We wanted to be ambitious with the kitchen, so although it took us two and a half years to renovate, I started sourcing reclaimed and salvaged elements as soon as we moved in. Living in our flat and gradually collecting kitchen pieces—some of which have been stored in...
Pull up a seat, because your favourite bistro might just hold the bon ideas you need if you are designing a kitchen or looking to refresh the room. Bistros may have emerged in Paris, but to this day they carry signatures that are shared in eateries across...
I have yet to attempt to encapsulate the London vintage shopping scene for the same reason I have not written a Paris guide (until now): the choice is intimidating. It is impossible to enjoyably squeeze even these twelve recs into the length of a usual city break, so...
I found myself staying on Courage Yard this week as we moved out of our flat to renovate the kitchen. Naturally, I’ve been thinking about my first reclaimed renovation when I transformed the kitchen into a walk-in wardrobe, and strangely, remodelling the kitchen has...
Offers on things that won't last or make our lives better are about to be everywhere as Black Friday promotions roll in. Don't get me wrong, it can be a good time of year to make big purchases like electrical appliances, tech or beauty staples at a "steal", but Black...
From the walls to the worktop and the floor, your kitchen renovation may offer the perfect playground to use reclaimed materials. It is an ideal space to be ambitious as most of us spend a lot of time in our kitchens, and reclaimed elements have already passed the...
Once nicknamed Little Paris, Koukaki is the neighbourhood I was lucky to call home for my recent visit to Athens. Little did I know that its ode to Paris for me would uncover 70s Saint Laurent and 80s Celine. Once an industrial district named after the founder of an...
We are at a precipice moment for the planet, living through precarious times, so what is it like running a small business right now, let alone a sustainable fashion brand? I first met Sophie Dunster over five years ago. I interviewed her just three months into...
For the first time in a decade, the ENO are opening their archives for a special sale. This unique event arises from a need to make space for new, exciting productions on the horizon. More than a simple sale, this is a unique opportunity for enthusiasts and collectors...
‘Our lives don’t need more things, things need to be given more lives’ read a corkboard beckoning me into the exhibition by Burniture, a new collective working with furniture that is skipped, unwanted, broken, about to be burnt… I am no stranger to street-found...
Spring heralds new stories, and a group of antiques dealers that were born, branched out or set up shop in the last couple of years are set to share theirs at the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair in March. What may have seemed like a moment for antiques attracting...
Julia Roberts’ wardrobe in Pretty Woman is often referenced when 90s fashions are trending, but the interiors struck me most the last time I watched it. Although a set, the penthouse suite created for the film was in keeping with the Beaux Arts style of the Beverly...
It’s complicated - I do not have the answers, but my hope in writing my column as we close secondhand September is at least to explore some solutions and lay out some of the current debates about sustainability, particularly in fashion. Responsibility It can be...
So far, I have salvaged an Arts and Crafts hall stand and the below late sixties lithograph poster from a Chagall exhibition at the Maeght Foundation in St Paul. I knew the Edwardian hall stand had value, but it was not until I researched the poster that I found it...
Tune in. Yes, this column is mainly about how we installed a 200kg slab of English alabaster rescued from a convent in Sussex in our 2-bed flat. However, it is also about the rise of listening rooms. So what is a listening room? For me, it is a space to enjoy...
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” a friend messaged me in response to my “weekend working on the floor with my husband.” Despite distractions, including mould and moths, our renovation is moving along. We now have reclaimed terracotta roof tiles for...
Ewe Kente textiles from the Volta region in Ghana © Tribal Arts & Textiles Art and design have the enviable ability to break down barriers that traditionally divide cultures. The universality of interiors that involve and speak to people around the world is surely...
My new flat is the equivalent of workout leggings. It’s comfortable and a little styling goes a long way, but I am anxious that renovating at a slow pace will be the home equivalent of a hard transition out of trousers with an elasticated waist. My current sense...
Week three wfh and I am ready to be wild from home. The highlight of my weekend was singing Nirvana's Teen Spirit whilst dancing around the lounge with my husband. "You call that wild? You need to get out more" I hear you say. Yes, I do. And one day I will. We all...
Fireplace from Wharton Antiques on SalvoWEB / Vivienne Westwood sunglasses on 1stdibs
Ardingly Antiques & Collectors Fair showed its mettle (albeit disguised as petals )this week, as a major fair that continues to attract a strong following of dealers, designers and private buyers. It could have been the sunny start and morning light hitting the...
Had I not already left my heart in San Francisco in 2015 when I met the man I would marry seven months later, Love Street Vintage would have stolen it. Sustainable gems are dotted in many neighbourhoods, but High on a hill, Haight Street calls if you are after a...
This edit sums up my mood for the month ahead. It's that time of year when your pinkie ring should give you super powers and you can cloak your face and your body in pillows [when not showing off that you're capable of dancing in white whilst eating cranberry...
Is it me or are haircare ads stuck in the 1950s? Can the contents of one plastic bottle really deliver on all of those promises? And are we even looking for those things at the end of a good shampooing? Hair diaries of women with great locks usually involve a lotta...
I packed learnings of balance in my suitcase back from Berlin (alongside this Resolution organic cotton tee by Cruba). I should have known it would be a knowledge excursion when I spotted my school history teacher on our flight over. Ms Hodson taught me everything I...
