Stairway to Heaven: my Loft Storage Room!

So after ten months and a mini-freak-out-session all over the long-suffering boyf, we finally came to the conclusion that we were NEVER going to have the time/skills/patience to clear out and board up the loft if left to our own devices, and I was beginning to go slowly insane surrounded by work props, suitcases that didn’t fit anywhere and multitudes of DIY equipment (having already totally filled the shed, natch) to the point where I could bear it no more. The OH also has what I lovingly refer to as Sensitive Nose Syndrome, too – namely, any encounters with dust send him off into big, irritating man-sneeeze fits. And as the loft was Mary Poppins/Victorian Chimneysweep-style black with inches of soot, he was in even less of a rush to clamber up through the tiny hatch and sort it out than I was.

So we got Men in to do it. Like storage saviours, they duly arrived, supped on tea, accidentally stuck a foot through the bedroom ceiling and swore a lot, to provide us with this:

Storage. SO MUCH storage. More storage than my little mind could ever even have dreamed of. OK, on the grand scheme of storage space, it ain’t that big. But for someone who has lived in over ten flat/houseshares and two teeny-tiny one-bed “love nests” with barely enough room to swing a cat, this is pretty much a gift from the Gods (of Excess Stuff). I like to think of it as my own little world: there is Painting Corner over on the left, Side Table Ghost Town on the right, and up against the crumbly brickwork at the back, the place I’ve always dreamed of  - my very own (prop)House of Love. (I remind you that we live in E17. Geddit?) We’re still filling her up with stuff but I figured it’s never going to actually look NICE, so I may as well share her as is. And she’s now got proper access via our very swanky pull-down wooden ladder and extra-wide hatch (Oh, and – it goes without saying – ignore every single other visual element of the landing area, pictured up top. Banishing its horridness is very much on the To Do list, I assure you. Just look at the Clever Ladder and avert your eyes from the rest, please thank-you.)

Aside from getting Handy Dad to pop in a proper spotlight, that’s all we’re doing up there for now, and to be honest I don’t know if we’ll ever have the funds to turn it into a “proper” conversion. But a small (OK, massive) part of me is hankering to do a sneaky half-conversion to turn it into my office/craft studio (cue long, lengthy sigh). Here’s a few of my thoughts to get me on my way:

1. A couple of centre-pivot roof windows from VELUX up there. Back when we had our roof replaced the week we moved in, when I naively thought we might have more than tuppence ha’penny left in the coffers once that little job was done, I did enquire about this with the builder, and was given a rough quote of around £1,200 for two of these said windows plus labour. It remains fairly high on the wish list, especially since we inherited a telescope and I’ve told the boyf we can keep it in the loft and, with windows installed, it can be his very own East London Planetary Observatorium… (love the splash of wallpaper in this alcove and clever built-in shelves, too).

2. A fixed staircase. Obviously the grown-up thing to do would be to install a ‘proper’ staircase , starting where the tallboy  sits, just to the right of the bedroom door (next to the inexplicable tap head sticking out from the exposed piping) and run it parallel to the existing stairs. But a silly part of me would love to install a spiral staircase in the space instead. And with that mindset, it may as well be bright pink, right?

3. Tuck a little office area into the eaves with freestanding furniture and built-in shelving, to while away the working day tucked up amongst the rooftops of Walthamstow…

… or leave it a little more Rough Luxe, quit work altogether and just make a secret cosy den up there, vintage-stylee, to spend my days reclining on. But for the time being, I’ll think she’ll do just fine as she is.

{Image Credits: 1. via VELUX – and with special thanks to them for supporting this post. 2. via Paumes - book featuring this image, available from Bodie & Fou. 3. Via House to Home (photograph by Mel Yates). 4. Via Pinterest – original source unknown and I’ve spent over an hour trying to track it down, but it was too lovely a shot not to include so if anyone knows who it’s by, do let me know}

Desktop Divas: Ten Stylish Pics for National Stationery Week

Sometimes I think (OK, I know) PR’s just make up a National insert-brand-or-product-here Week as a gimmick to get us journos talking about their wares. One even invented National Stilton Week. As if I need my arm twisting to get involved in a bit of cheese and cracker action. But apparently it’s National Stationery Week, as about 48 press releases have told me in as many hours, so like the cheese, off I duly went round the interweb to drool at and (visually) chomp my way through the wares of some of my favourite stationers. I don’t think that first-day-of-term excitement, when you’ve been allowed an entire new pencil case and kit and you vow to keep it clean and organised for the whole year until it descends into I Heart Dave/missing pen lids squalour, will ever wear off. Here’s a few pretties I’d like to liven up my desk with. Hmmm, cheese…

