mirrormirror

Pearly Kings and Queens

One of the main things that really drew my eye to the Lulu Guinness spread was the magnificent Pearly Queen of Dalston  wallhanging above the banquette. I love everything about it – its wit, the fact that it’s made of buttons, its quintessential Englishness, the colours – and it seemed like just that sort of thing an expat Londoner would hang over her Seattle sofa.

I even vaguely thought about commissioning one, but it soon became clear from sculptor Ann Carrington’s website that it would be way out of my league – it’s apparently a fairly important piece, purchased by the Rothschild collection in honour of the Queen’s 80th birthday, and doesn’t belong to Lulu Guinness at all, it merely served as the inspiration for her limited edition ‘Stamp Jayne’ handbag (shown to the left of the banquette picture and seemingly no longer available through her shop).

Here it is in more detail

And here are some other works by the artist, both made using thousands of tiny pearl buttons.

 

I wonder, though, if American readers are getting the cultural reference?

Pearly Kings and Queens are the heads of certain families in London’s East End, descended I think from Victorian costermongers (street sellers?) who decorate their black clothes with thousands of tiny buttons and do tons of work for charity.

  

If you like the look then these cushions here are pretty special.

Go Love Your Room? – Lulu Guinness

I’m a little bit on the fence about this one, as it’s a little too romantically girly for my taste, but there’s still a lot to love in Lulu Guinness’ Notting Hill house.

Love the refreshing colours, but there’s too much spindly furniture – which never looks comfortable and wallow-y

 

My least favourite room in the house.  I love her bags, but I’m not a fan of LG’s bedding (it’s from her homewares range) and the mural commissioned from an art student doesn’t redeem things much. And I do wonder who dusts that collection of powder compacts.

First up the bones of the house are superb – the Victorian houses built in Notting Hill are larger and grander than in other parts of London, so the proportions are generally, as in this case, more splendid.

And there’s something about the quality of the light there, I lived in Notting Hill for twelve years and even on gloomy days it always seemed brighter and lighter than the rest of London – something to do with the white coloured houses and the sunset views to the west.  But maybe it was just because I loved living there so much.

But I digress.

I love the eclecticism of the decor, the bold use of colour, the collections of objects which are clearly much loved and personal and the way the whole thing reflects LG’s own quirky feminine but slightly kitsch style. (Is she well known in the US? I haven’t come across her here.  In the UK she is renowned as a handbag designer, but she also designs homewares.)

 

I ADORE the pearly queen wallhanging and her tchotchkes (one of my favourite American words) are mostly fab though wonder how practical it is to have everything lined up behind the banquette like that.

The other interesting aspect is how the house has evolved since it was last photographed in 2001 (seen here on Hidden in France) – LG has kept many of the same pieces but the style is a little more pared down and the colour palette more restrained, with much more use of white.  It’s so refreshing to see a wealthy person who doesn’t throw everything out and start again every few years, but who keeps their house full of familiar, much-loved  treasures.

 

Kitchen 2009

Kitchen 2001

Just loving all the perspex and the black and white

 

I’ve always loved her trademark perfume bottles

What do you think? {All images, by the way, from Living etc}

Seeing Things – the Surreal Line

What I like about art is that sometimes it teaches you to look at things with a different perspective.

In my life I must have spent thousands upon thousands  of hours commuting backwards and forwards on the Tube in London, but never once did I think to look for these surreal juxtapositions of Tube trains/passengers and the huge ad posters which are posted on the other side of tunnels from the platforms.

Genius stuff. By Yusuf Ozkizil.

 

 

 

And now these pictures have got me all nostalgic for the Tube.  Who knew that I would think of those days of being crammed in like sardines with one’s nose stuck in someone’s smelly armpit with such fondness?

Dead Good

We’ve talked about British furniture company Deadgood before and I’m completely smitten by the cute little ‘Capsule’ sofa and chair they unveiled at 100% Design.

   o

Who are the good independent furniture designers in the US?  I’d love to find stuff like this here, but don’t seem to be able to track it down. (Check out more from 100% Design – oh how I miss it – here)

Update: Just editing to show the comments that have been appearing on my Facebook page….maybe I’m liking this chair a little less now…

Plates with Holes – Andrew Tanner

Not terribly practical if you’re chasing your peas round your plate, but I do like the way these wall plates with holes subvert the whole plate as practical item concept.  And look nice too.

All details of British designer Andrew Tanner’s Silhouette plates are here.

Scribbler on the Wall – Charlotte Mann

Feeling down because you can’t afford the latest must-have chair, your partner is allergic to the cats you love, or the view from your window is less than stellar?

Why not just grab a black marker and paint the things you crave on your white walls instead? That’s what London artist Charlotte Mann does, which has garnered her a spot on the shortlist for the British Design Awards 2009 in the Surface Design of the Year category.

Image of journalist India Knight’s house from October’s Elle Deco

All other images from www.charlottemann.co.uk

Jubilee

Isn’t this rather gorge? It doesn’t quite fit into our house decor, and it costs an absolute fortune, but je l’adore, oh yes I do.

