Living Etc April 2020

I’m not particularly good with change. I find comfort in routine, friendliness in the familiar, solace in knowing what’s about to happen next. It’s an unfortunate personality trait that I’m always intending to work on (although my fiancé might say it’s not as bad as my inability to unload cutlery from the dishwasher without making a clatter), as clinging to the knowable is not a quality that gets you very far in 2020. I am writing this four days before the UK is due to leave the EU – and it looks as though it might actually happen this time – another example of shifting circumstances, a future shrouded in uncertainty. And so, I’ve decided to get on board with it all. Not all change is bad (if I say this…

1 POP EATS Yes, the Marilyn Diptych will be on show at Tate Modern’s imminent Warhol blockbuster (from 12 March), but you’d be a fool to miss the action upstairs at Level 9 Restaurant. Head chef Jon Atashroo has devised a witty snack menu reimagining popular American foods, with Coca-Cola jelly, cornflakes panna cotta and ‘bringing home the bacon’ ice cream. 2 FAB COLLABS We love a surprise design dalliance. This month’s creative couplings bring us graphic furnishing fabrics (left) by fashion designer Duro Olowu and furniture maker Soane, and vases and tableware by Claudia Schiffer in partnership with Vista Alegre and Bordallo Pinheiro. 3 TRAVEL-TERIORS Mile-high style doesn’t have to be all plastic trays and dull lighting. At JFK, calm pre-flight nerves in TWA’s Connie Bar (right) – located in a disused plane –…

THE CORE PIECE suppor ting role If floor-to-ceiling storage strikes you as bulky and space-sapping, look to Living Divani for an approach that’s light and streamlined. Sailor, its bookcase designed by David Lopez Quincoces, features solid wood shelves held together by slender hexagonal uprights to form an understated piece that’ll let treasured objets shine. THE STYLE HERO retro gem First designed in the 1930s and now relaunched in a fabric from 1943, this punchy little stool from designer Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn will allow you to sit on a little slice of history. What’s more, look closely and you’ll notice that its Notturno print depicts yellow peppercorns dancing against palm trees in a tropical night’s sky. FINISHING TOUCH all the trimmings You can always rely on Christopher Farr Cloth to focus on fine materials, art and craftsmanship,…

samsung WHERE Coal Drops Yard, London WHAT While the traditional high-street model has largely been built on a buy-now, try-at-home-later mentality, Samsung is flipping the very concept of how we shop on its head. Its Samsung KX space swaps the humble four-wall shop (both figuratively and literally given it’s housed under Heatherwick Studio’s strikingly curved ‘kissing’ roofs) in favour of ‘experience spaces’ and ‘inspiration hubs’, offering visitors the chance to sample the brand’s technology by way of film nights, gaming tournaments, cocktail masterclasses and a state-of-the-art ‘connected kitchen’ (make purchases at home later if impressed). Samsung is calling it ‘retail therapy of the future’; we’re calling it a pretty fun day out. habitat WHERE Tottenham Court Road, London WHAT The paradox of modern tech is that we’re better connected yet living more solitary lives, so…

what will the decades ahead look like, and how will your house evolve to incorporate them? Probably in more ways than you might expect, as your next home is likely to look very different from those of today. No, we’re not talking space for a Jetsons-era robot housemaid, but architecture that embraces and enhances the changes in our lifestyles. One major shift is the rise in blended or multi-generational families as well as single-person households, meaning that traditional home layouts need updating. And because more people are working from home, a trend is emerging that is part of the ‘sharer economy’, where communities share resources such as meeting rooms and gardens. COLLABORATIVE APPROACH This new way of thinking is shaping developments such as Marmalade Lane, a RIBA award-winning project in Cambridge by Mole…

spurred on by her frustration at buying items packaged in single-use plastic, Beth Noy launched Plastic Freedom – an online shop selling a fabulous range of plastic-free products, from beauty to homeware. In less than two years, it has become one of the biggest online shops of its kind in the UK, and every order comes with a pledge to plant a tree. Beth lives in Southport with her two whippets, Smurfie and Roo. What was the light-bulb moment that led to you launching the business? I was trying to make plastic-free changes in my life and when I ordered a safety razor that came wrapped in single-use plastic, I thought this is insane. I realised that if I was having this problem, other people must be, too, so I decided…