NEW Bold & Noble calendars SIGH

Surrounded by baubles and tinsel, I eventually found my keyboard (buried beneath a heap of half-eaten mince pies) and decided to interrupt the madness that is ‘Christmas in July’, to bring you some VERY important news. Bold and Noble (our letterpress pals) have made the wise decision to print some lovely calendar wall charts. Drum roll, purlease…

Hurrah. They’ll be £43 each and online soon. But which to choose…?  – Ellie

HOT SHOP: BLUESUNTREE

Yes, it sounds like a Chinese takeaway, but bear with me…

It all started with a mild case of Eames DSW chair obsession. One day, I noticed that my ‘OFFICES TO OGLE’ desktop folder had begun to fill up with desks that had Eames DSW chairs in front of them. (The one above’s a new AW11 White Company shot. sigh.) Things got worse when I renamed the folder: ‘THE CHAIR I MUST OWN’, and I knew it was serious when, one drizzly day in a Croydon department store, I sat in a DSW for 53 minutes to ‘test’ the seat before being dragged away, tearful, confused, clutching at legs, wailing about my miserable bank balance. Ah me. An iconic mid-century Scandi-style chair with minimalist maple wood legs, black metal struts and a crisp white curved seat doesn’t come cheap. In fact, each chair is £302. Ouch. So, if you want six, that’s, (erm, calculator please, thanks) £1,812. OH THE PAIN AND THE INJUSTICE OF IT ALL.

So, imagine my delight, dear reader, when I discovered the most random-yet-useful Leicestershire-based website ever: Bluesuntree. For (ignoring the peculiar company name), me hearties, here be treasure. Treasure I tell thee!

Bluesuntree is THE place to go for designer-style buys on a budget. There are coffee tables. Sofas. Rugs. Mirrors. And Eames DSW style chairs for just £51 each. And honestly, you can’t tell the difference. I should know, I’ve sat on a few. In an ideal world I’d invest in the original and own an iconic design blah blah blah…but until then, this is the next best thing. – Ellie

Designer style at BHS

Spot the difference. On the left: Maria Dahlgren’s (2008) London tray. On the right: ‘new’ autumn/winter 2011 BHS cushion. Erm…

Maria Dahlgren’s designs are really lovely and can be seen on her website, Metagram. We spotted a couple of other look-a-likes in the collection, too. The top image (below) is a close-up of a ‘new’ AW11 BHS cushion, the bottom image is a close-up of Charlene Mullen’s hand-embroidered ‘London Calling‘ cushion:

Hmmm. – Ellie

HOT TREND: Cassettes

Ah, the humble cassette tape. In case you’ve been living under a stone (or have better things to think about), FYI: The 1980s revival is in full swing and cassettes have never been cooler.

Exhibit A: The classic cassette wall sticker, from Danish style gurus at Ferm Living. (Did you know that Ferm means clever? Me neither.) Sure, I’d clocked the cool kids drinking out of old jars in the Hoxton Pony (or somewhere similar, probably, possibly, actually not really), wearing their retro-yet-ironic cassette tape jewellery. Yeah, I’d spotted the Hackney hipsters hanging out in TopShop, protesting, shopping, wearing their ‘Mix tape’ slogans on their skinny chests. Exhibit B: ‘Something retro on my necklace‘ from Truffle Shuffle:

But now this trend is creeping in to our homes, too. Press PLAY:

Exhibit C: (From the top) Monochrome cassette cushions and bags from the magical Mini Moderns; Evidence of indie-crafters going crazy for all things cassette-related on Folksy; Retro iPhone 4 cases and MP3 players from Accessory Bee and Littlewoods. Of course, the trend-hunters at Rockett St George are on the CASE already….

