Universally acclaimed interior designer Abigail Ahern has added these über-kitsch Poodle Lamps to her kookie repertoire.
Standing at just under half a meter, this trés chic pair of pooches are perhaps not for the faint-hearted but would look picture-perfect in a quirky retro pad. The likes of Lucille Ball would no doubt be very envious. Available in black or pinky-taupe.
£195 from MyDeco. See the website for more details.
Get into the picnic mood with these folk polka napkins.
They're the perfect addition to a summer picnic, even if the weather isn't so hot, and sit perfectly well with a cucumber sandwich or ten. The duck egg blue design goes well with almost anything and the simple 1950s-style design could bring out the housewife in anyone.
For a pack of 20 it's £2 online from John Lewis.
A new range from People Will Always Need Plates is always welcomed and their new “Looking Up in London” collection is in their quintessential style.
Printed on ceramic mugs, the illustrations are of well-known architectural landmarks, but from the perspective of someone at street level looking up. Choose from the Post Office Tower, Battersea Power Station, 1 Canada Square or Centrepoint.
The mugs cost £10 each from the People Will Always Need Plates website.
This unusual teapot is not a rare vintage find, but the Milano Teapot from Dwell.
It has a distinctive shape, which gives it an Art Deco feel. It is described as being ceramic, but has a chrome finish. It costs just £19.95, but to me, it looks as if it costs a lot more. There are also Milano espresso cups and saucers with a similar curvy shape, priced £9.95 each.
Buy online from Dwell.
The Lilly Wallpaper by Sandberg is a design that will have equal appeal to children and their design-conscious parents.
The wallpaper features an imaginative landscape of hills, trees and trains in a Scandinavian folk art style, designed by Lotta Kvist. It is available in pink/turquoise, brown/green or green/yellow. Sandberg use old-fashioned processes to make their wallpapers, runing their own wallpaper machines at slower speeds than other wallpaper manufacturers and hand-painting the edges of their wallpaper. The paper costs just under £79 per roll. There is also a fabric in the same pattern available, priced £51.61 per metre.
Order online from the Scandinavian Design Center.
The Hepburn Bed by Matthew Hilton for De La Espada is a recent design with clear midcentury influences.
The bed is raised by solid wood legs in that splayed style so popular in midcentury design. The bed comes in sizes, English King or Super King, with a choice of either oak or walnut for the legs and a good choice of upholstery fabrics for the headboard. The English King size in Oak costs £2,890 and the Super King size costs £3,126. Add £48 to these prices for the Walnut option.
Order online from Utility Design.