To me it sort of sums up Britain in a way - different and edgy, fun and funky, a mish-mash of styles, slightly uncomfortable-looking and with a heart of pure unadulterated old-fashioned chintz.

 

 

Available at the Rug Company, { via Countryside Wedding}

Alexander McQueen’s (Ex) East London Home

As you know around here we’re rather partial to a peek at fashion designers’ houses (we’re looking at you Matthew Williamson, Betsey Johnson and Vanessa Bruno), so here for your delectation and delight are pictures of Alexander McQueen’s East London townhouse. {From the Real Estalker via the HolyMoly mailout – yes I do read it}

I don’t think it’s fair to make this a ‘Go Fug Your Room’ candidate as these photos are only estate agent’s photos and don’t fully reflect McQueen’s personal style, but it’s still interesting to snoop.

Personally I’m finding this rather boring.  As you may have guessed I’m not hugely into minimalism at the best of times, but this strikes me as rather boring minimalism. My main gripe is with all the square and boxy built-ins – I prefer a few elegant curves in my rooms.  And that house looks as if it dates from the 1850s? so it probably had quite a few nice original features – ceiling mouldings, fireplaces etc -  which have all been summarily destroyed.

I also have to say that this house could benefit hugely from a bit of American-style home staging – some pictures, maybe a rug and a funky chair here and there would make all the difference.

I am loving the roof deck (though for me the glass skylight directly above the bed is not exactly a selling point), the pond thingy (pool?) and what we can see of the outside spaces though. Here the minimalist lines are softened by the plants, though a few flowers wouldn’t go amiss.

Anyway, if this house is for you it will only set you back 1.7 million pounds (I’ve just got a new computer and now have no idea how to find a pound sign) or around $2.8 million.  Please bear in mind though, that this house is in Hackney, one of the, shall we say, edgiest areas of inner London.

Light Up My Life

Jona Hoad is a UK-based lighting designer, who specialises in wallpaper-like lighting panels and lighting installations for hotel bars, restaurants and your house if you've got enough money.

Here are some pictures from the DeVigne Bar in Marylebone and the Vanilla Bar in Soho. Sometimes I do like a bit of spangly overthetopness.

  

 

I also liked these pictures from his website, which reveal that things are not always as they seem in the world of interiors photoshoots.

 

Go Love Your Room - Victorian House in London

I was awash with nostalgia after seeing these pictures on Crooked Shmooked of the quintessential London Victorian house. Most of our friends with kids in London live in houses like this and if we had stayed in London I'm sure it's the sort of family house we would have ended up buying.  (This particular house is not far from where we lived in Notting Hill in London and in an area we were definitely considering moving to).

Vast swathes of houses like these were put up in the 19th century all over London, and while this is certainly not on the cutting edge decor-wise it's a very well done example of the genre, is quintessentially London and the sort of decor I love. If you want to use it for a photoshoot all details are here.

Come in! The encaustic tiiles inside and out are very Victorian and very typical, but the colour of the front door is fresh and modern and the beautiful stained glass is again a very Victorian idea, though I'm not sure if the glass in this particular door has been restored and modernised.

I've sat in so many rooms like this, with beautifully ornate fireplaces, a large bay window and an ugly telly tucked in the corner, because no one knows quite where to put it. Not sure about the sofa though.

  

Got to love the that Paul Smith 'Love' needlepoint from the Rug Company.  It's the companion piece to the one hanging in Carrie Bradshaw's redecorated apartment and something I'd love to have here in Seattle, if only George Bush and Gordon Brown hadn't stolen all our money.

I wish twinkly interior light strings were more prevalent in the US.  We had them all over the flat in London and you can generally find good examples at Habitat and Graham & Green.  Unfortunately the voltage is all wrong for the States (which we forgot about when we shipped some twinkly lights back for the Minx's room last year).

Pretty much everyone in London has extended into the loft to get a bit more space.

Happy Clouds

 

 

Oh please, London readers, tell me you saw these. What were they like? How did they make you feel? Did you kidnap one and take it home with you? (Despite the grey skies and general doom and gloom coming out of the UK, they made me very nostalgic for London today).

London artist Stuart Semple wanted to cheer people up, so he released 2057 pink smiley faced clouds made of helium, biodegradable soap and vegetable dye into the sky. After 30 minutes they dissolved in the air. More deets here.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day - Set Decor

Last Saturday evening, I lit the scented candles, cracked open a bottle of Baileys, got out my knitting and settled down to watch Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day.  We like to live fast and die young round these parts.

The film itself is slighter than slight, though perfect Saturday night fodder, and utterly redeemed by Frances McDormand's perfectly judged comic performance, the incredible Art Deco costumes and interiors and lots of lovely shots of Art Deco London.

It's not really my taste, but there's something about the sophisticated colour palette; the handpainted wallpaper; the sheen and glamour; the fur and the padding; the satin and chandeliers which makes you want to spend all day lying in bed eating oysters, drinking champagne and receiving gentlemen callers.

Here's the trailer so you can see the sets in action.

