Lovely Things

Funky bedding from Heals

If you permanenetly share your bed with someone, a male someone, chances are you have to go with plain bedlinen in order not to injure his sense of masculinity. If you have a rather feminine taste, he's probably already made his feelings clear on being floralled to death (yes I've had those conversations too).

For something a bit more interesting than block colour, try this striped Trellic bedlinen from Heal's. It's in a great non-gender-specific colour combination of neutrals, duck egg blue and muted mauve, and it's also on sale at £6.95 for pillowcases and the duvet covers are £36 for the double and £44 for the king size.

Mirrored furniture

Lots of manufacturers and retailers are offering mirrored furniture these days and no wonder, as there's no sign of a slowdown in consumer appetite for vintage styles and art deco. Never having owned mirrored furniture myself, I do wonder (especially in the case of bedside tables) whether it would often end up smudgy and fingerprinted instead of adding the desired elegant touch to the bedroom.

Either way, it's a very pretty style, though I'd hate to catch sight of my just-woken-up face in it while reaching for the alarm clock each morning.

There are lots of variations and prices differ too, however mirrored furniture with good deco or Venetian styling doesn't come cheap. Here's a few of the pieces on offer...

  The Savoy bedside cabinet from John Lewis is a simple style, but the price tag is a quite hefty £400. The Savoy range also includes a six drawer tall chest, a three drawer chest, a lovely console table and a mirrored screen.

Furniture Today's Florence range of mirrored furniture is a little patchy with some pieces nicer than others. Try the small cupboard with double doors and one fixed shelf for £329.

The Valencia three drawer chest from Next is a good choice for those who'd rather a solid base than freestanding legs. It's also a more reasonable price than some other retailers' offerings at £199, with the smaller one-drawered bedside table at only £149. The range also includes a console table, a tall chest of drawers and a wider four drawer chest.

  The ever-reliable eBay comes up trumps again with a selection of mirrored furniture, though prices vary considerably. If you're pushing the boat out, this gorgeous pair of art deco style chests of drawers (start price £1395) definitely look original, though the listing doesn't mention dates so they're probably repro. In the etched Venetian style is a mirrored table at the buy-it-now price of £96 and a dressing table for a little under £300.

More in the ornate Venetian style than the simpler deco styles above, you'll have to be quick as this is the only one left of these Venetian glass bedside tables on sale at Synergy Styles. It was £300, now dropped to £185. The exact same style was also recently offered on eBay for £155. The listing's now ended, but if your heart's set on it wait to see if it's relisted, or contact the seller.

If your budget can't quite stretch to the furniture, but you love the look, try a decorative item like this Venetian style mirrored tray, £19.99 at eBay, or one of Laura Ashley's mirrored jewellery boxes in plain (£35) or etched (£40) styles below. There's also a four-drawer box on sale at £24.50.

Cheap & (shabby) chic mantel clocks

While their site is a little lacking in information (and style), there are some great bargains to be found at  Synergy Styles furniture. Like these two shabby chic clocks for the mantelpiece. The clock with the lead finish is only £15, and the white painted clock, just a tenner! Also check out Synergy's clearance sale of ex-display furniture where you can snap up leather dining chairs that were £199, for just £45 each, among other things.

Glass storage jars

I don't know about you, but I find it really difficult to find good-looking storage containers for the kitchen. Chrome looks lovely, but it's a pain to keep clean and smudge-free, and lots of containers I otherwise like have things written on them (coffee, tea, sugar - you know what I mean) which are either not suitable for what I want to store, or look a bit naff.

Fortunately, I've just found these sleek, square Anchor glass storage jars in the Heal's sale. They're airtight and have lovely chunky square lids and are £4 - £6 depending on which of the three sizes you go for.

Heavily discounted sofas

If you're looking for a simple sofa that won't break the bank, check out the Siro range at LXdirect. It's not a shop you'd normally think of for stylish products for your home, and agreed, much of the stuff in their sale isn't of particular note, but this range with its clean, simple lines caught my eye. Available are two-seater, three-seater and corner units in tan, chocolate, black and cream faux leather at discounts ranging from 40% to 55% for the smaller sofa shown in cream which is £250, down from £550.

