SHOP DISCOVERY: FUTURE & FOUND

On Tuesday I made a mad dash from work to make it up to Future & Found in Tufnell Park before close time and I am so glad I got my brisk walk on, as it is everything I envisaged and more. I've been admiring their online shop for a while now, after spotting it on my friend Sophia's Pinterest boards. This  seamlessly well edited selection of modern meets reclamation interior and lifestyle objets is a North London gem. The shop's clean paired back approach to retail, with grey walls, white shelving and flashes of neon is a dream to browse. Friendly owner Andrea, set up the shop at the beginning of last year and is clearly a welcome addition to the ever evolving Tufnell Park. As if on cue a customer chirps on her departure "It's so lovely having such a great local gift shop". How sweet!

White ceramics, monochrome geo print cushions and accents of neon orange and 

pink immediately catch the eye.

I bought this concrete vase for my friend Hazel's birthday. Perfect 

for displaying just one simple flower stem.

Clashing neon tea towels- almost too nice to use on the dishes.

Note to self: Buy a big bunch of neon pencils to display in my office area. So fun.

Homemade ceramics and pinch pots offer a handmade dimension to the store. 

Ceramics displayed in wooden crates nailed to the walls are used to house china, whilst reclaimed wooden cartons (painted white) have been transformed into a makeshift display table.

Andrea kindly informed me that the new season AW13 collections are arriving instore imminently. Keep your eyes peeled to their twitter feed for updates.

THRIFTY THURSDAY: FRENCH CONNECTION HOME

Since French Connection launched their homeware range in April of last year, I've been a regular admirer. Hats off to Homeware Buyer Lorraine Brennan (previously from the Conran shop) for launching such a stylish (largely white and grey) collection of serene interior staples, from leaning shelves to woodland inspired lamp bases and side tables. Best of all it is entirely affordable, despite appearing more premium than other high street homeware offerings. Although I'd like to start raving about the latest AW13 range (I'll bombard you with that later), firstly pop on over to their Sale section online, where I clocked this Conical Shade (Pendant light) rendered in white washed spun steel. I can see this week's 'thrifty thursday' lending itself to a whole host of bedroom schemes. Adding that subtle 'worn' feel. I couldn't find an image of the shade in situ so layered it over another French Connection lifestyle image. I hope my limited photoshop skills help you get the picture...

Conical Shade Now £38.50 (Was £55) from French Connection Home

WISHFUL WEDNESDAY 04.09

This wishful wednesday I am looking to inject texture in to the home; twine, marble prints, glass and tiling...

1. Laine Jute Pendant Light £45 from Habitat

2. Brown Hexagon Print £60 from Holly's House

3. Quarter Circle Tiles £7 by Smink Things

4. Smoke bottle vase £20 (Was £29) from Ebury Home & Garden. I thought I was getting a snip when I bought my bottle green bottle vase up at an Alexander Palace 

Antiques fair for £30 but this is even more of steal. 

WEEKEND WONDERS

1. Finally got round to experimenting with my blender and made a homemade blueberry smoothie, resulting in a healthy liquid lunch (that was post a bacon sarnie breakfast of course). So easy to make: Handful of oats, few big spoonfuls of natural yoghurt, prolonged squeeze of honey, frozen blueberries and milk. Enjoyed over Liberty's new Autumn / Winter magazine- you should see the latest high tops they've collaborated with Nike on again next season.  

2. Saturday lunch at Monocle Café- Monocole Magazine recently extended it's portfolio in London with a stylish lifestyle cafe (just off Marylebone High Street). Based on the original Tokyo concept (where the café originated) it is drenched in tasteful interior design. The friendly café staff inform me it's a mecca for architects and designers alike. I can see why. Favourite bits? Choosing my lunch from the photographs of dishes framed on the wall (typical of Asian restaurants but somehow they've made it unique and cool), fine wooden Scandi meets Japanese furniture, Uton noodles, minty water on tap, hipster branding and the Japanese toilet (with a multitude of space age functions- my toilet seat was heated!).

3. Feather installation at Anthropologie on Regent Street. A bed surrounded by 3589 floating feathers. Imagine waking up to that!

