The Insider: what you'll be seeing in Habitat this autumn

First up, let's just talk about these rugs, shall we?

I was transfixed by them on my whizz around the Habitat Autumn/Winter 2014 collection preview last week, which took place in a big old warehouse on the Southbank, in London.

I'm eyeing that two greens and white one, the Cortez, £95, to brighten up my kitchen floor (though I know opinions run high on rugs in kitchens... not least amongst myself). Then again, the yellow one, the Orell, £40, would look good. The red, white and blue, the Clifford runner, £65, is also enticing, but wouldn't go at all... unless I redecorate. It's an option. Here it is in context.

The textiles room at the event was my favourite. Couldn't you could just live in there with no other furniture quite happily?

Pattern and texture were big looks and, pictured above, these cushions with raised surfaces and layers are a good example. On the left is the Zelma, £30 and on the right, the Sancho, £15.

Even the ceramics aren't smooth, as seen in the Dunas range above and starting at £8.

The Pixela range, pictured above left and from £8, continues the trend (it is so named because it looks pixellated), while the Sintra – serving bowl, £20 and plate, £28, pictured – mixes and matches.

There's also no escaping the copper trend, which – like me – you may have thought had shone hard and bright and burned out last year. Not in the least, and there's a lot of it coming from other retailers too. LED is also big, after Ikea started the trend and went for it big time a couple of years ago; the lean lamp above, the Poise, £120, is a good example of both trends combined.

Nice to see bronze getting a look-in too, though. I was very drawn to the striking lamp at the far end, the Marlowe at £120.

Above and from £10, the candlesticks and vases mixing copper with flashes of bright, block colour, work well don't you think?

And how about metallic clocks? I love the gold Karlsson one, far right (all prices TBC).

There was also some copper in an interesting set of collaborations Habitat has up its sleeve, but it's all hush hush until next month so you'll have to wait on that one.

So aside from the kitchen rug, and the brassy lamp, this sofa was a favourite. With those fat, squidgy cushions it looks insanely comfortable, and an arm-rest so flat it doubles as a table... Yes. A good sofa.

If only they did one in yellow. Oh, wait – hello...

Meet the Sedgwick sofa – something sunny to look forward to when the days are darker.

All these goodies will be available later this year as part of Habitat's Autumn range.

Post by Kate

Object of the day: CUSTHOM's latest embroidered fabric

I've written about Custhom before: the young design company's particular speciality is their unusual and striking digital embroidery technique, which gives their textiles a tactile, 3-D quality.

Now they've just launched a new range of cotton wallpaper and fabric using the same methods.

The south London-based pair behind Custhom Nathan Philpott and Jemma Ooi only met – at the Royal College of Art – in 2009 but have already created designs for Anthropologie, Liberty and John Lewis among others.

This latest collection from them has been inspired by ancient Mexican Otomi embroidery: graphic and organic shapes combined to depict man living in harmony with the natural environment. The style is said to date back to prehistoric cave paintings in Tenango.

But Custhom have given it a contemporary twist, not least with their innovative use of digital embroidery which gives the patterns a sharp precision. Each piece design has been created with skilled British craftsmen who embroider onto non-woven paper or cotton fabric.

The textiles come in navy on an off-white background, or in off-black. The fabric is £126 a metre and the wallpaper comes in 55cm wide rolls and costs £84 per metre. Not cheap, but the work involved makes these pieces works of art. And a little, I think, could go a long way with a bit of creative use.

Do check out some of the other striking designs from Custhom: I would particularly recommend their distinctive Offset cushions, and the elegant Palladian collection, which features ceramics and textiles. I have particularly fallen for the Palladian Loop wallpaper. For a budget buy, they also sell some of the designs in tea-towel form, for £12.

Check it all out at Custhom.co.uk

Post by Kate. Images from Custhom

Can't afford the new Sheila Bownas sofa?

What do you think of this sofa/daybed, designed using fabric from the Sheila Bownas archive and created in collaboration with furniture-makers, Parlour? 

It's called the Edwin, and I think the shade of blue, the smooth solid walnut, 50s-ish legs and back and the classic, boxy shape make it very good indeed.

Alas, thanks to rather beautiful details like these...

...it costs £2400. But if you can't stretch to that, you might like the accessories in the same range.

The cushions, above, and prints, below, come in olive yellow, steel blue or grey. Cushions, £55 each.

The prints are limited editions and come with the official Sheila Bownas archive stamp (more of which shortly). They're 50x70cm so can fit into a standard frame, which saves a bit of money – and the prints themselves cost cost £65 each.

