Category: Design and Interiors

The name of David Mellor may not be familiar to all of you, but he is one of the unsung heros of design in the UK. Best known for his work in the 60s and 70s he has worked on everything from industrial design to homeware. He operates on the simple principle that well-designed equipment can improve your life.

This ‘Chinese’ cutlery – originally designed in the 1970s – is back in production. With its broad flat stainless steel blades and moulded resin handles it epitomises 70s style. It won many awards at the time, and is now back to gain a new army of fans.

We have featured the green here, which we think is the most 70s looking, but you can also get it white and black. Six piece place settings retail for £65, with individual pieces from £7.10. There’s also a full 44-piece canteen if you really want to splash out.

Find out more on the David Mellor site

I have an apology to make. Yesterday I said that the op art-style mugs from Bo Concept were the only non-bland items in the store’s range. I was wrong – I’ve discovered these amazing retro-styled glass candlesticks.

The picture says as much as you need to know – with designs in that vintage Scandinavian style, fittingly for a Scandinavian design company. Available in black, clear or smoke-coloured glass in a variety of sizes, prices start from a very affordable £8.

Find out more at the Bo Concept website

I always have a problem with Bo Concept – most of their items are exceedingly bland, but ideal for soulless loft apartment living. However, whilst browsing the site the other day, I noticed these rather cool op art-style mugs that would fit well into any 60s-styled home.

The mugs are made from white porcelain, with three designs available (and pictured) – all in a retro.op art style.

A good buy at just £5 each.

Find out more from the Bo Concept website

For fantastically quirky 60s design, check out Aldo Londi’s designs for Bitossi, which have been reissued in limited quantities by the company to celebrate the centenary of the designer’s birth. By far the most distinctive are his animals – and for me, the most distinctive of all is the Rimini Rosso Cat. Red ceramic, great design and a guaranteed conversation-starter.

Check out some of the other reissued designs at the Twentytwenty website, starting from around £40, but if you love the cat as much as we do, it retails for £226.

Find out more at the Twentytwenty website

As we’ve just featured a desk, it seems a good time to mention one of the coolest desk accessories you can buy – the Imbroglio desk calendar, originally designed in 1973 by French industrial designer Jean-Pierre Vitrac.

This is the freestanding version of the Imbroglio, which uses a panel made from powder-coated steel featuring screen-printed graphics and a plastic, magnetic cursor. The plastic cursor frames and defines the numbers 1 – 31, so you always know what day it is. And as it doesn’t do years, there’s no reason to buy a new calendar every year – just the one will do.

You can pick one up in red or grey for a very reasonable £19.95.

Find out more at the Twentytwentyone website