pastels

I know my posts tend to be a continuous lament about the British climate, but enduring this Never Ending Winter has been a strain beyond anything. I go forth into the cold, clad, swaddled, layered like an Inuit crossing the Arctic tundra – eyes streaming against the wind, hands frozen claw like. I dream of  spring and soft balmy breezes, the play of light through leafy trees, dappling on the grass, air sweetly infused by blossom and the freshness of green growing things. Oh for the gentle delicate pastels of  life beginning instead of this dull grey monotone of perpetual cloud cover.

My homage to Spring in pale shades

painted chairs from Goose and home

Neisha Crosland textile design from Chelsea Textiles

1950s Italian chairs covered in duck egg blue

Brickett Davda plates for Toast

 Toast’s soft dyed linens

Wool House

The only thing for keeping snug and toasty in this damp cold climate of ours where the wet winter weather seems to be lingering forever is to don something knitted, worsted or woven in wool. The Campaign for Wool curated an exhibition currently on at Somerset House in the West Wing (13-24 March) to demonstrate the versatility of wool – and to show that it can be used in a vivid modern sophisticated way – particularly in interiors, as well as in cosy clothing. An extra large easy chair covered in sheepskin welcomes visitors to the exhibition. The sort of chair you never want to get out of.

Half the exhibition is a series of interior designed rooms using wool. Donna Wilson’s nursery is enchanting. A felted wool mobile of rain drops, a blanket tent, a funny eccentric menagerie of woolly animals, and a very friendly replica sheep creates a child’s haven. I visited the exhibition with a friend and her two-year old charge who slipped through the barrier and chortled with delight at everything – particularly the very strokable sheep.

Kit Kemp’s take was more urbane and sophisticated like the interiors of her boutique hotels. A remarkable felted wool panel – more a bas relief – in vivid colours expressed the modernity of wool in a space designed by Anne Kyrö-Quinn.

The other side of the exhibition is devoted to craft – from spinning, to knitting to weaving. Natural dyed wools and yarns in a variety of textures and thicknesses. I particularly love the ‘felted finger’ wool made in South Africa.

paint it black (and other colours)

We moved house last month. A leap across the river from Chelsea to Herne Hill on the Brixton border. Feels like another country. I now take a suburban overground train to go to ‘town’. There’s a farmer’s market in the square on Sundays and – despite terrible weather – friendly stall holders come out in force to sell wonderful produce, happy poultry, bio-dynamic meats, artisanal bread. The house is an early Victorian terrace with stripped floorboards and a pared down air which suits our furniture fine and feels like our old place in Brook Green.

Before the move I finally motivated myself to restore some very shabby pieces with a fresh lick of paint. I chose Annie Sloan’s graphite to update the chest of drawers in my daughter’s room, the flaky old drawers in the bathroom, a little side table and my husband’s desk. With Hannant’s soft wax I buffed the pieces till they resembled rain slicked slate. Maybe I was in a dark state of mind, moody and brooding. In any event, I like the effect.

little chest of drawers in bathroom

In fact I love painted furniture full stop, especially when a history of coats reveal layers of colour. Here are some images which inspire me and maybe you too.

a French buffet d’office

a vintage chest

a Georgian cupboard sold by Original House

an eau de nil painted cupboard from The French House

a pale blue painted chest of drawers

a painted box

tis the season for quiet thoughtfulness

Seemingly random unconnected images below – but to me they collectively evoke something about the holiday season – dark winter days and the twinkle of candle light. I have long been a huge fan of Ted Muehling – particularly his exquisite earrings – and adore his delicate sculptural candlestick holders. There is something poignant and beautiful about old weathered objects revealing layers of paint. I love the minimal clean lines of a white painted Ercol chair. The warm sheen on the brass light fittings below with a hint of industrial utility would chase away any winter gloom.