Period Features discount

Period Features is a fab store in Leek offering decorating products and accessories for the period home. Their online shop is currently offering 10% off all purchases until the end of June. Just enter "10% Summer Discount" in the comments box when making a purchase and they'll deduct it from your total (though it won't show on the page).

As well as the discount, they have a competition running until the end of July to win a copy of the Victorian House Book that retails at £30. Visit the Period Features competition page for more details.

Pink kitchen appliances

Ever felt sick of your boring old white appliances? Fancy a bit of retro girly fun in the kitchen (steady now - I'm talking about the innocent kind, not something involving Vargas girls and utensils)?

Various manufacturers have cottoned on to the fact that rather than hiding appliances when decorating, some of us like to have fun with them instead. Here's a round-up of appliances to satisfy your pink cravings...

Check out this 50s style oven by Baumatic. It's 60cms, has nine functions, a load of features and comes with optional extras like a pizza stone. Best of all, it's rated A for efficiency and you have the choice of black, mint, ivory, burgundy and lilac on top of this fabulous retro pink. It's £419.28 from Biasco. Update 10/12/06 - unfortunately, according to the Baumatic website, this line has been discontinued. What a shame! If you love it, search for retailers with some still in stock using the product code: B550PINK-A. Try Sainsbury's or Appliance Directory as they still seem to have some.

Smeg does a range of pink fridges and other appliances in their FAB range. The one shown here has an A grade energy rating, 3.6 cubic feet of freezer space and 11.6 in the fridge and the trays and door racks are all adjustable. The best price for this model (the FAB32RO4) I've found is at Biasco - £1104.95 with free delivery.



The same online store also stocks the very cute Smeg 50s style dishwasher. It's AAA rated, has 10 programmes, 5 temperatures, a delay timer and 'triple layer tablet selector', whatever that is. If pink's not your thing, it comes in quite a range of other colours: pastel blue, black, orange, cream, red, lime green and silver. It's £619.95 with free delivery.

So now you have your major appliances sorted, what about the smaller things? Dualit has a range of very pink toasters to satisfy even the most feminine of kitchens. The Dualit Vario toaster accommodates four slices of bread in its extra-wide slots and claims award-winning toasting elements that 'increase toasting efficiency and element longevity' - sounds like the science of toasting has come a long way! You can buy it at Amazon for £129.97 plus free delivery.

House & Garden Fair next week

There's nothing like having a good session ogling pretty things for your home and garden! Next week the Daily Telegraph House & Garden Fair comes to Olympia in London with ideas and inspiration for interiors, outdoor living and garden, entertaining and gourmet food and wine.

Show areas include Women on a Roll - the innovatively titled installation featuring the talents of female wallpaper designers Lyn Randall, Deborah Bowness and Claire Coles.

Other attractions include International Designer Rooms where the best of the UK's architects and designers respond to the theme of 'responsible design', and Henrietta Green's FoodLovers Fair featuring specialty UK produce and gourmet goods.

The show runs from the 29th June to the 2nd July and tickets cost £15 in advance or £16 at the door. All visitors booking in advance will receive a free bag and fair directory not available to to those just turning up on the day.

Fabulous chairs by Aiveen Daly

If you're a fan of eclectic furniture, check out the fabulous designs of Aiveen Daly. Her quirky handmade chairs have a wonderful sense of vintage style - with a twist.

I love the retro 'Swivel' above, a piece commissioned by Liberty and Elle Deco covered in Liberty shirt fabrics, and the detail of the tiny buttons on the 'Bubble gum' pink denim Victorian chair (£545 plus fabric).

However, I don't know if I can really pick a favourite as her designs are quite diverse, and all gorgeous. Shown below are Spank, Blossom, Puff and Moneypenny ranging from £495 to £2975, plus fabric.

Shabby chic at ebay

There's lots of lovely shabby chic items at ebay both originals and reproductions, here's a few top picks:

ORNATE Cream Ivory Framed Mirror Large 5 FT

Lovely Shabby Chic Glazed cabinet with drawers/toile

FRENCH SHABBY WHITE CHIC CAST IRON BIRD BATH & FEEDER

Large Victorian Painted Pine 'Shabby Chic' Cupboard

~Shabby Chic~ Vintage French style mirror

Shabby Chic chair white painted red gingham

CUTE LITTLE SHABBY CHIC 19th CENTURY PINE DOME TOP BOX