My arid August brain was planning to make this a quickie round-up of good things I’ve seen this week that I felt were worth mentioning, but then it started sprawling in different directions, which I suppose is what happens when there’s no word count… So now I present you with a somewhat more meandering but cosy offering for the weekend.
First of all, I tasked myself with finding a few ideas for things to hang on your walls, avoiding the weird world of AI-ish fake-looking posters which seem to be everywhere; Do you know the ones I mean? Often a suspicious-looking ‘Matisse’ or a colourful illustration of a miscellaneous city flower market… It can be a minefield. While you can’t really go wrong, framing anything you love from a restaurant menu to holiday pics, here are some other thoughts.
Museums digitising their collections is a real bonus of the internet and what a resource the Smithsonian Archives are - This for example and many more antique textiles and beautiful designs for textiles are free to download as high resolution tiff files. If you then send the file to an art printer such as Panopus, they will print it onto a heavy, textured paper for framing. I would leave the raw edge of the textile visible and make this part of the image - even if it ends up small-ish in the middle of a page - See my mock ups below. Just search ‘Printed Textiles’, or ‘Embroidered Textiles’ and they all come up!
I have a few small prints from Lauri Hopkins who make deceptively simple and pleasingly graphic collages from old book covers and bindings. The originals are worth every penny, if however you love her style but are small-of-purse, then she has made some prints for Peloton which are great - This is a fave (This will be the only time I visit the Peloton website).
A great one for any rose-lovers and especially after the very sad passing of David Austin this summer. Photographer Luke Stephenson spent two summers at DA HQ recording many and varied blooms to create this - Roses Poster. He says ‘The English rose is an iconic symbol of the British isles that evokes royalty, war and beautiful women - a potent combination.’ So true! (While on subject of Roses, I finally watched the film last night with Olivia Coleman and Benedict Cumberbatch - loved it until 3/4 way through, then it went a bit sour, which I know is entirely the point… But what a great script!)
Back on subject - Real vintage posters don’t need to cost the earth. Mourlot Editions have some good options (filter by price) - I love this and this. King and McGraw also sell vintage prints - I have this Hockney in my office, it looks so pleasing with my red lino-topped desk, green chair and red/green desk lamp.
Scribble & Daub - The Charleston Collection - A set of 10 very pretty letterpress and hand-painted cards for £75 inspired by the gardens at Charleston House. Why not frame them all in these simple glass clip-frames for £12.50? Please share a pic if you do this! I’d love to see. Depending on space in-between each pic, the whole arrangement would measure around 45 x 30cm, or you could of course use bigger frames to cover more space.
Mrs Benn is a vintage website worth keeping your eye on, I bought my green desk chair from her and the collection of stripy silk Japanese obi belts in my London flat. Currently she has these Japanese Cushions and these excellent red bentwood and metal chairs, I really recommend checking in online now and again because she has a great eye.
Zara Home x Katharine Pole - Now I have very little time for Zara, but a huge amount of time for Katharine Pole, who is a brilliant antique textile dealer, so I did feel a frisson of excitement at this collaboration. There are some really lovely pieces which have all been created using reproductions of fabrics from Katharine’s archives. No, they don’t have the magic of the originals - but they didn’t make printed duvet covers and pillowcases in 18th century France so I am prepared to make an exception.
If you are interested in beautiful textiles, like Katharine’s then you will like this big book Chintz which catalogues the very impressive collection of Indian printed textiles amassed by Karun Thakar. One of of the things I especially love about this book is the scale of the photography; Fragments are blown-up in size so we can see in exquisite detail the pigment, the design and even the weave of the cotton. Currently touring Japan, this whole collection is coming to the V&A for an exhibition in Autumn 2027, a big hurray from me and my block-print loving friends.
Tiny bedside tables are not for me, but I fully appreciate that many people don’t have space for a big one. If this is you, then I’d opt for some compact wall-mounted storage and with a wall light above so you’re not suffocating the space with too many cables and table legs. If you do have space, then Nix Harding’s excellent table design sits in the perfect middle ground of just right. No it’s not the cheapest, but if you’re on the hunt and want to invest a little more, then it’s a really solid goody. Have you also seen this whimsical creation from Cote de Folk for your bedside set-up? Their image also shows you what I mean about the bedside shelf/wall-light scenario, albeit on a tiny scale. I’d never really looked at Sezane’s home offerings, and honestly there’s not much to see yet, but these Bolero wall-sconces could look v smart either side of a bed, and their simple design, while lovely as is, would also make a good base for some decorative fun. I’d be tempted to paint something around it on the wall behind.
I love iron beds, but not the ones that aren’t weighty enough (IKEA, yes, I’m looking at you) They sort of look the part, but up close they’re flimsy and have join lines like a Kinder Egg. The Original Bed Company have been around for years and their beds are reassuringly heavy but without the squeaky bedsprings - I love this and this one which is very like one we had when I was little. They also do proper old brass beds, if autumn has you feeling a bit patchwork quilt/Brambley Hedge
Off to London this weekend! Looking forward to dropping in at the new cafe Cremer which is next to the Geffrye Museum, a space which does the opposite of Gails (although I do love Gails, sorry!) but as interiors go, Cremer is a true meeting of the creatively like-minded. Designed by Oscar Piccolo, this curated space features work from a coterie of designer-makers who were tasked with every inch of the interior, from hand-woven textiles to the seating, shelving and paintings.
And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for… The Next Big Thing! Get it while it’s nice and hot! Well, actually it’s quite heritage/architectural, so it’s probably more a case of waiting for the right project, but you are going to be seeing more of this in some beautiful interiors near you soon, it’s plasterwork, but not as you’ve seen it before.
Architectural plasterwork has always been a thing, but now it’s moving away from traditional reproductions to something much more imaginative, whimsical and folky rendered in lime-plaster and gypsum. Creations that feel pulled from the pages of fairy tales are popping up in the homes of Luke Edward Hall and Duncan Campbell who have commissioned Viola Lanari and Melloney Harvey of MeVi Minerals to decorate a vast fireplace in their Cornish house from plaster adorned with the Kraken! (No pics yet as it’s literally in process) The eternally creative Lulu Guinness has beautifully decorative cupboard doors and a simple, geometric fireplace at home by Esme Walker, and my final piece of evidence! In process is this very charming plaster hood in a project by clever Victoria of Studio Faeger. Pretty dreamy.
Have a great weekend all! P.S - I have recorded the audio for this in my own voice, which I hope is better than the slightly humourless AI option. I can’t believe it’s almost 10 minutes long!
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