Many Treats To Be Had

 ceramics, colour, decorative, Designer-Maker, homewares, inspirational, interiors, nice things, product design, shopping, shops  2 Responses »
Apr 122013
 

NYC Shopping Many Treats To Be Had

I was pretty restrained on my recent trip to New York despite the many treats to be had. The choice was out of my hands. I had to be. I’m soon to be moving home and property in London isn’t cheap. Needless to say, the mortgage company would not be sympathetic to my pleas and tales of cushion-love in NYC, however lovely it was, so, well-behaved I was. This doesn’t mean that I don’t sit here at my desk and dream. I confess, the Cole Haan shoes and the birdie letter opener came home with me, but then they don’t count, as they both fall under the ‘practical’ category. For future reference (for myself and any one who fancies treating a hard-working Finch), here are my top nine shopping treats from the great city across the pond.

1.) Gramercy Oxfords in nubuck rooftop and sunlight, $198, Cole Haan, 2.) stone house door stop, $31.90, West Elm, 3.) Petrie armchair in fawn, $2,199, Crate And Barrel, 4.) Petrie ottoman in fawn, $1,248.75, Crate And Barrel, 5.) birdie letter opener, $12, MOMA, 6.) Dauville gold glazed bowls, from $11, Canvas, 7.) Map of New York decorative sheet, by Charles Lahti, $20, Kate’s Paperie, 8.) porcelain pitchers by Ryota Aoki, from $148, The Future Perfect, 9.) Acciaio dining chair, designed by Max Lipsy, $1,500, Matter

Ode To The Moon

 Art, colour, craft, decorative, Designer-Maker, exhibitions, fun things, homewares, inspirational, interiors, nice things, pattern, product design, shopping, surfaces  No Responses »
Apr 102013
 

Moonish 1977 Ode To The Moon

sunspots Ode To The Moon

Moonish music Ode To The Moon

One of my highlights of New York’s Architectural Digest Home Design Show, which I attended as part of Modenus’ BlogTourNYC, was this stand showing the work of Brooklyn-based designer-maker company, Moonish. Marine-grade plywood is dyed, silk-screen printed and cut down into 6″sq tiles with magnetic backing. The wood grain is visible through the dye, allowing for the natural qualities to show, giving the decorative tiles a warmth not usually associated with their ceramic cousins. Their application also differs, no messy grouting required here, this wall treatment is purely magnetic. Allowing design flexibility and a freedom from the usual constraints of surface decorations, you can chop and change as often as you rotate your footwear, should you wish. This also makes them reusable, a detail that is rapidly becoming the most attractive USP a product can have, in an age of economic and environmental uncertainty. All of these positive pointers and we haven’t even got on to how good looking these little wooden squares are. Well, I don’t really need to say anything, they do all that’s necessary for themselves. Just look at them! And if you tire of diamonds, change it to chevrons, …if you bore of chevrons, …change to diamonds. So much to love, so little time (such good colours too). Go get them.

From top to bottom: ’1977′, ‘Sunspots’ and ‘Music’ designs.

Yes, The Future IS Perfect

 ceramics, craft, decorative, Designer-Maker, homewares, interiors, lighting, nice things, product design, shopping, shops  No Responses »
Apr 092013
 

Future Perfect Yes, The Future IS Perfect

On a recommended tip by a now-native New Yorker (thank you, Liz!), I made sure that I fitted a trip to The Future Perfect in Manhattan. It wasn’t a venture wasted. In amongst a good list of interiors stores in the SoHo/ Nolita area, this by far was my favourite design shop, and the closest to my own personal taste. Nicely laid out, there were little treats to be discovered in all corners of the store, from well-known companies to lesser-known designer-makers. It was also nice to see a large range of products from my own London favourite, SCP (and no shortage of Donna Wilson‘s knitted delights). Royelyn (the shop attendant) indulged me a small tour of my favourite goodies, and also a discussion on slang and the linguistic differences between Brooklyn, Manhattan and London. Good times. Here are my top 9 items (international shipping available).

