Clerkenwell Design Week

It was Clerkenwell Design Week this week and what really interested me is how designer/makers are relooking at tradition, taking the best of it and producing something knew and thought provoking in reponse.

The House Of Hackney have 'reworked traditional homewares for a new generation'; their Dalston Rose range of soft furnishings, wallpaper and home accessories have mixed ombre effects with an antique rose print to recreate a contempory antidote to the years of minimalism we've seen in home interiors. Just devine!

Brighton based Sean Dare of Dare Studio has designed this trully modern winged chair, Sean's clean lines have updated this furnishing classic into a wonderfully contemporary piece. The return of the winged chair seems just right now; the acoustic qualities gained through the design are brilliantly for blocking out mobile phones and other annoying modern day noises. 

Brighton Artists Open Houses

I visited some of the Open Houses at the weekend and bought this beautiful delicate print from Monica Macdonald Ralph; Monica's work can be seen at the garage at 51 Withdean Crescent.

I'm fascinated by print at the moment and also visited the Bip Workshop in Arundel Mews, where I found these lovely prints by Jean Farrer. The Artists Open Houses are open next weekend too.

Metropol Parasol

How amazing is this! The Metropol Parasol in Seville is the world's largest wooden structure. Designed by J. Mayer H. Architects

It took 4 years to complete and was finished in April of this year -www.yatzer.com/Metropol-Parasol

Vintage fabric prints

I bought several metres of this fabric as I loved the colour mix; the salmon base and pale blue petals mixed with the more definite navy and red are a nostalgic mix for me. It reminded me of some real vintage fabric I had bought many years ago....

Again it's the mix of pastel levels and primary colours, the initial impression is naive and childlike, but in reality I think it's more sophisticated than that. To get the levels right is a skill; the choice of colours lifts these prints above the sickly sweet. The strength of the primary colours with the other hues fading out adds to the vintage feel, as if some of the colours have faded through washing and the passing of time.