Object of the day: DFS does good

I've got a DFS sofa, but still have never been a big fan of the brand. 

Largely, I chose DFS because I found one lone design out of all of the ones on offer that I almost liked, and I chose it because John Lewis don't do interest-free credit. (I'll probably be paying for the sofa in £10 instalments for about the rest of my life – it wasn't cheap).

That said, It's not a bad sofa at all – you can see it here, a couple of photos down – but though it never wowed me, I liked the colour and it was the right size. The legs, though... I've been meaning to do a Pretty Pegs on them for ages. And the ones at the back, not – alas – quite out of sight, don't even get proper legs, just black plastic stumps.

I only reflect because it sharpens the surprise that these beauties, above, are from the very same store. The grey, 50s style designs with lovely button detailing and nice plump curves are called Mira. Good legs (and four matching ones, to boot). They are also around half price until the end of this month: the large sofa at the top, for example, is currently £599 instead of £1099. 

The Harris Tweed Loch Leven Wing Chair (more good feet!) has its trademarked upholstery woven on the Isle of Lewis, in a mill that also produces textiles for Chanel and Hermes. It is more heftily priced at 1,599 – but you could be a monthly payment cheapskate like me.

Real homes: could you live in a house like this?

Fancy a change of scene? You could always rent this former coastguard lookout, converted into an airy home by the interior/architect practice, Johnson Naylor, currently on the lettings market in Dungeness, Kent.

The rent is £1,450 pcm – but could you handle the location?

The house, which has two bedrooms, is bang in the middle of the shingle beach at Dungeness – the largest area of shingle in Europe, no less – and close to Camber Sands and a big nature reserve. The area is also home of Derek Jarman's renowned garden and house.

Views from the property are not for the faint-hearted: vast skies, sea almost lapping at your kitchen doors (which open onto a little terrace that leads directly onto the shingle), a lighthouse and a looming, part-abandoned power station. I quite like the drama and eccentricity of it all.

The 1950s structure remains as it was when first built on the outside, while inside there are limestone floors, a wood-burning stove and underfloor heating. And, you may imagine, there's free parking outside and the house has a decent amount of its own surrounding land. Though quite what you'd do with that I'm not sure. Extreme gardening? Perhaps Derek J's plot might offer inspiration.

The open staircase overlooking the living space below gives a sense of connectedness in what could be otherwise be quite a cold building. The utilitarian stairs themselves, though, may not be for everyone.

As it is a rental property, you'd want to check you could put up some pictures to warm the place up a little (or at least, I would) and there's a slight downer in the contract in that you're only allowed to be in situ three weeks out of every four.

All photographs by Peter Marlow / Magnum

To find out more about this property or to enquire about renting it, contact Themodernhouse.net

Exhibition & Book: "I've Lived in East London for 86 ½ Years"

London-based photographer Martin Usborne met Joseph Markovitch, 86 ½, on an unusually hot day in Hoxton. 

He asked to take his photograph (in "the hope of winning some award") but that one meeting turned into a project that has resulted in a series of beautiful portraits of Markovitch. These are part of a new exhibition and also feature in a very special coffee table book.

Markovitch, who sadly passed away last year, was a life-long Londoner and eccentric who said he'd only once left the city, for a trip to the seaside with his mother. And he saw east London change dramatically (I like his tragic story about the local mayor "also a chimney sweep" falling off a ladder to his death as he put up decorations for the Queen's coronation in 1953).

The images juxtapose Markovitch and his memories with the startlingly modern, technicolour east London in which he remained his whole life. The results are beautiful, poignant and witty.

The exhibition also features 50 People of East London, wry illustrations from Adam Dant. On until 30 March at cafe/bar/gallery The Proud Archivist, 2-10 Hertford Road, London N1 5ET. Tel: 020 7749 6852. 
All images by Martin Usborne from his book, I've Lived in East London for 86 ½ Years, published by Hoxton Mini Press.