 

Life is for Sharing

When I first started working in the City I used to commute into Liverpool Street Station every day.  I miss London SO much. Best TV advert EVAH.

Go Fug Your Room? Matthew Williamson's London House

I've put a question mark here as I actually rather like the very funky, very London, house belonging to British fashion designer Matthew Williamson, which has been featured in both September's Domino and now in January's Elle Deco UK.  However I can understand if it's not exactly other people's cup of tea and would love to know what you think.

Personally I love the way he mixes old and new, ethnic sensibilities, colours and patterns and the whole seems very much a reflection of his personality.

I'm not saying I would choose to live here - I'm not convinced I could cope with mirrored armchairs, spinal cord wallpaper, that bright a colour scheme and all the Indian stuff doesn't do much for me - but in the end this is a very personal space, doesn't feel 'try hard' unlike the Miles Redd space below and contains quite a lot of stuff I absolutely adore. It's probably closest in feel to the Betsey Johson apartment we critiqued pulled apart earlier this year, though it seems much less cluttered and the colour scheme isn't so execrable.

First up the two covers of the magazines provide an interesting Britain v America moment as both publications use exactly the same corner of the dining area on their covers. 

Elle Deco's styling of the room is much less cluttered - no cushion on the chair, nothing on the tulip table, no globe in the corner and less junk on the console under the mirror. The chandelier also seems to have 'disappeared'. I like the pretty boxes they've added on the console and the Fornasetti plate over the mirror is inspired.    Interestingly though, Elle Deco has put Williamson on the cover, which they hardly ever do, whereas Domino, which is usually no stranger to cheesey celeb shots for once doesn't have a person at all.  Note that Elle Deco has made the room seem far less 'white' by punching up the colour, having the coloured wall reflect in the mirror, cropping away from the white window and er, 'painting' the ceiling. Which cover do you prefer?

{Images from Elle Deco} 

Funnily enough the globe and the table dolly return when Elle Deco shows some interior shots, suggesting that Domino stuck with the original styling. I quite like that Designer's Guild wallpaper and am a sucker for white vinyl floors. And I love the mix of the Eames chairs, the tulip table and that fabulous peacock chair. The mirror is a bit baroque for my taste, but has a nostalgia factor for me as it was apparently bought on the Golborne Road, just round the corner from where I used to live in Notting Hill.

  

I love what he's done with this sofa. That is all. Curtain treatment is strangely boring though.

{Above images from Domino}

Mirrored armchair does NOT look cosy.  Still loving the white vinyl floor.  Love the windows and orange paint, not sure about the mirror mosaic fireplace, don't like the mirror, though I see what he's trying to do. Those books sure move around a lot.

Light installation in the stairwell.  Best thing in the house.  As Rachel Zoe would say, I die.

Fuchsia pink kitchen bar area.  Personally wouldn't have done it quite such a girly colour. But still rather fabulous.

Ha ha!  You can tell we're in London from the pokey bathroom. Thought Venetian mirrors with modern had been done to death by now, but like the collage on the wall. I used to do things like that in my teens.  Haven't we see these vases before?

Lovely floral wallpaper in bedroom.  Except it's not a floral.  Wallpaper design is made up of spinal cords and ribs.  I love the effect, but am far too squeamish to have this in a bedroom.

Muji

Oh, Muji, Muji, Muji how I love and miss you! 

Oh Muji, Muji, Muji how I hate that when I try shopping at your online store you say it will cost me £19.99 (approx $30) to have your nicely made, affordable stuff shipped to the US.  When on earth are you going to open a US online store? Thank goodness I have accommodating in-laws.

Here are some of my favourite Muji things.

 

 

All available here if you're in Europe or you're prepared to pay the shipping. Lottie writes a beautiful eulogy to Muji here. Here's a description with photos of Muji's new flagship store in Tokyo.

Barack the Vote

This was the genuine front page of the UK's Daily Mirror after the last debacle.  Guys, you know what you have to do.  Please don't let the world down again.

La Tour Trellick

We're going to be back in the UK for Christmas.  The day itself will be spent with friends in Bath, we'll be visiting family and friends in and around London and then hopefully back to Notting Hill for a few days (though sadly not to the flat - we still have it, but it's rented out at the moment).

You know how there are places in the world that just suit your personality? Well Notting Hill is one of my places.  We lived there for twelve years before coming to Seattle and I still miss it horribly.

If the Eiffel Tower is the enduring symbol of Paris, then the Trellick Tower, which looms over the north end of the Portobello Road market is the enduring symbol of Notting Hill.

It's not a pretty building.  Built at the tail-end of the sixties, this Brutalist tower block by Erno Goldfinger (such a great name) soon became a byword for the sort of social problems that plagued tower blocks (and Notting Hill) at the time. But as the tower has cleaned up its act and Notting Hill has become gentrified, it has become a London icon and flats in the tower now command a huge premium, with top-floor flats, which have some of the best views in London, being almost impossible to come by. (I found this photo of the tower in my files - I've never been able to take very good pictures of it though).

