morag bruce
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Interiors

PatternityI always think Patternity is like having another set of eyes that help you see the world in a different way. Both mathematical and poetic, these eyes pick up on the shadows, splashes, ripples, edges, corners and mixtures that might normally go unnoticed, or at least not be celebrated for their pattern. And it’s an addictive fella. Pattern Power / Superstripe is the team’s first annual festival of pattern exploration, which will be about ‘celebrating pattern everywhere – from the mundane to the magnificent.’ Lovely dreamy soundtrack from Death In Vegas on the website, too. The festival opens on Saturday 6 April, but expect pics to be Tweeted at tonight’s launch!

There are lots of events, talks and workshops (I love the sound of Patterns in Space and Beyond), as well as collaborations. One of which is with designer Richard Brendon in two striking bone china tea sets – Reason (top) and Warp (bottom). You can enter a draw to win a set at the exhibition. I’ll be buying many, many tickets.

DH

One of Damien Hirst‘s rugs is called Beautiful Oasis in a Deserted Expanse, Drink up the Beauty Before it’s Too Late Rug. Others are Beautiful Primal Urges Rug, Beautiful Saucy Spit Roast It’ll All End in Tears Rug and Beautiful Abstract Landscape Pretentious Art Nonsense Rug. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a giant painting under-foot, in wool form? I think so. Especially with wallpaper like there is after the click through…

All available at Other Criteria.

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If I could dress head-to-toe in Issey Miyake I would. I love the idea of stopping being a person and becoming a walking sculpture. Yes please to Pleats Please. I first heard about Miyake Design Studio’s collaboration with Italian lighting brand Artemide a year ago when I was at Livingetc. It wasn’t out, but there was a prototype – just enough to get very excited about. But the IN-EI collection – Japanese for ‘shadow, shadiness, nuance’ – is here now. I saw it last night at the Issey Miyake store on Conduit Street, in fact.

The idea began back in 2010, when Issey Miyake and his research and development team Reality Lab presented 132 5.ISSEY MIYAKE. This new process was developed using a mathematical programme with 3D geometric principals, and is a rather ingenious way of making clothing. In a nutshell, the programme results in clothes that can be folded flat and become 3D shapes, starting from a single piece of cloth. Reality Lab saw lighting as a natural extension of the programme, and the collaboration with Artemide was born.

It’s a collection of freestanding, table and pendant lights. The structure of the recycled material used, together with an additional surface treatment allows the shades to keep their shape perfectly without the need for an internal frame and to be re-shaped when needed. They can be easily stored flat when not in use.

Click through to see the beautiful collection…

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In celebration of my mum and dad buying a new puppy (Mr and Mrs Bruce can expect a huge increase in visits from me), I am having a gooey moment for sweet animals. The dog on the dress is the type of puppy they’re getting, in fact. He’s called Brodie, after the main character in Jaws, I like to think. Swimsuit and T-shirt dress, We Are Handsome; Cushions, By Nord.

I first saw the work of wallpaper design duo Barneby Gates when I was news editor at Livingetc. In fact, their super-fantastic Horse Trellis was one of the first things I picked to feature. So, there was much intertal cheering when I received an email from Vanessa Barneby which included some new designs. And boy, they don’t disappoint. This is called Dogs, a cool play on houndstooth (love that). I think it’s original, smart and elegant but also nicely eccentric – which is everything I want from anything I want to have in my house. The glamorous model belongs to a friend of Barneby Gates and is called Doris. There’s a lovely pale colourway after the click-through…

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More new high-street buys! And pared back is all very well, but sometimes don’t you long for a ‘yeah, sod it, I’m having cerise leopard print’ type of room? I say go for it, don’t mess about, this bed was made for flouncing on (and a bit of a Bobby bargain to boot).

French Kiss bed, Littlewoods; Parker drop light, Bhs; Mario knob, Zara Home; Hope-held mirror, Anthropologie; Delightfull lamp, Liberty; Leopardo tray, Zara Home.

