Just to recap, I spent the weekend in Lille’s one-yearly city-wide flea market. It’s part car boot sale, part festival, with every cafe and bar setting up tables outside to feed hungry shoppers the traditional moules frites.

Imagine if you will the temptations on offer when every street in the city centre is lined with stalls selling assorted old stuff, thus:

Last year I got carried away, and bought a gorgeous 50s coffee table quite early on, and had to carry it, cradled in my arms, through the crowds all day. This year I was wiser, and bought only the following four essentials. The milk pan at the bottom has since been cleaned.

The Shining

The first time I ever saw The Shining I was babysitting, and I was so scared I had to go to bed rather than watch the end. The image that stayed in my mind was of the little boy peddling his tricycle over miles of garish geo-print carpet.   I love the films of Stanley […]

Flea frenzy

We’ve got some half priced cracked ice And miles and miles of carpet tiles TV’s, deep freeze and David Bowie LP’s Pool games, gold chains, wosnames And at a push Some Trevor Francis tracksuits… Decorator’s Notebook and I have just returned from a great weekend of bargain hunting in Lille’s city-wide car boot sale, La […]

Design classic dismissed: Egg chair

Last time I asked for nominations of design classics that disgust you, and I got one from our friend at Decorator’s Notebook. Skandi-snobs may want to look away now. Opening with the version above is perhaps a little unfair, as it is obviously totally gross. However, Decorator’s Notebook nominated Arne Jacobsen’s iconic Egg Chair for […]

Round Britain squiz

It’s always great when you stagger into a new blog or website that you realize is going to keep you occupied for hours. And this one is too fascinating not to share. It’s I Like, a travelogue by Glaswegian, Annie, documenting her trips across the UK to visit obscure museums, faded seaside towns, classic cafes […]