1. Alphabet index tags, £8.95, Papermash. 2. White bunny, scissors & clips, £14.99, Rockett St George. 3 & 4. Knot & Bow neon parcel tags, £3.50 per pack of ten; Magnifying glass by Maison Martin Margiela, £49, both Quill London. 5. Desktop Series by Another Country, £88, FAO Shop. 6. Giant Button Card, £2.75, Present & Correct. 7. Lace envelopes, £6 for five, Papermash. 8. Gradient file, £27.50, Present & Correct. 9. Vintage Holt Harris cat string holder, £23, Etsy. 10. Camera pencil sharpener, £18.95, Katy & June.

Clever Ceramics by Katharine Morling

I’ve always held a somewhat conceited belief that I’d probably be really good at pottery if I gave it a go. That thought lies in the same bit of my brain that became obsessed with the more obscure sports at the Olympics last Summer (how would anyone KNOW that they were secretly a whizz at dressage/clay pigeon shooting/putting on a happy face during synchronised swimming throughout the course of everyday life? Have I secretly missed my calling as a Master Archer?!) But, y’know, I do crafts, I like to think I’ve got a bit of an eye for design, and I’m fairly practical, too (I restored and installed a door handle last week ‘n’ everything). And I’m actually working on a little – very basic – clay project at the moment for one of my editorial clients. But every time I try to make anything proper (i.e with sides) it just all seems to go horribly wrong. I’ll be sharing the story of my Wonky Pot, made at last Saturday’s Patternity workshop, next week once I’ve picked it up from firing – but there’s a little Instagram of it here if you can’t wait until then.

So it was with a degree of envy that I cast my eye over extremely talented ceramicist Katharine Morling’s newsletter this week. Having been a regular visitor to the Cockpit Arts Open Studios for many years now, where she shares her wares, I’ve always admired her striking pieces, and was fortunate enough to feature one in an editorial photoshoot a few years back for Essential Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom magazine (see above). Set in the insanely opulent surroundings of Goldsmiths Hall, I was keen to add an element of unexpected  juxtaposition to this shot, and Katharine’s ceramic pouffe was just the ticket.

Describing her work as “three-dimensional drawings in the medium of ceramics”, Katharine has just launched an online shop for a selection of her smaller pieces (the footstool was part of her one-off, POA kind of items for those with a bit more cash to splash) and I’ve already (mentally) been gifted any/all of the above by thoughtful loved ones (ahem). Each is part of a series and is handmade, painted and signed. Perhaps it’s time to step away from the potter’s wheel and put my efforts into saving up for one of these puppies instead…

{Images: All product images via Katharine’s online shop. Lifestyle shot with fireplace, photographed by Mike Daines and styled by me for Essential Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom magazine.}

Behind the Scenes: Sofa Styling with DFS

I thought I’d do another little day-in-the-life type feature about a job I recently worked on for DFS. Sound good? Good. Right. It’s a rather clever little idea actually. Keen to show how you can transform an everyday space with relatively simple changes – such as swapping in new furniture and accessories and sprinkling on a bit of canny styling – DFS painstakingly recreated everyone’s favourite East End living room (no, not mine, silly – Kat and Alfie’s from upstairs in the Queen Vic on Eastenders) and set several stylists the challenge of transforming the space simply by changing the products within it.

1. Bergerac sideboard with two doors and three drawers, £1065; 2. Vista four-seater sofa, £899; 3. Vista footstool, from £199; 4. Trio round lamp table, £359; 5. Sant Cruz charcoal rug, £160x226cm, £399; 6. Vista plain accent chair, £299, all DFS (all Vista items currently half price as part of the Spring Collection).

