Innehållsförteckning för May 2025 från Living Etc

I’m still buzzing from my trip to Maison&Objet in Paris earlier this year. A slightly smaller event than this month’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, I found the furniture and design fair restorative. Down each walkway of the cavernous expo I made new discoveries, each one helping me to think about design in a different way. My full report on my favourite pieces, the ones that sparked ideas you’ll see in Livingetc all year, is on page 16, but some of the more weird and wonderful moments didn’t make it in. I was genuinely enchanted by the chair made of toy swans (yes, as odd as it sounds) and the chenille-covered lion at least four times bigger than life-size. I can’t see either fitting into the sort of schemes we…

Tongue-in-cheek collab L’Objet’s collaboration with South African artist Ruan Hoffmann is fun, witty and bright – featuring candles, dinnerware and a diffuser with crafty messages. Veti-vert diffuser set, £250 The bedding collection with a spring in its step Luxury sleep and homeware brand Piglet in Bed has achieved cult status for a reason: its designs are chic and feel amazing. Perfect for spring, the romantic boho-inspired Tales of Aunt Rose collection features a delicate Posy Bud floral and there are new colourways of the brand’s gingham and striped designs. Honey Gingham bedding, from £45 for a pair of pillowcases, Piglet in Bed BACK TO THE 1970S: ACCESSORIES GO RETRO John Lewis’ SS25 Modern Home collection is hitting all the right notes with its nostalgic 1960s and 1970s-inspired pieces. The chequered…

We were the outcasts of Design Miami,’ Monica Santayana says cheerfully. ‘The organisers of the fair weren’t happy that people actually wanted to use our pieces, to play on our ping pong tables. Most of the fair has signs that say “Do not sit”, but we were like “Please sit! Please hit!” It makes us happy when our work is actually being used, creating joy.’ And so she neatly sums up the ethos of Moniomi, the Miami-based interior design and product studio she co-founded with her husband Ronald Alvarez, a place where – unlike most of the design/art world – their work is meant to function, to be enjoyed, to be interacted with. ‘Pretty isn’t non-touchable,’ Monica adds. And what a portfolio they have. Alongside the glamorously luxe homes they’ve…

Summertime, and the living is… well, you know the rest. And ever since around 2021 the big design brands have been shifting focus towards finding ways to make our alfresco spaces easier, breezier and prettier. It has meant a big aesthetic change – and that gardens no longer have to be stuffed with teak and black rattan. For 2025, that quest has ramped up, as this preview of the very best new ideas shows. We’re talking lightweight materials that can easily be shifted around as the sun moves and how you want to socialise might flex. We’re seeing fabrics printed in bold summery motifs of blue skies or those chevron patterns we all had family picnic blankets in back in the day. And this is all because the dial of…

For more than two centuries, the walls of this Georgian townhouse in central Dublin have witnessed the comings and goings of many distinguished people. Once the city home of a prominent whisky family, it was mainly a place for entertaining and closing business deals. This duality was something the new owner – who works in international finance – strived to preserve. The project was handed to Irish interior designer Suzie Mc Adam, who is known for blending a passion for historical restoration and antiques with a contemporary aesthetic. ‘In recent years legal offices had moved in, and while the property had always been maintained, it was run-down and tired,’ says Suzie, describing how lovely details in the panelling had been hidden by layers of paint, for example. ‘The mahogany panelling…

if there was such a thing as ‘new British style’, this London semi surely encapsulates it. The result of a meticulous renovation, it injects the bones of a familiar vernacular with modernity and a dash of verve. Teak and rattan finishes blend with marble, travertine and sinuous mid-century shapes. ‘We were conscious we didn’t want it to be mundane,’ says Tara Connolly, who lives here with husband Edward and sons Alexander, eight, and Arthur, six. ‘The idea was to acknowledge the building’s Victorian roots, while reworking it for the way we live.’ At first, the couple weren’t keen on a complex project. They were living in Hong Kong, where Tara worked in the charity sector and Edward was practising law. Relocating back to the UK after a decade abroad, the…

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Run your eyes over this space once and all seems calm, tonal, sensible. Rewind a few steps and all hell breaks loose – which in my book is a very good thing. The stripes! The glossy orange! The thick cylindrical table leg! The angle on the tabletop! The mustard banquette back! The terracotta chairs! The overall effect is a cool (climate- and street-cred-wise) take on warmth, with two opposing forces meeting to leave us not at tepid room temperature as logic tells us, but with the sides sitting down to engage with each other despite differing viewpoints. The melding of the cold whites and the odd bit of grey, versus the warmth of the oak, ochre, leather, apricot and terracotta, leads us to a convergence where, unusually, everyone gets their…