It's also become a sort of ironic design icon.  Here it is on ceramics and teatowels from People Will Always Need Plates.  I'm going to put a couple of plates on my Christmas list. 

 

Go Fug Your Room - Kelly Hoppen

With apologies to the Fug girls.

I have been discussing with Elaine from my new BFF blog Decorno the importance of having opinions, of which she has many very forthright ones.

As a cynical Brit I do find the 'hearts and puppies' stuff you find on some other blogs a bit difficult to cope with, so I've been thinking for some time of doing a 'rooms I hate' series on here.  Though I was gutted to find that Elaine already does this (and much better), if you want more snark.

But I digress. Today's room is from the doyenne of British interior design Kelly Hoppen.  Ms Hoppen has built an empire on designing rooms for people with so little personality that even colour is considered to be freakishly avant garde.  She has even produced a range of beige paint. Her rooms shriek 'good taste' so loudly that they end up having not much taste at all.

 

This example from Homes and Gardens is apparently part of a new London house built for an American client.

I have to say that I do like how she plays with different textures within the neutral palette, and her signature black wenge floors and the subtle pleated pelmets at the top of the curtains which work in a room this big and imposing.

But everything, from the immense table, to the huge black armoire and the heavily bevelled mirror is just so stolid; and a room without colour would drive me me mad in about thirty seconds (just one little hot pink flower arrangement somewhere PLEASE); and I hate that this is a brand new house but filled with repro details; and the way the knick knacks have clearly been bought in by the yard and there's not a single thing in here that is treasured or has history. And most of all I hate that the chairs are wearing dresses.

Didn't chair dresses go out in the 80s?  Weren't they just things in 'Ideas for Soft Furnishings' books that no one ever made?  Or if you did make them it was to disguise the fact that your chairs were all mismatched and rickety and came from a junk shop?  Which I hardly think is the problem here, since the table apparently costs upwards of £50,000. And the wonky seam on that chair with its back to us is driving me nuts.

What do you all think?  Get dissing discussing in the comments.

United Colors of Notting Hill

Click to enlarge. The picture at top left is Sienna Miller's new boutique.

Happy Birthday to Me

I got a piece of Brie.

It was my birthday on our last day in London and my husband's gift was a very smelly piece of unpasteurised Brie.  Never let it be said that that man is not a romantic. God it was good though.

We of course had a phenomenally lovely time. The sun shone (even on my birthday, which absolutely NEVER happens); we met friends and family seemingly at every hour of the day and night; the Minx was beside herself with excitement and kept exclaiming ' I LOVE England'; we went to a very glamorous and lovely party; and mirrormirror was successfully transferred to its new base in Cambridge. 

And the Minx only woke up twice last night and managed to sleep through to 6 am which is a new jetlag record. So life is charmed indeed. 

And a time for making new friends

Father Christmas made a special visit on Christmas Day, courtesy of our friend's father.

So we're off back to Seattle tomorrow. 

We have had a magical Christmas.  There's nothing like being in the country for only a limited amount of time to make all your friends eager to meet up, so we've been having the most incredibly social time and meeting up with different people morning and evening, for lunch and dinner. I'm twice the size I was when I arrived, utterly exhausted and my liver is screaming for mercy.

The Minx has had the most fabulous time.  It's amazing to see how much she remembers - she has been thrilled to see all her little friends and her favourite animals, playgrounds and parks.  Every day has brought a new treat, and it's been gorgeous to see her literally dancing and clapping her hands with excitement. 

Which is all making me feel like the world's worst mother taking her back to Seattle. We haven't made that many friends there yet - certainly none to rival the group of babies that the Minx has known since very soon after she was born - and life is rather more sedate and much more mummy-centric than it is here.

I think we're going to have to come back very soon.

I'm absolutely dreading tomorrow's ten hour flight and the subsequent jetlag - though for me the journey will finally mark the end of the old year and the beginning of a new one. 

We've had a pretty tough time for a variety of reasons over the past few years, but 2007 is currently seeming pregnant with potential.  I can't wait to see what the next few months bring.

Christmas is...

... good food and wine

Notting Hill

One of the reasons I'm feeling so homesick is that our last week in Notting Hill was such as lovely one.

The weather was spectacularly good - amazingly warm for the beginning of November, with cloudless crisp blue skies.  It seemed impossible that it could ever rain in London.

After we moved out of our flat, we stayed at Guesthouse West  on Westbourne Grove, the hotel where we'd held our leaving party a couple of weeks previously (which I just didn't have time to blog about).

It's a lovely little hotel, though it must be admitted that our room was rather cramped, what with a baby and a cot and the fact that we were maxing out our inflight baggage allowance and had a ludicrous number of suitcases. 

But the staff were friendliness personified - as they had been at our party - the public rooms inordinately comfortable, and the location to die for.

So I spent the last few days lunching at 202, lounging with friends in the hotel bar, popping out to Tavola and playing with the make-up in Space NK. 

