sat under the parasol having a sketch…waiting for friends to come and have a cuppa ...
26/05/2026

Too hot today to do anything much so sat under the parasol having a sketch…waiting for friends to come and have a cuppa 😃 🧑‍🎨🖌️🎨
What’s everyone else up to?

Wednesday wanderings… 🌿Thanks for sharing this post Ben The Grower - Ben Thornton 💐I’m just making my way through BBC ca...
20/05/2026

Wednesday wanderings… 🌿
Thanks for sharing this post Ben The Grower - Ben Thornton 💐

I’m just making my way through BBC catch-up from the Chelsea Flower Show and honestly, so many of the exhibits are beautiful… but this one really resonated with me personally. A lover of the curious, old jars, dried seed heads, forgotten treasures and little collected things… perhaps a bit of a hoarder of nature’s magic too ✨

The King’s Curiosity Garden, designed by Frances Tophill, completely drew me in. At the heart of it sat an oak-framed “museum of curiosities” filled with shelves of ferments, oils, books, balms, dried flowers, fabrics and dyes, all celebrating the many ways plants weave themselves into our lives beyond simply “gardening”.

It felt immersive, creative and inspiring around every corner. The textures, the scent of the flowers, the hanging seed heads from the beams… the whole garden felt like stepping into a slower, more thoughtful way of living.

What I loved most was how beautifully it blended productivity with biodiversity. Dye plants, vegetables, herbs and flowers all growing together naturally to support pollinators, wildlife and people alike. A reminder that gardens can nourish far more than just the eye 🌱

And perhaps the loveliest part… this garden won’t simply disappear after Chelsea. It’s being relocated to a college where young adults will continue using it fashion students working with the dye plants, catering students using the herbs and vegetables. A garden with a life and purpose long after the show itself ends. I absolutely love that idea.

Right… I must get a move on now. The dog needs walking, the snails need evicting and I’m off to meet family for my sister’s birthday lunch 🐌🐾🥂

Happy Dayz
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Torquay
TQ2

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