simple vintage brass light fixtures at Drew Pritchard

Ted Muehling candleholder

More from Ted Muehling – egg and dart candle holders

old doors as wall panelling

old corner cabinet

a time weathered commode

a white Ercol chair

A stroll down Langton Street

Langton Street in Chelsea has recently become even more special with the arrival of two new design shops – Appley Hoare and Josephine Ryan – a few doors up from Cabbages and Roses, which sells charming clothes and furnishing fabrics, and next to La Familigia an Italian stalwart of a restaurant. Appley Hoare and Josephine Ryan both find their aesthetic through simple French antiques, worn and weathered. The colour palette in both shops is bleached but not bland. Texture gives interest as well as the juxtaposition of humble objects and fine furniture. Josephine Ryan has a monastic sparseness and religious figures including (a statue of Christ in an apse-like nook) add to this mood. Appley Hoare is merrily secular with kitchen signs from rural France and a bicycle repair corner.

Walking back along King’s Road – the Designer’s Guild vibrates with colour and zestiness.

black and white and things I like

Tonal and textured – here are some of my current obsessions

Cotton throw by Khadi & Co

ticking by Ian Mankin

a black and white painted chair

African textile

Côte Bastide clothes rail

Bronze and ebonized cabinet at Foster and Kane

Japanese ceramic bowls

pumpkins

Getting snuggly

It’s dark now by 4.30 in the afternoon. Feels like night. While my brain says carry on with being workmanlike and conscientious, my instinct is to slip into something comfy and retire for the day on a bed piled high with blankets and throws.

…zzzzz

little shelves are loved again

Seb who manages the Y Warehouse in TW gave us a little project the other day. He told us do something -  anything -  to improve a sad little piece of donated furniture: a corner shelf unit with a rounded front,  formica top and peeling plastic rim.

BEFORE

WORK IN PROGRESS

We mixed up a colour which works with the formica – a dramatic luscious deep orange,

and added black and white trim fixed with upholstery tacks to finish the rim.

Back to the Y – in the window with the blackboard I made from an old picture frame. The little picture in the front is an ad hoc painting I did at the community centre.

a little burst of colour here and there

By nature I gravitate towards a neutral pallette when decorating my interiors -  shades of white, grey, taupe. Calm and comforting oatmeal and pussy willow. But ignoring the full vibrant colour spectrum denies spice, zing, drama.  Lately my eye is drawn to bursts of colour. So at our little atelier on top of the YMCA second hand furniture shop in Tunbridge Wells, we’ve been painting chairs in red, blue and fuschia.

See the Jackson Pollack-esque chair I painted  – in my previous post. Well – the exciting news is that we put our colourful chairs in the window and they sold within three days making a nice profit for the Y! So we said we’d paint other pieces of donated furniture and see where our artistic whims take us.

Love this industrial green chair. And the green bar trolley below.

A softer pallette of mix matched distressed painted chairs in this calm and beautiful kitchen.

The lime green counter top adds zing to the white kitchen.

There’s something very happy about this orange wall.

It’s wallpaper if you can believe – but could easily be one’s own abstract expressionist effort. I  love it.

Tent

I went to Tent yesterday – a bright clear sunny September Saturday – with more than a hint of autumn in the air. I haven’t been frantically running around town catching every single show this London Design Festival as I usually do partly because I was part of an exhibition with Architecture for Humanity at Designersblock. But I was pleased to to catch the Tent show.

This year Tent was about textiles – so many stands seem to feature textiles and textures in one form or other. A round up of notable exhibits:

Studio 180 degree set up by two young Swiss designers making hand crafted furniture and soft furnishings with exquisite natural English materials.Their Tran sofa and bench are both sublime examples of the art of waeving. The body of both pieces is meticulously crafted using a combination of materials – highest quality saddle leather, twine, flax, string, braided, woven.  A seat cusion in the softest wool fastened with natural horn buttons.

Texidors is a Spanish company which I became acquainted with last year at 100 % Design. They make the most beautiful blankets, throws and shawls from the finest natural flaxes and wools, woven by a socially inclusive cooperative.

