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

Paul Farrell's black bear cushions: but what about that sweatshirt?

Last week I wrote about the colourful work of illustration company, Kitty McCall – which you can buy from a design company called Unlimited.

While I was browsing through their other stuff, I found a beautiful bear print designed by Paul Farrell, whose beautiful bird prints I've featured before.

I posted the bear on Facebook and the bear was popular. In fact, there's even been a request to have him made into a sweatshirt. But in the meantime, here is the next best thing: some more of Paul's wonderful graphic animal magic, but printed onto a cushion. They are lovely. And next step, perhaps, wearable textiles? Go on Paul...

It's available from one of my favourite design shops, Howkapow for £45, and comes in several different colour combinations. Howkapow also sell the bear print, but only (boo!) on paper.

Eley Kishimoto exhibition at Aram – and rugs

I've long loved the quirky graphic prints created by the Brit-Japanese fashion design duo, Eley Kishimoto. 

I like designs that stray from the classic ideas of what is classically stylish, or flattering – and while the the bold, brave distinctive Kishimoto look isn't always something I'm bold or brave enough to pull off, I like looking at it (and seeing bolder, braver types wearing it well).

So I was pleased to hear about an exhibition of the pair's work during – and beyond – London Design Festival; Living with Patterns takes place at the Aram Gallery, alongside the launch of a new range of Eley Kishimoto-designed rugs, exclusive to Aram Store, using archive prints. I can't afford the rugs (they start at £850). So I'm just enjoying them as part of the exhibition...

"Chains"

"Chains" in cream and brick red 

"Damask" in blue and cream

"Flash" in cream and black 

"Jigsaw"

"Ropey" in blue, cream and black 

"Ropey" in mustard, cream and black

The exhibition – which also includes other Aram-favourite designers and artists – celebrates 40 years of Aram, as well as the working relationship between Zeev Aram and Wakamo Kishimoto, which began when he put on her graduation show in the early 90s. Eley Kishimoto designs will also be on display on seven Moorcroft vases in the exhibition, as well as some lace drapes they have designed for MYB textiles.

The rugs are exclusive to Aram, and in store this month priced £850 each (Chains, Flash, Jigsaw and Ropey, which are hand tufted and measure 170 x 240 cm) or £950 (Damask, which comes in hand made Dhurry and measures 200 x 300 cm).

Find out more about the Aram-Kishimoto collaboration, and the names behind the label – husband-and-wife design team Wakako Kishimoto and Mark Eley – at the Aram website. 

Exhibition details 

The gallery is open Monday-Saturday 10am–6pm (Thursday until 7pm). Find it at Aram Store, 110 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5SG

Wild horses

A friend emailed me this week with a link to this cushion, saying "saw this and thought of you". She knows me so well; I'd almost bought it a few weeks earlier, while loitering in the H&M homeware department (which is full of many other good things too, this season).

I think I really need a horse cushion in my life. Especially as I'm broke at the moment and this is only £7.99. Find it on the H&M website.

It's not, after all, the first time I've hankered after a bit of horsey homeware. A while back, there was also this...

...and, below, this, available from Surface View (and by the way, the wall got filled with something entirely different in the end, and gained a life-size fox, which I don't think anyone but me likes).

And I love this large, recycled wooden horse, from Folklore, £48, below.

But this old metal toy horse already lives with me. I love him.

And, nothing to do with interiors or, even, horses really, but my equine obsession has also got me hooked on the horse_ebooks spambot. This Gawker piece introduced it to me. If you like surreal Twitter feeds, check it out.

Christmas after-glow

It's been a bit of an extended festive break (mainly due to it not being a break but full of work, but hey-ho, spring holidays beckon...). 

But we're back - with a round-up of some of my Christmas homes-y highlights for starters, and lots more exciting stuff in the pipeline.

I'd love to hear (and see) everyone else's festive highlights too –whether a great recipe, beautifully set table, moment of tree brilliance, inspired gifts, pretty wrapping... Why not get in touch via Facebook? In the meantime, here are some of mine:

Yummy five-spice beetroot/vodka soup I adapted a couple of recipes to come up with my best ever beetroot based soup. In a nutshell - garlic, lots of ginger, some red chilli - dried or fresh, and Chinese five-spice, fried gently with an onion; raw, chopped and peeled beetroot and potatoes and a carrot or two if you have some (about a 3/2 ratio for the first two respectively) chucked in the pan for a few minutes; add some vegetable stock, boil then simmer until the veg is cooked. Season and blitz. Squeeze in some lemon juice before serving in bowls over a small shot of vodka. I swirled yoghurt on top, sprinkled with fresh coriander, and made garlic pitta bread strips for dipping. So, so good.

Bargain candles The tacky, panic-bought cinnamon-scented candles from the pound shop actually smelled rather delicious. Just goes to show it's sometimes worth a punt. But a safer bet is this Celery & Herb tin, £8.65, which created a surprisingly sophisticated, unsweet scent (the antidote to the cinnamon ones). The St Eval candle also comes in other lovely non-sickly flavours - such as Bay & Rosemary, Thyme & Mint and Bergamot & Nettle.

My new sofa The pre-Christmas sale at DFS was GREAT (and that's a place I never imagined I'd shop having only ever seen scary looking leather contraptions that move or seem to be designed with aesthetics as the last consideration in their adverts). Having only ever had second-hand and not very comfortable lounging options, this has been a revelation - and was perfect for the festive flu and Poirot marathon I had just after Christmas. Yes, I was shamelessly seduced by the idea of paying a around a tenner a month for pretty much the rest of my life to get my hands on the beautiful, rather Fifties-ish corner sofa you can see my father modelling (left) on Christmas day as he opened his presents from Action Posters. The Candice corner sofa is still available, though (sorry!) the price has gone up again, quite a lot (it's now £1558). But their interest-free credit is quite something - and the next sale is surely just around the corner.

New bowls LOVE these small wooden bowls (left) I found in a charity shop last Autumn for about £2 each. They remind me of the comforting wooden plates my parents had when I was little and I finally got them out at Christmas (to serve the beetroot soup in). I have hunted around and can't find anything quite the same (unless it's really expensive) but I did find these gorgeous mango wood bowls (above) with colourful exteriors (£13 each) from OurWorkshop (a brilliant, brilliant online store where the stylish wares are lovingly handmade).