TREND: London Town

LONDON’S ICONIC urban design, architecture and skylines still hold massive appeal to designers. We currently love Lulu Guinness’s London-inspired prints on purses and wallets, the Art Deco tube stations and views of Piccadilly Circus that feature on Michelle Mason’s new London Life cushions (below) and her Melamine mugs and trays (the latter a new collaboration with the London Transport Museum). Plus the graphic, illustrated images on Charlene Mullen’s stitched monochrome cushions (pictured left, £110, available from Rockett St George). Add to these the fab new London cut-out paper artwork map poster by Julie Mirabelle of Famille Summerbelle, and the reissued ‘This Is London’ book by ace illustrator Miroslav Sasek, and all you need is Lizzie Allen’s Red Buses & Black Cabs wallpaper (new cushions, £79, in the same print are available from Liberty), to surround your child wtih London-fever before (or after) your next arranged visit… Read the rest of this article

Posted 18 December 2009 in Decor

TOY BOX RULES

THE RATHER BRILLIANT British online lifestyle store Cox & Cox has launched a specialist toy arm, called Toy Box. Modelled “on the little toy shop, that barely exists now on the high street, that is a treasure trove of both beautiful and quirky toys,” Toy Box features the likes of old-fashioned Tiddlywinks sets (pictured below), giant bubble makers, and craft/making sets for boys and girls [such as the Skyrail engineering kit pictured bottom, £33].

We asked its co-founder Michelle Follett Holt - mother to two girls aged 11 and 15, “who are my best product testers and severest critics but who think it is the best job for a mum to have in the whole wide world!” - how to deal with the nightmare that can be living with toys; why we’re all coveting the toys of our childhoods; and what to buy and not to buy for your little ones…

LittleBig: Why do nostalgic / timeless toys of our own childhoods seem to have a renewed relevance and popularity now?

MFH: Parents are naturally more inclined to join in with a game they are familiar with. Many of the retro toys that are having a comeback are great at encouraging family participation which is so important. Most children I think, given the choice, would prefer to play tiddlywinks with Dad than play a new game alone. Traditionally when times are tough people tend to focus more on the past and this comes through even in toys.

LB: What are your personal favourites in the Toy Box collection?

MFH: I love the Dragon Bonz [pictured top, £20]. It is an unusual, funky toy that is great value and it allows the child’s imagination to run wild as they make up a host of scary-looking dragons with the 55 weird and wonderfully shaped pieces that push together. I also adore the Russian Nesting Dolls [pictured right, £22]. They are a gorgeous modern take on the traditional in fabulous fresh colours.

LB: Does it surprise you what toys children pick for themselves?

MFH: Sometimes as adults I think we can over judge toys and might consider them as being unattractive, cheap looking, unproductive, un-educational, etc. Children don’t make this judgement and can love a product just because it is fun and amuses them - just what toys should do! I wasn’t quite sure about our Nellie the Rocking Elephant, £55, at first but every child who saw it, including my way-too-old 11-year-old, sat on it and adored the way you can pull the cord and her trunk comes up and squeeze her ear and she trumpets! Read the rest of this article

Posted 2 December 2009 in Toys

NEW BRIT CASHMERE

ONE OF THE ONLY compensations for the impending British winter - besides thoughts of hot chocolate, halves of Guinness and post-country walk roast dinners - is all the lovely new British cashmere offerings that have made their way onto the baby market in the last few years. Here are a few of our current, and largely affordable, favourites…

1. Angel Cashmere. Michelle O’Neill noted a distinct lack of hip, modern cashmere baby blankets back in 2006 when she was searching for a contemporary design for a friend’s baby. Luckily Michelle’s brother Jamie (both are from Fife in Scotland) had worked in Scottish cashmere for over eight years after studying textiles at university, and had recently moved to Beijing to join the growing Chinese cashmere industry. He was quickly able to translate Michelle’s ideas into a range of graphic, somewhat-retro 100% cashmere blankets (pictured left) that are surprisingly affordable. As a super-cheap alternative Angel Cashmere also offers a stripy version made from Lamere - a supersoft mix of crossbred animal fibres. Just £70-80 for a cashmere blanket; £30 for Lamere. www.angelcashmere.com Read the rest of this article

Posted 2 November 2009 in Textiles

TREND: Crossover Wallpapers

THE DESIGNERS behind Mini Moderns know the appeal of ‘crossover’ wallpapers. Their own designs - officially for “kids and kidults” - have for seasons adorned their own walls at home in south London (see their Do You Live in A Town?, pictured left) and not just nurseries and children’s bedrooms across the land. But then the papers were originally conceived with the idea “to cover very young children and teens and adults with a humorous yet stylish approach to their interiors,” according to one half of the duo, Keith Stephenson.

Lizzie Allen, a young wallpaper designer who rose to fame with her charming, London-themed hand-drawn paper designs - including the ‘Changing Guards at Buckingham Palace’ and ‘The Royal Guards’, believes the crossover appeal of her own papers is a result of the adult and childhood themes that come together in the designs. “One of the main inspirations is my brother as he is in the army and I’ve grown up with that always being part of my family,” says Lizzie of her Brit, retro military creations. “Another inspiration is A.A. Milne’s poem ‘Changing Guards at Buckingham Palace’ - this was one of my favourite poems growing up and Winnie The Pooh and Christopher Robin were two of my favourite characters. Thirdly, my style of drawing is influenced by the colours, style, and shapes of the 1950s: I love that era!” So presumably do many others. Note the differing appeal of her Changing Guards paper in the Spring colourway and Autumn gold - the latter is infinitely more ‘adult’, despite the motif staying the same. Read the rest of this article

Posted 28 October 2009 in Decor

DECOR: Best Bunting

FAR FROM BEING twee and patriotic, the latest bunting has kicked off its British war-time associations and has become a sophisticated way to enhance a neutral room without making significant cosmetic changes.

Bunting has become a symbol of what many of us we want from our interiors accessories today: what Beth Smith, Deputy Editor of textile-centric Selvedge magazine calls: “instant, inexpensive cheer. Put simply, it makes you smile. It speaks of street parties, birthdays and summer fetes - and it seems people have decided to celebrate all year round. Perhaps it is the interior equivalent of nailing your colours to the mast and defying current circumstances… (Let’s celebrate managing to hang on to our homes!)”

Just remember to pin ‘em high to keep them out of reach of tiny hands…

Our current favourites include:

1. Plumo’s silk bunting (pictured above left). £25 for a 5 metre length, it is made from 80 per cent vintage silks so each length has its own individual charm. Buy at www.plumo.com Read the rest of this article

Posted 5 October 2009 in Decor