Fernando Brizio: taking on the Wall Street Journal

Portuguese designer Fernando Brizio (he of the nifty arrow table fame)caught the eye of the Wall Street Journal at an exhibition at the Galerie Kreo in Paris. The WSJ caught up with him about the vases on display and rightly lauded him as an incredible talent. However, I must take issue when they say that "Although the Portuguese design scene may lack anyone with the gifts of Mr. Brízio, the country has a rich handicraft tradition". Whilst I couldn't agree more that Fernando is a huge talent, it's somewhat patronising to dismiss the design capabilities of a whole country at a stroke. I suggest that the WSj add my RSS feed: that should show them how rich and diverse the design scene in Portugal is! Pics via WSJ and NotEmpire

Be upstanding for the skewer

French product designer Sylvia Amar has come up with a nifty device that allows you to put skewers of fruit or cheese or whatever delicacy takes your fancy onto the side of your plate. More minimalist food design than Abigail's Party, these little gizmos are pretty useful. I wonder how you could style them using meat; any ideas?

Packaging on the walls

Portuguese design apartments from Lisbonaire have revolutionised the simple wall sticker and come up with the rather nifty idea of decorating using vintage-looking packaging labels. Each of their studios is designed by a different illustrator / designer; these two are from Designbynada and Pedro Falcão. What do you think? PS: Thank you, anonymous poster below, upon closer examination you're quite right. Old shop signs, not packaging labels!

Shame on you UKUncut: Fortnum and Mason will rise again

I don't usually write about politics. This is not for lack of opinion you understand, merely that I prefer to keep this blog design-oriented. However, having been (literally) caught up in the disgraceful behaviour of the moronic UKUncut "activists" yesterday, I wanted to write about Fortnum & Mason. I had no idea that the TUC rally was taking place yesterday and so Mr Lisbonite and I ventured forth intending to visit the Natural History Museum without thinking twice. Upon arrival at Marble Arch, the hordes of people waving a variety of flags (everyone from the Teacher's Union to the "armed" division of the pro-cut direct action group UKUncut appeared to be present) blocked our path. We struggled through the crowds and made our way across Piccadilly, pausing only to look at the huge amounts of litter these people had left in their wake (clearly there weren't enough green activist present) and to stare, horrified, at the mess they'd made of the Ritz. Flowerpots smashed, litter bins from other parts of the streets upended, graffiti all over the walls, windows smashed, the place was a mess. One girl in her twenties laughed gleefully as she jumped up onto a traffic light post that had been ripped down and posed for a photograph whilst flashing the peace sign, oblivious to our incredulous stares of disgust. The crowd were quite rowdy so we moved swiftly on and made our way down to peaceful and relatively empty Jermyn Street which was blocked by cones and so clearly not part of the march path. Imagine our horror when, alerted by shouts behind us, we saw photographers running past and stopping to photograph the wave of black-clad morons with their faces swathed by scarves and masks that broke over the line of cones and started to run down the street, shouting as they threw signs around, broke trees and generally smashed anything in their path. Ahead of us shoppers vanished into stores that were rapidly pulling their shutters down and so we made our way deeper into Mayfair to get away from this breakaway mob. It was terrifying. We paused only when we felt safe and looked back to see a tide of people filling the whole of Jermyn Street being pursued by Police as the helicopters moved into position overhead. Throwing paint bombs, fireworks and lightbulbs filled with ammonia at the shops and police alike, these baying animals made their way to the great British institution that is Fortnum and Mason and invaded it. Pushing past terrified shoppers and staff, they smashed displays, stole and swigged champagne and sprayed graffiti all over the place. Apparently the storming of F&M was just the last in a long series of violent attacks that day, including the smashing up of a HSBC branch and various other shops like TopShop and Boots and the building of a bonfire in Trafalgar Square, not to mention the desecration of various statues in the West End.

I could mention, as many others have, the fact that this kind of violence served no political purpose but caused a huge amount of damage (do these animals realise that the clean up will cost the strapped UK government a pretty penny?) and must have terrified the innocent staff, tourists and shoppers that were caught in the cross-fire. I could also echo the widely and scornfully made point that UKUncut also managed, in the taking of F&M, to attack an institution owned by a consortium that gives circa £40m a year in grants to charitable causes (something of an own goal there, don't you think?) or that their decision to attack HSBC, one of the banks that DIDN'T require a bail-out was moronic. Having seen these idiots up close shouting their nonsensical and often grammatically incorrect slogans, I can only assume that they were a group totally uninterested in politics that decided to use the demonstration as an excuse to wreak havoc, prompted, no doubt, by a nasty envious streak that some people decide to work hard and thus can afford to shop at F&M and similar when they can't. The badly-spelled and (again) grammatically incorrect "press release", if you can use that term for a confused and ranting attack on "the rich" put out by UKUncut stating that the occupation of F&M was pre-meditated, just made this all too clear. It's also worth mentioning that they looked utterly ridiculous on the world stage. When compared to revolutions going on in various other parts of the world as oppressed peoples campaign for the right to free speech and self determination, this petty outbreak of sullen violence makes UKUncut look like spoiled children throwing a tantrum and they ought to be utterly ashamed. All appears to be going back to normal in London today and contractors were hard at work restoring order at F&M early this morning but I'm still left with a really bitter taste in my mouth. I cannot for the life of me understand these people, nor why more of them weren't arrested. They should be made to lick every scrap of paint that they used for their foul scrawling slogans on the buildings that they defaced and spend the rest of their worthless, covetous lives doing community service. As one Twitterer asked yesterday: "Why are they attacking Fortnum and Mason? Because they sell really nice tea and all good tea is theft?".

Image via Royal Academy of Arts

Smarin Design: The most fun you can have with rock-shaped cushions!