The upside to taking a train to Córdoba on a Monday and realising many of the monuments and markets are closed is you get to really enjoy the neighbourhoods. We still got to explore the western world’s most stunning example of Moorish art, the Mezquita and the Roman...
Nobody wants to feel like a tourist. Who us? No no, we’re trailblazers - so you can imagine our surprise when we discovered our destination of choice is Lonely Planet’s No.1 city to visit in 2018. If like me you have to work through some guilt before enjoying your...
I know Sex in the City has been relegated to box-set territory but sometimes I refer to my flat as sustainability in the city, because like Carrie Bradshaw, I keep sweaters where my stove would have been. Reflecting on the moment I decided to turn my kitchen into my...
My Six Items Challenge made packing simple for a last minute work trip to Madrid. I got out the Gabriele Vintage green dress - a symbol of fresh starts and progress, as we think of the green light as go. This Maison Bengal bag I got from Tidy Street general store in...
Today’s eco-warrior is less hemp, more hot. I don’t mean to do a disservice to the durable natural fibre, but hemp clothing is still building a new rep amongst fashion seekers that have discovered sexy and sustainable can coexist - as they do in the #ecohot label...
Retrouvius / MMPillowStore
The respectfully renovated Portland Stone building on Poultry Street, The Ned was the perfect setting to speak about how my reclaimed renovation resulted in me wearing the same six items of clothes for six weeks. There's been a bit of friendly competition in our...
Two weeks into six weeks wearing the same six items of clothes, I am tongue twisting and definitely compensating with shoes. On a side note, these 1940s pigeon holes make perfect shoe storage (complete with drawn-on letters, this piece was reclaimed from the post...
On arrival in Brighton yesterday I was confronted by my ten year old self. Two girls dressed almost identically were leaving the train station - one had a mini pink backpack (like the one I had from Tammy Girl) and both were wearing skater sneakers. They linked arms...
Wearing a choker made of surplus sofa fabric on my sofa upholstered in surplus bus seat fabric, contemplating second life in my deadstock Persol specs from the 1980s. Choker from beautiful inside and out PETA-approved Vegan brand Noumenon Persol spectacles from Spex...
I saw the Queen yesterday (the day I wore jeans). More on that later as I didn’t have the energy to write last night. This morning my friend made me chuckle with a link to an Inc. article - Why Successful People Wear the Same Thing Every Day You see by wearing the...
Wore my M-24 backpack made of used truck tarpaulin to the Designer Showrooms today. Fashion week has a growing number of sustainable brands and stands - one being The Sustainable Angle, a not for profit organisation dedicated to projects that promote sustainable...
I met a fashion journalist from Spain the other day and we joked that even if it means crossing the road, stopping to soak up every moment of sunshine is essential to make it through the grey months in London. Fashion week might be all about autumn winter collections,...
My days are all messed up. It's the second day of fashion week, but it is in fact the weekend, so Saturday feels like Tuesday, but it's also masquerading as Thursday - on this, the forth day of my challenge. Despite setting my alarm for 7am on a Saturday, I knew...
It may be day three of my challenge for Labour Behind the Label, but it really only got challenging today on the first day of London Fashion Week. For some reason it felt like my first day at school. Perhaps it's because when you're a kid you get away with wearing...
©IWM (D 14826) Lent hasn't fallen on Valentine's Day since 1945. Today shiny heart shaped gifts and ash crosses collide, as I start my Six Items Challenge. I pledged to only wear six items of clothing for the next six weeks in support of Labour Behind the Label, a...
I have pledged to only wear six items of clothing for six weeks - starting just before London Fashion Week If it takes a collective to make a fashion, it takes collective action to end fashion abuse. The Six Items Challenge is a campaign created by Labour...
I recently transformed my kitchen into a walk-in wardrobe and my living room into my kitchen, so I thought this was a recipe worth sharing. My kitchen before Tiny kitchens are the norm in flats in London and although at one stage I merely used mine to reheat or "cook”...
party season trousers Morv London rare card c.1910 from dealer Val Jackson-Harris at The Ephemera Society Winter Fair
Fashion Revolution fanzine #001:Money Fashion Power pages of poetry, illustration, photography, graphic design and editorials that explore the hidden stories behind our clothes green rose earrings by Gung Ho from Ethical Collection nothing more, nothing less t-shirt...
Just like a business, we personally rely on our reputation so we should all know a bit about PR. The other week I saw movement maker and musician, Charlie Dark talk about his life through the theme of encouragement. The plus one of a friend, I had no idea what I...
Chinti and Parker / Westland London I just watched the nineties classic So I Married an Axe Murderer for the first time. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to check out Mike Myers' beatnik poetry performance from the film. Hence why my...
Carla Colour Lind recycled sunglasses from Ethical Collection Amour jute tote The Jacksons also check for the jute totes on Ethical Collection & at their Portobello pop-up shop open until 30th July 2017. They have a delicious selection of Carla Colour...
Vintage Roots / The Architectural Forum
Pachacuti / Retrouvius
Antonia Burrell Holistic Skincare / The Home Bothy
Veja / Boochi & Co
One year ago I left my corporate fashion job to follow a more conscious life. My job gave me pleasure and pain, and enabled me to buy my first home in west London. Like a secret diary, I started to blog about my journey into a more sustainable existence (shoe...