Yummy Blog

What could be better than a good food and good design? Not much! Unfortunately our eating experiences are often rather mundane - lunch at the computer anyone? Well fear not, whether stuck at your p.c. or not a little jaunt through Helen Cathcart's beautiful blog is all you need to realise its time to set your sights a little higher. www.helencathcart.blogspot.co.uk

The pictures below are of a new Café that has opened down the road from me and where a friend happens to be the sous chef - Hally's in Parson's Green. This part of London seems always to be miles behind everywhere else in terms of good design so Hally's is a welcome breath of fresh air with real charm and thought behind the design thanks to Alexander Waterworth Interiors.

They also have their own blog ; www.alexanderwaterworth.blogspot.co.uk

 

Helen is a food and portrait photographer who has worked for my favourite publication - Monocle and Olive magazine, Conde Naste Traveller UK, Sunday Times travel section and many more. I think her photographs of food are the most beautiful I have seen. I know that if I ever work on a restaurant again I want (and would be honoured) for Helen to shoot it. Enjoy!







 

Style with Shoulder Pads

I recently had the dubious pleasure of watching a Bette Midler film from the late 80's called Ruthless People. While Bette as always was magnetic, this must surely be seen as one of the worst films ever made. Luckily the film had an unintentional redeeming feature in the form of the mesmerising sets - Hot Mess all over!

I wish I knew what this particular late 80's/early 90's style was called. If I remember correctly other fine examples can be seen in Saved by the Bell and The First Wives Club. This is a style meant to signify wealth, if not colour-blindness. The picture below shows a real art deco influence which has been bastardised into a pastel leaning tower of Pisa vanity unit of nightmarish proportions.

Well, like it or not Hot Mess is making a come back as the pictures below show! Kelly Wearstler, that LA denizen of colourful cool has created some really intense interiors that take heavy influence from this period. Well maybe it is time for a bit more risk taking in our interiors which have become rather, shall we say safe? recently. Fashion has covered its self with studs and spikes and maybe its time our homes got a bit of edge too - Grrrr!

Diamonds are Forever

My posts seem to have a Regal theme at the moment; with the Royal yacht and now these fantastic paintings by Rasmus Nilausen. The connection being that one of his paintings is of the star of Africa which is the stone in the Sceptre of the Crown jewels. A tenuous link admittedly but there you go.

Capturing the shimmering, faceted, almost fluid beauty of a diamond is not mean feat but Rasmus has acheived just that. I think these are fantastic and could see them working beautifully in a contemporary interior - against a backdrop of beautiful smoky seagrass wallpaper is what I have in my head.

www.rasmusnilausen.dk

Rule Britannia

I was so surprised to see these sketches of the interiors created by Sir Hugh Casson for the Royal yacht Britannia; their fluid and un detailed style are incredibly artful, but I had imagined that a submission of this kind would be very formal indeed. Clearly I was wrong, the paintings reflect the relaxed atmosphere that was desired on the yacht and they do reflect what was created on board very closely. It's a shame there is little room for such beautiful presentations these days! - maybe I should work for the Royal family.

Housesitter!

The Gorgeous Goldie Hawn is one of my favourite actresses and Houesitter is one of her best films. I hadn't seen this for ages, but revisited it last week.

What a treat. It also reminded me that I think the house in Houseitter was the first thing that sparked my interest in interiors. I really thought that this was the most amazing house I had ever seen! I was fascinated with its quirky layout and features.



The House is built in two parts separated by a wooden and glass corridor. For a house so big it is totally impractical with only one bedroom and no toilet apparently? But then  who needs things like a toilet when you have a glass fridge, switchback stairs and a bath in your bedroom?

Goldie decorates the house with a little help from Steve Martin's mother in the film. I love the bizarre choices she makes, considering she is broke herself. Some highlights would be the huge candy stripped candle lamps, which can be seen in the kitchen picture below.



I love that the bed has coloured lights wrapped around the wrought iron frame.



The house is beautifully situated next to a picturesque pond. This sort of location would be a dream build site for me  - maybe my next project!

His and hers (or his and his) sinks and a bath with a view in the bedroom - what could be better?

The massive ornamental birdcage is the icing on the cake. In conclusion; some of the decor may be a bit dated but this is one house I'd be happy to baby sit any time - hopefully with Goldie Hawn for company.

Leafy Liberty

Liberty have just released some gorgeous new additions to their famous floral fabric collection. My favourite is the Botanical Garden capsule collection. These digital prints feature designs by eminent artist Mary Fedden, Hugo Grenville and Rachel Pedder Smith and freelance designers.  

This collection is right up my street. I love any fabric with tropical foliage and the fantastical forest of Otilia fits the bill perfectly.







I may well buy a meter of this to frame, its so beautiful or can my sofa cope with another cushion? We will have to see.

Check out the full collection at www.liberty.co.uk

Native Indian

I've always thought that a book can only be bettered by having pictures in it, but then there are picture books and picture books! The amazing tome that recently went under the hammer in New York is definitely the latter. The collection of forty volumes collected a price of over a million dollars making it one of the most expensive collections of books ever sold!




The collection, titled The North American Indian was the work of Edward S. Curtis. The photographs were taken on a expedition funded by the banker J. P. Morgan to document the lives and rituals of the native American Indians. The resulting photographs are not mere documentation but works of exquisite beauty.



These really are some of the most fantastic photographs I have ever seen. The lighting and soft sepia tone make them incredibly atmospheric and almost sentimental without belying the incredible strength of the subject matter.




The book provides a glimpse of a world and its customs that must have all but vanished.





I recently saw another set of photographs with a native Indian theme. These came from the Pulp Art Book by Neill Krug and Joni Harbeck. I actually saw the image below in a clients house and was blown away by it. A little google image investigation later and I had found the source.









Well once I had found these it was like opening a pandora's box! All their photography is absolutely amazing and well worth a look. Great use of retro images and evocative themes with beautiful distressing and use of light. I am a huge fan!











www.pulpartbook.com