My friend Meg sent me a link to this short film a little while ago. It’s about a woman, a grandmother, who swims in the sea every day. I remember a similar woman in my childhood village. She’d walk past you in swimsuit and bathing cap, towel flung over her shoulder, and give you a cheery wave. In December. I was so impressed. As a sea-mad child it seemed a wonderful thing to be able organise your life around.

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Address Book: Street Art trend

I’ve just spent five minutes reading about the difference between Graffiti Tagging and Street Art and can now confidently tell you that today’s post is about Street Art. Or, specifically, about Street Art as a trend in homewares. You know the rules, three and it’s a trend. Today we have four! Want to take a […]

Wot no Pulp Fiction poster?

Last week we went to the launch party of a new book, House & Garden Fifties House by Catriona Gray, looking into the 1950s archive of House & Garden magazine. It’s full of delights, but Jill and I particularly enjoyed this feature, taken from 1959, about the design style of undergraduates’ rooms at Oxford and […]

Capsule living or accessories for the rich?

I keep on seeing ladders and other storage solutions that we interiors folk tend to sum up as space-saving ideas – whether the designers themselves like it or not. The concept of capsule living is very pertinent for now, when renting seems like the only possibility for people who are of ‘first-time-buyers’ age, but simply […]

Secret doors… and a competition

Dreamy child that I was, I always loved books and stories that featured hidden or secret doors. From Narnia to The Famous Five, hidden doors are all over classic children’s literature, and it’s easy to see why they capture the imagination. I was reminded of this when I saw this image from Cole & Son’s […]