Building a bon bistro-style kitchen
Pull up a seat, because your favourite bistro might just hold the bon ideas you need if you are designing a kitchen or looking to refresh the room. Bistros may have emerged in Paris, but to this day they carry signatures that are shared in eateries across...
The mother-daughter duo reimagining home shopping
Not far from the bustle of Putney High Street, signs for the George and Beth vintage pop-up beckon you to a peaceful residential street. The hosts, Helen and Hannah greet you warmly into their home, which is reimagined as a shoppable wonderland for a couple of times...
Shopping vintage & sustainable local fashion in Lisbon
I like to get the mood of a new place via the vintage scene, and Lisbon did not disappoint. I had my list - the flea market, a bunch of vintage and pre-loved fashion shops and an antique shop that specialised in tiles. Of course, I discovered other places that made my...
Before-and-after: My kitchen reno with reclaimed materials
We wanted to be ambitious with the kitchen, so although it took us two and a half years to renovate, I started sourcing reclaimed and salvaged elements as soon as we moved in. Living in our flat and gradually collecting kitchen pieces—some of which have been stored in...
Building a bon bistro-style kitchen
Pull up a seat, because your favourite bistro might just hold the bon ideas you need if you are designing a kitchen or looking to refresh the room. Bistros may have emerged in Paris, but to this day they carry signatures that are shared in eateries across...
Confessions of a Miximalista Ahead of Bath Decorative
Mirror - midcentury, Swedish sofa - 1880s, pendant light - 1980s. I am fond of an interior design remix, but getting it right can be tricky, so I called upon experts dealing in everything from architectural antiques to vintage, textiles and art to help master...
Shopping vintage and les puces in Paris
I have yet to attempt to encapsulate the London vintage shopping scene for the same reason I have not written a Paris guide (until now): the choice is intimidating. It is impossible to enjoyably squeeze even these twelve recs into the length of a usual city break, so...
The lion, the kitchen and the wardrobe
I found myself staying on Courage Yard this week as we moved out of our flat to renovate the kitchen. Naturally, I’ve been thinking about my first reclaimed renovation when I transformed the kitchen into a walk-in wardrobe, and strangely, remodelling the kitchen has...
Better things for life, not just for Christmas
Offers on things that won't last or make our lives better are about to be everywhere as Black Friday promotions roll in. Don't get me wrong, it can be a good time of year to make big purchases like electrical appliances, tech or beauty staples at a "steal", but Black...
How to use reclaimed marble in your kitchen
From the walls to the worktop and the floor, your kitchen renovation may offer the perfect playground to use reclaimed materials. It is an ideal space to be ambitious as most of us spend a lot of time in our kitchens, and reclaimed elements have already passed the...
Guide to vintage shopping in Athens
Once nicknamed Little Paris, Koukaki is the neighbourhood I was lucky to call home for my recent visit to Athens. Little did I know that its ode to Paris for me would uncover 70s Saint Laurent and 80s Celine. Once an industrial district named after the founder of an...
Building a sustainable brand with conversational clothes
We are at a precipice moment for the planet, living through precarious times, so what is it like running a small business right now, let alone a sustainable fashion brand? I first met Sophie Dunster over five years ago. I interviewed her just three months into...
One-of-a-kind Props and Costumes for sale as the English National Opera opens its archives
For the first time in a decade, the ENO are opening their archives for a special sale. This unique event arises from a need to make space for new, exciting productions on the horizon. More than a simple sale, this is a unique opportunity for enthusiasts and collectors...
Finding oneself in Burniture
‘Our lives don’t need more things, things need to be given more lives’ read a corkboard beckoning me into the exhibition by Burniture, a new collective working with furniture that is skipped, unwanted, broken, about to be burnt… I am no stranger to street-found...
We are young, we run green, keep antiques nice and clean
Spring heralds new stories, and a group of antiques dealers that were born, branched out or set up shop in the last couple of years are set to share theirs at the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair in March. What may have seemed like a moment for antiques attracting...
How to dress your home and yourself in vintage without feeling outdated
Julia Roberts’ wardrobe in Pretty Woman is often referenced when 90s fashions are trending, but the interiors struck me most the last time I watched it. Although a set, the penthouse suite created for the film was in keeping with the Beaux Arts style of the Beverly...
