Get their look: Groovy studio apartment

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Lauren W‘s groovy studio apartment is located in the Big Apple – Brooklyn to be exact. I just love all the pops of orange colour – the sofa, the DIY mirror, the wall art and the rainbow-ed locker.

A studio can be a very tricky space in which to create a comfortable living area. But Lauren has shared how she made it work for her:

I felt I had to find a way to add invisible walls that made it feel like there was some separation in my space. The furniture placement and even the location of my mirror really aid in creating those boundaries.

Get their look

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Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Zeal melamine colander

Custom rainbow decal

Steel storage cabinet

SÖDERHAMN 2-seat sofa

Yellow bistro tray side table

‘No Shame in Black Beauty’ print

IKEA MONGSTAD mirror

Zeal melamine colander

Custom rainbow decal

Steel storage cabinet

SÖDERHAMN 2-seat sofa

Yellow bistro tray side table

‘No Shame in Black Beauty’ print

IKEA MONGSTAD mirror

Designer Desire: Wells Coates

Born in Tokyo, Wells Coates (1895-1958) was a British modernist architect and designer of Canadian parentage. Greatly inspired by the likes of Le Corbusier, he designed a number of public and private commercial and residential buildings.

My first proper introduction to Wells Coates was when I was at the University of Brighton. I did a summer school course in photography where I focussed on capturing images of Embassy Court (seen at the top of our montage above) – my favourite building in the city – located on the seafront in Hove. It was the mid-1990s at the time, and the building (erected in 1935) was in a very sorry state; the 11-storey façade was rusty, crumbling and strewn with ugly satellite dishes – but its beauty still shone through. Today it’s a des-res and one of the 72 flats would set you back a cool half a million pounds and more!

In 1934, he designed the Isokon / Lawn Road Flats, Hampstead for Molly and Jack Pritchard. The couple and their family lived at the address, with some of the other 32 flats being occupied by design greats of the time; Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and László Maholy-Nagy.

The following year – with David Bartholomew Pleydell-Bouverie – Wells Coates designed the Sunspan Houses. Fifteen of them were built; including one in Portsmouth, another in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, three on Woodlands Avenue in New Maldon, Essex, Chadwell St Mary, Essex and Esher in Surrey.

In 1939, he designed 10 Palace Gate, a block of luxury flats in London’s Kensington for construction company, Randall Bell. Flats currently command rents of over £1,000 per week. A space in the building’s underground car park is currently for sale for the princely sum of £65,000.

He designed the Telecinema – one of the 1951 Festival of Britain buildings. Apparently it was:

…the first theatre in the world in which big screen television, 3-dimensional pictures and tereophonic (sic) sound took its place on par with the cinema… spectators wearing (the) special stereoscopic spectacles…

The woven upholstery fabric for the Telekinema’s seating was designed by Lucienne Day in 1951.⁠⁠

In addition to buildings, he designed office furniture for Kingfisher Limited of West Bromwich, some examples are included in our montage above. He also created 9 models of radio for Ekco including the round Bakelite AD65 (1934), AD75 (1940), A22 (1945) and rectangular A33 RadioTime (1946).

There are a number of books that investigate the man and his works. His daughter, Laura Cohn, authored The Door to a Secret Room: A Portrait of Wells Coates. There’s a 1970s monograph written by Sherban Cantacuzino and a more recent one by Elizabeth Darling.

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Additional image credits:
Artnet | V&A

Getting the house prepped for winter

We’re rolling towards autumn now which means that the temperature is dropping and many of us are starting to panic about the coming hike in our gas and electricity bills. Getting the house prepped for the colder months is one of the best things that you can do if you’re looking to keep the costs down this winter.

Instead of just considering rotating your seasonal wardrobe or adding hearty additions to your menu at home, you need to start thinking about garden maintenance, roofing repairs and boiler servicing. With this in mind, here are some of the things that you could do to get your home prepared for the winter.

Eliminate any draughts. You don’t want to lose the heat of your home through gaps in floorboards, windows and doors. By installing draft excluders or using door snakes, you can remove the worry that cold air will be swirling around your home.
Encourage as much good airflow as possible. This may seem counter-intuitive after we just told you to block up draughts. You don’t want your house to become stuffy in the winter because a stuffy house tends encourages condensation to form and this can cause mould to develop. Take the time to improve the airflow from room to room and use dehumidifiers especially in rooms with lots of steam like the kitchen and bathroom.
Get your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested regularly. You want to know that your alarms are in good working order to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning and not being woken up if a fire breaks out while the household is fast asleep. If your alarms are out of order you and your family will be at risk of grave danger.
Have your roof checked. You need a good roofing repair company to come and assess your roof if you’re concerned about anything being wrong with it. The roof plays an important role in weather-proofing the interior of your home, and so you should ensure that your gutters and downpipes are kept clear of debris such as leaves and moss to ensure good rainwater run off.
Go through the garden. You need to weed, cut the grass and cover non-hardy perennials if you want to prepare the garden for the winter months with the rest of the house. Your garden furniture should also be covered or put away and your shed should be locked up securely to prevent theft and damage.

Your house being prepped for winter gets you and your family better peace of mind for the following few months. The more well prepared you are, the more you will enjoy a warm, comfortable home this winter.

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Price Points: Faux fur soft furnishings

Summer is meteorologically over, so it’s only a matter of time before we’ll be forced to switch on the heating. We tend not to crank up our LPG gas fired radiators very often, preferring to have the wood-burning stove on in the room where we’ll be spending most time.

Something that helps with upping the cosy factor on chilly evenings is the addition of faux fur soft furnishings. It’s tactile, decorative… and warming. We’ve chosen three things; to see you through the coming autumn and winter.

Faux fur hot water bottle: £25.00, John Lewis
Faux fur king-size duvet cover and pillowcase set: £29.99, The Range
Demirel throw by Canora Grey: £174.99, Wayfair

shop faux fur soft furnishings

Some of the links on our blog are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission - at no cost to you - if you click through and make a purchase.
Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Demirel throw by Canora Grey
£174.99

Faux fur king size duvet cover and pillowcase set
£29.99