I’ve been very much enjoying Nigel Slater’s new series on BBC1. Not just for the recipes and Nige’s soothing tones, but to catch glimpses of the stunning kitchen and garden in which he cooks. Don’t know about you, but I have a sudden urge to paint everything warm slate grey, install giant gatefold doors to my garden, and buy loads of enamelware pans. (Still not sure about the way he puts fruit with all his savoury dishes, mind.)
By the way – did you notice the clever logo, where the S S C of ‘Slater’s Simple Cooking’ look like wisps of smoke?
I missed most of the London Design Week goings-on due to being really busy with work, so on Saturday we did a quick tour of what I thought would be the best bits – the Tent show in the Truman Brewery and SCP’s design department store.
SCP turned their Shoreditch shop into an exhibition of the new season’s products. A large amount of space was given over to Donna Wilson’s beautiful textiles, of which I want pretty much everything, please.
Read more abut the event here, and see all the new products here.
Tent is a large exhibition of new product designs across furniture, lighting and other interior decor items. It was a lot of fun to wander round, here are my favourite picks.
I’m extremely smitten with the new John Lewis Autum/Winter range. They’ve hit current trends on the head, from industrial retro to simple Scandinavian, in a way you’d usually expect from Habitat or Heal’s. The revived Ecrol range is particularly lovely, with a hand from ex-SCP and -Conran designer Matthew Hilton. Well played, JL!
I’m a little obsessed with very simple clean wooden lines at the moment when it comes to furniture – my onoing house inspiration Tumblr is evidence of that. So I love this sharp, stylish collection from Benchmark furniture, a proudly handmade-in-England company founded by Sir Terence Conran.
Two new prints have just been added to my Etsy shop! They’re both inspired by my growing collection of vintage ephemera, particularly Victorian newspaper advertising.
First, a poster featuring text that I came across while reading Just My Type, a fascinating book about the history of fonts. It was written as a manifesto by eminent typographer Beatrice Warde in 1932 and inspired me to have my own play with fonts and Victorian-style flourishes.
Secondly, a poster inspired by Victorian quack medicine advertising, extolling the numerous health benefits of cats – and featuring my own kitty as a model.
He couldn’t help jumping in on the photoshoot, too…
You can buy the posters from my Etsy shop, and they will soon also be available from Cabbages & Kings, a little boutique that’s just down the road from my home (and well worth a look anyway for their lovely range of prints, jewellery and homewares). Hope you like them!
David and Scott of Berkshire-based creative consultancy Bungalow Industries have called this amazing 1960s bungalow home (and studio) for four years, but now they’re selling up. They’ve created a gorgeous little microsite and brochure to show off the home and its fascinating history, and they kindly let me share the photos here, too.
The property is a Renway Type 60A bungalow, designed by architect Athelstan Whaley. Inspired by 1950s Californian living, Whaley built an idyllic modernist estate surrounded by woodland, designed to appeal to the glamorous air crew set from nearby airports. To make it even more special, the 1966 film Fahrenheit 451 was filmed on location here.
The interior decor has been sensitively modernised by David and Scott over the past 4 years, with a nod to the 60s in the walnut-panelled bathroom, choice pieces of iconic furniture, and beautiful parquet floors.
The houses were designed to flow seamlessly into the outside space, so the garden is naturally stunningly landscaped too.
Just check out these before-and-afters to see how David and Scott really breathed life back into this house! They’ve now decided to move on and apply their expertise and love to another renovation project.
I love it. I want it. £515,000 seems like a bargain! Be sure to check out The Bungalow’s site and brochure for a good look around.
I’m equal parts jealous and in awe of this gorgeous work by Parisian design studio Ma + Chr, founded by Mathilde Aubier and Christine Delaquaize. They cover disciplines from web design, through fine art and fashion, to installations and interior design. When I grow up can I do this for a living, please?
Interiors inspiration from the home of Ashlyn Gibson, who owns the stylish kidswear shop Olive Loves Alfie in my Stoke Newington hood. Photos by Rachael Smith for The Guardian.
Nice use of colourful everyday objects as wall art
Oh, you know, just hanging out in Sir Terence Conran’s apartment at sunset…
… no, the man himself wasn’t even there! This was an event put on by mydeco.com to celebrate their third birthday, and they hosted it in the Conran building down at London Bridge. The building comprises offices for all of Conran’s outputs – graphic and product design, interiors, architecture and the shop – with Terence’s pied à terre gracing the top floor. It was the perfect night to hang out on a gorgeous terrace, and lovely to meet (and re-meet) some of my favourite bloggers — Ellie, Lynne, Caroline, Karine and Anna.
Cigar boxes stacked for displaying photos
Vintage maps mounted on mountboard
I hadn’t really checked out the Conran Shop for interiors stuff before as I thought it’d be out of my price range, but their Well Considered range is surprisingly affordable. I love these cheerful bright pieces!
Dropped by the House of Hackney pop-up showroom yesterday. It popped up in a rather derelict townhouse on Kingsland Road to launch a new interiors range of bed linen, wallpapers and ceramics. Everything is ever so sumptuous, decadent, densely patterned… all a bit Cath Kidston gone down the rabbit hole. It’s against my more Swedish-minimalist tendencies but the effect is quite stunning, and a few carefully chosen pieces could add a touch of luxe to any room.
Loved these vintage mirrors with transfer-applied floral prints
Nice styling with old poison bottles to pick up the Alice in Wonderland theme
Amazing painterly-effect animal wallpaper!
The corridors and stairwells were left rather rustic, which contrasted nicely with the richly-decorated bedrooms.
The popup is only open today, but the online shop stocks all the items (with eye-watering prices!).
· 22 comments