In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun
“I didn’t really decide myself. People saw me in the street picking up umbrellas and said it was like Mary Poppins. I had the idea of Marypup because it’s funny,” says designer and eco-activist Melanie Iudica, as she recalls how the name of her upcycled rainwear brand...
Sustainability and all that stuff
It’s complicated - I do not have the answers, but my hope in writing my column as we close secondhand September is at least to explore some solutions and lay out some of the current debates about sustainability, particularly in fashion. Responsibility It can be...
Salvage up my street
So far, I have salvaged an Arts and Crafts hall stand and the below late sixties lithograph poster from a Chagall exhibition at the Maeght Foundation in St Paul. I knew the Edwardian hall stand had value, but it was not until I researched the poster that I found it...
Reclaimed listening rooms and our vinyl shrine
Tune in. Yes, this column is mainly about how we installed a 200kg slab of English alabaster rescued from a convent in Sussex in our 2-bed flat. However, it is also about the rise of listening rooms. So what is a listening room? For me, it is a space to enjoy...
Reclaimed terracotta floor tiles
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” a friend messaged me in response to my “weekend working on the floor with my husband.” Despite distractions, including mould and moths, our renovation is moving along. We now have reclaimed terracotta roof tiles for...
The Art of Tribal
Ewe Kente textiles from the Volta region in Ghana © Tribal Arts & Textiles Art and design have the enviable ability to break down barriers that traditionally divide cultures. The universality of interiors that involve and speak to people around the world is surely...
Rainbows & Tiles
My new flat is the equivalent of workout leggings. It’s comfortable and a little styling goes a long way, but I am anxious that renovating at a slow pace will be the home equivalent of a hard transition out of trousers with an elasticated waist. My current sense...
Let’s get physical
As the leaves start to fall, it’s time to feel again with a plethora of physical decorative antiques fairs in the diary. The last eighteen months have been challenging, but thanks to an unwavering business drive, digital community (and sales!) the architectural...
Salvo Fest of imperfect beauty
Save the dates 16 - 19 June 2021 because the original architectural salvage fair has found its new home, with the best bits of the virtual and real world to toast Salvo’s 30th Pearl Anniversary. Seven years ago I hadn’t even stepped foot inside a salvage yard, so my...
Aware, thoughtful and deliberate with Wolf & Zephyr, ethical jewellery by Tori Shay
Comfortable clothes continue to rule, and it’s hard to imagine what could come along to convince us otherwise, but that doesn’t come at the sacrifice of decoration. Speaking to friends, jewellery has been the mood lifter, and yes an opportunity to shine on...
Reclaimed Woman gifts full of goodness
Reclaimed Eames style leather office chair to make a loved one more comfy wfh. Architectural Forum on Salvo Organic & Botanic Madagascan coconut rejuvenating night moisturiser Dr Botanicals Reclaimed vintage silks headband by War & Drobe + We-Resonate....
How to shop art now
Kissing Couple silver brooch ©Modern Decorative The moment we’re experiencing is quite rightly making us pause for thought, what should we be buying if we feel we can spend money right now? No matter what the pandemic has done for your personal budget for life’s...
ethazon
Wearing accessories from my new carbon conscious label ethazon When Beck and I first came together to create ethazon we desired an eco fashion place for people to dress for the world they want. Fast forward two years and we have seen a flurry of fashion trying to...
Buying vintage bins in the time of Coronavirus
I am not sure where “bins” the abbreviation for glasses comes from, but considering my need for increasingly telescopic lenses it seems appropriate to refer to them as my binoculars. I enjoy the time when it comes to choose new glasses, well new old glasses as I...
Hot Hot Hot! Reclaimed Woman
How will fashion become fashionable again after lockdown? We are waiting to see if the expected shift to more conscious shopping will be accelerated following the reflection time that beings, brands and businesses have had to take in the bigger picture. Categories...
Is fashion self-care? Revelations for Fashion Revolution Week with Ilk + Ernie
This is Fashion Revolution Week, where we ask #whomademyclothes to coincide with and commemorate the Rana Plaza factory, which collapsed seven years ago today. This is the day Fashion Revolution was born. A month in lockdown has likely resulted in more time for...
wfh aka Wild From Home
Week three wfh and I am ready to be wild from home. The highlight of my weekend was singing Nirvana's Teen Spirit whilst dancing around the lounge with my husband. "You call that wild? You need to get out more" I hear you say. Yes, I do. And one day I will. We all...