Some girlfriends and I dined in the labyrinthine gothic cosiness of Julie's - a Notting Hill institution if ever there was one - renowned for its incredibly sexy ambience (it's the nooks and crannies that do it) and dreadful food, though even that rose to the occasion by being really quite edible. 

I also finally found the time to use the gift voucher for the uber-hip Cowshed in Clarendon Cross which I'd been given for Mother's Day and treated myself to a 'Cowgroom' - two therapists working together to give a facial and a manicure, with all sorts of extra head, shoulder and feet massages thrown in.  I think it was utterly blissful, but can't be quite sure as I fell asleep half way through.  My skin and nails sure looked fabulous afterwards though.

All in all, and for a brief few days, I got to experience what Notting Hill must be like if you've got unlimited money and unlimited free time, or indeed if you're the woman in the therapy cubicle next to mine, who could be heard declaiming loudly, 'yes, darling, I've got a premiere tonight and I can't possibly go with hairy armpits'.

Yes, I was DYING to see who it was, but at the time was half-naked and pinned down by two beauticians, so couldn't go and peek through the curtains.

Moving On

I am writing this surrounded by packed up boxes, trying to steel myself for yet another evening of sorting and packing.

Tonight is our last night in the flat.  In every direction all I can see are boxes and memories.

 

This is the flat I bought eleven years ago as a single girl, though my boyfriend at the time I was buying it soon became my fiance and then my husband.

This is the flat where I spent the night before my wedding and to which I came back as a new bride.

This is the flat which has seen me return late and leave early for four different jobs and it was at this desk overlooking the street that I decided to start mirrormirror.

This is the flat which has been stuffed full of cushions, candles and packing boxes for the best part of the last two years.

This is the flat where I suffered through four miscarriages and where I discovered I was pregnant with the Minx.

This is the flat where I had a terrible bleeding episode while pregnant and was convinced I was miscarrying, only to find that the baby was still safe and sound.

This is the flat which we brought our baby home to after a worrying week in the Special Baby Unit, where we tiptoed around introducing her to every room.

This is the flat where I sat breastfeeding for hours at a time feeling depressed and miserable.

This is the flat where my baby learned to walk and learned to talk.

This is the flat where we decided to go to Seattle. 

This is the flat where I've spent the happiest years of my life so far.

The photos are not very good, being quickly taken one evening to send to a journalist.  You must also remember that normally the flat is covered with a thick layer of bright plastic toys.

Origin-ality (silver and ceramics)

Better late than never, I thought I'd post up my thoughts on Origin, the fabulous new London craft fair, which has been taking place over the last two weeks in a superb new venue in the courtyard at Somerset House.

The purpose-built pavilion was wonderful - spacious and full of natural light - and the show itself was the perfect size -  loads to see, but ending before that point when your eyes glaze over and you never want to see another hand-knitted teapot ever again.  And we were lucky enough to go on two occasions when it was warm enough to have lunch afterwards outside on the terrace overlooking th Thames, such a fab thing to be doing in October in London.

Anyway, highlights for me included Sian Matthews' amazing bendy pewter doilies (which looked great bent round a coffee table)

 

and etched silver bowls on matching acrylic mats.

and Lynn Miller's funky silver and acrylic salad servers and ice cream paddles (which would make a great Christening gift - fancy being 'born with a silver ice cream paddle in one's mouth').  I'm clearly going through a silver and acrylic moment.

In ceramics I loved the handpainted vases and platters from Alexandra Mitchell and Annette Bugansky's wonderful 'knitted' vases (also some fabulous 'knitted' ceramic buttons).  I'm going to be exploring whether we can get some of their products onto mirrormirror.

I also treated myself to a 'ceramic butter dish that looks like Tupperware' from the lovely Johanna at YoYo Ceramics and am also investigating getting her apples and Pears kitchen tidies into the shop.

The absolute ceramics highlights for me though were finally meeting up with one of our favourite suppliers and blogging superstar Karin Eriksson and seeing the work of the amazing Kate McBride, who makes incredible rococo-style porcelain, which at first glance looks like it should be in Buckingham Palace, but which reveals all sort of witty modern references when you examine it more closely.

I'm not entirely sure her work would fit into my house (just imagine the dusting!), and it really is too kitsch for school, but the absolute highlight of the whole two weeks for me was the sublime madness of her enormous and literally awe-inspiring rococo porcelain lovers' chess set, complete with large porcelain figurines representing the chess pieces and a standalone porcelain double bed and wedding chapel that the pieces could retire to half way through the game (don't ask) .  Apparently Selfridges have commissioned a couple (which will retail for £750) and I would have got one in for mirrormirror, but it's not exactly mail-order friendly.  Unfortunately Kate doesn't yet have a picture of it available on her website.

 

I've just realised that I've got loads more people to mention so I think there's scope for another post tomorrow

Legacy of 9/11

Off to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square today to finalize our visa application.

Grosvenor Square in the heart of Mayfair is one of London's largest and most beautiful squares. But now the area round the embassy is surrounded by a cordon of heavy concrete blocks, the embassy itself is surrounded by temporary and ugly metal fencing, and heavily armed police are patrolling in all directions. British police aren't usually armed, so it still comes as a shock to see policemen brandishing the latest in automatic weaponry. 

