Innehållsförteckning för Jan-2019 från Living Etc

I am writing this on the way back from Milan. Every autumn we make a trip to the design capital to visit our favourite brands and hear their plans for the year ahead. I love the city. Firstly, I can’t get enough of the food (this stay’s triumph was fusilloni alla Norma followed by cappuccino and delicious cannolo at an amazing restaurant called Boatta). I also enjoy the dry sense of humour of northern Italian people. But this time I discovered a new highlight in my tour of the Porada furniture factory. Guided by the knowledgeable Sara Allievi, I was lucky enough to go behind the scenes and witness the expert craftsmanship and intense labour that goes into the production of every single piece. It was astonishing and marvellous, and…

Ditch the Christmas pudding and pile up the pavlova – the season’s juiciest palette has been freshly plucked from the forest. In the fashion world, and aiming for knockout festive sparkle, Marni’s Francesco Risso paid homage to the hedgerow with glittery, Eighties-feel dresses, each featuring stitched-together patches that married shades of blackcurrant and cherry. On the home front, go for a lightly frosted effect, be it with the shimmery, cotton-velvet finish on Soho House’s Norton sofa, Curiousa & Curiousa’s glistening handblown glass or Broste Copenhagen’s sparkly sequinned decorations. Tasty!…

Natural textures and curvaceous furnishings create an inviting space to hang out with friends. Just add glühwein… A white-out on the slopes? Wheel out the barbecue and huddle around until the snowstorm clears. Shake of f your boots and come in from the cold. There’s a warm world of sof t sheepskin to welcome you inside. Enjoy a moment of chalet-chic indulgence, relaxing on a bouclé chaise longue before getting into après mode.…

Create an ephemeral ice bucket by freezing a bottle of vodka in foliage-filled water. Change the colour of the contents depending on the theme of your do, or add herbs to match the garnish of the evening. Combine metallic hints with an Art Deco vibe for a professional touch. Accessorise with retro cocktail umbrellas in the same hue as your tipple for a quick and chic way to add style to your drinks tray. Mirrored surfaces imbibe the area with even more vibrancy. Go for gold with your bar area. Editing down the objects on your car t to a minimum keeps the look from feeling overwhelming. For a brighter feel, display multicoloured balloons, f lorals and glassware. This works perfectly in a more neutral scheme as it helps the…

Hidden behind the formal façade of a Parisian townhouse is a ‘roll up the rugs, kick up your heels and party’ kind of apartment, where the vibes are more New York townhouse than chic salon. Which, of course, makes it the perfect place to celebrate the New Year. ‘We’ll have dinner here with friends, so I’ll be doing more cooking than dancing,’ laughs Shiri Slavin, ‘but it is a great space for entertaining. We hate small rooms and low ceilings; this space feels free.’ Shiri and partner Igor Becker bought the property 10 years ago, when the 19th-century building was divided into apartments for the first time. The virgin space meant they could design a home to suit them and their young children, but purchasing it was a risk. ‘At…

We’ll be looking at bunches of blooms in a different way thanks to the new generation of florists rising up the botanical ranks. Why? Well, they’re looking beyond the buckets of cut flowers at markets and heading out into the great outdoors, growing their own flora and foliage to use in free-form designs inspired by nature. Here, three leading lights in floral design – Aesme, Juliet Glaves and Kitten Grayson Flowers – reveal how they are helping reinvent the craft. AESME AESME Sisters Ally Nutting and Jess Lister joined forces to launch Aesme in 2015. As owners of an artisanal flower studio in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, they’ve worked on weddings, parties and with clients such as Jo Malone London. Here, the duo tell us about drawing on the English…

A STAR IS BORN A tough-luxe aesthetic influenced by machinery and motorcycles has won Brit label Buster + Punch a cult following. Founder Massimo Buster Minale sums up its style as ‘refined rebellion’, reflecting the brand’s obsession with precision engineering. It shouldn’t come as much surprise then that its latest launch, Popstar, is a leather-clad gin bar – successor to the 2013 Rockstar whisky bar (which, rumour has it, was designed for a Rolling Stone). Yet that’s not to say Buster + Punch is strictly for the music glitterati. ‘Our customers want to invest in home fittings that tell a story beyond their function, spending a little extra to stand out from the crowd,’ explains Minale. Consider the solid oak body, marble ‘mixing’ platform, quilted back panel and bronze light…

