A few days ago I was in snowy Stockholm for only my second ever visit to the city. Luckily I had quite a bit of time to wander around and also squeezed in a visit to Mariefred and its castle, which is about 1 hour away.

The magnificent castle in Mariefred

It was -20 degrees and very snowy!

Back in the city, I have been a huge fan of architect, designer and artist Josef Frank since my degree days at Camberwell and so a visit to Svenskt Tenn was a ‘must do’. This time was better than ever as they have temporarily re-located whilst renovating their original store and currently running a pop-up shop in an old Art Deco cinema , the Astoria which is amazing!

The exterior of the Astoria Cinema

Interior which has made a feature of the original screen

The Astoria is a great setting for all the products; the stage houses some huge sofas upholstered in the newly launched Josef Frank ‘Marble’ velvets, influenced by the work of Jackson Pollock which he first saw in New York. Have a look at this animation of the Marble 4420 print:

Marble 4420 by Josef Frank. Motion graphic designer Mika Pollack

Where the audience seats used be has been left pretty much as it was (but with the seats removed obviously!) and is eclectically styled. You have to keep reminding yourself that Joseph and Esrid Ericson produced these pieces over 50 years ago because it looks so of the moment right now.

As you can tell I really, really loved this current shop. It seems to have transformed the Svensk Tenn look, generating a younger feel. I hope they keep it alongside the newly refurbished store. And can we have one in London please?!

Another totally awesome visit was the Nordiska Museum housing Swedish trends and traditions.

I could have spent all day here and will definitely visit again. The folk art rooms are lovely, an artform that blossomed in Sweden during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. They have everything from knitted socks to beautiful Swedish furniture on display.

A detail of decorative folk art

Hand knitted socks

Elsewhere is the Nordiska’s interiors section with room sets of each Swedish home setting rather like a cross between our V&A and the Geffrye Museum

One of my favourites was the Table Settings exhibition which is really beautifully put together in little room sets featuring settings from 16^th century to 1950’s Here I have taken a few snaps (as they are behind glass they are a bit blurred but some how that makes them look more authentic I think!)–highlighting food and drink and the customs and traditions linked to meals .

Posted in architecture, art, design, handmade, interior design, pattern, textiles

Over at the Truman Brewery, Tent was in full swing. Although I had whizz around quite quickly, there seemed to be a good vibe. I discovered Sasaworks, an architecture practice making lovely furniture and build house extensions using wood.

Posted in architecture, design, interior design

All summer I was meaning to check out this year’s Serpentine pavilion. French architect Jean Nouvel was in charge of the latest garden addition and what an amazing job he’s done…

Nouvel's pavilion with matching flowers!

The pavilion as seen from the gallery

Red has so many associations with Britain and London in particular with our red buses, Beefeaters and so on. But the colour doesn’t just mean tradition, it’s sexy and is definitely having a bit of a moment right now. Along with camel, red has been bubbling under for a while and is a colour we’re going to see a lot of this season, in both fashion and interiors.

For me, red is a colour I’m quite careful with in my work; it can really dominate. Yet even here where it’s such a dense, dare I say ‘true’ red, it doesn’t appear overpowering.

The structure has very bold geometric shapes, the steep slopes and slanted angles give the red its sharply tailored footprint.

The structure and geometry in detail

With seating under retractable awnings it is a great place to stop and just feel the space. With a café and ping pong tables outside, it has a real sense of fun and warmth that will cheer one up even on these rainy days as we head towards autumn.

A table tennis game at the pavilion

Posted in architecture, colour, trends

The lovely Geffrye Museum has 2 interesting yet contrasting events at the moment. Firstly, from next month one of its 18^th century almshouses, just been carefully restored to its original condition is open to visitors. You have to book in advance but at only £2 it’s so worth it for a glimpse of what life was like for London’s poor and elderly. Click here for details of dates and times of the guided tours:

Photography by Morley von Sternberg for Geffrye Museum

Posted in architecture, interior design, review

Getting out and about to absorb as much of the arts and culture available on my doorstep no doubt has a direct influence on my work but I also find a wealth of inspiration from online sources.

Now that all of Pathé’s newsreels are available online I’ve been checking a few out. They have an enormous archive covering news, sport, social history and entertainment from 1896 to 1970. The programmes about interior design and domestic life in general are especially fascinating. There are some great ones from the 1950s and 60s from which you can get a genuine insight into the materials, patterns, colours, furniture and other objects of that time.

Country Cottage – not sure if I like the final outcome of this but it’s fascinating to watch her striping the wallpaper in her finery , reminded me of seeing Gilbert and George recently blow torching the paint off a their front door in Spitafields all dressed up in their wonderful suits.

The Dome House – a great space to work in I wouldn’t mind one of these, I love how the windows open.

1953 Fashion Show – I love the stripey yachting outfit , how very NOW !

Carpets – Wilton and Axminster with some great shots of rural Britain and of hand knotting.

Another that I often delve into is VADS, the online resource for visual arts. It is managed by the Farnham Campus of the University College for the Creative Arts and is an extensive collection of images including fine art, illustration, advertising posters and textiles as well as including the Design Council’s slide collection and the London College of Fashion’s archive. Worth a look!

Posted in architecture, design, fashion, interior design, textiles, vintage

It’s not just part of my job, I’m fascinated by colours and what they might mean so I was especially intrigued by a story in this morning’s Times reporting some research conducted by Sandtex, the paint manufacturers. According to the survey ‘people with blue houses are more successful than those living in homes of any other colour’. In this case, ‘successful’ is denoted by salary, job title at work, number of holidays taken and help employed around the home. If you live in a green house, you’re the bottom of the pile. One of my favourite colours is pink which, apparently, puts me in the second to lowest position. Oh dear!

Here’s the article.

Posted in architecture, colour, interior design, trends

Yesterday I was having a trawl through our library and my hard drive, searching for something or other and whilst doing so, found so many objects, images and names that have inspired me I thought I’d jot some down for fun. In no particular order, here’s what I love…

Photography, Cyan types, William Henry Fox Talbot, pattern, Karl Blossfeldt, colour, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, fashion, pastels, black houses, Sonia Delaunay, wallpaper, gold, Josef & Anni Albers, Henri Matisee, Georgia O’ Keefe, Stella Ross–Craig, silver, Brick Lane and the Hugenot houses of Spitafields, paper-making, Paul Smith, black, Zika Ascher, Missoni, purple, Vitra, Ratti, blue, William Morris, Karel Martens, Lucienne Day, felt-making, The Albergs, The Eames, bronze, Rothko, Barbara Hepworth, Frida Khalo, Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread, yellow, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, grey, weaving, Roger Hilton, Gary Hume, Howard Hodgkin, David Hockney, brown, Pierre-Joseph Redoute, neon, Palladio textile range, Terence Conran, Rogers House – Wimbledon, copper, Josef Frank, lino cut, the South Downs, Li Edelkoort, Jaime Hayon, Raoul Dufy, paper art, Katsuyo Kamo for Karl Lagerfeld, print-making, pink, Miuccia Prada, blossom, Tokyo, Brancusi, Wysteria

Posted in architecture, art, colour, design, fashion, pattern, textiles