New products and services, interesting shops, ideas for your garden, our pick from the design fairs, and other things we like…
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Kate Forman’s shop
Kate Forman’s pretty shop in Clarendon Cross in Notting Hill stocks her full range of faded floral and linen fabrics as well as accessories covered in them: lampshades, box files, cushions, notice boards, waste paper bins, hatboxes and bags.
But it’s also worth visiting for her one-off decorative antiques and other finds, like these vintage cushions, below, which come in two sizes: small at £50, large at £75.
Copper & Silk lampshades
Copper & Silk produce beautifully handcrafted lampshades for interior designers and lighting retailers. They have over 30 years’ experience and an exhaustive knowledge of contemporary and traditional manufacturing techniques. They have no minimum order and are happy to advise trade customers on bespoke projects or on customising shades from their range.
These large tapered rectangle shades were made for the Runneymede Hotel in Surrey.
Nomad
In her latest book, Nomad, stylist Sibella Court shows us how to bring our travels home with us in the most unexpected of ways. She has travelled to Syria, Mexico, Italy, India and Japan to be inspired by everything from door knobs and street signs to roadside shrines and household brooms. The ideas, photographs and mementos she collected are used to inspire room settings, illustrating simple, practical and surprising ways to be reminded of your travel experiences.
Timber museum boxes
You never know what you might find at Retrouvius. They always have a supply of hardwood worktops and always have some good modernist furniture. Otherwise their stock is ever-changing – determined by the serendipity of salvage, evolving fashion, tastes, the space available in their warehouse.
Their latest newsletter features these solid timber (red pine) boxes used to transport museum specimens. They would be great used as modular shelving. They have date and Government stamps. Most have original rope handles. There are various sizes and prices, ranging from £35 for the smallest to £125 for the largest (plus VAT).
Neisha Crosland’s Navaho Tiles
For her latest collaboration with luxury surfaces specialist Alvaro De Ferranti, Neisha Crosland has designed these vibrant Navaho Collection of tiles, which are perfect for adding colour to exterior walls.
Handmade and handpainted, the glazed terracotta tiles have a lovely distressed matt finish that makes them feel as if they have just been uncovered in a ruin. In earthy hues, each design is available in several colourways, ranging from black and cream through to combinations of henna with denim, and mossy yellow with reds.
The Decorative Fair
There’s still time to get to The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair (it closes on Sunday 29 April at 6pm), in The Marquee, Battersea Park, London SW11. Very popular with decorators, this fair is a great source of painted furniture, Gustavian & Swedish design, 20th century design, lighting, accessories and named-design furniture, and excellent mirrors.
Appley Hoare Antiques specialise in rare & unusual country furniture from the 18th, 19th & 20th centuries.
Bocci pendants
Holloways of Ludlow is showcasing some striking hand-blown glass pendants by the Vancouver-based design house Bocci. They are available in single through to 37 pendant versions, plus as customised chandeliers.
Fired Earth – The Paint Collection
Fired Earth’ new Paint Collection is made up of 36 colours gathered on their recent travels. The palette has been edited not to pinpoint specific eras or genres of decorating but to develop something you can use to create your own look…
French Connection Home
French Connection is the latest fashion brand to launch a home collection. It features bedding, soft furnishings, ceramics, glassware and lighting in an understated palette of cream, putty and grey.
We’re particularly keen on these Safari Chairs, £275 each. The chunky Floor Anglepoise is £240.
Fabric fit for the Queen
A blaze of colour in the form of Colefax and Fowler’s Cardinal Red velvet fabric will bedeck the exterior of the Royal Barge, the Spirit of Chartwell, when the Queen embarks on her stately progress down the Thames during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations on Sunday 3rd June. Film set and fashion catwalk designer Joseph Bennett is decorating the river craft, which will lead the memorable River Pageant of 1,000 vessels east along the Thames towards Tower Bridge.