Naturally one of the stylists was moi, and I was asked to select a sofa and armchair from their Spring Collection to form the basis of the makeover. I was somewhat smitten with their Vista, with its nod-to-Great-Gatsby Art Deco styling and soft taupe colour. It also comes with an optional footstool that doubles up as a great coffee table. I was then given a virtual free reign to pick out any other furniture items from their range to accompany the piece – which I have to admit I wasn’t overly familiar with until I took myself over to their online portal, and was pleasantly surprised to see some fab nuggets such as the Utah console table and Patent foot stool.

1. Black and cream spectacles cushion by Maria Hatling, £45, Gallery Bobbin. 2. Faceted round mirror, dia. 80cm, £175, John Lewis. 3. Vitra Poligon clock, £344, via Clippings. 4. Ribbon gunmetal lamp, from £60, Habitat. 5. Luxury bridge set by Bridge in the box, £98, Notonthehighstreet. 6. Diamond bowl, £59, BoConcept. 7. Chrome lobby phone by Wild & Wolf, £59.95, Bloomsbury & Co.  8. Santa & Cole Tripode G5 floor lamp, £435, Rume.  

So to pick up on the Art Deco elements, I decided on a fairly masculine, monochrome scheme, peppered with touches of raspberry to lift it, all with a modern lilt. Above is my props moodboard which I supplied to the lovely team at Hangar Seven, where we shot, who matched up the look by picking out pieces from a local prop house ready for me to style.

And now for Le Grand Reveal:

D’you like her? The decor is exactly the same and the layout hasn’t changed much, though I’d like to think it’s at least a slight improvement (though a part of me did secretly love the kitsch gold wall sconce in the before, shhh!) The raspberry details encourage the eye to flow throughout the space, and by decluttering the back wall of oddly-positioned art and replacing it with a subtle silver starburst clock, the focus is shifted down to the seating area. A large faceted mirror helps anchor the sideboard unit against the wall, whilst food and flower props give the space a bit of character. Quirky touches like the glasses cushion and  uber-cool diamond bowl (see above for credits) bring in an extra dash of personality, too. Doubling up a footstool as a coffee table is a great trick for a small space (and to conteract pesky partners who like putting feet up on the table), and this clever little Trio side table is great for storing games and throws close to hand for those chilly, not-much-on-the-telly Spring evenings.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn on the day that all DFS’s sofas are entirely handmade – many in the UK – by craft experts across their three factories which, as Philip Watkin from the DFS design and development team admits, is a level of quality that’s “few and far between” these days. He advises, when choosing a new sofa, to “always check for a guarantee, and ask how the sofa is made. And consider the heritage of the company you’re buying it from – there’s no substitute for a proven track record in crafting sofas that are built to last”.

DFS’s Vista sofa is currently half price (until the end of April 2013) at £899, along with other items from their Spring Collection. With thanks to DFS for sponsoring this post.

{Images: top two behind the scenes shots by me; all other styled shots by Matt Griffiths at Hangar Seven. All product shots as per the companies’ credited)

Patternity Leave: Stripes and Delights in Shoreditch Show

Last Thursday was cold. It was very, very, cold. It even snowed (on the 4th of April, forchrissake). I’d promised my buddy Emily of Atticus and Finch fame that I’d accompany her to some new fashionable opening up on trendy-as-you-like Redchurch Street, in Shoreditch’s beating heartlands. I tried to bail, but she was insistent, and promised me a pitstop at a venue serving the best coffee in E2 en route. So reluctantly I pulled on my faux-Ugg(ly) boots and one of the boyf’s cosy jumpers (shhh!) and made the commute.

Wow. If anywhere is worth getting soggy toes in freak Siberian windstorms for, it’s here (though touch wood we’re passed such weather-based silliness now. Please?!) I’m always somewhat wary of cool new pop-ups in hipster hotspots – I was born significantly pre-1992 for a start, my hair’s not asymmetric enough, and did I mention the unfortunate footwear? And whilst Patternity is undeniably hip (there were rumours of ‘Minimal House’ being played at the opening night – I had to Google) it is deeply, genuinely, fascinatingly interesting for anyone who enjoys looking at, well, everything.