1.) Reunion bowl, by Pieke Bergman, $165, 2.) Mirror standing shelf, by Garth Roberts, £3,650, (this is far more amazing in person than you can see from the photos. It’s gorgeous), 3.) Bluff City pendant light, £750, 4.) Moon Dance Rug Small, Domestic Construction, $63 (sale price), 5.) Watering Can, Copper, Paul Loebach, $99 (available from May), 6.) Facet Bowl, by Piet Hein Eek, $956, 7.) Tree Trunk Chair in Green Velours, by Piet Hein Eek, $2,858, 8.) Crescent Brass Bottle Opener, by Oji Masanori, $60, 9.) Glacier Double Old-Fashioned Glass, Purple, for Artel by David Wiseman, $439

BlogTourNYC: No.4

 Art, ceramics, collaborations, colour, decorative, Designer-Maker, fun things, homewares, interiors, product design, shopping, shops  No Responses »
Apr 042013
 

No4 BlogTourNYC: No.4

1.) Bespoke Global: bringing artists and craftfolk’s work to the fore. Facilitating communication and encouraging non-high street retail. 2.) the fantastically cheerful carpet in the reception of the Fab headquarters, 3.) Du Verre‘s ‘Rise’ cabinet handle by Christopher Smith of East Main Design (available in three finishes and 4 sizes), 4.) a selection of Prehistoric stone bracelets on stands, just a few of the many treasures on sale at interior designer, Vicente Wolf‘s showroom, 5.) Pomegranate cabinet handle, in satin brass, by metalsmith designer, Heinz Pfleger, sold by Du Verre (available in different finishes and sizes), 6.) a detail in the corner of the Fab photographic studio. Lovely colours.

With many thanks to all the Modenus‘ BlogtourNYC sponsors: Miele, Mr Steam, Silestone by Cosentino, Blanco, Poggenpohl, Du Verre, Barber Wilsons, NKBA, Jenn Air, Victoria + Albert Baths

The Reds, Whites and Blues

 colour, decorating, fun things, inspirational, interiors, shopping  No Responses »
Mar 132013
 

The Reds Whites and Blues The Reds, Whites and Blues

It just so patriotic on here today. Next, they’ll be offering me residency. I’m doing a little American week, as we’re now just under a week away until I fly stateside for BlogTourNYC. The nerves are mounting, the mind has turned to mentally packing and repacking, I’m checking the weather and making sure I know the language. Kidding. I think I may need to turn down the Cockney sparra’, otherwise I may well be repeating myself. Anyway, It’s been a while since I did a paint post, so it was ripe for the picking. The American dream is red, white and blue, and if you’re brave enough, here are a mix of UK paint sellers offering up some of my favourite of the well-known hues. If we could all be standing, let’s hear it for the land of the free, home of the brave.

1.) No Moral Value, £36, Colour Makes People Happy, 2.) Sarong by B&Q Colours, £14.98, B&Q, 3.) Zoffany’s Architect’s White, £35, Designer Paint, 4.) Gauze (106), £32.50, Little Greene, 5.) Isle of White, £19.50, Graham & Brown, 6.) Burn after Painting, £36, Colour Makes People Happy, 7.) Drawing Room Blue No. 253, £34.50, Farrow & Ball, 8.) Cinnabar Red, £31.50, Fired Earth, 9.) Very Well Read, £POA, Paint Library

All prices for 2.5lts tin of matt emulsion

Adventures In Areaware

 Art, collaborations, decorative, fun things, homewares, nice things, organisational, product design, shopping  3 Responses »
Mar 122013
 

Areaware Adventures In Areaware

Kicking off the rapidly-approaching New York season which sees me jetting off to join this year’s BlogTourNYC, is a blog post on Areaware. It seems serendipitous that I came across a very satisfying tape dispenser in the Barbican’s shop (as part of the The Bride and the Bachelors exhibition) which happens to have made its way across the seas from the city I’m going to next Tuesday, to find a new home on our little island. With a polished grey concrete base and a wooden reel to hold the tape, this nice piece of office desk-ware really puts its cousins to shame, in all of their plastic-nastiness. Its charm led me to venture a gandering at Areaware’s other products, and disappointed I wasn’t. A nicely curated website with lots of collaborations with excellent product designers. Here are my top 7 products.

1. Concrete Desk Set, Designer: Magnus Pettersen, $60, 2.) C’Mere Hand Hook, Designer Harry Allen, material: Resin and Marble, $65, 3.) Cargo Container, Designer: Daniel Ballou, material: Ceramic, $30, 4.) Brush Vase, Designer: Harry Allen, material: Resin and Marble, $110, 5.) Little Distortion #2, Designer: Paul Loebach, material: Resin and Marble, $18, 6.) Dinner Plates Set of 4, Designer: Jason Miller, material: Porcelain, $130, 7.) Star Spangled Spatula, Designer: Jacob Riley-Wasserman, material: Nylon Resin, $12

Alley-Oop

 Art, collaborations, colour, decorative, events, fun things, homewares, inspirational, interiors, nice things, shopping, shops  No Responses »
Mar 082013
 

Alley Oop Alley Oop

I saw this on It’s Nice That and liked it so much that I thought I’d feature it here too. It’s a collaboration between furniture maker, Eric Trine, and designer and illustrator, Will Bryant. Now, I’d not heard of either (sorry) so I’m rather delighted to have two new people’s work to investigate, especially looking at how super these photos are. Cracking chalky-pastel coloured geometric furniture in 80s album sleeve style set ups. Beeeouuuutiful. Alley Oop is actually a curated exhibition set up of items (which are all for sale), in downtown LA shop, Poketo, possibly a little bit too far to visit during one’s lunchbreak unless you’re in sun-drenched California, so you’ll just have to get your fix from these photos.