Armed with dozens of forms in triplicate, and photographs that made us look like the Baader-Meinhof gang (the Minx looks particularly evil), we presented ourselves at the end of the first queue outside the building. And were then led to another queue.  And then another queue. Only then were we allowed into the building via airport-like security, checking in laptops and mobile phones along the way.  No liquids or cosmetics are allowed.  

Once inside, the process was actually more efficient than we'd feared - a couple of hours waiting in a cavernous waiting room, fingerprints taken and re-taken, forms and photographs double and triple checked, followed by a rather cursory interview (am I being cynical in thinking that our skin colour might have had something to do with this?)

As we left the building we were directed for the first time past the imposing front staircase, and marvelled that once upon an innocent time, passers-by must have been able to walk up and down these stairs as they pleased.  Now no passer-by can get within 30 yards of the building, brooding behind its concrete and steel cordon. 

Isn't it sad to think that - according to this very interesting article -  the building was initially conceived as an embassy and cultural centre - with people popping into the library to learn more about American culture, attend a jazz concert or visit an art exhibition?

Shopping Notting Hill - Part 2

So you've just been dragged kicking and screaming out of Diptyque and need some sort of addictive substance to calm your nerves. Your best bet is to turn the corner into Ledbury Road and pop into melt  - London's coolest chocolatier according to Time Out. 

The shop itself is white and cool, with shelves and tables groaning with handmade chocolates.  At the back is a shiny stainless steel kitchen where the chocolates are actually made.

The flavours can be exotic - truffles filled with passionfruit, raspberry or mango coulis or flavoured with green tea or coconut - or traditional with caramel, mint, nuts or marzipan.  By way of research I found myself buying an assortment for the Husband's birthday and can confirm that they are some of the most delicious chocolates I've ever tasted (and believe me that's saying something).

 

 

After you've staggered out of melt, the next thing to do is cross the road to Ottolenghi, yet another newish deli - which specialises in the most delicious pre-prepared food, breads and cakes to take away.  There are also a couple of tables at the back where you can eat in, but they are almost impossible to get hold of. 

 

 

A bit of retail therapy will soothe your disappointment at not getting a table, so pop round the corner to Brissi on the north side of Westbourne Grove - for very  chic and very French interiors accessories.  It's the sort of shop I'd love mirrormirror to be when it grows up and I'm a bit dismayed to see that it's going online too.  Don't make a note of the URL!

After pausing briefly to gaze at the gorgeous window display

in jewellers Dinny Hall,  the perfect choice for lunch is 202, designer Nicole Fahri's concept store which houses a chic cafe, and still has plenty of room to show off her elegant clothing and homewares collections.  It's also a great place for brunch, or just tea and cake, and has a very pretty little garden at the back which is a gorgeous place for a glass of rose on drowsy summer days.  Yet another inspirational shop for when mirrormirror grows up.

Shopping Notting Hill - Part 1

I thought we’d start our little trip round Notting Hill on the south side of Westbourne Grove, the beautiful street which winds through the heart of the area. It used to be full of antique shops and galleries, but now, while some of these remain, it has been overtaken by some very chi-chi shops indeed, including big designer brands such as Joseph, Mulberry, and Ted Baker.

However there are still some absolute gems to be found.

The first place to show you is Tavola - the Italian deli which is top chef Alastair Little’s (scroll down for biog) latest venture. Alastair runs a cookery school in Italy and clearly spends a lot of time out there sourcing wonderful products, though he can also often be seen in the deli preparing fabulous pre-cooked food to take away. It’s the deli I visit least as it’s furthest from my apartment, but, being half-Italian, the one I think I love most. The staff scrub up quite nicely too....

Just along from Tavola is the Tea Palace, another newish venture - a large and beautiful room dedicated to the great British tradition of afternoon tea (though you can get a light lunch there as well).

It feels like such a treat to go there - your cakes arrive on silver stands, the table linen is thick and luxurious and I love the wallpaper covered with cake doilies. The homemade crumpets with butter and honey are stratospherically good. The range of teas on the menu is quite breathtaking and are all for sale in elegant purple tea caddies, as well as a lot of other teamaking paraphernalia. The only downside is that they don’t take reservations, so sometimes it’s really difficult to get a table.

 

The final stop on our trip today is the Diptyque shop, which requires no introduction except to say that it’s scented candle heaven and they always have lovely window displays.

Sp-egg-tacular?

I thought that regular readers might like an update on the temporary summer pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery - which this year basically comprises a round polycarbonate structure with a white balloon forming the roof.

To be honest I was a little disappointed when I saw the finished article. The initial artist's impression had suggested an ethereal transparent balloon which would, I think have been a lot more amazing than the opaque white which has been used in the final building.

From some perspectives it just looks rather ordinary - as ordinary as a white balloon in the middle of a London park can look. Occasionally though, as you catch glimpses of it through the trees, it looks like the aliens have landed, and from close up it does have a real sense of silent majesty and grandeur.

