Object of the day: Don't Be Shit print

I love Twitter, and the way you get to e-meet so many interesting people doing brilliant things by a simple re-tweet. 



One such exchange came earlier this week, and led me to discover Lovely JoJo's, an online shop run by sometime copywriter, JoJo Oldham. I thought I was over typography as wall decor. Turns out I'm not. This is excellent, no?






"Life's just better when you're not being

Freestyle Thursday: colour me good

Colour inspiration can come from all sorts of places. 

I've found it before on philosophical book covers, on the Berlin U-Bahn (scroll about half way down), on necklaces and always inspired by the vibrant combinations the excellent Out of the Dark team come up with.



And today, I'm feeling inspired by the Autumn lookbook from Sofa Workshop. They've taken some very beautiful shots of their new

Please excuse a brief absence because...

...we've got the builders in, and my computer's covered in plaster dust. 









We're having the teeny tiny en-suite bathroom made into a more useable sized room, the downstairs loo fixed up and, on Sunday night, we decided we'd simultaneously reorganise the shelves under the stairs completely...



Agh! Their contents are now filling the kitchen table and – due to today having been spent

(Slightly boastful) object of the day: Pedlars' new print – written by me!

The summer before last, Charlie Gladstone of Pedlars called me with an idea he'd had for something to sell in the shop. 

He wanted to produce a historical map of the British Isles, stuffed with fascinating – and geographically specific – facts from the beginning of time right up to the present day that would tell the story of Britain in a visually spectacular, non-dry way. And would I like to

Object of the day: Robert Czajka's mini cardboard animals

Yes, you could buy these for a small child... But would they really appreciate them?

Instead, you could embrace the small child in yourself, and chirp up an otherwise clean and sparse shelf or windowsill with these pleasing cardboard animals.





Designed by Robert Czajka, who also makes entire towns from card, these make-them-yourself beasts come flat-packed in 12 sheets of recycled cardboard.

A bathroom cupboard makeover for £30

We have a lovely, very tall, cupboard unit in our bathroom that holds all our towels and other bathroom gubbins. 

It was actually two units (a wardrobe and drawers) from Ikea that my handy husband stitched together and, hey presto, perfect height storage...






Alas, a joyous union MDF and steam do not make and so after a few years the doors got blown and warped and generally looked pretty

Introducing... Richard Burniston's haunting photos of Wonder Valley

I came across Richard Burniston's beautiful images of derelict homesteads in the Mojave Desert through the Best Shots exhibition, which is on until next month. Aren't the colours incredible?

And couldn't you just stare at one of these pictures for hours, imagining the people so pointedly missing from it? (And ideally in a frame, on your wall – which is possible: details below.)



All photos:

Object of the day: Urban Outfitters' zig zag rugs

Remember that monochrome rug I wrote about last year? It was one of Ikea's very popular items and, as such, was quite a palaver to track down.

Now Urban Outfitters has got in on the act (but with more colours, see below). And they're way cheaper than the Ikea version...



...However, that is because these ones are lightweight cotton and as such are – yippee – easily washable. But will – boo –

Can't afford the new Sheila Bownas sofa?

What do you think of this sofa/daybed, designed using fabric from the Sheila Bownas archive and created in collaboration with furniture-makers, Parlour? 

It's called the Edwin, and I think the shade of blue, the smooth solid walnut, 50s-ish legs and back and the classic, boxy shape make it very good indeed.



Alas, thanks to rather beautiful details like these...



...it costs £2400. But if

Real homes: my office makeover part II

I've had another office makeover. Only a little one. 

But it's amazing how much difference it's made moving the desk to the window. And I get a view! A very urban one, which I like a lot, and it has bonus trees. Here is how the office looked before...




I wrote about it in this previous post, where you can see the before before images with white walls and everything. And I also dug out some

Introducing... Tali Yalonetzki, Israeli painter

I have fallen in love with this painting. It's called Nature Trail.

And I'm writing about in the hope that someone might buy it, so that I can stop looking at it and thinking: "Should I buy it?" I've been stalking it for weeks, trying to conjure up justifications to splurge.



It's not at all expensive – not for a beautiful and original painting: it costs around£96, and is acrylic on canvas. (I

Object of the day: cable car peg holder

It's kind of childish. But it's useful, and cute. 

And if you can't have a bit of a joke on your washing line to distract you from the tedium of hanging out clothes you'll shortly be dashing out to rescue when it rains... well...



The peg holders you can get made from nice bits of old fabric are beautiful, don't get me wrong, but this is also weatherproof – even if your washing isn't. Cabina

Freestyle Tuesday: a Cuban film poster exhibition at exciting new shop, Triangle

If you are in London town this week, in the eastern vicinity, you might enjoy this mini exhibition of old Cuban film posters on display at a very nice new (ish) shop in Hackney.

They will also be for sale – with prices starting at £75-£95 each (they are originals – unlike these, which I nevertheless also like a lot).






The posters showcase the work of the "Golden Team", the nickname given to

Object of the day: Folklore's breakfast cups

£15 isn't cheap for a cup. Or is it? A favourite cup is a thing you will use every day – and it will make you happy each time you do. 

And with that in mind, fifteen quid is almost a bargain. Especially if you only buy two of them.



The Basic Red Breakfast Cup is from Folklore and they are handmade with grey clay from a Burgundy village with a reputation among generations of potters around the

Kitchen table traumas

OK. So "traumas" is way overstating things. But I'm currently mildly perplexed about the kitchen table situation round my house.



The kitchen, along with most of the rest of the house, is undergoing a gradual upgrade (which I touched upon after Massive Wardrobe-gate a couple of months ago). 

 


The kitchen is where it's all happening right now. All over the house, we're trying to finish all

The perfect gift for an architecture geek?

Unsure what to buy the lover of modern architecture in your life for Christmas? 

Check these rather brilliant monochrome graphic illustrations of modern houses, by the Danish illustrator, Kristina Dam.



Very Falling Water... I discovered Kristina's work via the online store, Nordic Elements, where I was lusting over their fluffy yellow towels earlier this week. The prints cost £75 each, framed

Perky tea towels brighten up rainy days

It's still raining... I'm practically begging the weather to just get on with the winter, enough with the rain already!

Still, I had errands to do and so off I went, umbrella aloft, to my next door manor of Greenwich in south east London. Quite by accident I found myself rummaging around the indoor market which, on a Tuesday, is mainly second-hand stalls. And look what I found...



Aren't they

Can a towel be joyful?

Towels. Can you get excited about towels? I have just discovered I can.

Mine, for years, have been all white – when I first got matching towels I felt like I'd arrived. It was possibly the most grown-up thing I'd ever done around the house.



Then, a couple of years ago I radically introduced some dark green ones to go with the plant in the bathroom (and to hide the mascara I seem to get on

Dollshouses designed by Zaha Hadid, Grayson Perry, Adjaye Associates and more

Look – a dollshouse designed by Grayson Perry! This tiny abode is one of 20, built by some of the world's best architects in collaboration with designers and artists.

The houses are part of a charity auction to raise money for the children's charity, KIDS. Alas, I'll not be bidding in the auction as prices are already between £1,000 and £10,500. But these miniatures are now on display to the

Impulse buy of the week: a toucan shaped lamp

Ah yes, we've all been there: car boot, chucking it down with rain, no bargains in sight when suddenly your 'phone rings; it's the other half: "Where are you? I've found something fabulous..."

So off I trot, past the tarpaulins and rain sodden traders to find the husband. And here's what we bought:



Yes. A floor lamp in the shape of a toucan. Don't ask me why, don't ask me how. I think it was