I came across these "living stone" cushions from design house Smarin Design via Poupar Decorar and just had to post them. I love the stock photography with the models flying into a big pile of them. It would be worth buying a collection for that alone. They also have an outdoors collection to pile by the pool. Original, no?

DVF Home comes to London

Diane von Furstenburg, famous creator of wrap dresses (we curvy women of the world salute you) had put her bright and fun designs into a homewares collection. So far, so old news as it's been available in the US for at least a year. However, rejoice with me limeys, for the DVF home collection (bedding and tableware) is coming to Selfridges on the 1st of April. Hurrah!

Quick crave: Wall-mounted angel wings

A quick Wednesday PS: This is an odd concept but a brilliant one. I have no idea what I would do with these wings if I had them but that doesn't stop me wanting them. I am strangely drawn to them. From the aptly named "This is Pretty" online shop.

Every home needs a lake

When looking for a new home, I suppose that I'm like everyone else when compiling my checklist. Bedroom, check. Kitchen, check. View of something that isn't a neighbours wall, check. However, after browsing the Lavish Locations website again today (drooling over these incredible homes is something of an addiction for me, I can easily lose hours over it), I've added something else to the list. A lake. Mr Lisbonite would prefer a river with fishing rights but I want somewhere to go boating and hold floating platform barbecues. My latest house-crush is now on this quirky place in Surrey, complete with lake, double height kitchen ceilings (who doesn't want a mezzanine floor in the kitchen?) and THE most amazingly understated four-seater dining table in a huge hall. A little more traditional than most places I like but this place has charm. And a lake, obviously.

The new Dining Room by Liberty of London

Kitchen departments are catnip to me and because of this, my poor cupboards groan under the weight of more crockery than I’ll use in a lifetime. But I was still extremely excited when Liberty’s of London opened their new “Dining room” area yesterday. Featuring a lot of country-inspired spotty dishes, they also have the best line of kitsch going. I am overwhelmed with desire for the animal eggcups and frankly wish for all of them. They’d be perfect for brunch with friends. I can’t decide, should I get guinea pig, rabbit, otter, sheep, badger, mallard drake, hedgehog, swan or cat? Let’s be honest, the only thing to do here is get the whole collection would suit me down to the ground although at £10.95 each I’m not sure I’ll get all of them. I have to save wallet space for the blue cow creamer!

Summer's a comin'...fire up the barbie!

It's a beautiful day today in London. The sun is shining, the air is fresh and you can really feel spring making it's way towards this tiny island. Hopefully summer won't be too far behind. I'm off on a road trip around the north of Portugal in two weeks time and my dreams (both sleeping and waking) are filled with sunshine-bathed picnics on beautiful hillsides, walks on the beach and grilled fish. One of my aunts used to have a sort of kitchen outside her house on the family farm which really took the idea of dining al fresco to a new high. When I have my house in Portugal later on in life, one of the things I'm going to insist upon is an outdoor kitchen. Here are a couple of ideas that are going into my scrapbook.



Pics via Love that barbeque, A design state of mind, Scottsdale Custom Homes and House and Garden design.

Portuguese design in the city that never sleeps

Today I'm joining in Happy Homemaker's "Around the world in a day" link party! Today, expats all over the world will be writing about their home countries in a variety of ways, from photographic posts, musings on fashion and music and design etc. Given that I write about Portugal about 75% of the time, I knew it had to be something special and what better to use here than a scoop? Portuguese designers Munna Design are launching their newest armchairs (drool) at the Architectual Digest Home Show in New York and I've got a sneak peek for you! The result of their most recent labours are the Rose (fully upholstered in velvet that explores femininity - a rose found in enchanting gardens), which I could swear they've copied from one of my grandmother's old chairs and the leathery Soft and Creamy ottoman (with exquisite detiling on the sides which are hand tufted with buttons). So here you are, Portugal in a bite-sized chuck of modern design detailing. Enjoy!

Refined elegance in a London home by Tereza Prego

Portuguese interior designer Tereza Prego has really hit the mark when looking for refined and sophisticated elegance in this London home on Eaton Place. The soft, muted colours and popping attention-catching details (just look at those oversized lamps in the hallway!) make for a cozy, comfortable and lived in feel whilst retaining the ambient of opulence. We've all become so used to brightly lit, slightly minimalist interiors filled with "vintage" furniture that looking at a place like this is a soothing balm for the eyes. Having looked through the rest of her portfolio, she's given me some great ideas for stylish and very grown-up looking homes, all of which have a slight touch of whimsy (think the black and white spotted vase in the bathroom). In short, more of this please!

Take a stroll down Park Avenue

The name "park avenue" conjures up images of great sprawling apartments with amazing views that are mysteriously and permanently stocked with fresh flowers and are blessed with quiet and considerate neighbours. In fact, forget everything else, the neighbours alone would be reason enough to move! I've fallen in love with this apartment in particular - don't you just love the pretty floral wallpaper in the first bathroom and the discreetly glam silver in the second? Not enough bathrooms are wallpapered these days. The bright pops of colour in the kitchen are just right and that blue bedroom is so soothing and set off perfectly by the imaginative chair (taking note on upholstery patterns to apply to my own project!). And imagine waking up and being able to appreciate that view! Pics via the new London Lisbonite sponsor: Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

Stained glass windows in a bathroom

Fond as I am of total redecoration, there is something wonderful about a room that has been designed around one feature in particular. Portuguese architects / interior designers Pedra Silva did just that when they created a small bedroom and bathroom around stained glass windows already in situ. I'm not too sure about the bedroom but I'm in love with the window in this bathroom. Just think how relaxing it'd be to soak in that tub, enjoying the dappled sunlight playing across the room. This is what makes me think I'd like to convert an old church one day.