Introducing... Homestuff with history

I'm not sure I love the say-what-it-is name of this shop I recently discovered, but I do like what it does. And at least the owners are making that clear.

Homestuff with History, an online shop based in Hertfordshire, is run by brother and sister Matt and Kathryn Brown and they may love old junk possibly even more than I do (did you miss my breathless post about the secondhand shops of Lewes?)

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

Folklore at Aesop

Do you know the lovely shop Folklore, a place that sells pared down and beautifully-made simple objects? 

I have featured some of their more affordable products here before, but they recently collaborated with Aesop, the Aussie skin-care brand of comparable stylistic leanings, and set themselves up a presence in the brand's north London branch to celebrate Aesop's anniversary.






More than

Poundshop!

You might have read about Poundshop before – this brilliant design initiative, where new and established talent create bespoke items to be sold at £1, £5, and £10 in a temporary shop – has been going since 2010.

And there are just two days left of Poundshop 7, at the Chinese Art Centre, Manchester  – as it ends on 22 June. There's also an online version of the shop if you're not local. I think

Introducing... Objects of Use

If you like the long-standing utilitarian London shop, Labour & Wait, you'll love Objects of Use. The shop has both a physical presence (in Oxford) and a cleanly designed online shop.

I came across the shop while writing my monthly page for (gorgeous) magazine The Simple Things, all about slowing down to enjoy... you guessed it. It's about as different from your average women's magazine as you

Some nice old green, blue and wood things. All together.

I've written about this spectacular secondhand and architectural salvage shop before. And a new Retrouvius stock list is always a cause for visual celebration.

And this lot features a favourite colour palette (green, blue and wood), so I am now mentally refurnishing my house.



And as my home is about to change quite a bit, because my boyfriend is moving in, I'm in the mood for switching things

Cloakroom decor ideas: crazy tiling?

The one room in my house that has never been decorated is the downstairs loo. After five years, the excitement of even having a such a room is wearing off – a bit – and the hastily executed white wash – damage limitation rather than re-decoration (it was lime green and acid yellow when I moved in) is now flaking off.

The "smallest room in the house" feels like a good place in which to be bold