More brilliant Barbican style

This is for those of you who enjoyed last week's post on an amazing Barbican flat (and from my stats that is A LOT of you...).

I spotted this ace modernist tea towel on the Theo website yesterday, while I was posting about his marvellous Polish bar mugs.

The tea towel costs £12. Love it.

Ogle the real thing here.

Polish bar mugs from Theo (and a sale!)

I absolutely love these amazing bar mugs for sale at the excellent Theo shop – 'Theo' being the alter-ego of designer, Thorsten van Elten. Who has great taste, not only in the things he makes himself, but also in the things he buys to put in this shop. 

Like these, which 'Theo' picked up on a trip to the Lodz Design Festival in Poland, which I heartily recommend you read about in a minute, here, because it looks, like, totally amazing. Total design porn with a nice eastern European edge.

But back to these little beauties. They are by Mamsam (don't bother with the link unless you speak Polski), who asked some local design talent to come up with graphic logos reminiscent of Poland's sixties, seventies and eighties communist past.

Aren't they just totally brilliant? They are £10.95 each – but in very limited supply, so get in quick. I'd like to buy a set of six and drink red wine out of them. Or vodka. Well, they are Polish...

You can also catch some Theo action in person at the festive pop-up shop at Somerset House, pictured below, which is open until January 6.

AND there is a sample and seconds sale happening – starting this evening! – and running till Sunday, in Bethnal Green, east London, where you'll find pigeon lights for £30 and antlers and plant cups for £25 among much, much more excitement. There will even be Gluehwein on the go. Get the info here.

Postcards: tacky and otherwise

Postcards are one of the cheapest and quickest way of sprucing up a corner. I've just found some that I really love, more of which below, but first: how to display them?

In my friend's place in Berlin, that I did up for him earlier this year (and which I will do a full post on soon) I bought some teeny-tiny bulldog clips and drew a very straight line on the wall, using a spirit level. I hammered in some little nails, pointing upwards slightly, to make a 'V' shape with the wall (so the bulldog clips don't slip off) and then clipped and hung a set of cards from them. Simple, but I quite liked the effect.

Washi tape, which you can get on Amazon, looks good too (see a creative way to use that on Grace Bonney's ever excellent Design Sponge blog) and string hung vertically from a nail, or looped horizontally like bunting, with cards pegged along its length, is another of many ideas to try.

The cards were from the excellent bumper box set of Penguin postcards, £14.99 for 100, you can get as classics (like these ones) or as Ladybird or Puffin book covers (see below, same price) the children's imprints.

I'm also very partial to a classic old 60s or 70s John Hinde postcard, below, which you can pick up on eBay for a few quid a-piece. 

But generally, I just can't resist a good new card. And this set of 1960s, 70s and 80s Royals postcards from Thorsten Van Elten really appealed. 

 

Yes, you could probably get them from a dusty old kiosk in Piccadilly Circus, at the back of all the William and Kate wedding ones – but here they are, hand-picked for their sheer oddness and packaged as a fivesome. There are 250 originals available in total, and when you buy it works as a lucky dip. £4.95 for the set. Brilliant, aren't they?

The Temporium Xmas pop-up shop in London

I wouldn't generally advocate hitting central London in December, but as 'tis the season for special shopping events that make present-choosing conundrums less overwhelming (and often with mulled wine on tap, which definitely helps) I'll make an exception.

The Temporium, in Covent Garden from 1-24 December, is hosted by the aristocracy of style blogs, Dezeen (and you get Japanese street-food as well as spicy vin rouge). And highlights include Theo, which is creating a shop-within-a-shop, selling design-led furniture, lighting and accessories selected by Thorsten van Elten, such as this sexy Sausalito cushion, above, from £51.

Shan Valla's ceramics will be another goodie; I particularly love her porcelaine miniature vases, £14 each, pictured below.

A good tea-towel is the perfect present for pretty much anyone who likes their kitchen and enjoys nice-looking things – cooking in-laws of all varieties are prime candidates. I love To Dry For, a shop dedicated to the things, see below (prices start from £8), who will also be selling their wares at the event. (I have long loved the Mini Moderns Whitby range, left, which also includes some lovely ceramics.)

It all happens at: 65 Monmouth Street, Seven Dials, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9DG, Mondays-Saturdays. Find out full details and timings at the Dezeen blog. Or, if you aren't anywhere near London, or don't have the stamina/elbows to muster a visit, do as I aim to do... and get clicking.