Category: Design and Interiors

We’re talking serious attention to detail here – not content with creating coasters shaped like the more common 3.5-inch floppy disks, Supermandolini has gone back even further in time, producing a coaster range including 5.25-inch diskettes.

Yes, we’re in the land of 70s computing with the Soft Sector coasters. But this isn’t just an exercise in geek, it’s really sharp design, with each 9cm x 9cm coaster having its own colourful and individual glossy finish, with a foam base to keep your drink secure.

You can buy a set of six online, priced at 27 Euros.

Find out more at the Supermandolini website

Pioneering Japanese designer Riki Watanabe is best-known for his work in the 60s – but amazingly, we designed the Riki Watanabe Clock for Lemnos when he was 92 years old.

And that influenced the design, with the numbers intended to be visible for anyone with poor vision or looking from a distance. And just to add to that attention to detail, the frame is actually made by skilled tambourine workmen.

Stylish simplicity and a great retro-styled design, it’s sized at 12.2cm x 7.2cm and available in a gift box from French retailer Colette, priced at 85 Euros.

Find out more at the Colette website

The Kay & Stemmer Flow sideboard is one of our favourite all-time finds at Retro To Go, but it’s not the only item designed by the team – another is this Kay & Stemmer mid-century nest of tables.

It’s designed exclusively by Kay & Stemmer for Heals, keeping the curves of the sideboard as well as the walnut and oak finish. And with a look that’s unlikely to go out of fashion.

Available online and instore, the set retails for £895.

Find out more at the Heals website

For anyone with a 70s look going on in a bedroom or living room, these Mr and Mrs House original 70s fabric cushions could be the perfect accessory.

Both are made from an authentic 1970s printed cotton – found hidden away on the shelf of an Italian warehouse. The design is confined to the front, with the rear having a brown corduroy backing.

Both are sized at 45 x 45cm and both are filled with a feather pad. They retail for £50 each.

Find out more at the Mr and Mrs House website

Interesting to see Habitat taking inspiration from its heyday with the Hamilton office chair.

It’s very much a 70s look, although that design probably took inspiration from the modernist era. In fact, I used to have a set of vintage dining chairs in a very similar design, one of which I did use as an office chair! Essentially, it’s just a powder-coated metal tube frame, with brown leather for support on the seat and back. But that simplicity just adds to the stylish look. After all, who needs fuss?

Yours for £99.

Find out more at the Habitat website

Via Switched On Set

Here at Retro To Go, we’re not just interesting in old things, we’re just as much interested in new items that are inspired by the past – which includes this Atomium ceiling suspension light.

Very much influenced by the late 60s/early 70s space age style, the Atomium is a new piece, designed by Hopf & Wortmann for Italian lighting firm Kundalini. And it certainly has impact – a moulded and rotating polyethylene light with six light sources, each one attached to a steel coil spring.

Not cheap at £310, but guaranteed to set off any room.

Find out more at the Design Conscious website