Metallic is – officially – the festive look that keeps on giving. And this season’s incarnation, which is stripped back and pared-down to perfection, will run and run. Alberta Ferretti and Temperley London led the charge on the autumn/winter catwalks, offering slouchy lamé numbers that oozed timeless, shimmery sophistication. In the home, it’s all about easy-on-the-eye matt surfaces with an out-of-focus finish. Designs that mix silver and brass shine the brightest; take the Rubik’s cube pattern on Graham and Green’s Magpie bar – a piece with New Year’s Eve cocktail-cupboard written all over it. And for the design buffs, Poul Henningsen’s Artichoke suspension light debuts a new look in softly brushed brass – launched to celebrate the iconic designs 60th anniversary. We’ll drink to that!…

So who is Will Martyr? He’s a young British artist making waves on the international art scene with charismatic and colourful paintings that depict some of the most gorgeous houses, rooms and views in the world – sometimes real, sometimes invented. Give me a feel of his vibe… If Hockney, Slim Aarons and Roy Lichtenstein collaborated on a project together, we imagine the results would look like these paintings. Whether it’s architecture spanning California Modernism to Belle Époque, or lust-worthy views of rooms stuffed with mid-century design classics, Will paints the things interiors lovers swoon over. Despite all the seductive imagery, there’s a poetry to the paintings that keeps the look intelligent. He’s a name to watch then? Absolutely. Will trained at world-renowned schools including The Slade School of Fine…

HOME PROFILE THE OWNER Thayse Viégas, who runs art and design gallery Casa Canvas from her home. THE PROPERTY A ground floor apartment within a late-18th century villa in Brianza, near Milan. It comprises two main living rooms, a mezzanine bedroom and a small kitchen and bathroom. People turn up and assume I own the whole place. As if!’ says Thayse Viégas, who, in fact, lives in a relatively modest, ground-floor apartment occupying part of this grand Italian villa. From here, deep in the countryside, she runs her art and design business, Casa Canvas, exhibiting and selling modern artworks alongside mostly Italian furniture from the Fifties to the Seventies. Originally from Brazil, Thayse moved to Milan to study fashion. ‘I was already a trained film-set and costume designer, so those…

HOME PROFILE THE OWNERS Cécile Bahier, a psychoanalyst, her husband Laurent Bahier, who owns a sports store, and their children Jade, Brune and Leopold. THE PROPERTY A 19th-century house in Bordeaux, France. The ground floor has a reception hall, living room and dining room (which interconnect), kitchen, TV room and master bedroom with a dressing room, en suite and a WC. Upstairs are four bedrooms (three en suite). The staircase was like something out of Hogwarts and the fireplace was a Disneyland rococo fantasy,’ says Cécile Bahier, remembering this house in its former incarnation with just the hint of a shudder. Today, their Bordeaux home is a far more tasteful proposition, carefully balancing its mansion-like architecture with modern decor. But that wasn’t how this house’s story began and, at times,…

Crystallised flowers Makes 15-20 * 1–2 organic unsprayed roses in full bloom (about 20 petals)* 1 egg white, whisked to a light froth* 50g caster sugar Carefully pick the petals from the roses, taking care not to bruise or tear them. Select small, unblemished petals. Line up two bowls on your worksurface, one containing the whisked egg white, the other the sugar. Working one at a time, hold a petal on one forefinger and use the other to lightly brush it all over with the egg white, then drop it gently into the bowl of sugar. Once you have coated several petals with egg white, tumble them gently in the sugar so they are evenly coated, but take care not to touch them too much with your fingers. Use a…

HOW DID YOUR CAREER START? I studied textiles at Chelsea School of Art, going on to work as a freelance interior stylist and in-house at the BBC. Eventually, my love for collecting led me to open lifestyle shop Maiden in Primrose Hill. I now live in the country, but still source for commercial and private clients. NAME A FAVOURITE PIECE YOU’VE FOUND FOR AU BESPOKE. The torso sculpture made from quartz is one I adore. It’s deliciously tactile. A close contender is the African wall hanging, which is beautifully crafted with amazing attention to detail and reminds me of my weaving days at Chelsea. Both pieces have age on their side, but would sit perfectly in a modern space. My ethos is ‘buy well and buy once’ – in an…

