My Home!

Recently I've bought a really rather nice new camera. Hence I've been papping everything in sight! I thought you might like to take a peek into my home, so here's a few pics of the Pargy pad.

The first picture is of my childhood teddy Wilby (aka Wilberforce Bonthorpe Shelmerdene III)! The next couple of pics are of my beloved kitchen. The blue units were in the flat already when I moved in. I like to have bright pink accessories in there. I once saw Zhandra Rhode's kitchen in a Sunday supplement, and it wasn't too different! The bright pop art picture in the last photo was created by my other half, Paolo Pesce (or Mr Fish as he is known!) As you can see, the colours he uses are incredible!  

Perpetual Wall Calendar!

I've been searching around for a decent wall calendar for some time now, and now I've found it - this is a great variation on the perpetual calendar theme. You can either chalk on birthdays/ meetings etc or add post it notes! There are some great wall decals out there, but Fern Living are my favorites!

Donna Wilson

Congratulations go to the amazingly talented Donna Wilson for winning "Designer of the Year" at Elle Decoration's British Design Awards 2010. I love the quirkiness of style, and the confident use of colour that she uses in her wonderful textiles, ceramics and stationery. The below vase is new to her online collection and I think it will soon become a firm favourite!

Bird Jug

The very colourfully attired, Ms Wilson!

Womble Chic!

For those readers that are are not from our shores (or are too young to remember), the Wombles, were a pretty funky bunch of animals that spent most of the seventies picking up litter from Wimbledon Common and "upcycling" it for their fantastic underground home! Hopefully the below Womble Chic inspired pics might help you with some interior ideas of your own; living in a burrow on Wimbledon Common is optional.

Please note that no Wombles were harmed during the writing of this post.

Katrin Moye Ceramics

Katrin Moye and her team of "decorating assistants" create beautiful greeny-blue hued domestic ceramics that have great style, but also a nice homely feel. The cake stands are especially awesome; I think they would add a bit of retro style to any kitchen or dining room table! Liberty of London stock various pieces from the Christa and Dotted Stripe range, plus Katrin also has a few fabric based deisgns on the ever brilliant Clothkits Website.

Tiny Hoops and Dandelions

Dotted Stripe Collection

Christa Collection

Ingrid Collection

Beyond the Fridge

Quite recently, I was looking around for a decent memo board (to no avail). I ended up with an awful standard-issue cork one (which after seeing these is probably going to get put on FreeCycle). Beyond the Fridge take the humble memo board and make it into a work of art! These magnetic boards are made from durable steel and have a high gloss finish. Actually it seems a shame to cover them up with anything so banal as a shopping list. For a bit of fun, take a peek at their lovely Gallery slide show which displays them so nicely.

Coffee Pot

Millefiori on Black

Utensils Red

New Niki Jones Catalogue

I was very happy this weekend to look in my letterbox and find the new Niki Jones catalogue; full of very bright and beautiful ojects to brighten up the home! I'm particularly partial to the below spice jars, which to be quite honest do look a bit like something you might keep a dead relative in, but when you see them all grouped like this they are so stunning. I was also going to mention how much I adore the below Christmas tree baubles, but it's only October, and hence way too early to mention!

Kate Spade coming to the UK soon!

...well soonish anyway (Spring 2011 to be exact), but here is a preview of some of the best stuff (I think) on the US webstore. Kate Spade is a tres stylish New York operation and the pics below have a bit of a "Breakfast at Tiffanys" feel to them don't you think? Perfect way to get rid of the mean reds!

Happy Friday!

And for a bit of fun, here's a fantastic brand that I came across at about 6.00am this morning (!!!!) - The wonderfully wacky Blue Q is an American company that designs and manufactures all of its' own products. They're also an ethical company that don't animal test and use 94% recyclable materials for their bags.

Customised KMixers!

This is a great project from Kenwood and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There are 6 mixers to choose from. Below are my particular favourites (althought they are all lovely). Top mixer by the Conran Shop, followed by the street fashion label PPQ and luxury jeweller, Stephen Webster. Check out the above Kenwood link to be taken to the auction page for each mixer and support this very worthy cause!

New Orla Kiely Radio!!!

First there was the Cath Kidston & Roberts collaboration, but now there's a new kid on the block, the Orla Kiely & Evoke Mio Radio! And not only does it look great, but it's digital, it's ipod compatible, it has a USB socket! If this makes you go radio GaGa, you'll be very pleased to learn that it hits the shops in November (exclusive to John Lewis).

Return of the Retro Phone!

I don't know about you, but I'm done with over-priced grey digital combi phones from Argos. I welcome the return of classic retro telephones. The Princess Phone (pictured middle) was the original! It was designed in the States in the late 50's and was primarily aimed at the female market. It's the kind of phone that that you might use whilst reclining on a chaise Longue in filigree negligee and pink fluffy mules! The box for this is also gorgeous - almost as desirable as the phone itself!

The TrimPhone (top two pictures) is a slightly later UK design (early sixties) and much more masculine in feel. The re-issue of these phones come in a vast array of colours and will go with pretty much any home colour scheme. And then, of course, there is the much beloved 706 table telephone, which most of us will have used at some time or another in our lives. They were the main telephones in use from the 60s to the 80's (I especially love the below red one, which looks like it has been ripped from the Bat Cave!) Obviously these new issues have a different technology behind them (digital and not analogue), but they add something wonderful to a room instead of just being functional! Good selection available from Bloomsbury & Co.

Red Candy

Red Candy. An online shop with all red stuff in it. Yep, that's right - including the below red kitchen items from Guzzini. Genius!

Suzani Design

I've recently come across some really lovely bold prints and textiles based on Suzani Prints (beautiful textured embrodered fabrics from tribes in the Central Asian countries). First up is a fifties inspired chair form the new Graham & Green range of furniture. You could put this chair in a room all on it's own and it would be all the colour you need. The same could also be said of these amazing pieces of furniture from Beirut based Bokja Design. Do check out their incredible website to see the full range; it really is a visual feast! If you are a bit less confident with colour, or just want to pep up a room, you couldn't go far wrong with these cushions from Niki Jones.

Stationery Help is at hand!

All my friends and family have known about my stationery problem for some time now. If you have a similar problem (ie, can't walk past Paperchase without having to spend at least 3 hours rummaging, or dedicate vasts amount of spare time glued to Print & Pattern), help is at hand. I have now decided to have a stationery tab, so I can bung in all my favourite finds. This Cute Pug Dog card is from Hannah Zakari and is quite quite apt!

Cherry on the Cake

Fantastic new Artist collaborations @ the V & A. This designer collaboration is focused on the use of paper. There are "Cut out and Keepsakes" by Pargy favourite Fred Butler, "Hide & Seek" paper sculptures by Chisato, and a very unusual but visually very arresting concept of an "Exhibition in a box" (Tom Martin). Other nice Items in this range include pieces by Rob Ryan, and another Pargy regular Angie Lewin. These are very affordable, but unique gifts for loved ones (yes, I guess that does include yourself!) Trust me, the lovely people at the V&A shop have really excelled themselves on this one!

Fred Butler

Chisato

Fred Butler

Tom Martin