Seriously sexy shoes

My shoe cupboard is a disgrace. A proper, heart-sinking-every-time-I-open-the-door type of mess with all manner of shoes and boots rammed unceremoniously into the bottom of my wardrobe. I say wardrobe, it's actually a small cupboard with a hanging rail. But that's by the by.

Even with the full knowledge that I do not have room for any more shoes, sometimes you find a pair that you Just. Can't. Live. Without.

Hetty Rose designs shoes that fit this description.
Hetty Rose: 'Yumi'

Hetty Rose: Megumi



These are mine. While hoofing it around East London with my fiend Danielle last week, we 'stumbled' (ahem) across a shoe sample sale by designer Hetty Rose. Her shoes are hand-crafted masterpieces made of vintage kimono fabric and leather. She makes her shoes bespoke, moulding the leather to the exact proportions of the lucky wearer's feet, using hundreds of measurements. Luckily for me, either someone had rejected their custom shoes (although I can't believe that could possibly the be case) or she also makes a few samples in standard sizes (never has it been a blessing to be size 5 before!)

Anyway, these beauties were reduced from their normal price of £350 to something much closer to the amount I would normally consider acceptable to spend on footwear. And they are breathtakingly beautiful.

I'm going to buy a cloche to display them under, and wear to exceptional parties. If you have any coming up, please invite me (even if just for my shoes).

LDF roundup: design from Down Under

On my trip around East London for London Design Festival, I made it to Matilda, an exhibition of 13 Australian and New Zealand designers brought together especially for the festival. The group exhibition - backed by venture-capitalist-with-foresight Damon Reeve - puts the Antipodeans squarely on the design map, and will hopefully find a permanent home in London to expand to 30 designers in time for next year's LDF.

Maybe it's something to do with the sunny climes and the laid back lifestyle that we attribute to the Aussies, but the whole vibe at Matilda was a happy, colourful one. From the bright-but-delicate lamp from Marc Pascal (above) to the cheery (and deliciously tactile) Husque bowls (below) to the amazing orange wire stools by Brian Steendyk that I now have a serious crush on, I felt like anything from here would make my home just that little bit more cheerful.




Macadamia nut bowls by Husque.


Dove 44 stool by Brian Steendyk.




Oh, and more lights... Watch Out pendant by Luxxbox.

LDF round-up: Lights!

So many events to see, so little time... When I came to writing up this post from the brilliant-as-usual London Design festival, I realized that most of the things I took pictures of were lighting. Having just curated the mydeco installation of over 70 lamps at The Dock, it may well be that I have lighting on the brain...or perhaps I'm just naturally drawn to lights at this time of year with the weather being Autumnal and the days getting shorter. Or maybe they were just the best things at the festival. Either way, there was lots of lovely lighting on show.

First up are Scott Rich + Victoria at Tramshed; the Unita24 collection of shades (above) are laser cut from 2 sets of alternating parts, the folding element and the curve. The shades fold flat. I am slightly in love with the floor lamp (below). A much more interesting take than the now-everywhere Pixar-style giant anglepoise.


The 'Filament' lights (below) look amazing in the flesh. Unfortunately, Scott told us they would probably only be available to trade and commercial, because replacing the filaments means replacing the entire light more or less, and they can't find a way to do this for retail customers. Boo! Go on Scott, I'm sure you can do it if you try hard enough... I'd buy one!


Also at Tramshed, these beautiful hand-blown glass bubble chandeliers from Bocci. Available singly or in hexagonal clusters (3, 9, 19? I forget), each bubble is unique, and they do look stunning together.

Finally, Lee Broom's new showroom and exhibition space 'One Light Only' didn't disappoint. His new cuboid lights (part of his new collection for Heal's) are Tom Dixon-esque with gold interiors. They look lovely together, but both the small and the large size looked like they would work well alone.

I've seen many 'quirky' lighting ranges recently (jelly molds, wine glasses...) but Lee's decanter lights are beautiful, and still manage to look novel. Personally I love the cut glass range, but if you're into bling, the gold version would look pretty special lined up above a kitchen counter or bar.

I couldn't mention Lee Broom without mentioning the neon strip... I suspect he might be bored of the theme by now, but stand-outs were the classic french bar chair (below) and the awesome Louis style desk, pimped to within an inch of it's life with some serious neon and a DJ no less. Party perfect.

Walking in a rainbow wonderland

Working in design during London Design Festival means the week where some of the most exciting design events to take place all year happen on your doorstep tends to pass in a blur... But I did get to see Stuart Haygarth's 'Framed' installation at the wonderful V&A yesterday.

