Design Junction

The London Design Festival is now coming to and end and yesterday I managed to dip into one last show before it finishes. This one is called Design Junction and held in the Granary Square area of King's Cross. Apart from seeing the shows, it was great to go up there and see how much the place has changed over the pat few years. There has been a lot of new development there and Central Saint Martins is now based there in a stunningly converted warehouse building.

Visitors were met by this impressive installation of arches decorated with varying styles of tile designs in Granary Square.

The Canopy section of the show was an area dedicated to more than 75 boutique pop-up shops showing a mix of design-led trends. I loved the work of Tom Pigeon, a shop that sells prints (above) and jewellery (below) in soft colours and geometric shapes.

There were so many tempting items to buy for the home. I loved the bright simple lighting from Room-9, and could happily see these lights in my home.

I could also quite happily see these bright fun necklaces by One We Made Earlier (below) around my neck! They make quite a statement.

Other, more quirky items for the home were these fabulously funky ceramics (below) by Sena Gu, a ceramicist based in South Korea.

On the same stand were the designs of Yoon Namm who creates gorgeous sushi-inspired pots.

We then ventured into the Cubitt House part of the show where furniture and lighting was on display.

I loved the dark green of the padded sofa above. And it's very comfortable too!

There's still a large influence from Mid Century Modern furniture and I loved the chairs by Morgan London above. They used the rich dark green colour way, but also used the coral pink colours that still seem so popular in home dec right now.

The side board and table combo (above) were beautifully designed and hark back to the Art Deco era of oppulence. I loved the ombre effect used on the sideboard.

The fun furniture above uses a fresh colour palette and retro-inspired designs in large, bold shapes.

Bright colours were still popular and I loved these fun stools.

Items were also interestingly presented and this display above was fab, using a ray of light feel to showcase each piece.

Design Junction finishes today so you still have time to get down there!

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Furniture fetish

On Saturday I just happened to pass by the new flagship Made showroom on Charing Cross Road and couldn't resist dipping in for a quick look. It's their biggest showroom yet, a large space with polished concrete floors and a series of room sets, designed to give customers a hands-on feel for their designs.

Made is an online furniture supplier who cuts out the middleman. When you buy something from them, they connect you straight to the designers, which means you save up to 70% off the retail price. On top of that, they have a selection of rather lovely items, that I often covet!

You can try out a selection of their items in their new showroom, and then check them out online whilst in the show room as well as place orders from the team. On top of this, they have a postcard wall where you can take away cards with details of 600 of their products. Needless to say, I had a bit of fun picking out some of my favourite items. Each postcard is in a pull-out draw, with an accompanying fabric swatch to give a feel for colour and texture. Very satisfying! Below are some samples of what I brought home.

A wall of postcards showcasing the array of beautiful items on sale.

Pull out each draw to reveal a postcard and colour swatch to take home with you.

Redford 2 Seater Sofa, Zest Green

Redford Armchair, Peony Pink

Finch Arte Chair, Kingfisher Blue

Jacob Dining Chairs, Amber Orange and Walnut

Migration by Bokja

I have mentioned the patchworked furniture created by Bokja on my blog before. I love their use of bright colours and of applying a traditional, crafty method to furniture design classics where they fuse old with new. Their latest creation is the Migrations line, which resonated with me, especially as I will be moving home soon and traveling across the world from Japan, back to my home in the UK.

The collection references stories of movement and change, capturing the human experience of bundling things up and moving on. Below are some images of their stunning collection which combines patchworked fabrics with embroidered bird images.

Migrating birds have been beautifully embroidered onto this chair.

The drawer at the base of this sofa evokes a suitcase full of clothes.

I love the classic shape of this chair mixed with the craftiness of patchwork and embroidery.