About a year ago I went to an Ikea-sponsored panel discussion on the future of the kitchen in an age of dwindling resources. Fuelled by free booze and an open invite to the public, the event descended into glorious chaos as the hoi-palloi (not, to my shame, us journalists) loudly took issue with the ‘less is fun’ posturings of the very privileged designers and pundits on the panel. An honorable mention should go to Babs Chandler for crying dramatically “One could drown in a sea of self-responsibility!” in response to self-righteous TV architect’s assertion that we should all be investing in £20,000 bio-fuel boilers.

What infuriated me was well-to-do designers talking about design-led solutions, but not having any to suggest. So I was interested to read a piece in The G about this experimental kitchen concept by Philips. It’s a kitchen in which the central component is a bio-digester kitchen island. Is this sort of thing the future? I don’t know, but I like the idea of low-tech solutions. Recent design-graduate Christoph Thetard has created this hand-powered coffee grinder, food processor and blender.

And look at this! An electricity-free fridge on Toot As In Foot’s house boat. See here for her simple explanation of how it works.

For a more fulsome piece about how all this might be altering the dominant kitchen design aesthetic of the last 20 years for something a bit more homespun, check out The Guardian, here.

Food corner

Despite being thursday, I was rather grandly cooking from this John Pawson / Annie Bell recipe book last night. Photographed inside JP’s own iconic house and including shots of Monsieur hanging around in khaki slacks and a white shirt, the book is meant to be an everyday guide, but I usually dig it out when I need […]

Greek chic

I was thinking about images of rooms I’ve really loved, and this one sprang to mind. Although there’s not much to see, it’s so atmospheric and makes me just want to be there. Used as the back cover for Leonard Cohen’s 2nd album Songs From A Room, it’s a photograph of his then girlfriend Marianne […]

Lilly’s Lightbox Company

London-based Berliner Felicia Strehmel makes lighboxes out of reclaimed chests of drawers with photo slides of her own manipulated images. On her website, she states that she’s an amateur photographer, but in the context of her work this seems irrelevant – it’s inventive upcycling  and great affordable art. This one pairs a 1940’s oak drawer […]

Oh for some peace

Just back from a quick trip to Cornwall, where I watched an sunset on Godrevy beach. Made me hanker for a bit more quiet beach time, preferably here:   Isn’t it amazing? It sleeps two, is near Bude, and can be rented through Unique Home Stays. Even in late November I’d happily pack a hot […]