untothislast

We recently ordered a table top from a major international furniture shop for our daughter who could really do with a bigger desk (so she can put even more very important bits and pieces on it). The table   refused stubbornly to make an appearance at our house (lost order, snow, accident, traffic and overworked driver) and after a few weeks of waiting (and finally cancelling the order) the following concept sounds so much more friendly, manageable, personal and affordable! that I will give it a go.

Unto This Last want to 'offer the convenience of the local craftmans' workshop at mass production prices' by making to order, simplify logistics and using advanced technology.

These especially caught my eye

desk

coatstand

light

I do like the idea of Micro Manufacturing close by. As with our food we seem to have lost an awareness and understanding of how things are made or grown, how much effort it needs to produce something 'well worth it', nice or even beautiful or yummy.
The untothislast concept seems to me a very good compromise, satisfying the price and design conscious as well as the environmentalist. You can visit them on Brick Lane. Now they maybe just have to work on a more simplified version of name?

Vintage Pop Up

From this Thursday to Sunday you can visit a lovely Vintage Pop-Up Shop in Putney, selling all sort of finds from around the country and the continent like jewellery, decorative objects, toys, glass etc. The shop will pop up in a beautiful little house and as an ExPat I m always surprised at how so very different these uniform looking houses are once inside.

Tea and cake will be served in support of the Meningitis Research Foundation.

It's Friday

What shall we do this weekend? Endless possibilities!

See Picasso at the Tate Britain (till 15. July),

or stock up on your Monster Supplies (at the Ministry of Stories Store),

or walk London with Bowl of Chalk 'pay what you want' tour to find out new and old things about the city

or just find yourself a nice swing and enjoy the moment

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Whatever you do, have a lovely weekend!

A different kind of Bookshop

Here is a different kind of independent bookshop - housed in a glasshouse, the Wapping Project Bookshop specialises in art, photography and new fiction. On Thursday evenings the tiny place hosts poetry readings, book presentations etc. It is part of the Wapping Project (check it out here), which apart from art exhibitions etc also has a nice restaurant, so you can make it a real outing should you live quite far away.

found here

If Wapping is too far out of your way however they have relocated from today to fashion shop COS on Regent Street for 2 weeks. Less charming, though, but probably warmer to take your time and browse a bit.

Sweet Mathilda

We went to see Mathilda (by Roald Dahl) with the kids this weekend - really well done adaptation from the book.  The kids were fantastic and we were amazed not only by their great dancing and singing but also by their stamina. They are after all only between 8 and 12 to 14 years old. The music is refreshingly less 'modern musical' and more a touch old fashioned which is rather nice. All in all the birthday boy (who turned 50) as well as the kids enjoyed it immensely.

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On the way, on Long Acre, we passed this enticing shop - Sugar Sin - and got some treats for the interval - lovely smell in there.

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It's Friday

We will be checking out Tom Dixon's shop in Ladbroke Grove this weekend. It's so far away that we will definitely have to stay for lunch, meeting some friends. The shop is all about design and design related art. (Tom Dixon is an industrial designer, who was head of design for Habitat and Artek among others)

found here

The Dock Kitchen was formerly a pop up restaurant gone permanent.

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The setting looks promising, we will keep you posted.

Have a lovely weekend!

Lush

Stumbled across Lush Design  at tea for joy recently and happy to have found that besides a new shop in Greenwich they also have one online ( since I have sadly to admit I very rarely manage to go that far east). Really love their elegant but dreamy designs on lampshades, cushions, napkins etc..

These cats are just perfect for our daughter's room, and I wouldn't mind some of these on the sofa:

A real bookshop!

found here

Daunt Books is an Edwardian Bookshop at 83 Marylebone Highstreet with galleries and creaky floors, where you can browse by continent and country. Do not enter if you are short of time like I did the other day. Need to go back soon, and take a day off for that!

Wapping Project

found here

What was once a Hydraulic Power Station is now a gallery, bookshop, event space and restaurant. The building itself is only transformed by light, art and drama "an idea, consistently in transition". Not much has been done to alter this impressive industrial building, you will still find the old machinery, green with age, holding their own in this inspirational environment. It was closed down in 1977 and only re-opened in 2000.

Since moving West I have not been back for years now and it is definitely time to re-visit Wapping Project (situated somewhere between the City and Canary Wharf), its art and its food. They do have a very yummy looking menu, and special offers for table for 9. Check it out here and here

found here

Floral Art

I would love to bottle some summer

Bottle Flower

Makoto Azuma

via spoon-tamago

This bottel flower is by Makoto Azuma - quite disturbing though, since the flowers are stunning to look at but dead! 

Apart from his floral artwork Azuma also has a conceptual flower shop (if you can call it that ), Jardin des Fleurs, in Tokyo. After looking at some of his work I went to find some inspirational florists in London and came across Jane Packer - very upmarket. Wild at Heart is another well known London institution. But overall I am not very successful coming up with nice flower shops I have to admit. Any suggestions? I will go and find some more around town to lighten up the coming months.

But for a Do It Yourself approach there is always Columbia Road where on Sunday the street turns into a huge flower market. And it is one of a few streets in the UK with nearly only independent shops (check it out here.) Quite tempting!

On the other side of town you can get inspired at Petersham Nurseries near Richmond Park - or just enjoy their cooking or lovely brunch at weekends.

Have a great weekend!

