A Neutral Collection

I quite often find myself ignoring John Lewis. Now that’s not because I don’t like it – quite the opposite – but more because I assume you all know all about it so I won’t be giving you anything new and, as you know, I like to find things that you don’t know about on these pages.

However, it struck me that in the same way, that when we get to know a person really well we can no longer tell if they’re beautiful or plain because all we see when we look at them is their personality, so I think we often forget to really look at John Lewis. It’s there, it’s great value, it has great pieces, it’s where we all go when we need something reliable.

But I realised the other day, that it was a while since I had really looked at good old JL. And that I’m constantly talking about good basics and strong neutrals, and all that sort of thing, and that our friend Jean Louis has that in spades. It was while I was taking a closer look that I found the Croft Collection.

It’s a huge range of all the basics in neutral colours with lots of tactile pieces and different materials and, as you can see from these pictures, creates a fantastic base for you to build on. The textiles are natural; slate, linen, wood and wood and the colours are restful and calming. But crucially, these objects will fit into any corner of your home and you can stick with that colour palette or liven it up with a bit more pizazz, as the 12-year-old would say.

The range includes everything from beds and dining tables to the details such as glasses and vases with pretty much everything you might need in the middle. Even the colours make you want to browse: putty, marshmallow, storm and mole.

So if you need to get back to basics (if you winced you’re showing your age) then this is a good a place to start. And these beautifully styled shots won’t do us any harm on a Wednesday either. Feast your eyes, the weekend will be here sooner than you think.