I know the snow is lying all over the ground like annoying cotton wool, but my thoughts are beginning to turn to summers in Capri, yacht by day and cocktails by night. Not my summer, obviously, but the kind of summers I quite fancy having. Until that happens, I’m going to make do with bright and breezy anchors and stripes. Cushion, RE-Found at Liberty; Striped bag, Marc Jacobs at Net-A-Porter; V-Neck heels, Christian Louboutin at Net-A-Porter; Anchor earrings, DSquared2 at Far Fetch; spring/summer, Dolce & Gabbana.

Catwalk image via style.com.

The first time I was allowed to decorate my bedroom, aged 11, I sploshed Habitat‘s Pool Blue paint everywhere (my mother grimaced from behind her hands at my slapdash technique – cutting in was not my forte and, needless to say, my beige carpet did not come off well). I definitely grew up with Habitat, although we didn’t have any bits at home (my father is an antique dealer so liking new things was perhaps my first act of rebellion!). I caught a bus home from school outside the Habitat store in Edinburgh, so I watched seasons come and go through the glass for years. There was always something unusual happening. Here we are, the spring/summer ’13 collection – designed by creative director Polly Dickens and her in-house team – and the pieces feel unique, cohesive and unexpected. Certain accessories particularly caught my eye, with colours and techniques that remind me of favourite paintings…

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Hello pretty fabulous new murals from Wall & Deco. Dreamy mountain-scapes or shouty-shouty pink tartan, a mood for every room.

Silk hose and ribbon garters at the ready, these opulent shoes are the result of a collaboration between two historic Italian brands – Santoni footwear and Rubelli fabrics. The former dipped into the latter’s archive to find 18th century-inspired brocades and a polka dot design by Gio Ponti from 1934 to blend into brogues and tasseled slippers.

Owners of historic feet, from left: Anne Ford by Thomas Gainsborough (1760); James Hamilton, Earl of Arran by Daniel Mijtens (1623); Young woman at her Toilette, Nicolas Lavreince (1780s).

More new things and today it’s the turn of new things that are silver. I love silver. Much like most shiny things, really. Who doesn’t want a silver-leather cushion in their lives? Promises to make any sofa disco-ready.

Tu glass bottle, Sainsbury’s; Leo floor lamp, Bhs; tassle, Zara Home; Casa Couture metal vase, House of Fraser; Spin metal canister vase, French Connection.

I’ve written about my love of all things Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway before. Ah, those green satin loafers… My first fashion love! They didn’t stop at anti-practical footwear, of course. Their studio has designed everything from affordable housing, landscape and urban design, to event and museum design, graphic, fashion and homeware. They’re taking centre stage at tomorrow’s Home London, where they bring together a variety of brands in their pop-up bungalow. Decking its walls will be their new collection of murals at Surface View – bold, pop-art designs that could not be more exactly what I want on my walls, too.

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It makes me happy when fashion and interiors collide in a brilliant way, so here we are – Zinc Textile‘s new Runway fabric collection, which features twelve bold, bright and glamorous fashion illustrations by late couture-painting genius René Gruau. And if it was good enough for Dior, Givenchy and Balenciaga, it’s good enough for my cushions.

As well as the 12 digitally printed images, which are available in a variety of scales on cotton satin, there are fashion-inspired checks, bouclé weaves, exotic florals and Pucci-esque swirl prints.

Launching at Maison&Objet next week.

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Part two in my imaginatively titled What’s New series of the high-street’s spring/summer collections is a natural affair. Think burnt ochre, copper and wood.

Nova Ball table lamp, John Lewis; Santos Drum, Next Home; Una Spice tableware, Next Home; Magdaline place mat, Zara Home; Flokati Garvey chair, Anthropologie. Cook’s Collection storage jars, Sainsbury’s.

NB. These products hit stores at various points in January, so if you can’t find them on first look, fear not, they’ll appear very soon – keep eyes peeled.

For me, the accessories that leapt out of the high-street’s new-season collections were black and white. Surprise, surprise! But no, wait a minute, this is just the first in a series of What’s New? edits. I promise colour and pattern will follow in the next week.

Black cutlery, Zara Home; Halyard pendant, Next Home; TU Strada cup and saucer, dustpan and brush, both Sainsbury’s; Betty Jackson Black glassware, Debenhams; Davide fruit basket, Zara Home.