Yet another practical classic that doesn’t cost a fortune – the Eames LTR occasional table, originally introduced in 1950.
It’s both practical and simple, a laminate top (in black or white) with a wire undercarriage support. Use it as a side or occasional table, or buy a few (if the budget can stretch a bit) and use them in a row or piled on top of each other as a storage unit.
Now remade by Vitra, you can pick one up for £150.
Find out more from the Utility Design website
Doormats aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, least of all designers, as you rarely see any other than the square ones with "welcome" in bold lettering. But look around and there are some interesting ones, like this Hare Mat by Droog.
It’s based on a 1920s pictogram by Gerd Arntz, the well-respected German modernist artist. Even if it didn’t have the heritage, it’s still a very eye-catching addition to your hallway. Sized at 195cm x 90cm, you can pick one up for £72.
Once upon a time, the word ‘punk’ struck fear into civil society. These days it’s simply ancient history and always good for a book or two – the latest of which is Babylon’s Burning by Clinton Heylin.
And it’s not for the faint-hearted. 700 pages covering punk from it earliest roots (well, from the Velvet Underground and CBGBs anyway), but focusing mainly on the British scene from 1976 – which means a hefty section on the Sex Pistols and lesser sections on the likes of The Clash, The Buzzcocks, The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, The Adverts, Wire and all. And it doesn’t end there, following punk right up to its "final mutation" (you may disagree) of grunge.
As you’d expect from a book of such length, it’s all done in intimate detail, using newspaper and music press clippings of the day, as well as the usual rose-coloured anecdotes you’d expect.
Available now, you can pick up Babylon’s Burning in hardback for around £13.
Quirky design isn’t something that appeared in the last 20 years – it’s been around as long as design itself. In fact, it doesn’t get much quirkier than the Sella bicycle seat stool, dating back to 1957 and designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (who you may remember from the recently-featured Taccia lamp).
It’s a simple design with a very simple use – a black racing saddle with a pink lacquered steel column sits on a cast iron rocking base. The design was a practical one from Achille Castiglioni’s point of view – he wanted a comfortable seat that could be used in a phone box, where he liked “to move around” and “to sit, but not completely”.
If you can find a use for the design in your home, you can buy one for £520.
Find out more at the Places And Spaces website
Ted Geisel wrote and illustrated 44 books for children under the name Dr. Seuss, with visuals now recognised as works of art in their own right. In fact, you can buy limited edition prints of some of the most memorable and iconographic images from Seuss’s career.
The majority have been reproduced using hand-pulled lithography, a “low-tech” method where printers faithfully recreate Seuss’s original works by individually drawing and/or separating each colour, then mixing and printing them one at a time via a plate or stone lithograph press. The process can take up to three months to create each individual print
Check out the Dr Seuss Art website for the full range of prints, including this Turtle Tower image, which retails for $425 (around £220) unframed and comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Very much aimed at record nerds is range of music t-shirts from Blanka, which feature the title of a range of "classic" tracks, along with the track length in large digits displayed on the front.
There’s a good variety of tracks on offer, including the likes of AC/DC, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Public Enemy, New Order, The Smiths and the one pictured here – Echoes by Pink Floyd (which has the longest running time in the range).
All are available in a range of colours and sizes and retail for £29.
Find out more at the Blanka website