I’ve written about Claire Anne O’Brien before -her knitted furniture is both witty and cozy.  I was pleased to see her at Tent this year with a few new pieces including the Fite bench with ash legs and the Corda stool. www.claireanneobrien.com

Rose Sharp Jones is another designer knitting seat covers and stools. www.rosesharpjones.co.uk

Katie Mawson is based in Cumbria and makes colorful throws and cushions from wool. www.katiemawson.com

Washable cactus rugs from Columbia – fabulous!

chairs and stools covered in coffee bean bags from Brasil. We did something similar in our recycling project in Tunbridge Wells!

Samuel Onyechi describes himself as a textile designer. His plastic mesh bowls are made weaving together plastic flex then melting it to fuse.

I love the chair and bowl made from pulped bamboo and the ceramic topped table offering a contrast in texture.

Group Design showed the 490 desk lamp which retails at £150.  The LED lamp gives good illumination. www.groupdesign.co.uk

Witty coat pegs. From Daniel Schofield Studio. www.danielschofield.co.uk

a painted chair

It’s been a whirlwind week what with London Design Festival and our Architecture for Humanity set ups at two venues (more about that later). Want to share first a bit of madcap upcycling in Tunbridge Wells where Bonnie and I were given free reign of an attic room at the YMCA Charity Shop. I got somewhat carried away with a few pots of zingy paint.

aspiring to the more finished collection as below

Crossing the footbridge to the South Bank where Architecture for Humanity is exhibiting with Designersblock as part of the London Design Festival

ra-ra’s ping-pang-pong table being built

and the Love Hut going up

Over at Design Junction at the Sorting Office in New Oxford Street I visited Russell Pinch at his stand.

I love the slender oak bench

Design Junction was quite fun – a larger show than last year with Tramshed exhibiting with them. Acres of pale wood – new and recycled.

Designersblock is a younger show. I rather like Sam Weller’s stackable shelves.

and Hendzel and Hunt’s High Shore Cabinet made in Peckham from reclaimed wood. Available from Folklore (193 Upper Street Islington London N1)

on the shelf

Display. Curate. Open shelving adds interest to any room.

The Ikea shelves run the full length of the room

A simple wall mounted shelf in natural wood with metal brackets

open shelving in Ted Muehling’s kitchen

kitchens to inspire

Ikea’s mini kitchen for small living spaces.

Another mini kitchen – Boffi’s mobile unit with clever storage drawers.

The cream Smeg, the white units and industrial cooker work together in perfect harmony – simple and fresh with edge.

Textiles play off the reflective white floor

A mixed selection of vintage chairs add interest to a sleek wood kitchen table.

I love black and white check floors and white wall tiles. Note the Josef Frank wallpaper on the stairwell.

off the wall

Wallpaper seems to be going through some kind of revival these days. Midcentury designs – often pictorial, whimsical and bright – are being re-issued by companies like Sanderson and Warner. Mini Modern launched their company making wallpaper for children’s rooms and have expanded their repertoire to sophisticated retro patterns that are playful and grown up at the same time.  Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek’s salvaged wood wallpaper has been a runaway success for people wanting the rough hewn industrial look without the dust and splinters. Two new wallpapers designs  coming out of Holland -  ‘Concrete’ paper by Piet Boon and Merci’s tin tile paper.

‘Rouen’ by Warner Archive Wallpapers

Josef Frank’s midcentury designs are back in vogue

Mini Modern’s Festival of Britain wallpaper

‘Brooklyn Tins’ by Merci

‘Concrete’ by Piet Boon

home made and well worn

Turning assorted fabric swatches into patchwork cushion covers at our ‘house to home’ project in Tunbridge Wells.  Quick and satisfying results.