HOME PROFILE THE OWNER Caroline Legrand, an interior designer, and her sons, Oscar, 16, and Arthur, 14. Master Yoda the miniature poodle lives here, too. THE PROPERTY An apartment in west London. There is an entrance hall, living room, dining room, kitchen, study, family room/guest bedroom (with shower room), a master suite, two further bedrooms and two bathrooms. at this time of year, Caroline Legrand doesn’t worry too much about decking her hall – or any of her other rooms, come to that. With the best of Seventies design and contemporary art on display, her spaces are already on gleaming, glittering form. Caroline’s gallery-like hall announces her love of vintage opulence, but step into the living room and things get serious. Cloud-soft, white-on-gold Milo Baughman armchairs, cascading tiers of a…

Calming, confident, the colour of nature – it’s no wonder that green is staging a comeback, given our increasingly urbanised and always-on digital lifestyles. There’s a reason green was the best-selling carpet colour for years: quite simply, it grounds us. As Marianne Shillingford, creative director of Dulux, explains, ‘Green works in modern homes because it connects us to the fields, forests and open spaces that we lack in our indoor lives and gives us an energy that is fundamental to human existence.’ Green is a true neutral, meaning it’s your flexible friend when it comes to creating a colour scheme. ‘It sits right in the centre of the spectrum and works with every other colour and material you pair it with,’ says Marianne. ‘Try it out for yourself: place a…

HOME PROFILE THE OWNER Kim Smith, who runs homeware brand Weylandts with her partner Chris Weylandt. THE PROPERTY A multi-level apartment on the 10th floor of a modern building in central Cape Town. The entry floor has an open-plan kitchen-diner/living area, laundry room, WC and balcony overlooking Table Mountain. On the second level is a bedroom, bathroom and dressing room. There is a TV room on the third floor. IT’S ALMOST NEW YEAR IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE and Cape Town is blisteringly hot. But inside this multi-level apartment is a moody palette of storm clouds. Elements of metallic, black and smoke create an overall effect of mystique, drama and a cocoon-like feel. There’s something about opting for unified tones of silver that takes everything down a notch, creating a calming,…

[ Cool collab ] It should come as no surprise that a collaboration between two Parisian powerhouses - interior designer Stéphanie Coutas and high-end bathroom brand THG - is, as the locals would say, très chic. Think basins, baths and taps with ‘Leonardo Grey’ and ‘Grand Antique’ marble detail. FEELING FLUSH Drummonds’ Art Deco-style Derwent flush light wouldn’t look out of place in Jay Gatsby’s bathroom. We’re talking fluted, handblown glass, nine brass finishes, including polished nickel and antique bronze, and a moody, atmospheric glow. Vintage-luxe fit for a (fictional) millionaire. YES PLISSE There’s nothing basic about the basins in the Plisse collection from Italian manufacturer Artelinea. Its plinth-style units, each made entirely from coloured-glass, feature uniformed rows of pleats. The result is a surface so shiny that you needn’t…

For multidisciplinary artist Bruce Atherton, art is a means of communicating thoughts, be that through the emotional impact of colour or quite literally through text on paintings. He explores techniques through paint, photography and sculpture, explaining that if you understand technique really well, you’re not afraid to let go. Tell us about your art background… At the age of three, I would draw fanatically, encouraged by my mother and father. She was a midwife and he was a consultant surgeon, and coming from a non-arty family was a huge freedom. There were no expectations, so I could take an independent view of what I wanted to do. I admired the Old Masters but art school in the late 80s was all about super abstract expressionism, so I left. By my…

After much anticipation, this gorgeous country pile, owned by Hong Kong businessman Gerald Chan, has finally thrown open its doors to eager guests. Situated in 400 acres of pastoral land just an hour from London, the sustainability-focused hotel aims to lure patrons from the capital by redefining the expectations and standards of a country house hotel. From the modern Ben Thompson interiors that cleverly blend relaxed rural living with classic luxe style to the masterfully pared-back menus of chef Skye Gyngell, Heckfield Place has an accessible glamour that puts visitors at ease in the grand surroundings. To coincide with the opening, Heckfield has curated The Assembly – a year-long programme of cultural events guaranteed to be popular with inquiring minds. Activities include film screenings and workshops with an eclectic group…