All posts tagged: mirror

The Elusive Round Mirror

Published by Karen Knox

They’re not easy to find you know, round mirrors. Well they are. But BIG, round ones are not. I’ve been working remotely with a lovely client down in London for a year now. We’ve been making small but quite significant changes to their living room and hallway. Project – During (photo by client) After some fancy bespoke joinery by the man of the house, a new dining table, dining chairs, cow hide, Robin Day sofa from eBay and a lick of paint… these guys needed a large round mirror for the chimney breast. If I had my way, i’d most likely have left the chimney breast bare for some negative space between the two alcoves, but the room is very dark and the window is directly opposite the chimney breast. A mirror was much needed to help bounce the limited light around. The mirror had to be round to echo the new Tulip dining table and soften all those vertical lines from the alcoves and shelving. And because I didn’t really want to see the …

A mirror of my very own

Published by Karen Knox

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post all about Crittall Mirrors (you can take a peep at that here) and how they are popping up all over the place. Well randomly, the following week, I was contacted by the very lovely people at Exclusive Mirrors asking if i’d like to review one of their mirrors…. …. Cue me jumping onto their site and searching for all things industrial and window related. And low and behold…. They only bloomin had one of the actual mirrors i’d written about only two weeks prior. The Rockford Window Mirror. It was fate I tell thee. I had no idea where this mirror was actually going to go when I opted for it, but ya know, sometimes you just have to find a place don’t you? “The Rockford” arrived super quickly and super safely. I’m always a little sceptical about ordering anything glass-y online, but this was really well packaged and didn’t have a mark on it (once i’d wrestled off all the layers of packaging). With me …

The Crittall Mirror

Published by Karen Knox

Crittall windows aren’t new by any means, they span three centuries. First invented in the 1880s, the first steel windows were manufactured, under the ownership of Francis Henry Crittall in 1884. A VERY quick design history lesson for you right there. Metal-framed windows are back with avengance, what with all things vintage and industrial rocking the design world right now. The resurgence of all things Crittall (steel framed glazing) in the 21st Century is no surprise what with their graphic, minimal frames feeling über contemporary whilst adding some architectural elegance and structure to a room. Arcadia Antiques Here’s an original Crittall window from the 1800’s, now reglazed with small panels of mirror. Absolutely stunning. But for £1500, it’s not an impulse purchase by any means. It’s a real design-head’s purchase which would equally be right at home in a swanky apartment or period property. Or cool bar/restaurant… bloody hipsters. So how do you get this look at home without selling your car? Crittall mirrors are the more affordable way of adding this iconic design to your interiors. They …

The Other Duckling

Published by Karen Knox

I love discovering new places to shop online, especially places that offer something more than just “the norm”. What’s even better is when they fit with your own working ethos. Allow me to introduce you to Erica and Andrew from The Other Duckling. Aka; My new favourite online boutique. “The Other Duckling brings you an eclectic collection of delightful home accessories, home furnishings and gifts including designer made homeware, vintage, revamped and shabby chic furniture, fleamarket finds and Erica’s exclusive greetings cards.” A few years ago, Erica, whose background is in textiles, was working as managing creative at Innocent Drinks and Andrew who originally hailed from the world of fashion photography was working in high end digital media. But, after turning 35 they began to re-think what they wanted out of life. Finally making the big decision in 2008 to leave London and their uber successful careers to move to the Hampshire countryside, where they purchased a 17th century property (and lifelong project). As you do. “Between building, filling, painting and tearing our hair out we started …