Living Etc May 2021

what i’m into this month 1 Floozies – the (vegan) stuffed cookies by a former Claridge’s pastry chef. Bulk order the Cinnamon Crunch flavour. 2 Neptune’s new Burnt Sienna paint. I think our new kitchen will be terracotta. 3 Lucy Rutter’s glorious yellow pottery for Toast. It’s hand-thrown and hand-glazed. I watched Mean Girls again last night. It has long been my favourite film – though perhaps more recently eclipsed by Lady Bird – and I was struck by how so many of its themes have aged so well. We like to roam in packs, don’t we, us humans. To find like-minded types who make us feel part of something bigger. That has truly been what I’ve missed this year – Zoom just isn’t the same. Thankfully, the design world feels like a community, though…

1 DISGUISED DOORS Doors – sometimes they can really get in the way of a decorating scheme. Introduce an element of hide-and-seek into your home and have some fun blending them into their surrounds, be it with wallpaper (Manuel Canovas, pictured), paint or other creative means. 2 SCULPTED RATTAN Our obsession with natural materials and craft skills is getting shapely, as weavers go three dimensional with curvaceous cane, rounded rattan and bent bamboo. Get involved with sculptural lighting (Pooky, pictured) and take what you can into the garden. 3 SAGE There’s one decorating tone on everybody’s lips – the softly verdant shade of sage. It brings life to neutrals and chimes with natural materials. For immediate use with upholstery (Ultrafabrics, pictured) on walls and as curtains. 4 CHEESE 2 .0 There was a time when vegan cheese…

1 BLUE WAVE Unbelievably, this Swedish classic was originally created as a prototype for a school project. Etcetera lounge chair, price on request, Artilleriet 2 HANG COOL This beautiful clear bubble pendant of blown Murano glass is the perfect mix of classic and contemporary. BALL #002 pendant, £416, Sogni Di Cristallo 3 THE CRAFT Made by hand, this vibrant basket is completely individual and by buying it you are supporting weaving communities in the Bolgatanga region of Ghana. Basket, £38, Montes & Clark 4 ALL IN HAND With a nod to figural art, this brass catchall helps to chicly organise your vanity. Modernist hand catchall, $415, Casa Shop 5 EYES ON YOU Gergei Erdei is a former womenswear designer for Alessandro Michele. His style is reminiscent of Gucci’s, but he also manages to keep it unique for this investment…

Drum roll please for Studio by Fromental, which is harnessing the brand’s expertise in hand-painted wallcoverings for the launch of a collection of ready-made decorative panels – in a choice of 10 expressive designs in 35 colourways – that transform walls in mere moments. ‘We have always wanted to share our love of unique wallcoverings with a wider audience,’ explains Tim Butcher, the brand’s director. Each panel is infused with narrative inspired by contemporary chinoiserie, abstract architecture and Japanese screens, as well as forms from nature. Madame Chrysanthème in Lola, £535 per panel (studio.fromental.co.uk)…

Here’s a cabinet so eyecatching it barely matters what you store inside. The panelled doors of the Pollock drinks cabinet by Julian Chichester are dressed in statement high gloss vellum, a thin leatheresque material in an electrifying teal tone, atop a gilded metal base. The nature-inspired pattern almost forms a mirror image, while within there’s a verre églomisé mirrored back, built-in lighting and plenty of space to stash bottles, glasses and cocktail accoutrements galore. £7,689.60 (julianchichester.com)…