For those of you who follow my Instagram you will know that today our family is off on our big Brooklyn summer holiday! However burglars beware - we are taking part in a house swap, so the lucky swapper will be staying at our home in East London whilst we are away.
Because I'll be blogging intermittently during this period, I felt like doing something a little different today with a round-up of things I have been watching, reading, thinking about and admiring this month - a newsletter of sorts.
Heather Taylor Home, Striped Napkins
My favourite Californian textile brand Heather Taylor Home has just launched some new Green Striped 'Hunter Napkins'. I love the thickness of the stripes, texture of the weave and the use of green, which I think we need to see more of in interiors!
Strange Magic, An Essex Witch Museum Mystery, by Syd Moore
Clearly the title of this book piqued my interest for the perfect summer holiday read! Witchy books are plentiful but I love the idea of the setting of a witch museum. As a child I visited The Salem Witch Museum and found the dark, musty, wax figure populated museum positively creeptastic.
The story centres around Rosie Strange who inherits the ramshackle Essex Witch Museum, her first thought is to take the money and run. Still, the museum exerts a curious pull over Rosie. There's the eccentric academic who bustles in to demand she help in a hunt for the old bones of notorious witch Ursula Cadence, and there's enigmatic curator Sam Stone. Romance and witchery, what more could you want? You can buy it here.
5 Future Proof Trends on Mad About The House
I’ve worked as a journalist and trend forecaster for ten years now and everyone always wants to know what’s next, who’s new, what colour now? And that includes me, but sometimes it’s useful to step back and see what is working. What is still here and what’s back again. I wrote about 5 future proof trends over on Mad About The House early this month - and yes our favourite tropical trend is a keeper. Read all about it here.
New Netflix Show, Friends From College
Fred Savage. Need I say more? The eight episode show Friends from College is a witty and realistic portrayal of the relationship between a group of friends now in their 40's who have known each other since college. It's a complicated, awkward and full of great in-jokes and silly behaviour that is only acceptable between adults who have known each other that long. It has a great 90's soundtrack featuring The Eels and Cornershop and a sweet intro sequence that takes us through the chronology of friends gathering around a table from pizza parties in college years to baby showers in present day.
Jeana Sohn's Breakfast Nook
Super stylish LA photographer Jeana Sohn has a breakfast nook in her home that she's been playfully calling 'Cafe Jeana' where she entertains her friends - i'm keeping an eye on this as an interior trend - retail style spaces at home. It helps that her nook is styled like some sort of exquisite gallery cafe. Shall we all do it?
Foxfire Mountain House
As you can imagine, this month I've mainly been obsessing about our trip to NY and making wishlists of places to stay. The Foxfire Mountain House in The Catskills is like something out of a period drama dream - the porch image right at the beginning of this post belongs to Foxfire too. It's honestly one of the most soulful interiors I have ever stalked on Instagram. Check out the tour on Remodelista here.