Sweet, Sweet Galaxy by Pip & Pop

I was walking around Bury St Edmunds on Saturday morning and thought I would pop into the local Art Gallery Smith's Row. They currently have an exhibition by Pip & Pop the collaboration alias of Australian artists Tanya Schultz, Nicole Andrijevic and John Kassab. It is their first Major British show and is an installation of a psychedelic landscape, made entirely of sugar, cake decorations, origami and sound. I've never seen such a popular exhibition at this gallery and kids seemed to love it. Even I was loving it, it reminded me of those neon coloured harashuku girls from Japan. The music was a magical mix of electronic and xylophone sounds which created an other world feel. If you want to introduce your children to art I suggest to take them to see this work.

The entire installation took them 14 days to create and the 700kg of sugar used was donated by Silverspoon who have a large sugar factory on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds. The sugar used in the exhibition was grown an average of 30 miles away, as Silverspoon are the sole produces of homegrown British sugar and supports 1200 East Anglian Beet farmers.

The Ercol Love Seat

This is possibly my favourite piece of furniture ever made. Ercol launched this love seat in 1954 using the same steam-bent wood techniques used on their Windsor range, it was re-launched in 2009 and is available to buy from Barker & Stonehouse, The Lollipop Shop, and Twenty Twenty One. With an Elm seat and Beech legs, it comes in a range of the traditional finishes at Barker and Stonehouse whereas The Lollipop Shop and Twenty Twenty One offer it with a clear or black lacquered finish (as seen below)

(image from gdlaneinteriors)

I already own an Ercol Windsor table and my mum has kindly let me borrow two of her Quaker chairs which all have the clear lacquer which I love, but there is something about the black that is just so appealing on this shape. It would look great as a statement piece in a long wide hallway with a lone brightly retro patterned cushion as shown above.

As part of their 90th anniversary celebrations Ercol have also launched a clear lacquered version with a cobalt blue spray effect.

(Image from Ercol)

Vintage Storage

I was flicking through a Pedlars catalogue last night and it got me thinking about Vintage Storage. I love the idea of having some long slim drawer units with industrial handles, the kind you would find in an old museum or library. Pedlars happen to have a vintage selection on their website which includes these two fantastic industrial drawer units. They would both look great in a hallway, and just think of all the extra space to hide things away!

(Images from Pedlars)

They also have these old American Vintage Shoe Factory Template Storage Boxes, which could make great In trays or even just somewhere to put your post.

(Image from Pedlars)

The Old Cinema, a vintage/retro antiques shop based on Chiswick High Road in London, also has a selection of drawer units. The one below was an old Haberdasher Cabinet, I've previously seen these used in homes as an alternative to a chest of drawers or even as shoe storage. The advantage of using it for shoes would be you can double it up as a display cabinet, making a piece of art out of the everyday!

(Image from The Old Cinema)

John Lewis Seed Head Fabric

My mum is a bit of an ebay fanatic, but her habit does occasionally have its uses. She recently gave me a couple of metres of this wonderful Lucien Day inspired John Lewis Seed Head upholstery fabric, that she had managed to get very cheap. I have an old leather Chesterfield sofa that has two fabric seat cushions, currently covered in a hideous fabric from my student days, what was I thinking! However, this fabric would look perfect on the cushions. The image below shows the fabric made up into a cushion, maybe if I have any left over I could do some of those too!

(Image from Etsy)

Unfortunately this colourway is no longer available from John Lewis but they are doing it in 'Steel' and 'Putty' as seen below respectively.

(Images from John Lewis)

White Furniture

With the current trend for classic white and pale wood becoming increasingly noticeable on the high street,  I noticed while flicking through the February issue of Elle Decoration this beautiful 60's inspired 'Colinton' chair and footstool available from Laura Ashley. I'm not usually a fan of Laura Ashley products but their furniture is definitely going up a notch in the design stakes.

(Image from Elle Decoration)

Talking of white furniture I'm also in love with the Farringdon laptop desk designed by Leonhard Pfeifer available from John Lewis. It's simple and elegant lines are no doubt going to make it a design classic in the future. It even looks good with clutter on it, mind you even the clutter in this photo looks stylish. I'm not sure I'd be able to keep it looking like that!

As you can see from both photos the feature was about whites and pale woods with a hint of citrus. This monochrome palette looks especially great with a splash of acid colour.

(Image from Elle Decoration)

Ingela Arrhenius Nesting Circus Dolls

I noticed these fantastic circus themed nesting dolls in the recent issue of Elle Decoration. They have been created by Swedish Designer, Ingela Arrhenius and each set consists of five figures including the Lion Tamer, Lion and Clown. They are available to buy from a wonderful Scandinavian design website Hus & Hem. These would make a great present for children, in fact they would also make a great gift for adults too. Most people would know the designer for her greeting card designs for Lagom Design.

(image from Hus & Hem)

Top Drawer continued...

The reason for my visit to Top Drawer was that I happened to be putting up and taking down the stand for the greetings card company I work for. While I was there I got chance to have a look around and check out some of the other companies exhibiting. Below is a round up of my favourites.

Snowden Flood a London based interiors accessories designer had some wonderful tea towels on display.

(Images from Snowden Flood)

arytrays is a swedish manufacturer of a huge selection of birch wood trays displaying everything from London Transport symbols to pretty florals. There is literally something for every taste.