Guide to the dear green place Glasgow
Did you know that Glasgow rates highly for green spaces per capita with 90s parks and gardens? The clue is in the city's nickname "Dear Green Place", which is derived from the Gaelic word for Glasgow. Other glorious green places are uncovered as you chat to people...
How to allure your eco side in Edinburgh
There is nothing like a good research session to get one in the mood. I like to seek out the eco fashion and decor offering when I visit a new city, but hopefully I can skip you to the main event with my shares from Edinburgh. Sustainable secondhand usually...
Party dressing with ideas from Ardingly
I won’t try to dress-up the fact that this is consumption season and this week sets the spending scene with a bombardment of Black Friday offers. Whether you are wrapping up your 2019 projects, buying gifts, or figuring out how to dress yourself and your home...
Conscious Commuter
Ensure you get space on the handrail during a crowded commute with this voluminous sleeved button-down by Amour Vert [If you're in the US or Canada it’s worth noting that it recently teamed up with the online thrift store thredUP, so you can close the loop on your...
Ready-to-wake: Should fashion weeks be cancelled?
Upcycled kitten heels by Ancuta Sarca at London Fashion Week “Wake me up when September ends” are words I've heard from editors doing the four fashion capitals in less than four weeks. Our eyes are closed to the emergency according to Extinction Rebellion, the...
Clean cleaning with Norfolk Natural Living
"You’re going to open a cleaning shop?!" questioned Bella Middleton’s mum when she came up with the idea to create eco-friendly cleaning products. Now a fully fledged member of the Norfolk Natural Living team, Bella’s mum works in their shop in Holt, which has...
Fashion statements from Manchester and a sustainable British summer
Reclaimed materials at Alberts Schloss in Manchester © Insitu Architectural Salvage The Manchester-based fast fashion retailer, Missguided recently made headlines for the wrong reasons with a £1 bikini. Depending on which side of the sun lounger you woke up on, you...
Something borrowed
Earth Day seems appropriate to talk about something borrowed. The trousers covering my tush and blouse on my back [leased from Laura Ironside] and of course the earth are all borrowed. Fashion is just one piece of the sustainable development pie, but today also marks...
Easter Break Reclaimed Woman
Fireplace from Wharton Antiques on SalvoWEB / Vivienne Westwood sunglasses on 1stdibs
Ardingly wants to bring you flowers
Ardingly Antiques & Collectors Fair showed its mettle (albeit disguised as petals )this week, as a major fair that continues to attract a strong following of dealers, designers and private buyers. It could have been the sunny start and morning light hitting the...
Ethical & vintage finds for sustainable shopping in the San Francisco Bay Area
Had I not already left my heart in San Francisco in 2015 when I met the man I would marry seven months later, Love Street Vintage would have stolen it. Sustainable gems are dotted in many neighbourhoods, but High on a hill, Haight Street calls if you are after a...
Seasonal vegging & voguing
This edit sums up my mood for the month ahead. It's that time of year when your pinkie ring should give you super powers and you can cloak your face and your body in pillows [when not showing off that you're capable of dancing in white whilst eating cranberry...
Going Zero Waste could be the best thing to happen to you hair
Is it me or are haircare ads stuck in the 1950s? Can the contents of one plastic bottle really deliver on all of those promises? And are we even looking for those things at the end of a good shampooing? Hair diaries of women with great locks usually involve a lotta...
“we could be the ones to change it all” – Sustainable steps at London Fashion Week
Paolo Carzana, the boy behind this quote and the collection below titled The Boy You Stole was one emerging talent presented in the season that put sustainability top of mind at LFW. The British Fashion Council’s announcement that London Fashion Week would be...
The Great Indoors
Long gone are uninviting dark Dickensian cluttered shops. Antiques have entered a new (eco) friendly state where they have never been more desirable. If you are excited to step back inside now that the number of hot days have outweighed ideas for al fresco...
Designing a happy wardrobe
I didn’t see myself squeezing into another capsule challenge so soon - having spent 6 of the coldest weeks in just 6 items of clothes for Labour Behind the Label at the start of the year - but this was too good to resist… 10 items, 10 days, easy right? Ah, but this...