Did you read Julie Burchill’s comment piece in the Observer at the weekend?  She was opining that our love affair with thrift, craft and homemaking is not just conservative but Conservative, and that a love of vintage is hankering after the symbols of a racist, homophobic, classist, sexist past. She also has a go at Jeneatte Winterson and Dolce and Gabbana. What fun! She calls ‘Keep Calm’ the ‘You don’t have to be mad to work here’ of the decade. Bravo.

As often with Julie I agree… sort of. The elevation of homemaking does strike me as not only twee but also a bit tyrannical and competitive. Interiors bloggers I’m talking to YOU! It’s women, after all, who are sanding farmhouse tables, patchworking for posterity and making chutney. We had to do all that in the past because life was hard and ladies weren’t meant to go in the pub on their own. Are we romanticising something unhealthy and restrictive? But then… I spend as much time rearranging roses in jam jars as the next homes blogger, and it’s very soothing. There are lots of ways to be creative, or even just busy. And homemade chutney can be delicious. What do you think?

Tom Dixon & friends

Arriving at The Dock yesterday, Tom Dixon’s canal-side shop on Ladbroke Grove, the first nice sight was the little red Merci car, which signalled the tiny, perfect pop up shop inside. That table stacked with tons of lovely glassware is by iconic Parisian design outfit ciguë. There is also some of the linen collection that the […]

Join us: crockery counselling

Last week I posted about breaking some crockery, and how posting a picture helped me move on. So effective did I find this that I suggested you send us a picture when you did the same. Well I’m delighted to say that photographer Tom Leighton has done exactly that. Tom even included a fond farewell: […]

The bench project

My love of outdoor benches has already been documented on this blog in a Lisbon street report. So one of my highlights of the London Design Festival opening at the V&A last week was Bench Years, a collection of 10 outdoor seats which the LDF produced in collaboration with Established & Sons. I had to […]

Luna & Curious

Have you mooched around the Boundary Estate lately? It feels a lot like a swanky shopping district in Manhattan. Something it definitely didn’t resemble nine-or-so years ago when I lived nearby. It’s just the right place for lovely interiors shop Luna & Curious (and Ally Capellino across the road), which moved here from Brick Lane around […]