Into The Pink We Go

 ceramics, colour, decorative, homewares, interiors, nice things, shopping, shops  2 Responses »
Feb 062013
 

pastel pink Into The Pink We Go

This is not baby pink, oh no. And from hence forth, it shall never be referred to in that derogatory term, for at long last the pastel pink fights back from its corner of where it was damned eternally to be subjected to much sneering and be covered in regurgitated baby food. And I’m surprised for I am welcoming it, with a degree of open-armed behaviour. Maybe without such a nice array of projects, it might not have got so far, but with the continuing trend of pastel homewares, pink is definitely regaining ground in the cool stakes. This by no means, means that you can all run out straight away and smother the entire house in this delicate hue, no, proceed with the same amount of caution you would when dealing with any turbulent colour, but twinned with a good strong neutral colour to balance out its saccharinely-sweet potential and you’ll be onto a winner.

1.) Montana shelving units, £POA, 2.) House of Money money box in coral, €31, Ferm Living, 3.) Visu Colour chair in rose, £199, TwentyTwentyOne, 4.) Louise bust in old pink by Cire Trudon, £80, Selfridges, 5.) 100% linen cushion in deauville mauve, £32 (available in early March), Cox & Cox, 6.) Je T’Aime tote bag, £12, Hunkydory Home, 7.) The Pastel Vintage bouquet, from £60, Wild at Heart, 8.) Dulux’s Rock Candy 4, £POA, available from all good trade shops, 9.) Patisserie in Reves glazed tile, £2.99 per tile, Fired Earth

Pastel Porcelain Nordic Fancies

 colour, homewares, kitchen, nice things, product design, shopping, shops  2 Responses »
Jan 302013
 

Casalinga Pastel Porcelain Nordic Fancies

Pastels need not be wishy-washy or insipid, and thank Christ for that. I would never have put myself down as a pastel-lover, especially not in pink and blue, but these instantly spoke directly to my cold, hardened old heart. They’re pure, rather than my preferred dirty pastels but still, there’s something strong and striking about these bad boys. Beautifully shot, the combination of colours featured in the two photographs above really play up their strengths and make the whole range most desirable. Designed by Trine Weng for Danish ceramics company, Casalinga, this latest addition to their portfolio is nicely in-keeping with their other designs so you could happily add them to any of their products that you might already own. But rest assured, you won’t need to venture north to get them, our favourite London-based Scandinavian online store, Nordic Elements, stock them (coming soon). Hip, hip, hooray!

New Stoneware ‘Mezzo’ series (Mint, White, Rose)

Cup £11.50
Bowl £17.25
Breakfast/Lunch Plate £17.25

Sugar Bowl £23.00
Milk Jug £23.00

It’s All In The Mix

 homewares, kitchen, nice things, product design, shopping  No Responses »
Jan 292013
 

mixer Its All In The Mix

I have discovered, in the last couple of years, that not only do I really enjoy cooking but I enjoy baking too, and now I find that I spend an inordinate amount of time looking and cooing over various tools and machines that ease one’s pilgrimage to perfect egg white peaks. My fervoured lusting after a food mixer has not been dampened by my watching of the popular Great British Bake Off series which seems a number of beautiful kitchenwares on display and has us all reaching for our aprons. But it’s about time that we made our way back into our kitchens, they have long sat underused and overlooked for the ease of packaged ready-made goods and takeaways, and if nice, spangly machines help us to re-embrace cooking from scratch then I’m all for it.

1.) Assistent AKM6120PG Stand Mixer, Pea Green (other colours available), £575, John Lewis, 2.) Kenwood K-Mix KMX51, Raspberry Red (other colours available), around £379.99, Kenwood, 3.) Bosch MUM46A1GB Food Processor, (other colours available), sale price £124.75, Sainsbury’s, 4.) Tefal Kitchen Machine QA401, sale price £199.99, Home & Cook, 5.) KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer, Cream (other colours available), £429, House of Fraser, 6.) Bistro Electric stand mixer, 4.7 l, Lime green (other colours available), £399, Bodum, 7.) Breville VFP040, RRP £105, Amazon

pixel Its All In The Mix
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