This Retro Desk Lamp from Idyll Home is pretty much your standard desk lamp design, with an adjustable head that allows you to change the angle of the light. What distinguishes it, is the unusual choice of colour, a vintage-looking shade of green, which gives it a much more retro look than if the lamp had been in the usual black, chrome or red.
It measures 55cm high when fully extended and uses a 40 watt bulb or low energy equivalent.
It costs £129 from the Idyll Home website.
For those determined to have an entirely retro Christmas, Etsy seller dodelinedesign has some great Christmas cards designs, with my favourite being the Mid-Century Modern Christmas Cards.
These cards features a pile of classic chairs (it looks like an Eames design), stacked on top of one another in a Christmas tree formation and topped with a simple red star. You can buy an individual card for around £1.90, or buy in packs of 8 or 20 to save some money, which are priced just under £10 and around £18 respectively.
Buy them online at Etsy.
For most high street shops, the countdown to Christmas begins before summer is even over, but for the rest of us, it starts in earnest in December with an advent calendar to mark off the days.
Rather than buy disposable cardboard one, this Retro Advent Calendar Box will last for a number of year and allow you to fill up the days with personalised treats for your children or loved one. It is made from wood and each door is decorated with a vintage style festive illustrations.
It costs £39 from Lapin and Me via Not on the High Street, and if you order it this week, you should receive it in time for the beginning of December.
It is likely that you will have already seen Orla Kiely’s Car Park Bedding range, featuring a repeating pattern of white retro cars on a bright coloured background, but this week you have the opportunity to buy it at half price through Dot Maison’s Group Buy scheme.
Each week the Group Buy scheme has a different offer, and this week is the Car Park Bedding range in the mandarin orange colourway, in either a single, double or king size set. The sets are offered at this bargain price, but to activate the offer, there needs to be a minimum of 10 purchases for each size. Once ten customers have expressed an interest, then the deal is on, running until the end of the working week or until their stocks run out.
The single duvet set (with one pillowcase) costs £37, the double set £42 and the kingsize £47 (both sold with two pillowcases). Visit the Dot Maison Group Buy section for further details.
Jonathan Adler’s new Pop Menagerie range proves that Christmas tree ornaments don’t have to be twee or tinselly.
There are three ornaments in the collection; a lion, a peacock and an elephant. Each one is made from white porcelain, decorated with bright bursts of pattern, in the 60s/70s style we have come to expect from Jonathan Adler. They are suggested as an ideal commemorative gift for a baby’s first Christmas, and are supplied in a matching gift box, but I don’t think you need the excuse of a baby to add something this stylish to your tree.
The ornaments cost $28 each (about £20) from the Jonathan Adler website.
Following yesterday’s matchbox light, here is another novelty light, but this time aimed at children (or at least the inner child).
The LEGO Brick Light, has four white LEDs hidden within its studs and can be used as a bedside light or mounted on a wall (the necessary attachments are included). It measures 8cm by 8cm by 4cm, and unlike many LEGO-inspired pieces, is an official LEGO product. It is available in various colours, but it seems to be pot luck from all retailers as to which colour you will receive.
It is available to buy online from a variety of the usual retailers, including Play, priced £6.99. A cheap and cheerful stocking-filler, if ever we saw one.
