Object of the day: self-loathing ceramics

Had enough of schmaltzy, smug personalised homewares? So has Keaton Henson, whose refreshingly honest debut range of ceramics you can see here.



Above: in case you can't read the text, it says: "This cup is on the theme of self-loathing"

Henson, however, is the kind of 26-year-old over-achiever it'd be easy to hate, imagining him to harbour some of his own smugness. The youthful musician and

Simple pleasures

I wrote, a few weeks ago, about how I'd decided to start collecting the dubiously 70s brown range of Hornsey Pottery. 

Having inherited one piece – the biscuit jar among this bundle of treasures – I came around to the idea slowly, but was totally sold after visiting a park cafe filled with the stuff. It just made the place seem so homely and nice, and it went well with the many Ercol chairs in

Object of the day: old French bowls and plates from The Peanut vendor

These beautiful plates range in date from the 1930s to the 1950s and are available from The Peanut Vendor (whose owners' wonderful home I wrote about AGES ago, here).

The online and actual shop (in north London) has a big batch of these beauties fresh in... for just £4 a-piece.












Affordable enough to start a little collection...

Check them out at The Peanut Vendor, and get in quick as

Object of the day... Louise Wilkinson plates

These plates are just two from a small collection by designer, Louise Wilkinson. 

I'd like them all, but these – marginally – are my two favourites.



Nice aren't they? In dinner plate size they cost £19.50 each. Below are a couple of the sweet side plates, priced at £14.50.



Louise launched her range at Liberty in 2012 and will be exhibiting at Tent London later this year. See more and buy

Introducing... Anna Chilton

First, the bad news: you can't buy Anna Chilton's beautiful drawings – on various ceramic items – and her striking print designs – on wallpapers, t-shirts and more – today.

The good news: you're getting the inside tip-off about this fresh talent early – and one day soon, when she's left art school – I know! – if not before, her stunning work will be in demand from retailers a-plenty. (Sharpen

(Unattainable) object of the day: Royal Crown Derby new Equus collection

Prices have yet to be announced for this new range of tableware by Royal Crown Derby. But know this: it launches at Harrods, and some plates on the RD website cost over 400 quid.

Not all of them mind. Some are on the kinder side of £50. But whether we can afford them or not, please do take a moment to marvel at the beauty...



Don't you love the way the body parts are split between different

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

Ikea's new Trendig range: how long before everyone has some?

When Ikea launches a new range, the cynics among us may wonder how long it'll take for the products within it to become ubiquitous* (like these) – to be the things that elicit an "ooh, Ikea? I've got one of those" from house visitors. 

Nothing wrong with that, mind. But it can really take the shine off your spangly new bit of Scandi design, can't it?



Ceramic tableware, from £2-£8

So some

Give good gift: featuring Beasties plates, Yoko dishcloths, monochrome letters and more

Today, just a spot of homewares porn. But since these are all things that could make nice gifts (yep, and maybe just for yourself, ahem) I'll tag them in the gifts tab, which appears on your left. By clicking there, you should see all sorts of other things that could delight your dearest as gifts. 



Rockett St George has just started selling this cake plate foursome, designed by
Carola Van Dyke

Tait modernism

I was car booting last weekend and found a little gem. Have a look at this lovely old pot – yes, it's missing a lid and has a chip on its spout, but it's just gorgeous. A modernist shape and a perky hand painted design, perfect for a bunch of jolly flowers to pep up a windowsill as we trundle into autumn.






I found it, as I often find these
things, at the bottom of a grubby old box of stuff

Shipping forecast fondness

The British fondness for Radio 4's Shipping Forecast is a comforting thing.

And thanks to E. Annie Proulx, even American readers (and I know there are a lot of you) will know what I'm on about. It's why this tiny little pin dish – depicting the evocatively named sea regions surrounding the British Isles – is pretty much my favourite thing in daily use in my house.



It's a bit knackered, and

Turning Japanese...

Abi here again. I was lucky enough to visit Tokyo last
October and came back even more enamoured of Japanese design, culture
and general obsession with all things kawaii (that's "cute"). 



I
discovered the delights of the 100 Yen shops (or 78p shops if you do the exchange rate thing); nothing like our depressing pound shops
they are multi-storey caverns of absolutely everything useful,
useless

Giving good gift

It was my birthday this week. My friends are very kind. I have already shared the beautiful early birthday present I got from Abi in this previous post...

...and now a few other very nice surprises (and this isn't even including the hugely surprising and marvellously great bicycle that came careering down the hill in the park at me, festive ribbons flying from the handlebars – but a photo of

Fuck your piles of books with things on top...

Hello, it's Abi posting today. Kate's recent post on colour-themed
shelves (and the nod to the witty FYNC website that knowingly mocks such interiors mag leanings) got lots of "yep, guilty as charged" reactions. Including my own. 

With permission, we'll post up some of your own excellent over-stylings shortly (so keep them coming) but meanwhile, browsing through FYNC again, I was reminded that,

Introducing: Retropolitan

Hello, it's Abi posting today. In case you don't know it, I want to tell you all about Retropolitan, a very fabulous online vintage store my stylish friend Scarlett pointed out to me the other day. 

And I'm very glad she did – it's a feast of unusual vintage pieces with a slant towards glass and vases (but it's by no means only glass and vases). Like these...



Above left, Riihimaki vase by

Alice Mara's urban architecture ceramics

I've written about London-based ceramicist Alice Mara before – I particularly loved her plates decorated with tiny synchronised swimmers, and cups adorned with the pleasing geometry of urban architecture.

Now she's launching some new designs, and I love them too. What do you think of these salt and pepper pots?







The set is named 'Affordable Housing’ and features a series of twenty