Based on the hugely successful Patternity blog founded in 2009 by Grace Winteringham and Anna Murray, their aim is to encourage both readers and visitors to view pattern as much more than “just” a man-made surface design; as something that is all around us, anywhere and everywhere, wherever we adjust our viewpoint enough to see it. Their highly addictive compilation of images and objects covers a range of subject matter that knows no boundaries, each on a level playing field – a snap of some shadows created by railings is equal to a highbrow fashion image, for example. To clarify the concept, the exhibition focuses solely on stripes, with the first room stripping away all forms of colour and showcasing a strictly monochrome arrangement of images and objects, designed to allow each visual to stand up in its own right. Subsequent spaces feature a myriad of hues however, as well as pairing objects not necessarily considered objects of pattern, or even design: a cast of human vertebrae, a traffic cone and a jacket constructed from striped ‘do not cross’ tape make unusually intriguing bedfellows.

If all that culture has whet your appetite, there’s also an on-site cafe, serving up brews from ceramicist Richard Brendon‘s reflective platinum teacups on striped saucers, produced in collaboration with Patternity, and even a shop selling (natch) a carefully curated selection of striped goodies. The fun continues with interactive video and workshop spaces, and a number of speakers, activities and workshops will be held within these hallowed stripy walls throughout the show’s duration (I’m booked onto Block Printing with Alex Booker and Clay Coil Pot Making with Matt Raw – book your own activities here!) so look out next week for the fruits of my labours.

Pattern Power Superstripe: A Cultural Festival of Pattern Exploration is on from 6th – 21st April at Londonewcastle Project Space, 28 Redchurch Street, London E2 7DP.

{Images: top six images all courtesy of the Patternity website (zebra crossing and zebra neck images copyright Getty Images); middle set of images all taken by me within the Patternity exhibition at Redchurch Street; bottom image features block prints by Alex Booker and teacups by Richard Brendon}

Styling Resources: Where I Find Cool Stuff

As I’m often asked where I find fab things for features (and therefore life) and with lots of you looking to do home improvements this Easter Weekend (inbetween scoffing choc, natch) I thought I’d give you a little insight into my processes. So let’s say I’m pulling together a little story on Easter tabletop dining and decor ideas. What do I do?

Well, on receiving my brief, I initially rack my little brains and think what I’ve seen recently at press shows, in lookbooks and in the shops that might fit the brief, and start making a list of people to check out. Then as well as targeting specific go-to retailers, I generally make the following ports of call:

Yes, a bit of an obvious one, but having recently attended a talk on how to get the most out of Google, I’ve learnt a few tricks for getting a more targeted search. The two I’m currently liking best are the ‘search by colour’ option (top – type in your item, then click the Search Tools tab, then select the Any Colour tab beneath and choose your hue) and the “reverse” image search (bottom – take a screengrab/pull an image onto your desktop, select Images in Google, then drop the image file directly into the searchbar to find out what it is and where to source it). The former is a slightly slicker way of doing a colour search than just typing the colour direct into a toolbar, and is great for sourcing items for any colour-based features. And the latter is perfect for tracking down a product to its source or finding an alternative supplier (if the original link is to a website in another country, for example) as well as discovering similar items for any Get the Look type features.

Another fairly obvious one, but as well as being a land to unashamedly ogle over perfect girlie crafts and whimsically beautiful people, for me Pinterest has become an almost refined Google, where I can search for specific product types as well as styling and design ideas around a certain theme, look or colour. I’ve also set up a number of ‘Supplier’ boards in my own account and am constantly adding cool designers, quirky webshops and specialist specialists to my various categories, which forms my very own Little Black Book of design and is something I often refer back to (check out my boards here)

With literally thousands of sellers onboard, much like Pinterest the Notonthehighstreet.com website is almost a second Google to me when it comes to product research. Whatever weird and wonderful item I might be searching for, you can pretty much guarantee that I’ll find it here. By its nature, it’s a particularly good resource for handmade pieces.

A new kid on the block, Clippings seemed to appear out of nowhere a few months ago (well, to me anyway) but it’s quickly snuck its way into my must-visit resources. Part home store, part magazine, it comprises articles on the latest homes trends and product round-ups, with a searchable product gallery linking to various retailers and brands affiliated with them. Theirs is a very carefully curated selection, however, favouring clean, modern, quirky pieces, nearly all either from UK retailers or available in the UK.