We backed the cushions with artist’s canvas – cotton duck.

the beauty of a simple bench and well weathered wood

Appley Hoare sells the trestle table below and similar

Anthropology on Kings Road clads their sales counter with slats of reclaimed wood

A wall of old wood

2^nd Cycle is Artek’s project to give a new lease of life to their classic chairs and tables which they’ve collected from flea markets and schools. They’ll be on show at Designjunction’s café space during London Design Week in September and will be available to buy.

and it’s still raining

It feels like it’s been raining forever bar one summery week at the end of May.  Oh such gloomy weather.  I’m looking out the window from my study at the wet street below feeling very melancholy.  June and still wrapped up in winter wool.  More cheerful than me is my newly planted herb garden on the balcony.  I was inspired by a post on Remodelista about a woman who planted vegetables in a series of wooden wine crates  (in distinctly sunnier climes) which looked so enchanting. I trotted over to my local branch of Nicolas for some empty boxes (and also a couple of bottles of rather nice rosé). The builders next door kindly drilled holes in the bottom.Below is the Remodelista image that inspired.  Looks great.

Meanwhile, back down in Tunbridge Wells where our interior design programme ‘My Place’ happens, we’ve been busy spray painting pieces of furniture found at the YMCA charity shop -  which has become a regular haunt. We’ve been using a spray paint from the local art shop – a matt acrylic which comes in divine colours, although we’ve discovered not very practical for furniture -  and – omg the fumes.  Posted below a chair and a bookshelf – first recycling attempts – not perfect by far – but promising.  The patchwork seat on the blue chair is made from a selection of wool swatches from Bute.

Clerkenwell Design Week

We didn’t have time to catch our breath when Architecture for Humanity was invited to join Clerkenwell Design Week. Workstation, a slick showroom featuring Herman Miller office furniture asked us to display our project posters and strut our stuff. After our whirlwind week in Rivington Street, battered by wind and rain and some wild moments featuring ra-ra’s three way ping pang pong table – we girded our loins and headed over to St John’s Lane. A few frantic days – but then the sun came out for the first time after two months of gloomy wetness. The astro turf was laid.  Cameo re-built  her Love Hut for Humanity and a new and improved p-p-p table was erected by the archway at the top of the lane. We blithely refer to our installation as the playstation and it has attracted passers by into the showroom. I like to think we’ve done a good turn for the office furniture folk.

I received an invitation to the Ochre party at their new showroom in Britten Street and it was the only event I made a point of attending. I am a huge fan of Ochre. I think everything they make without exception is beautiful and covetable and if only I didn’t have the most petite budget…

This was my first time at their new showroom which has a more refined atmosphere than their previous place up the road. A sun-dried tomato red stool in buttery soft leather took my breath away – a dense shot of colour within an otherwise subdued palette. Ochre is all about softnesses – and juxtapositions of texture – velvet next to linen next to leather. An elegant chair combining black linen and a denser black velvet seat. Cushions – restrained but with a  graphic stripe.heaven.

I can’t believe April has whizzed by as if in a blur from the window of a high speed train with rain lashing against the windows. March was so balmy and bright with an air of spring about it.

I’ve been swept up with such interesting projects.

In a whirl organising Ideas on a Postcard, please (www.ideasonapostcard.org.uk) for Architecture for Humanity 3-9 May at Space fiftyfour, 54 Rivington Street, London EC2.  We’re launching the publication of Design Like You Give a Damn 2,  and there will be scheduled events and workshops.  Studio 54 Architecture generously donated the space.  For the opening night, we’ve devised a special cocktail made with seasonal and locally sourced rhubarb – calling it the ‘Hakini’ i.e. the Hackney Bellini. Our logo, designed by Risa Sano of Mentsen, depicts the theme of the event – which is to come up with a ‘design like you give a damn’ project that would benefit London – and put it on a postcard. We’re exhibiting everyone’s postcards in the gallery. The postcard template can be downloaded from the website. And I’ve also been busy with ‘Making it My Place’ – an interior design project working with a group of people who’ve had the misfortune of being homeless but are now living in their ‘first step’ flats. Three really nice guys have signed up and week one (we’re in our third week) we made applique fleece blankets. Week two was spent sanding and spray painting furniture culled from the local YMCA charity shop. We’ll be whizzing up curtains with the help of our resident soft furnishings expert and doing some repair and painting to bring the flats up to scratch. Some inspiration for up-cycling with paint:

Piet Hein Eek is the master of turning old and paint flaky wood into furniture poetry.

