Step back into Spring and Summer...

...It may not have escaped your attention that there is a retro, mid century vibe going on with designers and High Street stores plundering the 50's, 60's and 70's for inspiration. Colours are fresh and fun with graphic shapes and more than a dash of nostalgia. Perfect for the (hopefully!) warmer weather around the corner...

1. Jonathan Adler's Mrs Godfrey Chair from $1,495.

2. Harlequin Claudia table lamp from good old John Lewis.

3. Rie planters from Habitat. Priced from £35 for the small citrus, £45 for the medium chive and £55 for the large turquoise. Available from May. I need some for my balcony.

4. Claude walnut gossip bench set $1, 890. Yep, I can just see me sat on there on the phone for hours having a good old gossip.

5. Talking of being on the phone,you can get this Trimphone by I Love Retro on Brighton Pod (great site BTW!). Available in green, white, red, turquoise, purple and orange. Priced at £36.95. Glamorous bargain!

6. The Acapulco chair is a re-issue of the 50's classic and takes it name from the Pacific resort. The frame is solid steel with a plastic cord seat. Available in black, yellow, blue and petrol blue. Handmade in Mexico and costs £295. I would love a couple for my balcony but it's far too small.

7. The Lyon tables from M&S. These two colour variations will be available soon. From £49.

8. Loving this Molecule building set from Ferm Living and priced at 54 Euros...I need one!

Happy weekend everyone and happy shopping.

Mad about the Men...again...

I'm missing Mad Men so much! Are you!? I cannot wait for it to be gracing our screens again. I wonder if there is a therapy group for withdrawal?...

Anyhoo, I've wanted to create a Mad Man inspired print for a while now and here it is. It's available as a print at the moment but will soon be available as a 50cm x 70cm poster in my Etsy shop Yumalum. It can also vbe viewed/framed either way up.

I took the photographs of the Chrysler Building and The Empire State Building used in the design when we were last in New York. We may be going again in May...

Sitting pretty...

I managed to win a new chair on Evilbay today to add to my growing (out of control!??) collection. It's a gorgeous Kelly green upholstered side chair on a star base and it cost me all of £43! An absolute bargain, although David wasn't amused at first (before he found out how much it cost) because of the rather large impending purchase we are about to make.

I think I may end up needing a way to display all of my chairs eventually, maybe like something in the above pic!?? OR a chair museum! I would love my very own museum dedicated to chairs. People could touch (maybe...) but definitely not sit!

Pics of the new chair and more info on the very exciting purchase coming soon...

Friday feast...

A splash of orange for Halloween. I love how grey and orange compliment each other like in the recent pics of my loft.

Have a spooky weekend everyone!

Via Plastolux, Flickr and Ffffound

Mad about Helvetica...

..whilst watching a recent episode of Mad Men (loving the new offices BTW!) I suddenly shouted to David (he was lounging on the sofa next to me) that there was a Helvetica poster in the background. I was ridiculously excited and David tried his best to look and sound interested.

Well Swiss Dots has produced a limited edition screenprint inspired by a 1960's promotional poster for the film "Helvetica". It is screenprinted by hand on archival 300gsm paper, A2 size in a numbered edition of 100 copies and each one is signed by the director Gary Hustwit. They are available to order here while stocks last at $150. I am so tempted...

Daily drooling...

Daily drooling...

..Mmmmmmm...Saarinen marble oval dining table, one would look so perfect in our apartment. Loving the tiled floor too.

Happy happy sideboard day!...

...It's here...at last!!! It was a vision of gorgeousness as the two delivery men carried it towards me.

The wood is much darker and the grain is far richer than the pics on the Evilbay listing which is good because sideboards from the 60's/70's can be a bit too orange for my liking. Overall it's in fantastic condition with only very small marks here and there. David loves it too which can only be a bonus because if he didn't he would make disparaging comments about it forever more like he does about the Nagel candle holders I bought.

I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat...

Have a great weekend all.

Sideboard sigh...

...sighing because I have at last got my hands on a gorgeous sideboard! I had been watching it for a week and I had seen a few of the same design go in the past but had always lost out on them so I was determined that it was going to be mine.

There was a minute left and I was poised and ready thinking that the price was going to go stratospheric so I placed my bid.....but oh fuck I wasn't logged in and the interboogle slowed down! I kept my cool, my heart racing and hoped for the best and yes I won by a half of a second! I got it for a fantastic £132 as well! I couldn't believe it, fate was on my side and it was meant to be.

It was designed by Nils Jonsson and was made for Troeds Bjarnum of Sweden in the 1960's. Mine is called the "Trento" and is solid teak. Below are a couple of variations of another version called the "Florens"...

...The one below is mine and gorgeous it looks too. It's in very good condition apart from a little damage on the bottom of the left door which is hardly noticeable and could be easily repaired.

Below is another variation of the "Trento" and mine may just end up looking like it...

Friday feast...

Via lots of marvelous blogs but I'm not sure which....

A single exquisite experience...

We finally got around to watching first time director Tom Ford's A Single Man based on the Christopher Isherwood book last weekend and it was worth the wait. Everything about it was gorgeous from the sets to the cinematography, I was positively drooling. The house used was the Schaffer Residence (pics below) which was built in 1949 by the architect John Lautner and I've decided that in another life I will be living there because of course in that life the $1.5M price tag won't be a problem.

The ever gorgeous Julianne Moore as the over the top, camp, fucked up fag hag best friend of Colin Firth's character. Her screen time was limited but for me she just lit up the screen.

A haunting story about a tortured and broken man ( beautifully acted by Colin Firth ) over the period of one day with to die for interiors along the way, what more could you ask for. The soundtrack by Abel Korzeniowski is just incredible. I need to watch it again...and again...

Colour me Eames...

Same chairs...new colours. Herman Miller has announced five new colours and two new bases including the stacking/ganging base and the four legged base. The new colours are aqua sky, java, wafer, greystone and sparrow. It's great that these fantastic designs are more popular than ever and the colours are gorgeous but I still prefer the earlier fiberglass versions. The plastic versions are well just too plasticky and look a bit cheap for my liking, they just haven't got the "personality" of the fiberglass ones unfortunately.

Flickrlicious...

Via Flickr

Via

Bowled over...

...I posted about a new Krenit obsession a few weeks ago and well I've bought four more to keep the red one company! I just couldn't help myself. At least they don't cost as much as my Eames chair addiction although they are rising in price lately.

Mad Barbie...

...or bitch Barbie! I never liked her, I was more of a Sindy boy *blush*...ahem...Anyway Mattel's Mad Men Barbies are coming in July, I'm sure there will be women and men of a certain persuasion screaming down the aisles to get their hands on them. What next? A pill popping, snorting Nurse Jackie version complete with a mini straw...I do hope so!

Via Whorange

Friday feast...

Phwoaaarrr at the black wall and the black Series 7 chairs!

...double phwoaaarrrr at the green of that sofa!!

Have a happy weekend everyone!