LEMA From built-in wardrobes to modular storage systems, Italian furniture brand Lema has always understood that maximising space doesn’t have to mean minimising aesthetics. Of its newest pieces, many are designed to be compact. There’s the Ares sofa, a design that looks too seamless to be modular, and yet offers options from two-seaters to chaise longues. The August table, while large, features an ultra-thin top and trestle legs that give it a lightness. And then there’s Hasu, a compact armchair with soft, padded curves that envelop you. It’s an approach that means designers return time and time again to this brand – as do we.…

RED ALERT No need to give you three guesses as to the origin of Le Petit Merlot, the nickname for this project in Montreal by architectural studio _naturehumaine – it comes, of course, from the red hue that wraps itself around the property, from the clay brick cladding to the richly coloured window frames. Dramatically different but timeless – we love it. NEW CRAFT If you need an example of how beautifully new and old worlds can collide, you’ll find it in this Muswell Hill project by DHaus. Tasked with extending a 1960s new build, the studio was inspired by the concrete shingle that clads the property. It led the architects down a research rabbit hole to this, a low-energy addition with a facade crafted from lemon cedar that combines…

BILAL REHMAN GALLERY AND STUDIO 1740 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77098 Call me biased, but I like to think of Bilal Rehman Gallery as my go-to hotspot for artistic and design inspiration. We have dedicated the past few years to sourcing unique vintage home pieces, working hard to house as many independent artists as possible – it’s such a special place, and I feel thankful to have been able to create it. My team and I bounce ideas off each other all day long, and it’s truly where I feel most inspired. MAD 4444 Westheimer Rd Suite C180, Houston, TX 77027 The brainchild of Barcelona-based interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán, MAD, a vibrant eatery in the River Oaks District, boasts stunning decor, and the food is just as incredible. Serving Spanish-inspired…

SMART STYLE We’re at Milan Design Week this month, and to mark the occasion – and ahead of the latest launches – we’re reminiscing on some of our favourite moods, trends and products from the brands we’ve got our eye on in the pages of this issue. And where better to start than with Rimadesio’s Manta table, designed by Giuseppe Bavuso? It’s an example of the smartness we’ve come to covet in our homes, especially in the dining room – the suggestion that this is a place to dress up for, to feel good in. Expect to see more of this polished aesthetic as we head further into 2025 – we’re excited to see what comes out of Milan this year. Manta dining table by Giuseppe Bavuso, price on request,…

Lee Broom is no stranger to stretching his repertoire. His first collection, back in 2007, was of neon tube lights curved around vintage furniture – he has since worked with travertine, marble, brass and even carpet. His last big collection launch was in 2022, the hauntingly beautiful Requiem, fashioned from plaster by hand. And now this month he is debuting Cascade at Euroluce, the biannual section of Milan’s Salone del Mobile devoted to lighting. It is a series of lights made from porcelain, a collaboration with the heritage Spanish brand Lladró. ‘I was interested in the translucency, the way that thick, solid porcelain takes on the look of paper when you shine a light through it,’ Lee says. ‘That made me start thinking about paper lanterns, their shape and their…

1 NATURAL ALLURE Soft yet textured, Burnished Linen by de Le Cuona is from the brand’s Paper Shadows collection and alludes to the subtle reflections found on antique Japanese lacquerware. With its delicate structure and organic hues (there are three to choose from), the 100% linen fabric pairs well with earthy tones and surfaces. £98m, de Le Cuona 2 SHEER ELEGANCE Boasting the sophisticated aesthetic that the brand is renowned for, The Sheer curtain collection by Nordic Knots works in any setting. Designed in three colourways, the 100% polyester material helps to diffuse natural light for a soft and ambient environment. And, whether styled alone or behind another set of curtains, the lightweight nature of the fabric can help to frame the window without taking away from compact spaces. From…

PIP RICH Let’s start with your work for Gallotti&Radice – your showroom refresh was a standout moment of last year’s Milan Design Week for me. What were you thinking about when putting those dreamy colours together? ARIANNA LELLI MAMI Previously it was all black, so rigid and hard, and we wanted to go in a more organic direction. By choosing pale pinks and beiges we tried to create the feeling of a womb, of inviting you in and connecting you to the space. PR As a palette, I knew we’d be seeing it a lot this year – and it has emerged in what we’re calling Italian Sunset hues, all blush pinks and warmer tones. How did you get that texture on the walls? ALM We used a wall finish made…

although fashion designer Elza Wandler’s Amsterdam home took only three months to renovate, the thinking behind it had been incubating since at least 2017, when she first launched her sleek, sculptural handbag label, Wandler. With a love of aesthetics that ranges far beyond accessory design, Elza has, in that time, created strong networks with artists with whom she wanted to collaborate, and applied her creative eye to designing interior spaces to host her pieces – showrooms, pop-up shops, events and so on – all the while honing her design vision. So after Elza and her husband, Joost Doeswijk, bought their two-storey home, just outside the historic canal ring of Amsterdam, she was quite ready to make her distinctive mark on the place. That mark is Elza’s own distinctive take on…