Nomad

Our local bookstore is part of  Waterstone's which now belongs to Russian Oligarch Alexander Mamut. For quite a while they managed to make the store fairly welcoming, supported by a very knowledgeable and helpful staff. The store recently had a makeover and now looks anything but inviting. Too many cards for every occasion on the ground floor and a new cheap looking colour scheme. What were they thinking? And now I read that the new head James Daunt wants "your Waterstones's to feel like your local bookshop, not a chain." Please start soon, because at the moment, it feels anything but!

And luckily, there are still some very good examples around, like e.g. Nomad on Fulham Road, small, but welcoming, and where you feel you can spend time alone or with your kids, browsing, planing a vacation or getting inspired over coffee and cake. 

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You can find out more about them here

“Bookstores help create community for people in the places where they live. People may think they can live online, but in reality they live in real towns and cities, and physical bookstores help to enrich those places.”

 Suzanna Hermans, a bookstore owner

A look

A Jasper Conran dress was the first ever piece my husband bought for me, so I am a bit bias here but I do like his style a lot. He is very much a classic British designer but with a slight irreverent touch.

Jasper Conran

Jasper Conran will have a Sample Sale from the 25-27 May, from 10am - 6pm, at 1-7 Rostrevor Mews in Fulham. Now only one question remains: Will I send my husband or shall I go myself?

Spitalsfield Market - visual notes

We wandered around Spitalsfield Market on a quiet Bank holiday Monday, there were hardly any stalls (you find more Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays), but we made some lovely discoveries and had some good food. What more do you need on a slow and sunny day.

all photos by Hans Chu

Here you find more information about the market itself and its history, but do visit the Spitalsfield Blog to get a feel for the area. The author, living in its midst, writes about places and people of Spitalfield, about its Culinary Life, Literary Life, Criminal Life and much more. Enjoy!

Pop

Or cake on a stick!

This wave from America (check out the US Queen of Pops Bakerella), reached the British Isles one or two years ago, and will probably arrive on the continent soon. Starbucks sell a version in Germany already, but for me far to sweet and not very impressive - 

because impress they should, these creations, in a funny or elegant way, like these from the Popbakery of London based Clare O'Connell:

found here

found here

In her own words it's all about "flavour, texture and design" and if this still does not convince you, think of it as "portion control on a stick"! Oh, and they should taste good, too.

Happy Friday

I recently went to have a look at the V&A's fairly new Reading Room at 8 Exhibition Road in South Kensington. It is a bookshop which incorporates a wine bar and one is very welcome to browse the shop with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine in hand. The concept is tempting but I found it slightly too cool and restrained to while away some time. The range of books though is certainly different to the average mega bookstore - so you might find yourself staying longer after all. And, every purchase supports the Victoria and Albert Museum.

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Should you be in the area this evening, do go and check out the V&A itself for me please. Tonight, the museum is open till 10.00 pm and will be transformed into a theatrical wonderland where you can try on costumes or watch a play (from 18.30-22.00). Sadly I won't be able to make it, but I have visions of getting  lost amongst the props!

The V&A hosts a contemporary event on the last Friday of every month, and should you feel in a celebratory mood at the end of next month, there will be a 'streetparty with a Victorian twist ' taking place, including the all important trifle.

Have a very happy weekend!

At the 0ffice

I could spend a small fortune on notebooks, nice pencils and utensils for my desk. I have found London company Present&Correct recently and really enjoy browsing through their online shop filled with new and vintage finds. Their stationary, desk caddies and other bits and bobs are a nice contrast to the high tech tools we use every day. And they slow us down, help to reflect if we want, which can be a nice side effect.

And today I found this:

found here

A book full of window envelopes designed for photos and collections of all these bits of important paper usually lying around the house, or you could use it as a scrapbook for your London outings, complete with labels for the date, location etc. Just what we needs!

Caramel and Seasalt

OK, that's it. I need to try this. Now!
Stumbling constantly upon recipe after recipe involving caramel or chocolate with sea salt, I must be by now the last person not to have tried this combination. I think I will go and make some of these myself. You find the recipe here and a conversion table here. So now we are all set. Tempted?

via

But if you feel less adventurous, go try melt in Notting Hill. They offer these Sea Salt Caramel Bonbons.

via

I went in there the other day and believe me, the chocolate smell is overwhelming, so much so that even a serious chocoholic might only need to inhale and be satisfied. I bought a few pralines for a friend (and keeping them in a safe till we see him, they are precious). They always have a few samples and you can go, take a wooden tray and choose with leisure, the staff leaves you to it.

Have fun!

For the (London) Home

Let's stay inside. After all, the weather is miserable and I had to get my gloves back out of the cupboard where I had so optimistically put them already.

Here are some furniture designs that took my fancy, just in case you feel like reinventing your room, your home, well, all sorts of reasons to indulge ...

Humbly called the AP stool, this beautiful piece of furniture was designed by London based Japanese designer Shin Azumi and made out of one single piece of plywood.  Its stackability is an added bonus!  And calling it a Fortune Cookie as did Natalia over at Shoebox Dwelling, where I found it, does describe it particularly well. "Fun and Function" is what Azumi's studio is looking for. I do think they found it here.

This piece of furniture already has a very fitting name, the 'Penguin Donkey 2', designed by British designer Ernest Race in 1963. And I can imagine all sorts of places in my house where it could be put to good use.

I now feel quite inspired and will check out The Modern Danish Warehouse Pop-up-shop this weekend (it runs from the 5th - 20th March in Chelsea/SW3) with Midcentury Danish Furniture, including Vintage School. I have not come across them before, so will let you know soon. I do not hope to find a bargain, especially in this location, but a girl can wish, no?