It was my birthday on the 24th of November and when Justin asked me what I wanted, my request was met by, “Are you sure?” He thought it was a bit functional or mundane for a birthday treat.

It’s something I’ve wanted for quite a long time, and thought that it was no longer available. But, when I noticed it for sale once again on the Selfridges website, I didn’t want to miss out a second time

I blogged about it a while ago – it was one of our weekly Wednesday Wish posts – you may remember it! It’s a bright orange Dualit toaster exclusively available from Selfridges.

We’ve had a similar one that we’ve been using for years, a purple 3-slot combi that we bought at Liberty when we lived in Brighton – which was over a decade ago! We used to have lilac walls in the kitchen in that house and it looked great. It doesn’t work so well in our current home though – in fact it’s jarred on the eyes for years – a purple toaster in an orange & cream kitchen. I don’t know how we lived with it for so long!

I’m sure this Dualit will last as long as the last which was used every day and never let us down – virtually indestructible!

And romance isn’t completely dead… after our morning toast, we went for a lovely birthday lunch at the Old Bore in Rishworth.

Following on from all the wonderful stuff in our recent Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair blog post, here’s some more hand crafted loveliness!

Justin’s brother, Damian is a very skilled potter and he dropped off some of his new designs on a recent visit.

Amongst them were these sweet espresso coffee mugs.

We love the tall narrow shape which still fits under most coffee machines and retains the heat of a small espresso very well.

He’s experimented with a few different glazes – various colours & textures – and they feel really good in the hand.

 Small certainly is beautiful!

If you’ve got any favourites or feedback please leave a comment here. We’ll be sure to pass them on – Damian’s always interested to hear what people think – especially about new ideas!

We bought this lovely vintage gentleman’s valet stand last week.

The main structure is elm with some chrome & Formica detailing.

It incorporates both jacket & trouser hangers – over which ties, belts or braces can also be placed.

In addition, there are shoe rests and a small circular top shelf for wallet, watch, cufflinks etc.

The ‘atomic’ or ‘sputnik’ styling to the base gives it a real fifties look – perfect for all you Mad Men fans.

We bet Donald Draper has one of these!

We recently blogged about the first edition of a new magazine devoted to all things mid century modern.

It’s an era close to our hearts – we like to intersperse pieces amongst our rustic & country furniture – it’s a look we love.

If you’re fellow fans, here’s some of our current MCM stock.

Just click on each image for more details!

We’re known for vintage here at H is for Home…

…but we also like to stock a smattering of new items too.

Things that we think sit well – contemporary products with a vintage or folk art feel.

We look for a handmade aspect too. These are a few examples – all currently available on our website.

This fabulous vintage biscuit jar featured in our recent ‘Forthcoming Attractions: mid-June’ post.
What an amazing, psychedelic landscape!

The range is called Country Lane and it was designed by Robin Cody for Crown Devon Pottery.

There’s something very homely and comforting about a nice biscuit container – especially a full one!! The smell when you open it up and the treats held within!
We’re currently using tins designed by Sanna Annuka for Marks & Spencer to store ours.

We’ve sold some lovely examples over the past couple of years – they’re always steady sellers…

…and here’s a link to all the biscuit barrels, tins, pots & jars currently in the H is for Home shop

This vintage polka dot milk jug is a recent addition to our webshop.

Produced by Price Bros, it really is a fabulous bit of 1950s pottery… and just has to beat using a plastic milk carton!

It got us thinking about other milky marvels we could rustle up.

Turns out we had quite a few pieces to share – from storage vessels like old bottles & crates to advertising items such as this teatowel.

BBC Homes & Antiques Magazine ran a big feature on milk-related collectables this month… referred to as dairyana these days.

Dairyana incorporates butter & cheese items too – so there are various utensils, stools, buckets, bowls, churns and moulds to consider.

Lots of lovely treen, enamel, metalware and pottery.

Items have many practical uses which add to the appeal of collecting.

We like few pieces dotted around the kitchen. It adds a bit of vintage character & warmth. Some items we use as originally intended such as jugs – others can be repurposed like vintage milk bottles for displaying fresh cut flowers.

So, raise a glass to dairyana… a milk glass of course!

Yes, we know, it’s a picture of a cow jug  – but we’ve been very busy bees recently!

We had a lovely mention in the Guardian Weekend Magazine recently – and a frenzy  of orders, packing & posting followed.

It’s now calmed down a bit, and we’ve been back out buying new stock again.

We’ve picked up some really great stuff and had a big listing session on Friday.

We added items to most of our shop sections – these are some of our favourites!

This week was very successful at our local flea market… with 5 really good vintage finds for the shop.

First is this original catalogue from the Festival of Britain held in 1951. We’ve really enjoyed browsing through this booklet. In addition the run down of the exhibition itself, there are some fantastic period ads.

Next up is this enamel teapot made by Finel. It was covered in dust and badly tea stained inside, but it’s come up beautifully – a good wash revealed the lovely pattern and the inside bleached clean & white.

This 1960s coffee pot couldn’t fail to catch our eye. We’ve actually had a set in this pattern before – what a great design with its simple, stylised flowers.

This plate was at the bottom of a pile. We could just see the petal edges poking out. We’re glad we made the effort to dig down a bit! It’s a lovely vintage hand-painted sunflower plate produced by Arabia of Finland.

Finally, we have this tea trio – a set of six trios to be precise. It’s the Amanda pattern produced by Ridgway in the 1960s/70s – bright, cheerful and very usable.

All worth getting up early for!

In addition to the five finds destined for our shop, you may also have noticed some wine glasses in the background of the group photo. We were down to our last couple of decent wine glasses (and we do love a glass or two of red wine in front of the fire!). We’ve been looking for new ones for a few weeks now and were determined to pick some up in a charity shop or flea market. There they were – lovely wine glasses – large bowls, long slim stems, nice quality – £2.50 for a set of 8!! Now that was a great buy!

Here’s a little blog in praise of the humble jug.

An essential part of domestic life over thousands of years – we use jugs for carrying water, pouring milk, washing & bathing, displaying flowers – the list is endless.

Justin’s brother is a potter  and we have some of his jugs dotted around the house. We love the salt glazed ones above which he makes. They’re quite timeless – you can imagine the one on the right filled with ale in a Pieter Bruegal village scene. The simple thumb detailing around the base is lovely. We need some bowls to match if you’re reading this Damian!!

And, as if we didn’t have enough jugs, we bought 3 more at last October’s Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. We couldn’t resist Hannah McAndrew‘s wares for a second year – her traditional slipware pottery drawing on medieval influences. They look perfect set upon antique wooden furniture  – but would look equally fantastic as stand alone pieces in a very contemporary modern space.

Here are a few more favourites that have recently passed through our hands.

A well designed & attractive jug will give you a little bit of pleasure every time you use it!