WORK OF ART We kick off this month’s decorating section with a look at a more unusual way to adorn walls and surfaces – from page 113, we’re exploring ingenious ideas for using tiles outside of the bathroom to add colour, pattern, texture and dimension to a space. And as this room shows, tiles aren’t the only way to capture the power of harder surfaces: the walls of the kitchen are adorned in a ceramic surface customised with Iris Ceramica Group’s Design Your Slabs technology, allowing decorative artist Francesco Simeti’s artwork to stand out against a clean, sharp surface. This is your sign to think outside the box with your decorating projects this year. Walls in customised ceramic surfaces using Design Your Slabs technology by Iris Ceramica Group; island in…

THINK PINK Pink can be a surprisingly neutral colour in a kitchen if it’s used in the right way – and interior designer Laura Stephens shows us just how to do it in this scheme. ‘The aim was to bring warmth and colour to this space, so I chose an archive Farrow & Ball colour, Menagerie, which the client adored, as the main hue, painting the island and matching the Dekton worktops for a contemporary, streamlined look.’ CARVED OUT The layout of this large, open-plan kitchen didn’t lend itself to blocking a section off for a separate pantry, so interior designer Emma Ainscough opted for this smart resolution. ‘We wanted to keep the room feeling big and open, and this design allows the footprint to remain the same,’ she says.…

PORADA Having found ways to hone Canaletta walnut to bring the best out of its smooth whorls, Porada has used it for a vast range of furniture: armchairs, desks, footstools, a sofa with Canaletta walnut peeking out from under sumptuous bouclé. It’s worth noting that other finishes are available, but everything the brand does is comfortable, refined, smart – like you’d feel fine to sit barefoot on it, book and glass of wine in hand. Easy glamour with the dial set firmly towards relaxation. JULIAN CHICHESTER This is where you’ll find heritage craft at its most gleeful, as eponymous brand founder Julian Chichester has now been celebrating our very best makers – and what they can do – for over 35 years. Sometimes teaming up with design icons like Kit…

GRACE PRINCE After graduating from Central Saint Martins, British multidisciplinary designer Grace Prince worked for the Italian designer Vincenzo De Cotiis and also as a material researcher for Anne Holtrop at the Department of Architecture at ETH Zürich. It was as a result of these experiences, Grace says, that she has built an ‘understanding of artisanal practices’, and nurtured her passion for exploring different materials, their characteristics and traits. Grace’s amazing work appears like contemporary assemblage – but, as she points out, ‘these pieces very much do function too’. From her shared studio in Zurich, her design practice is growing. Grace spends a lot of her time nurturing collaborative relationships with artisans and ateliers from all around the globe. ‘I decided very early on that I would remain a specialist…

CLASS ACT Fancy picking up a new skill this spring? Online creative platform Create Academy has launched its Spotlight Series of short video courses, led by emerging designers, creators and artisans. To kick things off, interior designer Reena Simon’s course on how to design a tranquil home landed in March, filmed at her Welsh home and imbued with her impeccable modern Scandinavian aesthetic. In May, Sian Cornish, founder of botanical dye studio Lancaster & Cornish, leads us through the art of natural dyeing; and in June, ceramic artist Freya Bramble-Carter (pictured) films an introduction to hand-built pottery, demonstrating how to craft everything from a small pinch bowl to a ceramic flower vase. An Introduction to Hand Built Pottery with Freya Bramble-Carter, part of the Spotlight Series by Create Academy; prices…

THE WHOLE TRIP FELT LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH DESIGN AIR – NEW NAMES, NEW IDEAS AND A NEW ENERGY TO CREATE HOMES THAT ARE DYNAMIC AND FUN…

Form over function: 4 objets d’art to invest in now All hail the big light – it’s back and even bolder The big light is having its moment in the sun again. Lume Lighting’s Scallop lampshades are magnificent and mood-boosting – we want one of each. From £250 for a 30cm diameter The relaunch delivering more satisfaction in bed (no, really) The iconic, ultra-comfy 2000T bed from Hästens is now available in a limited-edition anniversary version in tribute to Jack Ryde, the visionary behind that Blue Check fabric, who was born 100 years ago. The new iteration features blue leather finishes and a hand-embroidered signature. From €30,890, Hästens…