The Minx and I were most impressed by the 'furniture' inside. The pavilion functions as a cafe' by day and the 'tables' and 'chairs' are just very dense foam blocks - perfect for the Minx to climb all over and looking rather like an abstract art installation.

Commenter of the Week - Atelier 455

Go and say hello to the lovely Joanna at Atelier 455. Her blog is a treasure trove of design ideas with a vintage twist and she also sells her framed vintage ephemera through her Etsy shop. The rest of the time she is a freelance web consultant, who can be contacted here.

Example of Joanna's work from her Etsy shop

I've been particularly enjoying a series of blog posts she has written recently about Marylebone High Street and its truly wonderful shops. Last year I took myself down there to do my Christmas shopping and managed to do everything in a single afternoon which was gobsmackingly amazing. And it wasn't too crowded either. If ever we launch an offline version of mirrormirror then Marylebone High Street would be the perfect place for the flagship store.

Before I go to Seattle I think I'll depress myself entirely by doing a similar series on Notting Hill shops - watch this space.

Carnival

This year we foreswore the banging sound systems and took the Minx to see the Carnival parade. And yes, I do need to set up a Flickr account.

Fruitstock

Or the Minx attends her first music festival.

Saturday saw a glorious summer's day in London, so we hooked up with a bunch of friends and headed for Fruitstock in Regent's Park.

Fruitstock is a free festival organised every year by the genius people who make Innocent smoothies. It was incredibly well-organised and friendly, and particularly welcoming of children, with lots of activies including a play area for toddlers and buggy park. So nice to do something which wasn't specifically kiddie-oriented but where children were positively encouraged rather than tolerated.

So we drank Pimms, and danced and listened to Norman Jay and Arrested Development and the Minx got grubbier than one would have thought possible and stayed up well past her bedtime as the sun set over Regent's Park.

If you want to read an inspiring business story, read this about how Innocent started up. Their marketing is incredible - everything from their logo, their packaging, and their vans (dressed up as cows) to their website copy and their TV advertising is different, compelling and fits perfectly with their healthy, funky, trendy hippyish brand.

I have no idea how much it cost them to invite the whole of London to a free party, but from what I saw yesterday an awful lot of brand goodwill was being generated.

E&O (OR reasons I will be devastated to leave Notting Hill - part II)

Was childishly excited yesterday. Not only had I secured an evening pass to go out for dinner with a girlfriend, but I'd managed to get a last-minute 8.30 pm cancellation at E&O.

Now, ever since it opened in 2002, E&O has been phenomenally busy and getting a table there at a time when a sensible person might be feeling hungry is well-nigh impossible, even if you only live three minutes round the corner as I do.

E&O is a 'see and be seen' sort of trendy West London media place - the sort of place you have to pretend to be slightly disdainful of whereas in reality you really want to join in.

And yes, it is full to bursting with beautiful people (particularly beautiful men dining in pairs), the decor (though not really my taste) is coolly minimalist, featuring lots of black wooden slats, and the cocktails are New York excellent. However I suspect the real reason why it has been so consistently popular is that the pan-Asian food is beautifully presented, reasonably priced for the area, healthy enough for the thinnest supermodel to tuck into and uniformly delicious.

My friend and I shared the edamame, steamed prawn and chive dumplings and the famous chili-salt squid from the dim sum menu - all superb - followed by the mixed vegetable tempura, duck and watermelon salad and peppered tuna sashimi. Everything was perfectly cooked and the flavours crisp and clean and perfectly combined. We finished our meal with a selection of sorbets - mixed berry, melon and coconut.

I hadn't seen my friend for over a year, so we had a good old gossip and left feeling relaxed and beautiful - and you can't say fairer than that about a restaurant.

Commenter of the Week - Lottie

Photo by Lottie

This week's top banana is Lottie - she of the fabulously cool ancestor and the beautifully-written blog about life in London.

From what I can gather she lives close to proper, grown-up London, historic London - the London of monuments and landmarks, palaces and skyscrapers, bridges and tunnels - and the Thames, the real Thames of docks and embankments, not the Thames of mudflats and rowers as it is near here. This is the London I used to work in until I started working from home, had a baby and my landscape shrank.

Our Lottie is, moreover, an ace photographer. I love the way she plays with light and captures her river in all its different moods and incarnations. Her amazing Flickr album is already making me nostalgic and I haven't even moved yet.

Check it out now because, come October, it will be damp with my tears and the pages will be stuck together.

Photos by Lottie

Reasons I will be devastated to leave Notting Hill - part I

Yesterday the Minx and I were making our way along Portobello Road on our way to feed the ducks in the park, when we came across a car with a band playing on the roof.

Soon a crowd started to gather.

And one of the shopkeepers brought out a tambourine.

The stuff they were playing had a really cool summery vibe which somehow reminded me a bit of the Avalanches, so we bought a CD (which is really rather good), and then moved on since we had urgent business with ducks. So we didn't see whether it all turned into the Kids from Fame or not.

