Category: accessories
Handling it..
The designing of the kitchen actually started on Friday – Alleluia! Naturellement it’s not a new kitchen per se but a hotch potch of the old kitchen units (we like recycling) and new additions that somehow all need to be brought together, but this picture represents the inspiration (I only wish I could have that island unit…but sadly it’s the only space for the sink/dishwasher/bin/cutlery so the carcasses need to hit the floor..maybe in another life..) But we’ve been working on how to line up the sight lines, even up the variety of widths and unify the look.
Which is never easy..go for industrial raw edge?
Or embrace industrial engineering with these beauties from Buster & Punch?…
(There’s something very tactile about that surface..)
The potential fly in the soup is the mixing in of an old french glazed bookcase (a bit like this one) I have to hold my crockery. The thinking goes that to pull them together by using that same handles on at least some of the other units.
It helps I like a variety of handles.
But it’s still a matter of balance..too many would just be wrong – so which ones to choose?….lovely brass handles?
Delicious little catches?..
(All pictures Pinterest)
Or just subtle, understated cup handles and little brass knobs?
The thinking cap is on.
Laters, Kate x
Up lift..
This is one to add to the thought book….remember this post regarding upcycled Ikea furniture? Well, the Swedish company Bemz has taken that concept, combined it with soft furnishings and sprinted with it round the proverbial fabric park.
Now your basic Ikea sofa, arm chair, dining chair can have it’s very own facelift in a huge variety of colours, fabrics and textures…including the trend of the hour..velvet.
Eco friendly and kind on the pocket? It’s a modern day romance made in heaven.
It’s just up to you to marry them together.
(All pictures Pinterest)
(And did you notice the feet?? More on that tomorrow..)
Laters, Kate x
Tara x
Tara Button and her website Buymeonce are a blast of fresh, spring air.
Tara’s concept is simple – our lives have been stuffed full of things we’re told we need that lets us down so she has been on a mission to track down the best quality and investment pieces that every house actually needs.
This resonates so much it almost hurts: I too am tired of this modern life that believes it can tell me who I am through the purchase of a skin cream, what I need: permanent upgrades and who I should be: spending lots of money, constantly implying that the real me isn’t good enough.
Just open your eyes to the insistent message of the season: Spring clean your wardrobes/house/family/life – it’s time to refresh!…The underlying, insidious message being that we will make you insecure to make you buy more.
(All pics Buymeonce)
Is it norm corm in the extreme? I don’t know. But what I do know is that we can’t spend our way to happiness and something needs to change. This seems a very good place to start.
Laters, Kate x
Easter Project x
So the big plan this Easter is to start putting Bella’s room renovation into action and our proposed make are floor-sofa cushions: How hard can it be??
Except the last time I took out my sewing machine, there was a definite smell of burning..
Wish us luck.
Laters, Kate x
Pin it x
Laters, Kate x
Iris x
In astrological terms it’s the first day of spring tomorrow, which didn’t stop winter having it’s final blast over the weekend. Not that I’m complaining: Bad weather is the perfect excuse to hibernate and indulge in some serious sofa surfing meaning I finally got to see, amongst other delights, Albert Maysles film about Iris Apfel, the beloved New York fashion icon and self-styled ‘geriatric starlet’.
Where Iris hits the sweet spot is not her age, her joy of life or her performance art. It’s her deep seated belief that style isn’t about fashion or money or even beauty: Style is about believing and doing.
Until watching the film, I hadn’t realised that Iris had her own shop: Rara Avis, meaning for ‘Rare bird’ where you can purchase her designs and covert a little bit of her.
But it might be more rewarding to follow her sentiments and look at life with a new set of black framed eyes.
Laters, Kate x
Milktooth x
There are still things that science can’t explain, like why one pair of earrings is just so much more than another.
But it’s something that Ernestina and Mark Potts, from Milktooth understand. Their jewellery is a celebration of the have more, buy less philosophy. Built on an eclectic mix of vintage and own designs their philosophy is simple: embrace your own style, buy the things you love, feel amazing. Add in the Zeitgeist of desire and it’s a heady mix.
(All pics Milktooth)
The cherry on the proverbial are the sensible price points (£30-£60) and effortless cool which means this is a name hidden in plain view for those oh so difficult people to buy presents for.
That is, if you’re prepared to give them away….
Mi piace.
Laters, Kate x
First impressions x
Ashya x
The marmite of the bag world: The fanny pack, the bum bag, the bag that is awesomely functional but struggles to be beautiful. Until now.
Feast your peeks on these beauties: Made by Ashya, a Brooklyn based design label who wanted to produce an unconventional and reimagined look for a luxury bag.
Bumbags have always had a place in my heart – I possess two – but high on the lust list has been a leather utility styled version with a masculine edge: These tick that long sought for box.
The company takes it’s eco credentials seriously – the bags are produced locally in NYC’s garment district, as is the hardware used.
(All pics Ashya)
They’re not a cheap option, but that’s the incentive of buy less, buy better. This is an investment that will just get better with age.
Which has to be a good thing.
Laters, Kate x
I spy x
Is it possible to be unflamboyant yet charismatic?
The washable paper bag Collection from Uashmama would shout a resounding yes!
The vaguely eastern exotic name is actually designed and handcrafted in Tuscany by a company created by 4 sisters in homage to their mother.
Made from a 100% washable cellulose eco-friendly material, the paper is made using virgin fibre from cultivation not deforestation, it’s lightweight but feels like leather and washes like a fabric and the price point is excellent: from £8 to £116 (the man who’s so hard to buy for? Nailed.)
(All pics The Future Kept)
Honest, thoughtful and self effacing: Feel the force.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 