Jo Nagasaka uses resin and pigment to turn old tables into works of art

another great idea – using palettes as a sofa base with layers of felt covered foam.

On a totally different tack my love of earthy tones and textures knows no bounds. I love the industrial vintage stacking chairs below from Cream and Chrome.

and arts and craft stool below is so charming.

and to conclude on a surreal note: Kathy Ruttenberg’s ‘Messenger’ sculpture

and David Shrigley’s pumpkin Barbie

hang up your clothes

I’d like to dedicate this post to my daughter although it may not be appreciated. She has made it clear to me that is is her incontrovertible right to leave her clothes where ever, which may be the floor. Perhaps if I supplied her with any of the fabulous clothes racks below she may be inspired to pick them up.

The brand new just debuted  ‘Tra-ra’ clothes rack designed by the talented Tomoko Azumi of t.n.a. design studio.

rough hewn vintage clothes rack found at Factory 20.

Industrial vintage at Mondern 50.

A hefty old garment rail from Strawser & Smith.

A vintage rail in a modern bedroom via Marley and Lockyer .

a clever leaning clothes rack for small spaces at houzz.com.

19thc kimono rack with peony motif at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

adorable crochet hangers from re-found objects.

sitting comfortably

A few chairs old and new which inspire.

Mass Productions chairs at East Street restaurant in Rathbone Place

vintage chairs at The French House

old college chairs from Miles Griffiths

and flat tables by Jo Nagasaka – using tinted resins

sunshine and a touch of spring

Spring was in the air – the sky blue – the mercury up – so off with the shaggy sheepskin and a light footed skip down the street today. A little gift of a day – everything feeling  brighter.  Inspired to share a cheery selection of door images cut-and-pasted from far better bloggists than me. I delight in these images and welcome you to do so too.

aprons on a door via Remodelista

dressing room doors at Anthropology

ticking gathered under a sink

heart + mannequins

Heart of the day

carved wood 20th century – at Deodar

and mannequins as decorative objects

French mannequin from Bristol Fashion

A cinched waist circa 1880s mannequin from Eras of Style

from Anton & K a pair of 19th c mannequins

a child’s mannequin – all parts original – at Eras of Style

from Elemental

antique child’s mannequin at Antique ObjectsEdwardian male at Katharine Pole

at Brownrigg Interiors

working from home: the home office

On Wednesday I am giving a workshop at B’Hive – a women’s office hub in Covent Garden founded by PR supremo Lynn Franks.The workshop is about working from home – the pitfalls and challenges as well as all the obvious good stuff like being able to sit at your computer all day in your pjs. Maybe that’s a pitfall.There have been times, I confess, when I’ve been at my pc first thing in the morning in my dressing gown and find myself still in a state of déshabillé in the afternoon. Working from home is about getting in the zone - the professional mindset. Organising the work space is key – and while my set up chez moi is not the best example (I’ve never had a tidy desk) I am a staunch advocate of creating the perfect ambiance for productive creative work at home.To that end I collect images that inspire: clever conversions of tiny spaces (wardrobes, cupboards, nooks and crannies) into hotbeds of dynamic work.