Thanks to Summer Holiday for making us smile and thanks to Notting Hill for its essential nuttiness.

Spring

KEW GARDENS - April 2006

Saturday ushered in the most glorious Spring day here in London, so we abandoned all plans and set off for Kew Gardens in search of bluebells. Which, because Spring was so late this year, were nowhere to be seen.

So we had to make do with magnolias instead.

Egg-centric

Please forgive the blurry image - it's an artist's impression scanned in from last night's Evening Standard - but was enough to make me very excited. This is the new temporary pavilion which is being built this summer at the Serpentine Gallery. By Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, it is made from translucent material and can be lit from within at night. The walled enclosure below the canopy will be used as a café and events forum.

Every year for the past seven years, the Serpentine Gallery - a gorgeous little avant-garde art gallery in Kensington Gardens - invites a different world-famous architect to build a summer 'pavilion' on its outside lawn. The structures are only open between July and October each year, so the architects are encouraged to go a little bit crazy.

My favourite in recent years was the Oscar Niemeyer pavilion in 2003 which echoed the profile of the Victorian building behind (though I wouldn't have painted the ramp red) and I didn't much like last year's brutalist tortoise-shaped effort. It sounds like this year's giant light installation will reach new heights of superb nuttiness though.

NIEMEYER PAVILION

BRUTALIST TORTOISE

The street where I live

I am lucky enough to live just around the corner from Portobello Road - home of the world-famous Portobello Market and the heart of Notting Hill.

A good friend of mine edits a number of lifestyle magazines in the West of England and asked me to take some photos of the area for an article she is writing on weekend breaks to London. It was a glorious early-spring day and the colours were just zinging. I think I was having a Mario Testino day-glo moment...

VICTORIAN PUB

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SHOPS

YUM YUM STEEL DRUMMER TOILET DOOR

ANTIQUE SHOPS

WINTER TREES FLOWER STALL THE WEDNESDAY MARKET DOESN'T SELL ANTIQUES

GRAFFITI ON THE RECORDING STUDIO ACROSS THE ROAD

Bleak

Kensington Gardens looking bleak (who said winter is over?) on our weekend-ly 'giggie' hunt.

Cultural afternoon

Six mummies, six babies and six buggies (and NO lift, thanks V&A) finally made it to Fashion-ology - the V&A exhibit on Anna Piaggi, the legendary writer for Vogue Italia and designers' friend and muse.

The exhibition was interesting but ultimately slightly disappointing - too many display cabinets showing back copies of Vogue and not enough of her fabulously eccentric clothes. I must confess that I also didn't really know enough about her to understand exactly what I was seeing at the time - now that I've had a chance to read the excellent mini-catalogue, I'd like to go back and see the exhibit again.

To me there was also an element of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' about it all. It can't be denied that her clothes, while undeniably striking, eccentric and most beautifully made, are often completely ridiculous. Still it must be nice to be able to just phone up one of your designer friends, tell them that you want to look like a magazine or such like and have them run up a little number for you.

We also applauded the fact that Anna checks out the location of a soiree or reception ahead of time, to ensure that her costume is appropriate.

I actually much preferred the second fashion exhibit currently on at the V&A - Popaganda: The Fashion and Style of Jean Charles de Castelbajac . This was much more about the clothes, cabinets full of crazy, experimental, humorous Pop Art clothes, which, with the benefit of hindsight, one could tell had been both hugely influential on recent fashion trends and occasionally looked surprisingly wearable.

I loved the iconic fur coat made of teddy bears, the 'Tribute to Jimi Hendrix' mini dress with afro hair tutu and the parachute ballgown, though I must confess to having a soft spot for de Castelbajac ever since someone gave me his perfume when I lived in France twenty years ago, which I wore all the time until I ran out and couldn't find it in England.

Interestingly the Minx was also completely captivated - though I think mostly by the accompanying pounding music and the great lighting. She did however stare long and hard at this outfit before looking away rather bewildered. Surrealism is clearly wasted on the young.

We repaired afterwards to Patisserie Valerie on the Brompton Road, which was VERY child-friendly, with handsome waiters for the Minx to flirt with and the best 'pain au raisin' this side of of the Channel and agreed that our cultural afternoon had been a roaring success.

It may be winter outside

Today we went for a walk en famille in Kensington Gardens. It has become a regular weekend habit as one can always guarantee a veritable cornucopia of 'giggies' (doggies) to send the Minx into paroxysms of delight.

It was bitterly cold with a biting wind, but the sun was glorious, the sky was a clear, crisp blue and the Serpentine was (honestly) the same colour as the Aegean. To cap it all we met a very nice dog called Myrtle, who let the Minx stroke her ears, and bumped into our lovely Australian friends and their baby, of whom the Minx is inordinately fond and whom she likes to cuddle rather viciously.

After coffee at Island (this was not, in truth, a very strenuous walk), we took the Minx for her first ever go on the swings (a big hit), watched an immense ochre sun set behind Kensington Palace, and admired the profusion of snowdrops and crocuses in every hidden corner of the park. Finally, spring really has nearly sprung.