1- For your: house, home, apartment, flat, bungalow or chateau
2- Home Interior Trends curated by Claire Phillips-Stanford
3- Recognising talented folk & featuring exceptional goods
4- This blog is dedicated to design devotees everywhere
5- The shop: www.springsummerautumnwinter.co.uk
Pulse, London 2012: Series 1
Concrete Wallpaper, by Piet Boon for NLXL.
Following on from the major success of Piet Hein Eek’s Scrapwood Wallpaper NLXL have collaborated with Piet Boon launching the Concrete Series this season. The great thing about this wallpaper aside from the subtle sophistication of the design is that if your walls are uneven they are masked instantly with the irregular pattern formation. Use on walls and ceilings for affordable, long lasting definitive style.
PULSE:
1- 600 exhibitors
2- Home & Gift
3- 160 young designers at Launchpad.
2- Location: Earls Court London
Showstopper: Memory of Falmouth by Takae Mituzani
S/S/A/W: loves this very simple salt and pepper shaker inspired by the Cornish coastline. This slots perfectly into the seafaring trend that was the most consistent themes of the show. (More on this in Series 2)
Childhood: S/S/A/W was on a mission to uncover some showstoppers and found these two beauties. The products play with the consistently popular retro theme for children’s rooms. LADP showed the Offside Coat Rack designed by Greenworks, inspired by the classic tabletop game and Lapin and Me displayed the vintage style hand painted lamps Baby Rabbit Night Lamps. Top of my list for junior home and gift.
‘WOW’ (without wires) speaker, Kakkoii
DETAIL: WOW is a crusader for a new world without wires, plugging or docking. Small in size and big on sound, the speaker wirelessly streams music from any Bluetooth-enabled device like your iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, iPad or laptop. It can be recharged over and over again so no need for batteries. It comes in 5 colours is rubber durable with a rubber housing. Having experienced the quality and unexpected volume this is one item I am adding to my wishlist, the white one.
Series 2 tomorrow.
Clerkenwell Design Week 2012: No. 2
LAUNCH: G&T
Bethan Gray and Thomas Turner’s highly anticipated collection was unveiled to the design world at the Farmiloe Building during Clerkenwell Design Week. Bethan is one of the UK’S most fêted and award winning designers, and Thomas a respected furniture developer. Both worked alongside each other at Habitat and felt that their skills would be a perfect match, Bethan design and Thomas business. This decision looks set to reap dividends as they pretty much sold out of everything at the show. The collection mixes timeless materials with intricate craft based techniques to form the finest contemporary furniture pieces.
STYLING: try this look at home
In keeping with the laid back atmosphere inside the Farmiloe Building the illustrations at Etsy were simply but poignantly styled. Simple is not always easy to facilitate in design; it can be a difficult option for those who don’t know quite when to stop. Could it get much easier though? Fill the boxes with show products, empty and build the display. Love the bulldog clips holding the boxes together. Well done to the stylist whoever you are?
Narrative Wallpaper
Sian Zeng is a versatile textile designer producing a range of interesting homewares. The allover wallpaper patterns such as the ‘Woodland’ (see above) caught my eye, what makes them noteworthy is that they are magnetic and come alive with the array of magnets supplied with the roll. Alongside this range I discovered Sian produces other home products and gifts, I found this bear, perfect for the discerning parent and the creative child, a hit.
TREND / PIXEL: Preen featured pixel prints mixed with lace for S/S 2012 and not surprisingly there has been a resurgence of the ever-popular pattern.
Play with the look in your child’s room using the Ixxi system and personalise a wall with your own custom printed design. Take a look at the website for idea inspiration as this method has endless possibilities and can be used in most rooms. www.ixxi.nu I would recommend the addition of a Zuzunaga cushion to balance the print and complete the trend. www.cristianzuzunaga.com
I didn’t think that I would be posting dolls on my site until I discovered Sarah Strachan who produces undeniably some of the of the finest modern examples I have seen. What I love is the fact that the textile prints are hand painted and she reproduces classic designs by the one and only Lucienne Day. So much time is spent executing the 50’s and 60’s refined dolls and they definitely merit £85 price tag.
www.sarahstrachan.com