Here are a few to kick off with:

an office in the bedroom – why ever get out of bed

a bedroom console that lifts up to create a home office desk designed by Peter Pawlak

a bedroom closet houses a desk – and files and a cork board stored within a chest

another closet conversion with a decorative curtain

yet another closet – a perfect stowaway office

keeping it all white makes for a neat work space

vintage lockers are fabulous storage

a sliding wall separates an office area from the dining room in a small east London flat

B’Hive is located at 26-27
Southampton Street
London WC2E 7RS

heart sampler

This charming wood sampler (each piece is a different kind of wood) is featured at a pop up shop this month at Haus Interiors, 250 Elizabeth Street in New York City. It’s the work of woodworker David Stark and the image via Remodelista.com.  I chanced upon Haus Interiors the last time I was in NYC and was taken by the well chosen mix of things in the shop. I bought a clever wall calendar printed onto painter’s canvas which was immediately bagged by my daughter. Wish I was in the big apple now to see this pop-up.

heart, table, chair

from re-found objects

from 52metres

from Alex MacArthur

work in progress continues…

and back in Tunbridge Wells, the signage complete, furniture revived and recovered…

Risa Sano of Mentsen created the bespoke font and designed the signage…great job!

the blue chairs recovered in a neutral colour with a burst of sunshine yellow tweed by Bute

heart, sun, star, lobster and birds

hello February!

month of chocolates and hearts

BIG Architects’ Valentine offering in New York – image via Design Boom

Sunburst 1950s Spanish gilded metal from www.17-21.com

1940s tole star from Ebury Trading

a 1960s bird mobile brass on copper from Aurora Decorative

1950s iron lobster at Quindry

time will tell

In the grey damp of January I trudged across Battersea Park to the bi-annual Decorative Fair which I like because dealers in all kinds of vintage things from all over the country exhibit. A kind of melancholy beauty in the park – colours faded to almost monochrome. An incessant drizzle. I could feel my hair frizz. My boots squelched into the ground. I pretended I was in a 19th century novel. Someting I do when I am on solitary walks. So in such an historical frame of mind I entered the genteel buzz of the fair. It attracts a well bred clientele – ladies in quilted jackets measuring up gilded mirrors and talking about reupholstery options for Louis V chairs.

My attention was grabbed by the purveyor of retro clocks. All ticking away in sync – thanks to spanking new workings. These clocks are used on photo shoots and film sets and the company in fact is called Clock Props. Based in Wandsworth. The website is www.clockprops.com.

also at the Decorative Fair

Appley Hoare’s atmospheric settings culled from French brocante and conjured up with their decorative flair. www.appleyhoare.com

Quindry combine ‘soft’ 20th century French and Italian designs with tribal elements. ‘Soft’ is the word used by Quindry owner Gwen Pilard, whose style is impeccably chic and sophisticated. Quindry is based at 299 Lillie Road, London SW6. www.quindry.net

Michael Bell, based at The Gasworks, London SW6, displayed a very nice industrial sorting office desk with attached stool.

The glam award goes to this adorable little satin covered Napolean II chair with sequinned cushion. So divinely boudoir.

a work in progress continues

Slowly but surely work continues on the community centre and Cafe Refresh. The exterior is now a soft shade of grey and Craig and associate from Sabre Signs hand painted new lettering. In the spirit ot ‘make do and mend’ the very tired looking blue chairs were recovered in a taupe fabric from Panaz and bolsters covered in a vibrant golden yellow wool from Bute add a shot of colour and a touch of comfort. I’m very pleased with the limited edition Eames ‘Hang it All’ which replaces a not very nice coat rack. Still waiting to complete with finishing touches. Ordered a golden yellow Pierre Paulin mushroom pouffe which I think should look good.

Eames ‘Hang it All’ in walnut finish and black from Aram

look at the post from 9th December to see the ‘before’.

the glorious Thames – shame about the photo

I caught the Gerhard Richter show just before it closed and I am so glad that I did. The Tate Modern was buzzing on a mild January afternoon and there was a long queue to get in. Fourteen rooms displaying the range of Richter’s work: his explorations in abstraction and representation, and his use of photography as both the source for his work and the work itself. One room displayed his paintings of the Baader Meinhof group, radicals in 1960s Germany, who all died tragically as a consequence of their activities. So young. The paintings, based on newspaper photos are elegiac, haunting, and very moving. His landscapes are epic. His vacillations between totally grey and fully spectral colour canvases and his continuous shift between exquisitely executed representational painting and an experimental approach to abstraction is fascinating. I found his two portraits of his daughter very touching and personal.