Technically a website designed to link up press with retailers, giving us ‘hacks’ an easy way to source and download high resolution images for features, nonetheless this site is still a useful resource for bloggers and ‘everyday’ users – the latter are still able to search through the site without being members (though it’s worth bearing in mind that as it’s geared towards long press lead times, not everything featured will be out in the shops yet). Numerous retailers and PR agencies sign up to the service and upload their product pics then tag them with keywords, meaning you can search away to your hearts content through their bulging image banks. Some canny PR’s, such as the ever-resourceful Zero2One, have even set up their own ‘hubs’ to showcase their various clients all in one place (a tried and trusted trick for the time-strapped journo is to hotfoot it to PR’s who have a large number of clients on their books, meaning that you can organise content from several different brands all via the same middleman. Shhh!)

So to round up, I leave you with some lovely Easter Dining-inspired products from Zero2One via Press Loft, sourced using various keywords (woodland, dining, rabbit…) which would make any Easter get-together go with a bang:

1. Fauna plates by Magpie, £19.99 for four, Mollie & Fred. 2. Traditional foutas (can be used as tablecloths or outdoor throws), £28 each, Febronie. 3. LSA Mezzo hiball glass, £22.99 for four, Drinkstuff.com. 4. LSA Serve cake stand and dome, £52.50, Beautiful Homes Direct. 5. Dutch rabbit salt and pepper set by Quail Ceramics, £13.99, Cotswold Trading. 6. Girl’s rabbit headband, £25, White Rabbit England. 7. Anemone Scabosia vintage bottle with faux flowers, £13.50, Paper Whites. 8. Koziol Pip party picks, £16.80, Red Candy. 9. Stag stopper, £9, Just Slate.

So, dear readers – fancy tearing away from your chocolate gluttony to tell me where you turn when researching your own interiors goodies?

{Images: Opening shot: Madelaine lavender organic cotton tablecloth, £40, and napkins, £20 for four, Ochre and Ocre. Google accompanying product: Birdy egg cups and plates by Magpie Lifestyle, from a selection at Who’s It For? Pinterest accompanying product: Forest Critters wall decals, £55 per set, Love Mae. Notonthehighstreet.com accompanying product: White Rabbit light, £68, White Rabbit England via Notonthehighstreet.com. Clippings accompanying product: Scrabble coasters, £12.99 for 54, Getting Personal. Shopping round-up all as per the credits within the main post. With thanks to Zero2One PR for supporting this post.}

Low-fi Video Delights: What to do with 288,000 Jelly Beans, three projectors and a laser

I’m not normally one to pay too much attention to video art (is it even called that anymore? “Video” sounds so Granny these MP3-days). But I do enjoy creative, interesting visuals, the comedy of Adam Buxton and casually mocking/deriding poor grammar and spelling. So as all these elements combined last week at Mr Buxton’s cult comedy night, Bug, I revelled in the opportunity to laugh my proverbial socks off at the accidentally-side-splittingly hilarious comments posted by the YouTube community, whilst sitting rather in awe of some of the artists, too. Here’s three fab ones you should definitely pay a virtual visit to.

  

Created entirely as a stop-motion film by director Kijek/Adamski, this quirky video, Katachi (which roughly translated means ‘shape’ in Japanese) was made out of around 2,000 silhouette pieces extracted from PVC plates using a computer controlled cutter. Meant to represent “an everlasting chain of convulsive memories”, I just, um, liked the nice shapes and bright colours.

  

(Video above: Shugo Tokumaru – Katachi. Do also  check out the making of it here)

 

Next up is Willow with Sweater – not sure if the song title actually refers to the very Sarah Lund-esque knitwear the lead singer is sporting, but either way this video is an extremely clever bit of projection – the entire piece is shot in one set, with a treadmill and three beamers projecting a series of moving images (stairs, trains, the tide, a bizarre underwater world with day-glo sea creatures) in which our leading man reacts appropriately. Go watch it, it’ll make more sense then.

   

(Video above: Sweater by Willow)

And last but certainly no means least, this frankly amazing video featuring American Singer/Songwriter Kina Grannis and made by the most patient man IN THE WORLD, director Greg Jardin, who together with his team and over 288,000 Jelly Beans, painstakingly created a three-and-a-half minute stop-motion video containing 2,300 individually composed frames. Over TWO YEARS. And I can barely concentrate on finishing blog posts…

(Video above: In Your Arms by Kina Grannis – and click through to The Making Of while you’re at it).

{Images: All screengrabs taken from each artist/director’s individual videos – see links above}