Lovely Things

Asian-inspired coasters

I love the idea of having sets with the same theme but different images or designs, which is why these asian-inspired coasters from Ella Doran caught my eye.

Ella's fabulous photos are sandwiched between a cork base and laminate to create the mats and there are matching placemats available.

There's also an asparagus and artichoke set in greens and yellows, and a brightly-coloured fruit range.

You can buy the mats from BLUEdeco for £19.50 and delivery is free in the UK, plus they ship internationally.

Sleek sweetness

There are a number of rounded sugar dispensers out there, but none are as elegantly simple as this British-designed Sugar Ball available from Mojo London.

It's  £19.50 including free delivery, and Mojo also offers a matching Milk Ball at the same price. They're made from stainless steel and are dishwasher safe (yay!).

Shabby chic vintage-style clocks

Clocks are often a bit of an afterthought when it comes to decorating a room (though I'm sure there are some major clock-lovers out there who would prove me wrong).

These shabby-chic, French and English vintage style clocks are made in London by Roger Lascelles Clocks.

The 14 inch clocks are available through online stores like Miam Miam for over £40 each, but you can buy directly through the Roger Lascelles site using Paypal starting at £34, with smaller clocks starting at £19. There are some designs not currently available on the Lascelles site (like the 'chocolat' shown above), so a retailer might be your best bet for older styles.

A touch of Spring

Get a little bit of Spring onto your walls! This cute retro-inspired print from Next is the perfect antidote to the soggy Spring we've had so far. It comes only in orange and pink, and is framed ready to hang on your wall for £69.99

Fired Earth rug sale & offers

Fired Earth is having a rug sale with 30% off their Tribal range. According to their website, each rug is unique and woven by 'nomadic tribes'. They don't say which nomadic tribes exactly, and they do have a typo on the page - but as their products are generally delectable, we'll forgive them this time won't we?

The rug sale starts tomorrow 27th May, and is in-store only. You can also take advantage of other Spring offers including printable discount vouchers for tiles, paint samples, kitchens and garden furniture until 30th June.

Zara moves further into home

This summer successful international fashion brand Zara will be cementing its move into the homewares market with the launch of it's first UK standalone home store Zara Home in Regent Street, London.

May's Fashion Extras reports that the store will be three floors of interiors glory offering Zara's entire home range including linens for bed, table and bathroom, plus tableware and decorative items.

However, the Zara Home website notes that home items are already available at the Brompton Rd store.

Chandeliers with a difference

I love the work of Dale Chihuly, so when I spotted the stand of Roast Designs from across the room at Pulse earlier this week, I just had to take a closer look.

Roast create amazing lighting sculptures from glass spheres. Colourful and ethereal, they take commissions to create their chandeliers so you can have any colour combination you want.

My favourite is the raspberry below:

The photos don't do the pieces justice as they don't capture the soft luminosity of the lit balls.

The chandeliers are a combination of round spheres, and fabulous mouth-blown 'spirit balls' that have lovely 'threads' of glass inside them, and a really unique look.

More flowers from Artecnica

I can't get over how astonishingly beautiful these votive holders are! I'm seriously in lust.

Made by Artecnica and designed by the extremely talented Tord Boontje, they may remind you of his Garland lighting designs that were phenominally successful for Habitat.

(Thanks to Joy for the heads-up)

Grand Designs Live in London

Just a heads-up about a show next week: Grand Designs Live. Based on the successful Channel 4 TV series in the UK, the exhibition this year has five main sections covering interiors, gardens, home building, kitchens and bathrooms and a shopping arcade.

As well as visiting the exhibitors, you can attend design, decoration and gardening seminars presented by Kevin McCloud, Naomi Cleaver and Diarmuid Gavin, get advice from members of the British Interior Design Association and RIBA Chartered Architects, and find out how to help the environment through your home with WWF's One Planet Living feature. (That's the group formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund, not anything to do with some sort of 'smackdown' - just in case you were confused).

The show's at Excel in east London from 2nd to 4th June and is open from 10am each day. You can book tickets online or by phone and prices are £12 in advance, or £16 at the door.

Funky doormats

Want a quirky doormat? Feet First have created mats in the style of sewer/manhole covers from major cities in the US and Europe.

If you're in the US you can choose from London, Paris, New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco or Los Angeles at Perpetual Kid. Those in the UK can buy from I Want One of Those and are limited to London or New York.

What's great about these mats is they're made from 100% recycled truck tyres, are hard-wearing and easy to keep clean.

(Thanks to A Rug Fantastic for the heads-up)