Lovely Things

Kenzo homewares sale at Brand Alley

Oh dear, this is dangerous! There's some lovely Kenzo porcelain tableware and glassware with great discounts at Brand Alley today until the 25th (all Brand Alley sales are limited time only, so you've got to get in quickly). Shown here are plates from the Tao Garden (left) and Azyade collections, reduced to 19.50 and 16.50 respectively for two plates, down from £47, which I'm sure you'll agree is a pretty big price cut.

I was going to include more images here, but everything's so pretty that I'll end up showing you every single piece, so just get over there and check it out for yourself. Make sure you take a look at the coloured stemware (especially the romantic Bangalore cocktail glasses at £20 for two) and there's some lovely colourful floral plates for you shabby chic fans.

John Lewis launches Eco Products page

Knowing that many shoppers these days want to improve their product choices to benefit the environment, John Lewis has launched an 'Eco Products' section of their website.

Here, green consumers can find all the energy efficient, fairly-traded, organic, recycled, sustainable or otherwise eco-friendly products stocked on the John Lewis website. The wide range of products include appliances and lighting, clothes, flowers, textiles, food and drink, garden items, baby products and nappies, knitting yarn, tableware and a load of other household items.

Shown here is the Fairtrade 'Rosy Glow' flower bouquet (£33 incl free delivery), recycled newspaper storage basket (medium £10), Rustic Collection recycled glass tumbler (set of six £12). 

Kitchen, dining & home sale at Liberty

Lovely Liberty has just announced a sale of up to 30% off selected kitchen and dining items, and 25% off some of their Liberty of London home ranges. Unfortunately despite the new Liberty of London online shop offering a selection of their gorgeous bags and accessories, there's no online shopping options for homewares at the moment. Pictured is one of the kitchen/dining sale items, a rather pretty blue-glazed cake stand on sale at £13.12, down from £18.75, but you'll have to pop into the store in Great Marlborough St, London to purchase.

Dwell furniture opens in Manchester, special offers

The new Dwell store in Manchester at 231-233 Deansgate is now open and they have some great offers available for their opening weekend. As well as 10% off all full-price products in-store, they have a limited number of their top-selling items available at huge discounts. The spider-leg swivelling office chair in brown is available at just £20 (usually £79) for the first 20 purchased at 11am on Saturday 1st Sept, and the first 20 cream bonded leather dining chairs sold at 1pm on Sunday 2nd Sept are priced at just £15 (usually £69). Sharpen those elbows!

Heal's 'Louis' range of outdoor furniture

Great legs! No, not you (though that's not to say you haven't), I'm talking about this gorgeous 'Louis' range of outdoor furniture from Heal's. In glavanised steel with a sexy zinc finish, these curvy beauties will give an elegant style to your alfresco arrangements whether you're having friends round for a drink or reading the Sunday papers with a cup of tea in your bathrobe. The table's £395 and the stools are £100 each. Who says outdoor furniture has to be boring?

Green and white cup and saucer from Mit Hus

Oh dear, I think I'm in love. I'm sure you're thinking that this is no bad thing, but the problem is, it's tableware I'm in love with, and I just don't know if I have the room for any more. The current object of my affection is this beautiful chartreuse green and white cup and saucer. I love cups with the decoration on the inside, and this subtle green crackle glaze is the perfect foil to the creamy matt white on the outside. It's just £4.50 from fab Scandanavian-stocked UK store Mit Hus.

Craigslist roundup: table, wicker chairs, vintage metal drawer unit

We've had eBay roundups on Lovely Things before, and when I was noodling around on Craigslist today, I saw a few items worth mentioning in the furniture listings. I actually rather want all these items myself, but as I've recently moved, I'm trying to shed furniture, instead of buying new pieces, so best I share these finds with you!

I'm a big fan of chunky rustic tables, and this French country-style wooden table is a great price at just £150. The honey colour and the big wide planks are very attractive, and it would make a lovely kitchen table if you have the room. Collect from Notting Hill, London.

Five wedding gifts for £30 and under

Ah yes, the wedding season is upon us. While many brides and grooms opt for a wedding registry or gift list, some rather you give them a gift chosen by you. It can be really tricky finding something appropriate, without breaking the bank, so here's a quick look at five great glassware and tableware gifts for £30 and under.

Zara Home Spring/Summer 2007

Our posts on Zara Home are some of the most popular of this blog, and the one showing images from the Zara Home catalogue for Autumn/Winter is still going strong. But as we've been enjoying quite a bit of sunshine lately, it's about time we take a look at the Spring/Summer 2007 pictures.

This season is all about white, though still retaining the shabby chic/crumbling opulence influence that we saw last season. Some of the images look a little more 'Winter white' than summery, but the overall effect is very glamorous and looks like it would keep you very cool on a hot summer's day.

There were so many lovely pages in the catalogue that I had real trouble choosing just a few to show you, so click on the link below to feast your eyes on quite a handful of drool-eliciting rooms...

Matalan Orchid Jug

This pretty jug looks like it's wearing a corsage. It has a lovely country feel, but the addition of the orchid - not such a traditional country-style flower - gives it a fresher feel. It's £8 from Matalan, but there's not much info on the website, so you'll need to trek down to a store for more details.

Related: Minimalist Black Vase from Tesco | Gift Guide: £10 and under | Matalan Christmas Gift Wrap