With the 1970s firmly lodged in the interior design world’s collective imagination, it seems only fitting to look back on a piece inspired by the spirit of the decade. The Ginza sofa from Calligaris is one such design, conceived in 2022 as a homage to the shapes of the 1970s but with a very contemporary bent. So what is it that makes this such an instant classic? There is, of course, a natural understanding that how people live is different now to the way it was even half a decade ago – and that despite its retro influences, the sofa is created to meet the need for versatility that we all want from our furniture right now. ‘Today, the sofa is experienced in a versatile way – it’s a place…

BALANCING ACT We can’t all have homes crafted by design superstar Patricia Urquiola, but we can take lessons away from her work and apply them to our own spaces. We feature one of her latest projects on page 62, a Milanese apartment with an ingenious approach to open-plan living – but can we take a moment to appreciate the Spanish architect’s mastery of colour pairings, too? Pale blue walls and an artwork by Alighiero Boetti sit happily behind a glossy red custom sideboard, while baby pink dining chairs crowd around a brass table – yet there’s no jostling for attention. It’s a masterclass in balance. Sideboard by Patricia Urquiola. LTA6 Porcino lights by Luigi Caccia Dominioni for Azucena at Carrozzeria900…

LITTLE WONDER Ultra-small tiles, like these striking finger ones, make a great replacement for textured wallpaper in a living space, offering a unique, crafted quality that brings flat surfaces to life. These green Marazzi tiles add a depth of colour and texture to this living space: the repeat makes for a pretty pattern, but the tiles’ relative uniformity in hue means that they don’t compete with the rest of the scheme, instead grounding the space. FIRED UP What better way to make a feature out of your fireplace than with light-reflecting zellige tiles? In this project by Côte De Folk, tiles from Mosaic Factory frame the area, carrying up the chimney breast and across the built-in seating to the side. It’s a neat alternative to wooden joinery – and on…

DESIGN FOR LIVING We’re reflecting on some of the best launches from the Italian design world over the past year on page 138, so we thought we’d start with Colosseo, the decorative ceramic introduced by Cattelan Italia at Milan in 2024. Inspired by travertine, we saw it used on everything from tabletops to sideboard doors: in each case it added texture, with a slightly grainy surface that recreates the small cavities of the original stone, and lent piecesastoriedfeel. We’resuper excited to see what Cattelan Italia has up its sleeve this year – more on that in a future issue of Livingetc. Tyron Keramik table with a Colosseo ceramic top and titanium base, price on request, Cattelan Italia…

BEST IN GLASS Lualdi’s newest door range, L7 by Piero Lissoni, is brilliant in its versatility: sleek and elegant, it comes in various configurations, from classic hinged openings to pivot and bifolding options for a hit of drama. Choose also from the line’s classic aluminium frame or opt for lacquered and wood options, and play around with the glazing – with textured or patterned finishes and multiple transparencies to pick from, you can optimise your perfect door. L7, price on request, Lualdi STACK THEM UP If you need something to brighten up that awkward corner of your home, we’ve got just the thing: Helium, the modular lamp by Elisa Ossino for De Padova. Made from geometric-shaped blocks, it can be built up into one-, two- or three-module tall heights, so…

COLOUR CRUSH If you needed more proof that oxblood is big news in 2025, this Milanese apartment, renovated by interior architecture firm Lupettatelier in collaboration with Cecilia Avogadro, is it. The kitchen features a Cesar design with a waterfall island in Rosso Lepanto marble and wall units in the brand’s silk-effect lacquer in a custom dark red – and the combination of the two makes for something dark and dramatic, balanced by the warm white walls, wood floor and floaty sheer curtains. There’s a timelessness about this project that means it will transcend trends: we suspect it will be just as appetising in 10 years’ time. A Cesar kitchen in a project by Lupettatelier…

Saltmoore NORTH YORKSHIRE IN A SENTENCE It sounds like a sprawling manor that could be the site of many a hedonistic party, but Saltmoore is actually a luxury retreat situated between the sea and the dramatic Yorkshire Moors. DESIGN DOWNLOAD The accommodation has plenty of special features: think outdoor tubs, orchard views and, if you choose the Nest Suite, a reading nook. The design draws on that dual moorland and seaside location, weaving ocean-inspired palettes and nature-based hues. ON THE MENU Head chef Adam Maddock, formerly of The Fife Arms in Braemar, brings his penchant for local fare to Saltmoore. There’s a fine dining restaurant, Calluna, with a hyper-seasonal menu, plus The Brasserie (we urge you to try the haddock scotch eggs). HOTEL HIGHLIGHT The Sanctuary features a state-of-the-art spa and…