After I left the Tate – I was thrilled to see that the promenade has been extended so that you can now walk up to the South Bank passing en route the Oxo Tower and a little landscaped garden. Lots of people were out and about. The lights on the river were so pretty. Inspired by Richter I took a few photos of the Thames. They didn’t come out that well – here is one:

colour: shades of blue and green

My default position with interior decor is neutral – give me shades of grey any day as the backdrop for furnishings and accessories. I like colour in small doses, little shocks, vibrant but contained flashes. I prefer art, books, textiles etc to bring colour to a room rather than painted or papered walls and.  But this can be limiting too. Too safe, too controlled. So my plan is to consider colour afresh. Beginning with blue and green  -  soft as a clear sky, a duck egg, a limpid pool, eau de nil.

making it real

So here we are in 2012. Some say it is going to be a tough year with recession on the cards. Others say fabulous things are about to happen.  Personally if I had to choose between the rose tinted soothsayer or the gloomster I’d go with the former. Right now, where I’m sitting, I’m all for the star gazing card reading optimist. We’ve had our cold shower. The Western world got the wake up call. We’ve faced the demise of the consumer culture and the death of the credit card bubble. (I can personally attest to that).  Let 2012 be a year when we consider what really is important.

According to some mystic astronomer on Jools Holland (every year I swear I will NOT watch Jools Holland on NYE and then I do) Venus will be passing the sun sometime in June. The effect will infuse us with love and affection.  So something to look forward to. Before then, my advice is keep it simple, keep it real. Start with wooden spoons, as seen on Design Sponge.

My love of wooden crates knows no bounds. Make a wall of simple storage using a collection of vintage boxes like these.

I’ve been busy researching floor cushions for a current project and would like to share some of the options I have been looking at. Claire Ann O’Brien is such a talented designer. I first encountered her work during Design Week.

Below: the Urchin Poufe by Christien Meindertsma

and these, which I found online:

goodbye 2011 and Happy New Year

Cosy up, add sparkle and candlelight, and reflect on the past twelve months. What a year it has been with seismic, volcanic, and anarchic eruptions, political outcries and rebellions, fights for freedom and human rights. The world has grown weary of the money grabbing banking establisment while workers all over the planet have stood up for basic entitlements. Reflect on the plight of people who have suffered draughts and famine, civil war and violence, earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear meltdowns. Think about the people who have lost their homes and livlihoods, their loved ones.  2011 has been a very hard year for many people and when we clink glasses tonight to toast in the new year, let’s also give a thought to our brothers and sisters around the world who’ve been forced to be so brave. Let’s hope 2012 brings happier days.

images via Remodelista

Toast Christmas

Ian Shrager hotel Chicago

painted logs

happy Christmas

fa la la la la la la la la

speckles and splatters

There is something so charming about speckled and splattered surfaces. Jackson Pollack’s free spirited canvases may have been wrought from a tortured soul,  but are somehow life affirming and joyous.

Ralph Lauren’s speckled wallpaper will add Pollack-esque expressionism to any interior.

I’ve recently discovered Texas Ware – a confetti splattered melamine of the 1950s. You can find pieces on eBay.

Little jug with pitted surface from Timothy Langston.  

So tangerine is the colour of 2011 according to the trendsetters and style dictators. I like the colour in small doses. A splash of orange in an otherwise neutral setting adds pinache and warmth.  Too much can be overkill.

This little ‘farmer’s basket’ in tangerine is available from Anthropologie and can add a nice ‘fashion’ touch to your kitchen.

a tangerine coloured sake cup

If you want to go the full hog – stick to one wall in an otherwise monochrome space like this bathroom.

Or try a tangerine lino floor as seen in the kitchen of  maternitywear designer Baukjen de Swaan Arons who founded the company Isabella Oliver.