After yesterday’s mini guide to mid-century modern (which was coincidental) I have today teamed up with Heals to talk to you a little more about the design classics. The store, whose hashtag before hashtags were a thing, is Where Design Lives, is one of the biggest bricks and mortar retailers of these iconic (and I…
This classic tap is designed by Barber Wilsons This classic tap is found in homes up and down the country. It even has a place in at least one of the Royal Palaces, as the company, which was founded in 1905, holds a royal warrant to supply kitchen taps and bathroom mixers to HM the…
Created in 1933 by the Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, this quintessentially functional piece of furniture celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. The simple stool, which has become a design classic, is recognisable by its distinctive bent legs and round seat. This style would eventually become the feature of all Aalto furniture. There is also a…
Designed in 1938, this chair now has a permanent place in MoMa in New York. Choose from either the black legs or chrome depending on your preference. It was inspired by Le Corbusier, one of the pioneers of modern architecture, with whom its three designers ( Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy, Antonio Bonet and Juan Kurchan) worked in the thirties. One…
Think of a kettle and the chances are that something chrome and curved springs to mind. Probably with a red button sticking out of its black plastic handle. This is the Russell Hobbs K2. The world’s second (the first was their K1) fully automatic kettle. A item which has achieved iconic design status and which…
There’s no doubt the Chesterfield sofa is a classic. No-one would dispute that it has earned its place as a design icon. But there is some confusion in how it came to be so named and why that has come to be a shorthand way of describing a deep-buttoned, leather-covered sofa. Paul Fleming, the fourth…
Admittedly it’s a crowded field but the Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen is regarded as one of the most influential of the 20th century. Alongside Verner Panton (that moulded S chair), Hans Wegner (the wishbone), Poul Henningsen (the artichoke) and not forgetting (for the technology buffs) Bang & Olufson, Jacobsen is well known for…
It’s probably one of the most recognised fabric designs in the world. Huge splashy poppies in a variety of colours adorning umbrellas, bags, tea trays and bedding. And yet Unikko, from the Finnish design company Marimekko, only came about when a designer dared to defy her boss. Armi Ratia, the creative vision behind Marimekko, bought…
It’s the next instalment of Mad Men tonight and those interiors are still looking as fabulous as ever. While the fashion magazines tell us where to get the clothes, here, for those of you who are looking at the houses, are some ideas on how you can replicate the look at home. So that’s the…