Categories / Design and Interiors

Celia Birtwell Birds Doormat for Heals

Celia_heals We haven’t featured a doormat for a while, so here’s one that’s stylish and contributes to charity – the Celia Birtwell Birds Doormat for Heals.

It’s one of a range of doormats created by celebrities and name designers for Heals, with all profits from each sale going to support the Terrence Higgins Trust. This one is by Retro Top Go favourite Celia Birtwell, featuring a hand-drawn bird design, along with Celia’s signature. If that’s not to your taste, you can also check out designs by Tara Palmer Tomkinson, Alan Titchmarsh, Sophie Conran, Orla Kiely and Lulu Guinness on the site.

Good value at £22 – and you’ll feel good about yourself everytime you walk into the house.

Find out more at the Heals website

Categories / Toys and Games

World Map Rubik’s Cube

World_rubik Obviously a normal Rubik’s Cube isn’t hard enough for the people of Japan, so they’ve created something more fiendish – a World Map Rubik’s Cube.

It’s been made to celebrate 25 years of the cube and replaces the plain coloured blocks with a sample map of the world. That makes things a lot harder – let’s be honest, one patch of land and sea on a map looks pretty much like any other.

As far as we know, this is only available from Japan, or via mail order from a Japanese online store (follow the link at the bottom for one such place). It retails for the equivalent of £10.

Find out more about the World Map Rubik’s Cube

Categories / Gadgets and Tech

Zip Zip – USB media storage shaped like a Lego brick

Zipzip

Yes, we’re back on the Lego. I’ve lost track of how many quirky Lego-based designs we’ve covered in the past, but up there with all of them is the Zip Zip storage device.

This Australian device uses a Lego brick to house 1GB of storage for your files, music or videos – available to plug into any device or computer with a USB socket. You can choose from black, white, red, blue, green, and yellow, all ‘8’ bricks, with the top half holding the technology and the bottom half acting as the cap.

Pure novelty, but not badly prices at $59 Australian dollars, which is around £24.

Find out more at the Zip Zip website

Categories / Men's Fashion, Sportswear

Oki-Ni reissues Diadora Seb Impact trainers

Seb_trainers

Ex-Tory politician and the man charged with making us all enthusiastic about spending a fortune on the Olympic Games – Sebastian Coe isn’t exactly the epitome of hip. But back in the mid 80s, things were very different. Athletics was big news and our Seb was breaking world records and endorsing trainers like these Diadora Seb Impact.

The running shoe was created between 1985 and 1986 by Diadora in partnership with the Bio-Engineering Department Don Gnocchi in Milan. Technologically very advanced in the day – and still able to hold its own today for athletes looking for the perfect posture.

And it’s also a great slab of 80s throwback footwear, available as a reissue in nylon mesh and pigskin and in two colour schemes. It’s exclusive to Oki-Ni, priced at £65 a pair.

Find out more at the Oki-Ni website

Categories / Bags

Orla Kiely retro shopping trolley

Orla_trolley

You might laugh at your gran as she heads off down to the shops with her trolley, but it suddenly makes a lot of sense when you have to struggle up a hill with two heavy shopping bags. And indeed, it’s actually far more eco-friendly than plastic bags too. Fancy one? You could try this Orla Kiely retro shopping trolley.

Yes, this is very much the classic shopping trolley, but without the tartan cloth covering. Instead, you get a classic Orla Kiely print in a choice of three colours, all made from a laminated cotton canvas. There’s also a front pocket and wheels that fold up when you want to carry it.

Unfortunately, it isn’t as cheap as your gran’s trolley – they retail for £200.

Find out more at the Orla Kiely website

Categories / Design and Interiors

Case introduces CaseFile retro storage system

Casefile
I saw a home makeover show a while back, where the clueless "expert" ripped out a 1950s shelving system, replacing it with some high street tat. They obviously they didn’t realise these things make big money at auction – and are being reproduced by some of the hip design companies, like SCP offshoot Case, which has just launched the CaseFile storage system.

Designed by Matthew Hilton, this is very much in keeping with the classic (and particularly Scandinavian) storage systems of the past. It consists of steel uprights, with walnut or oak shelving and drawers, all adjustable to your required height. There’s also a bureau component, which drops down so you can use it as a desk.

Great, vintage-inspired design that’s new into the company’s range. As yet, we don’t have a price, but as this is the more affordable end of SCP, it should be too hard on your pocket.

Find out more at the Case website