It was just as beautiful as the artist drawings indicated it would be - and although the framed staircase is only short, and is stuck round the side of the museum, it is just like walking through a rainbow. Made me smile.

Weekend Makeover

Oh I do love a bank holiday weekend. Obviously my ideal way to take advantage of the extra day holiday would be a chic city break somewhere, but in the absence of a European mini break, a weekend of DIY comes a close second. I especially love getting stuck in to those jobs which give you a nice big, immediate satisfaction pay-off - and that's exactly what I got with my quick weekend bathroom makeover.

Bathroom before: boring bare window, ho-hum shower curtain.
Bathroom after:
I made the roller-blind following the instructions on the rather brilliant DesignSponge DIY tutorial here. The roller blind is a cheapo Ikea blind, and I just replaced the fabric with fabric from Ikea. I cheated on the DesignSponge tutorial a bit and didn't even sew the blinds, just used iron-on hemming tape to hem the edges and it worked fine.

A love of lattices

I am having a real Kelly Wearstler moment. I have always loved the graphic lattice patterns she uses so often, but looking again at these gorgeous images (all images courtesy of the Kelly Wearstler, Inc website http://www.kwid.com/) I noticed for the first time how she uses punches of yellow in so many of her interiors - a bit like Miles Redd always includes a splash of bright red.



Yellow wouldn't be in my normal palette for adding a shot of colour - but I might have to re-think that, based on these lovely designs!


I'm surprised we don't see more fabric companies producing similarly punchy graphics here in the U.K. when they get replicated by retailers like West Elm in the US.

However, on a recent trip to Ikea I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of really great (and cheap!) fabrics, and a couple of black and white graphic patterns caught my eye as being pretty Wearstler-esque.

More Wearstler loveliness...

Boutique B&B

If like me, you love boutique hotels but (alas also like me) you don't quite have the budget to stay at one every trip, rejoice in the 'Boutique B&B'! Why is it that B&Bs in some of the country's most popular areas are usually so drab, chintz-filled and fusty? I always seem to be reading about some uber cool young couple who have dropped out of the rat race to open and run a fabulously chic guest house, but never seem to find them when I'm looking for somewhere to stay.

However, I did find one this weekend in Blackawton, in the South Hams region of Devon. The Normandy Arms has 3 bedrooms (all situated on the 'Normandy Landing', ha ha) which are individually designed and beautifully and comfortably furnished.


Nick and his wife say they spent a long time choosing mattresses, and it shows - very comfy and perfect for a good night's sleep in stylish surrounds. Not a chintz pillow in sight! Beautiful willow wallpaper and I love the pale green colour scheme in this room.



Bathrooms are large and chic. I've never seen waterfall showers in a B&B before, and it makes you feel like you're in a luxury hotel!


The restaurant is great, and Nick's cooked breakfasts the finest I've tasted in a long while. Blackawton itself is teeny tiny, but close to Kingsbridge, Salcombe and Dartmouth - some of the prettiest places in arguably the loveliest part of Devon. More chic B&Bs please!

Cotswold chic

Not new, but Barnsley House in the Costwolds (famous for it's essentially English gardens created by Rosemary Verey in the 1950s) is inspiring for its simple yet chic and comfortable interiors.

I really love the way they hang their art on ribbons vertically hung from picture rails, and the twig 'edging' in the bar is genius!


Love the way these pictures are hung - arty without being stuffy or formal. You could use different colours and widths of ribbon for different rooms.


I am really craving a wingback chair....


Possibly the coolest cocktail table ever?

Violet Rain

One of the dreams I have on my "what-would-I-do-if-I-won-the-lottery" days is to open my own art gallery supporting emerging artists. Until my numbers come up, there is Etsy. And actually, I think even if you had all the moeny in the world, it's more fun to collect REAL art from talented young artists who aren't well known than walk into an art gallery and have someone tell you why you should buy something that's already acknowledged as a masterpiece.

My latest discovery is Natasha Newton. She's hardly undiscovered talent (with several solo exhibitions under her belt she's got a show coming up in Dartmouth), but her work is unique and affordable. You can't have the 'Violet Rain' above though, 'cos I've already bought it :)

Large patterned cloud.
Flying Bird 2.

Original 'House in the clouds' painting on wood block.

Beautiful biccies

Our lovely friend Viv bought us these incredible biscuits to celebrate us getting engaged in Paris. I've never seen such amazing biccies, the tin is fantastic, and will sit proudly in my kitchen for many years as a reminder of a wonderful weekend - and a wonderful friend!


The biscuits themselves are just amazing - tiny little works of art, depicting Paris landmarks!



My uber fave is the pink permed poodle - what else? think I'll have to eat him last...