Exhibits D and E: Rockett St George’s arty prints from illustrator Hanna Melin. The one below can be personalised with your own ‘mix tape labels’…

Ah, cassettes. It’s impossible not to get nostalgic. They symbolise the pre CD, pre MP3, pre-GCSE era. As the Top 40 played, you’d hover; Listening, poised, finger at the ready to press RECORD and capture That Song on your tape. You tried to hit the STOP button before the DJ started speaking. You never managed this. You never actually caught the beginning or the end of any song EVER. But you persevered, and enjoyed sticking the pleasing little labels on it afterwards. You gave your new ‘mix tape’ a catchy name such as: ‘My Pop Music Album III (Ace of Base etc)’. You listed the songs and artists carefully on the little card in biro. Sometimes, you recorded yourself singing. Badly. Or you recorded your own ‘radio shows’ and made your little sister play all the jingles on a glockenspiel. Well, I did. Enough. Some designers have taken this trend one step further and are recycling (UP-cycling?) cassettes in to designer furniture and lighting. Exhibit F: The range from Ooomydesign:

Random DID YOU KNOW box: Apparently, when you see cassette tape wrapped around a lamp post or a tree it means a witch has recorded a spell or a curse on it. Hmmm. Moving on. Exhibit G: The Cassette Tape Closet:

You can find out how to make your own at Creativebarn. No, really. Obviously, this only applies to you if you’ve got oodles of time, a massive wooden frame thingy, some serious DIY skills and about a zillion old cassettes knocking about. And a lot of PVA, presumably. But before you hurry home to staple-gun cassettes to your coffee table, just remember: the 90s trend is next, so save a bit of space for CDs. eh. Or video tapes… – Ellie

(VHS notebooks, just in at Pedlars…)

HOT SHOP: Laurette

Listen very carefully, for I will say zees only once: French shop Laurette is now online and shipping abroad, making small, quirky French brands much easier to access from exotic, glamorous, remote locations. Like Croydon.

There are cute BONNE NUIT wall stickers from Mimi Lou, bed linen and accessories from Airdeje, linens from Jack n’a qu’un Oeil and cushions from La Cerise Sur Le Gateau. I like the Russian doll cushions made using Liberty fabrics…

…and the vintage ‘Brocante‘ area, where there are retro lamps, sleek chairs and industrial filing cabinets…

I’m currently redecorating our dining room / home office, so this lovely desk caught my eye:

It’s a compact copy of the kind of retro desk I’ve been ogling on eBay for many months! – Ellie

HOT SHOP: Yaginoyama

Yaginoyama is Japanese for ‘mountain of goats’. It’s also the name of a very lovely new mail order company, based in Tokyo…

Founders Liam and Kay (he’s British, she’s Japanese – they met at Edinburgh University and are both sickeningly young) say on their quirky website that we can choose whether Yaginoyama means ‘a mountain on which goats reside’ or ‘a mountain made out of goats’. I prefer the latter. This entrepreneurial duo have hand-picked beautiful Japanese home wares – often handmade by artisan crafts people – to create an online showcase of Japanese design and make it accessible to the wider world.

There are so many treasures, here, but I really love the elegant tableware by Ryuma Matsubara. He and his wife gather clay from construction sites in the town of Tokoname and blend it with sand to create rustic, beautiful pottery:

I also like the sets of  Six giant wooden ‘hum’ magnets, too, for organising creative ideas on various bits of paper! (They’re by design studio Graf). Pleasingly, ‘Hum-Hum’ means ‘Oh yes, I see‘ in Japanese and, according to Yaginoyama, implies ‘a bit of thoughtful chin-rubbing’.