4. New book Rethink: The Way You Live by Amanda Talbot - also spotted in Anthropologie. Essentially it is about embracing old age methods of living, being more resourceful, reusing and recycling. My coffee table needs this.

5. Booked John Salt in Islington for dinner with girlfriends on Friday night. Despite my reluctance to dine in what is essentially a busy bar, we loved it! The venue on Upper Street (which used to be Keston Lodge) is a far cry from it's cheesy predecessor. And bravo to chef Neil Rankin (from Pitt Cue Co) for his posh dude food - the smoked shortrib cheeseburger I had was epic. Sadly I was having so much fun I forgot to take a picture of my dish but here is one off John Salt's twitter page.

6. Fake grass- my brother recently landscaped his garden using fake grass. Pricier than the natural stuff but looks perfect and and you never have to mow the lawn again. Not sure how 'green' I feel about artificial grass though?

Get up to anything fun this weekend?

Peg x

THRIFTY THURSDAY: IKEA TROLLEY

If like me your cupboards are rammed to near bursting then this could be just the 'thrifty thursday' for you. I actually clocked this turquoise trolley on Pinterest around 5 months ago but it hadn't quite reached UK Ikea stores / website by then. After a quick search this afternoon, it appears to have now made it over from the Netherlands! A small London kitchen can often let you down when it comes to storage space so this is a neat way of storing your baking products (as shown on the right) or even perhaps your kilner jars of food staples such as rice, pasta, sugar etc. Also available in dark grey if you want something a little more slick...

Ikea Kitchen Trolley

RASKOG Kitchen trolley in turquoise, £50. Ikea

WISHFUL WEDNESDAY

As the new AW13 home collections start to trickle down the screens of my favourite online shops, my interior wish list is growing exponentially. After a few impulsive interior buys that I soon regretted I've now become a little over cautious (verging on indecisive). This is to the point where popular homeware products (Toast.co.uk springs to mind) sell out before I get round to taking the plunge. So 'Wishful Wednesday' is here to serve as a visual note to self of items I am coveting right now and the new designers I am discovering along the way...

1. Hanging Test Tube Vase £27.55 Such and Such Co

2. Dorm House Shelf £79.95 Pretty Dandy

3. Arrow Spoon Salad Servers $150 Amelie Mancini

4. Paolo Navone Wire Basket Trio £38 Anthropologie

WEEKEND WONDERS

Saturday was my thirtieth birthday and despite a reluctance to let go of my status as a young twenty-something, turning thirty actually feels curiously good. I won't bore you with the "I really know who I am at 30" chat (although there is some truth in that) but rather than reflecting on what I didn't do in my twenties I am now dead excited about all things I am going to get up to in my thirties. Totally a state of mind I'm sure but it's working for me right now so I'm going to go with it...

Anyway enough of the philosophical chat. After a weekend of being totally spoilt by my loved ones, here is a little round-up of my weekend discoveries and finds...

1. All my birthday goodies- such a sweet surprise.

2. Decorative tiles spotted in the bathroom at one of my favourite 

restaurants Trangallan on Newington Green.

3. Woke up birthday morning to a room filled with white heart shaped balloons and my new 

bohemian rug from Bodie & Fou (handmade in India) which I simply adore.

4. Diptyque's 34 boulevard saint germain candle chosen by my sister-in-law (she read on peg how I one day aspired to fill my home with Diptyque). So thoughtful. Designed to encapsulate the scent of it's first boutique (located on 34 boulevard saint germain, paris) my living room is 

now filled with the aroma of damp mosses, crumpled blackcurrant leaves 

and sun dried fig leaves. And I haven't even lit it yet!

5. Another thoughtful gift... New York print by Rifle from Papermash. 

6. Saturday night at The Old Vic for Tennessee Williams 

play 'Sweet Bird of Youth' with Kim Cattrall. One word. Gripping.

7. Losing myself in books in the peaceful Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street.

8 & 9. Discovering the vibrance of Peruvian food at the Ceviche restaurant on Frith Street (Soho). Chipper staff, buzzy atmosphere and the best 'don ceviche' (sea bass ceviche) in town. I was even treated to the book, which I'm salivating over right now.

Thank you for such a perfect birthday (you know who you are).

peg x