Showing posts with label Quirky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quirky. Show all posts

29 Jun 2013

Salvo Fair 2013 - Knebworth House

Salvo 2013 took place at Knebworth House. The grounds were taken over by magnificent dogs, architectural salvage, reclaimed building materials, antiques, retro items, garden ornaments and quirky pieces!

Authentic post boxes restored to their former glory and a hymn board salvaged from a demolished church (which will now become my "photo display" board!) I bought the board from "Antique Church Furnishings", who specialise in religious artefacts and furnishings.
Ornate antique bathroom fittings reclaimed from houses in France

Original stained glass doors and windows made from salvaged glass
Fixtures and fittings to create a vintage office!
Industrial light fittings and shades and Singer sewing machine table legs - probably from an old factory. 

Wonderful! An old Belfast sink unit, splattered with years of paint, from an art studio!
   

I love architectural drawings filing cabinets & shoe lasts made into coat hooks!
 
    
Loved it!
For further details about future Salvo fairs, please click here to see their website.

23 Feb 2013

Pitfield London

 
On Pitfield Street, in the Old Street area of London, is a beautiful place...
...a quirky emporium and café selling cakes, vintage, retro, designer homeware and eclectic finds!
Wallpaper or scrapwood? I love this paper by Piet Hein Eek
Oversized designer cushions and designer lamp shades....
part of the first exhibition of 2013 with Designersblock in the gallery...including appliances made from reclaimed wood by sculptor Camilla Barnard
The front of the shop is a sea of flowers
My special purchase - an old fashioned shovel!
When you've finished browsing...there's a beautiful café to enjoy too!

1 Jun 2012

Where are the ladies?

Victoria train station, London. The ladies loo sign gets a regal make-over for the Jubilee 2012!
Newbury Race course. Things are getting desperate.....!

8 Nov 2011

All the world's a stage!

At Vintage 2011 during the summer, I noticed this dame wearing a gorgeous cherry head piece. It may be a Piers Atkinson creation. I enjoy his quirky, surreal and daring millinery, aswell as more dainty, conservative hats.  
The Paris collection
The frog and the princess collection
All the world's a stage collection

Pigalle
Department store collection
  

25 Sept 2011

Pop goes Claes Oldenberg!



Vivien Westood's cherry shoes and Piers Atkinson's cherry head pieces reminded me of an exhibition I saw years ago at the Hayward Gallery, featuring the work of Swedish pop artist/sculptor Claes Oldenberg. He creates huge replicas and soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. His free standing pieces are often displayed in outdoor spaces. I find them fun and quirky!







4 Sept 2011

Camper van fitting rooms

I tend to avoid cramped fitting rooms in shops, which often have a torn curtain that doesn't pull all the way across, poor lighting and unpleasant odours! However, Fat Face is  one shop that I actively seek out the changing room! They are always spacious, fun and very original. I once tried on a top at the Heathrow branch in a "ski lift" and recently in Ealing I entered the cabinet through a Camper van door.  
Inside, a handsome hunk was skateboarding off the wall - real wheels fixed to the wall! It seems unusual that more shops don't invest more time designing their fitting rooms...it always seems to make me buy more in Fat Face!

28 Aug 2011

Plastic Seconds


At the Vintage festival recently I noticed a stall by "Plastic Seconds", selling fun and original jewellery recycled out of everyday objects. It reminded me of my attempts to make a necklace out of litter (See posting "Rubbish necklace at Design Festival!") It proves that everything can be given a second lease of life and beautiful objects don't need to cost the earth! Plastic Seconds clever use of simple pen tops, sushi sauce bottles, yoghurt pot bottoms...in fact all sorts, have resulted in unique and some quite avant garde pieces! Lush!  


25 Aug 2011

Concrete Tubohotel!



This eco-friendly hotel in Mexico was designed by T3arc Architects. The "TuboHotel", built using old concrete pipes, is made up of 20 rooms, which have been arranged in modular pyramid forms. Simple but lovely!

22 Aug 2011

Yellow!




I'm always attracted to novel or slightly quirky window displays. I spied these dinky wooden mannequins industriously building an aerosol can mound in H&M's window on Oxford St. I've noticed a trend for yellow window displays recently....
Penhaligons outsized cotton reels with yellow thread

A florist in Ealing has a novel use for yellow Marigolds!
Selfridges launching their new shoe gallery - funky yellow skirt