Elsewhere, there are Japanese postcards, teas, rucksacks and satchels, stationery and soy sauce jugs…

Following the recent events in Japan, 10% of the price of every product purchased will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society. – Ellie

Giveaway: ROCKETT ST GEORGE

Is it a coffee table? Is it a tray? Is it a magazine rack? No! It’s all three…

The good news is – this gorgeous designer wire-work beauty from our friends at stylish mail order company Rockett St George could be yours! Just leave a comment after this post with your email address to enter. At 6pm on Wednesday 30th March, one lucky winner will be plucked from a hat at random. Click here to read the fascinating TERMS AND CONDITIONS. (This competition is open to everybody in the world. The type of hat used for the plucking part is TBC and weather-permitting, but early reports suggest it could be some sort of straw, floppy number.) – Ellie

The TILE FILES

Are you a tile-o-phile? If they’re ceramic, stylish and monochrome – I can’t resist. Much to the boyfriend’s chagrin. “How many coasters does one woman need…?” Fair point, well made. Here are some tiles on my coffee table:

Top left is a vintage Dutch tile inherited from my Grandma…top right are Big Tomato Anglepoise tiles available from Supernice, backed with felt and used as coasters…bottom left is my treasured Rob Ryan button tile…and bottom right, some random old dominoes. Pourquoi pas.

A bit more tile style for the file; some more Rob Ryan treats and Welbeck beauties. I’ve raved about Welbeck’s cutlery and jelly tiles before – but they really are stunning – perfect for a kitchen splashback. Have a look at the coastal, postcard ones too. Bianca Hall designs fun tiles, too; I think this one might be the next to be smuggled into the house and discreetly incorporated into my coffee table collection…

It was merely resting. If it’s not tiles I’m obsessing about, it’s black and white plates. Now, if somebody was to make a Ridgway-Homemaker-inspired tile, THAT would make any tile-o-phile smile. – Ellie

NEW Mini Moderns wallpaper

Are you a fan of 1950s design? In love with mid-century modern style? Then have we found some wallpaper for YOU…

Mini Moderns is launching ‘Festival Wallpaper’ – an extremely cool design inspired by the 1951 Festival of Britain – the post-war exhibition of the new wave of modern British design, which celebrates its 60th Anniversary this year. If you look closely, you’ll see highlights of that exhibition on the paper – the iconic Skylon, the Dome of Discovery, the Royal Festival Hall, and the Transport Pavilion.

The wallpaper comes in 10m x 52cm rolls (£50 each) and is available in three colourways: concrete, stone, and bunting blue and red. It’s the first design in the new Mini Moderns Day-tripper collection, launching in September 2011, which will celebrate aspects of British culture, hobbies and pastimes.

I’m loving the 1950s-inspired colours on these papers. Can’t wait to see the rest of the collection later this year!  – Ellie

Christmas gifts GIVEAWAY!

Ho ho ho, have we got a treat for you today! Lovely designer-makers from We Make London have created a fantastic goody bag packed full of gorgeous handmade Christmas gifts worth £360 in total…and we’re giving it away! Still got shopping to do? Never fear! Help is here!

This festive gift giveaway includes: A beautiful hand-crocheted bib and hair slide set from Nyoki; An amusing ‘Will Perform For Cakes’ side plate from Jimbobart; A luxury notebook from Eva Sonaike; A floral purse from Laura Fallulah; A plush rabbit toy from Hope and Eden…and there’s more…

A cute Liberty-print baby’s bunny t-shirt from Milk Two Bunnies; A festive knitted tea cosy from Chi Chi Moi; Three lovely hand-made cards from Nyoki; A pair of pretty hand-made knickers from Circe’s Knicker Draw; A pair of smart silver butterfly stud earrings from Red Fox Blue Monkey; A leather red bow hair clip from Sew Smitten…plus more gorgeous gifts including wall stickers from ChickP, a retro Oyster card holder from Sew Smitten again, and a funky black recycled tyres belt from Re-Collect. Phew! SO MANY We Make London GOODIES. Perfect for gifts. Or keep them for yourself…mwah ha haaa. Just leave your name and email address in a comment after this post to enter. At 6pm on Monday 20th I’ll pick a name out of the hat and post off the goodies next-day-delivery to the lucky winner (UK only). Click here to see the lovely TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Feel free to enter if you live outside of the UK, but please note the prize will not be delivered before Christmas! – Ellie