There are lamps in the range, too. These were designed in collaboration with English lamp designer, Zoe Darlington, and cost £125. The base is solid ash, and the shades come in two main colours: white or grey linen, with a choice of lining colours, again in the Edwin range fabric.

Check out the Edwin range at Shielabownas.com

The backstory of the Sheila Bownas range, in case you don't already know it, is an interesting one. The Yorkshirewoman and prize-winning Slade graduate exhibited five of her paintings at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1949. She then went on to turn her talents to textile design, producing fabrics for Liberty, Crown Wallpapers and Marks and Spencer. But it wasn't until her death, in 2007, that her family discovered a vast archive of other work in her studio. This archive was bought by superfan, Chelsea Cefai, a year later – she is gradually producing pieces that showcase Sheila's work.

Not a dissimilar rescue story to that of the company behind the archive of Australian mid-century designer, Florence Broadhurst. I have some of Florence's textiles in my living room; that massive monochrome canvas on the wall, above left, is one of hers – and there's more about that in this previous post about how to make expensive textiles or wallpapers go a long way. You might also like Florence Broadhurst's amazing rampaging horses fabric, which you can just see poking out (also black and white) in the cushion mountain on my sofa.

Post by Kate

Can a towel be joyful?

Towels. Can you get excited about towels? I have just discovered I can.

Mine, for years, have been all white – when I first got matching towels I felt like I'd arrived. It was possibly the most grown-up thing I'd ever done around the house.

Then, a couple of years ago I radically introduced some dark green ones to go with the plant in the bathroom (and to hide the mascara I seem to get on every towel I ever use). Practical, but still not very adventurous. Or joyful. But can a towel be joyful? I think so.

And I am now mentally casting mascara to the wind and dreaming of my bathroom being filled with these sunny, fluffy mofos, by Icelandic design brand, Scintilla.

Scintilla was by the Icelandic fashion and textile designer, Linda Björg Árnadóttir, in 2009 and the brand takes lots of influence from its homeland's extreme natural environment. And these towels are just what you'd want to wrap yourself in after a day battered by Nordic wind, or a dip in Reykjavík's hot springs. They are fat, fluffy and not unreminiscent of an old-school candlewick bedspread – but nice.

I want the yellow ones (they only come in these two colours). Wherever I drop a splash of yellow around my house, there's an instant happy glow – I try to get a bit of it into every room.

Find Dew Bath Towels at Nordic Elements, starting at £23.

Post by Kate

House porn Thursday: a space-saving NY loft with space for three generations

There's so much to love about this hallway, featured in NY Magazine's ever excellent Design Hunting section, edited by Wendy Goodman. 

The Manhattan apartment was redesigned by its owners specifically to accommodate visiting children and grandchildren. And it's done some very clever things to maximise the available space, as well as making it flexible, depending on who's staying.

Photo: Frank Oudeman for New York Magazine

Hence the nifty fold-down hallway beds. Ingenious. And the combination of the bare brick walls – love the fact the building's structure has given it a row of nooks, on the left – with sleek white fittings, that fantastic, colourful runner on the floor and, importantly, good lighting, makes it so much more than a corridor.

Here's a glimpse of some of the living area. Concrete and bare wood (especially in that incredible clock): top combination.

Photo: Frank Oudeman for New York Magazine

But you need to check out the soundproofed TV cube – check out the full story and slideshow at Design Hunting.

Get the look

Contemporary starburst wooden clock, £94, Jazzitupinteriors.co.uk
Wooden disc clock, £34, Jazzitupinteriors.co.uk (both clocks come in walnut or oak)

Recycled rag runner, £20, Not on the High Street
Rug, £40 (down from £70), Urban Outfitters

Faux sheepskin rug, £10, Ikea (for the sheep lovers among you – if you prefer the real thing, they also sell those for £30), Ikea.com; Olive green 60s/70s swivel arm chair, currently £60 (auction only), eBay.co.uk

There is also some info half way down this makeover post about how to get concrete surfaces without the weight and without quite so much expense.

Post by Kate

The perfect Christmas present?

Oh. I know. I said I wasn't ready to talk Christmas. But I'm compiling a little gift guide for Independent (don't email me! I'm finished!) and remembered loitering in the homeware department of H&M a few weeks ago, aimlessly stroking this lovely blanket. 

A good blanket is near universally suitable gift, I'd say.

It is soft, luxurious and... machine washable. It comes in four colours. Price: £49.99. Find it at H&M.com

Post by Kate

Ikea's new Trendig range: how long before everyone has some?