(Images from arytrays)

I have previously posted about Mibo a lighting and homewares company based in Hove. They have added to their collection of paper animals with Forest Friends and The Yolk Folk (the latter being perfect for a kid's craft project over Easter).

(Images from Mibo)

Lush Designs produce a wonderful array of Lampshade designs, the illustrations are so fantastical especially the Foxy design.

(Image from Lush Designs)

I have been a massive fan of Michelle Mason ever since she created her Stella felt Rug which was shortlisted for the Homes & Gardens Classic Design Award in 2009. At Top Drawer she was also exhibiting her accessories range which featured lovely illustrations of London life.

(Images from Michelle Mason)

 Last but certainly not least is Hello Geronimo, apart from the fab name, their button artwork really caught my eye. They are really striking and something completely different whether in frames or attached to cushions.

(Images from hello geronimo)

Top Drawer

Just wanted to make a quick post about Top Drawer which I visited on Tuesday. I will give a more detailed post tomorrow but wanted to share this wonderful vintage ice cream van that they had in the Trends Area. How pretty is that!

(Apologies for the poor quality, the photo was taken on my phone)

Marrakech

My mother, who is looking to go on holiday to Marrakesh, asked me if I could recommend anywhere in particular to stay. I have previously visited Marrakesh twice, once on a 3 month tour of Europe and the other for a friends wedding. Both times we stayed in the Riad Al Jazira a beautiful courtyard hotel in the centre of the city. I started to research some other places to recommend and came across the p'tit Habibi.
This wonderful B&B is owned by Norwegians, who have brought a bit of Scandinavian design to the Riads interiors. There are 4 rooms in total all styled slightly differently but all equally beautiful.

(Images from p'tit Habibi)

If you fancy taking a trip to Morocco, visit the Mr and Mrs Smith website who have a huge selection of accommodation ideas for all budgets.

Isokon Penguin Donkey

Just a quick note to show you my new object of lust. Clearly I'm a bit mad to get so excited about a piece of furniture, but I don't care because It's gorgeous. Below are the Isokon Penguin Donkey and Penguin Donkey 2 designed by Ernest Race in 1939 and 1963 respectively. Personally I prefer the Donkey 2 which is white with solid Cherry legs. It's sooooo simple and beautiful and definitely the chicest way to display your magazines and books. Yet another thing to add to the wish list.

(Images from Isokon Plus)

M&S Spring Hues Range

More updates on the M&S Spring Hues range that I wrote about back in early December. This rug is part of the brightly coloured and floral new range. The pattern and colours would brighten up any home and all at a snip of the price of the alternative options at  The Rug Company.

(Image from Living Etc)

Pretty Prints

I was flicking through the February issue of Elle Decoration and on their 'buy of the month' page they had this gorgeous print by Rifle Paper Co available from Papermash.

(Image from Papermash)

It's only £20 and would make a lovely Valentine's day pressie, maybe I should subtly suggest it to the hubby!

I was also taking a look at prints on notonthehighstreet and noticed these very pretty butterfly artworks by Lolly & Boo. I realise I am just reinforcing my obsession with butterflies, but I was thinking I could have a go at making something similar. In fact this will be my next project! I'll post the results to let you know how I get on.

(Image from notonthehighstreet)

New Year in London

While we were in London my husband and I decided to do something cultural. We went to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum. The winner of the Young Wildlife Photographer of the year went to a boy called Fergus Gill. He has won previously and for such a young age shows even the experts how it's done. Below is his winning piece titled the frozen moment.

(Image Natural History Museum)

We also took a trip down the Kings Road, I love shopping here it's got pretty much every shop you need plus a John Lewis which is always useful. We popped into Heal's and I persuaded my husband that we needed a new utensils pot, and low and behold we ended up getting the one from the Orla Kiely House range, what a surprise?. We also managed to get it at a discount price as it was the display model, well if you don't ask you don't get!

We also went to Anthropologie. I absolutely love this store, ever since I visited the ones in New York. I had previously bought these bowls in America but decided to add a third to the collection. They make beautiful serving bowls especially when grouped together.

(Images Anthropologie and Decor8)

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and wonderful New Year. My husband and I spent New Years in London with friends which was fairly civilised until we went to bed at about 4.30am. We slept until one in the afternoon the next day, I haven't done that since I was a student. Maybe I'm not getting old yet then!

Apologies for it being so long since my last blog, Christmas and New years kind of took over. I have also just started one of my new years resolutions - getting fit! I am now a fully fledged member of a gym and even have a plan of action from a instructor that gets reviewed every 6 weeks. I went through the whole embarrassing process of being weighed, but not on your average scales oh no! This contraption told them my BMI, my skeletal muscle and fat percentages. I was average on most apart from my skeletal muscle which is apparently the muscle around your bones, so they have developed a routine that should increase this. So I know have written evidence that I'm a weakling, oh well! Completed my first week last week and feel very proud of myself, as well as doing the suggested sessions I've joined a Body Balance class (think a cross between Pilates, Yoga and Thai Chi) and done a few swimming sessions. I just need to keep it up which is always the hard part.

One of my other resolutions is to see friends more this year. I don't think this will be difficult as I will have a 30th party to go to every month for the next six or seven months!

I'm also trying to stop biting my nails as a resolution but that's not going too well at the moment, maybe I should just get some fake ones and have done with it!