When Ikea launches a new range, the cynics among us may wonder how long it'll take for the products within it to become ubiquitous* (like these) – to be the things that elicit an "ooh, Ikea? I've got one of those" from house visitors. 

Nothing wrong with that, mind. But it can really take the shine off your spangly new bit of Scandi design, can't it?

Ceramic tableware, from £2-£8

So some good news for those of you who hate to be sheep, but aren't cash happy: Trendig, the new Swedish-Chinese fusion range announced by the brand this week, is to be sold as a "very limited edition" range. These are the bits I've got my eye on.

Fabrics, £15 for a 112cm x 500cm panel.

Tea-towels, £2.50 each

Butcher's block, £16

The range is deliberately heavy on kitchen products; this is the line it has rolled out the most of so far and, according to Ikea, this reflects "the UK’s growing obsession with Far Eastern food". Aren't we just obsessed with food generally right now? The explosion of street-food "pop-ups", markets and restaurants is way more far-reaching than just food from the far eastern side of the globe. But the range is also suitable for eating tiny burgers in brioche buns, burritos, pulled pork baps, churros, jerk and other faddish foodstuffs.

Could this be the new Bekvam stool?

The "smiling" chairs are "a nod to the architecture of China’s 'smiling' pagodas" says Ikea, referencing the traditional curved rooftops of these buildings. They're also a nice twist on some classic Ercol.

See more nice Ikea stuff here or check out the full Trendig range at Ikea.com.

* Want to know a scary Ikea fact? The brand had over 690 million shoppers visit one of their stores last year.

Post by Kate

Introducing... textile designer Anna Wooster

As London Design Festival draws closer – the city-wide event here that (among other things) shows off heaps of new creative talent – I'm plundering last year's finds...

...all those flyers and cards and notes I scribbled when I saw something I liked. Here's one: Anna Wooster, an interesting, not-long-graduated textile designer with a suitably urban edge to her work.

From Brighton to LDN

Since gaining her first class honours just last year, she's had her patterns on sale at the Natural Curtain Company and through online shop, Perry Nelvill, which focuses on hunting out new textiles and fashion graduates to watch.

Bristol Block

LDN High

Manc Damask

"My designs are heavily influenced by my love for ‘traditional’ textile design styles such as Toiles de Jouy, willow patterns and chintz," Anna says. "I have a passion for pictorial designs and visual delicates but I am also greatly inspired by the concept of something beautiful having another meaning, narrative or message."

The toile-with-a-twist idea has been done before – notably by Timorous Beasties (whose gritty tableaux may well win the prize for most ubiquitous gastro pub loo wallpaper ever) but city landscapes have so much beauty and design potential – I just don't think they can be plundered too much. Besides, could there be a better name for a fabric than Manc Damask?

Bristol Stripe

See more of Anna's work at her website.

Yinka Shonibare exhibitions

Today's post comes from Abi...

Remember the giant ship in a bottle that sat on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square a while back (and now on permanent display at Greenwich Maritime Museum? That was by Yinka Shonibare, one of my favourite artists, and now he's got not one but two exhibitions on this month.

His work makes heavy use of the most fabulous textiles and he cleverly riffs on race and class drawing on themes of identity, multiculturalism, globalism and revolution. Phew. But thankfully his work demonstrates a lightness of touch and easy ability to engage thanks to his playful approach.

At Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) a huge exhibition of his work has just opened. Called FABRIC-ATION it features over 30 new and established works covering sculpture, film, painting and photography; outdoors in the park are the giant Wind Sculptures painted with Shonibare’s signature batik-inspired surface pattern; there are some freaky animal-human hybrids: Revolution Kids,waving gold Gaddafi guns about and toting Blackberrys and, like his earlier works, there are a few aliens flying space ships; all clad in the same gorgeous, bright batik prints.

Shonibare says his use of the textiles are “...signifiers of ‘African-ness’ insofar as when people first view the fabric they think of Africa”. This is all the more ironic when noted that this type of fabric was first mass-produced in Holland, based on Indonesian batik, and sold into West Africa in the 19th century; yet again Shonibare questions notions of 'authenticity'.

There's also a show opening in London on the 16th March: POP! At the Stephen Friedman Gallery. Featuring new work that explores the corruption, excess and debauchery of the banking industry this promises to be a show that hits hard – the central display is a giant tableau based on Da Vinci's The Last Supper... I can't wait.

There's really so much going on in his work it's difficult to keep up; but persevere – he's saying a lot about the way we live today and the clues are there in his fun, disquieting and provocative work.

In the meantime I might invest in a small Shonibare artwork of my own. These cushions,  the top one featuring one of his batik aliens, is on sale at YSP for a snip at £23.