Let it snow

It's old news but I'm going to document it to save arguments down the line. It finally snowed properly in London two weeks ago. It was the first time we've had a substantial snow fall in 14 months - I know this because the the last time we had one I promptly bought a sledge, which then sat in the garage gathering dust until February 5th, 2012. Fortunately the snow fell overnight on the Saturday, so Sunday was spent sledging, the kids built a snowman next door (cheers Simon) and then I slow roasted an aromatic five-spiced shoulder of pork. I can't believe I was a vegetarian for so long.

Our local park looked like a massive expanse of apres ski and everyone was beaming from ear-to-ear. Great how inclement weather gets the Brits in a good mood.

The snow of course affected our boiler - the condensation pipe was hanging away from the brass pipes, and water was steadily dripping into a saucepan. Our gas fitter was busy until Tuesday but duly came around (on time too!) and declared the pipe OK. It's meant to hang. Of course by then it had stopped dripping. Turns out the outside pipe had frozen so the water was coming back down the condensation pipe instead of draining off. The solution is to insulate the outdoor pipe with something. The gas fitter wouldn't accept payment. I love that guy. If you need a gas fitter/boiler man in London I'll happily pass on his details. (Contact me via Twitter)

The snow also affected our Volvo - turns out 7 onboard computers (?) use up battery power in a month, and not driving it drains the battery, especially in the cold. I'd have thought Volvo of all cars would be OK left in the snow but apparently not. Maybe I left the heated seat thing on. Oh well. Another thing to deal with.

Finally, the snow meant we were stuck indoors gawping at our walls and we decided to hang some artwork up. Only we didn't have all the bits that you need so had to order a bunch of supplies. Three framed pictures are up, but the rest were left leaning on a cabinet. Which unfortunately wobbled when I put something away... causing the largest unhung picture to topple forward, bringing down another 3 like dominoes. The smash was extraordinary and the shower of glass was something else. I now have to take 4 pictures to the local framers and sort them out, and then get them hung before anything else happens to them.

Art for arts sake

After nearly two years of extreme procrastination, we finally have two photographs up on the walls. The problem was that these photos came ready mounted and had a long strip of wood fixed to the back. They were designed so that the opposite bit of wood cut at the corresponding angle could be attached to a wall, and thus the photo would sit flush. We visited several picture framers and wood merchants in the last two years with no luck. Everyone knew exactly what we wanted but no-one actually sold these wood strips.

Eventually I had a light bulb moment when I remembered that our pal Jason worked at the White Cube gallery as a technician - fitting artist's works professionally! He was only too happy to help and in about half an hour, had measured up and fitted the bits required.



A major problem that Rob and I have is despite a general consensus on all things design and interior related, we don't see eye-to-eye when it comes to art. I like to have things up that I like to look at, he prefers something with a story and even likes the idea of investment pieces (to that end, he has two very collectable pieces gathering dust somewhere in New Zealand that will probably be ruined from damp by now...) Anyway, I happened to like these photographs which were from the Design Awards exhibition that Wallpaper* magazine had a couple of years ago - and they were only a tenner each. So there's the story to keep Rob happy and I really like these photographs.



The one was taken at the John Lautner Sheats Goldstein residence in Beverley Hills - and the speakers projected on the right hand side are the 'Katamari 01' by Giyanze, which won best domestic appliance. It's a bit difficult to see but there's a guy DJing in the foreground so the photo looks in tune sitting above my decks.



The other photo was taken in LA and features the Panna chair for Moroso by Tokujin Yoshioka, who won best domestic furniture designer. I like this because it reminds me of my first trip to LA, the outlook was eerily similar, though fortunately there wasn't a creepy guy sitting on an expensive chair...

A taxing situation

Last week I got a letter from Parcel Force telling me I had received a package from New Zealand. They were holding it until I paid £28.64 VAT and a £13.50 clearance fee. I had no idea who had sent his package or what was in it so was loathe to hand over £42.14 for what could be something I didn't want. Heck, £40 buys an hour long massage, a hair cut or a week's worth of lunches.

Rob found out that my sister-in-law had sent me a painting for my upcoming birthday and was horrified that I wouldn't just pay to have it delivered. As the item was a gift this riled me even more - surely gifts are VAT exempt? Especially as the painting has no proven value (my sister-in-law has never sold a painting). I emailed customs and got an auto reply which basically said "Pay up or we'll ship it back. If you want to query the VAT you can take it up once you have received the item". As my sister-in-law had paid NZ$70 to post it over it seemed unreasonable to send it back as she'd have to spend the same again to re-ship it with a lower value on the customs declaration.

I was still annoyed about the unfairness of the situation when Rob volunteered to pay up so that the package would be delivered in time. And despite all this drama, I really do love the painting. It'll look great in our house if we ever get around to hanging it up (yes, I know this was a mission a few weeks ago but so far not a single bit of art has made it onto the wall...)

The moral of the story is if you are posting something to another country, don't over inflate the value of the item on the customs declaration, even if it's marked as a gift. (Rob would probably add something about my being ungracious and that I should've just paid without querying it, but that goes against my nature)

Boxes and art

A few weeks ago we were visiting friends in New Zealand who'd moved into their new home around the same time we moved into ours. They haven't undertaken any major renovation work but the house felt more finished and welcoming. A few days ago we were inside our next door neighbour's place, again, no major renovation just some cosmetic improvements. And yes, it felt more finished too.

The difference with both of these homes was that they had no boxes piled up to the ceiling and their walls were adorned with artwork and photographs. We've been so busy focussing on all the "big" fixes that we've ignored the little things that make a home, well, a home.

I don't do New Years resolutions, but if I did it would be sort out our house this year. I am delegating the concrete counter fixes and splashback ordering to Rob, and I'm going to start dejunking the rest of the space. Those boxes have to go!

Rob and I don't have the same taste in art at all, but he did like the print I bought for our wedding anniversary last year from Etsy (pictured top) - the colours aren't the same as the one in the photo, but with any luck it'll be up on our walls shortly and I can post an actual photograph of it.

Damned Lampshade

Luc Merx "Damned" lampshade

Mmm, a theme. More ceramic naked maleness. Created by another Dutchman. This one's an architect though called Luc Merx (I wonder if that's a real or stage name?). On the MGX website the copy says 'He imagines the lamp hanging above a dining table, the shock of the frozen, terrified bodies disturbing diners with age-old questions of guilt and morality, issues usually kept behind closed doors.'

I can also imagine this lampshade above my dining table, but for me the bodies are less terrified and more vulnerable. Again, no idea how much it costs but unless Ikea start selling this as a mass produced item I doubt we'll be buying it any time soon. Sadly.

Postscript: I've found it for sale here , it's a limited edition of 40 pieces and costs $45,000. Damnit.

Peter Jansen sculptures

Human Motions, Thomas Flair Runner by Peter Jansen

I have a funny relationship with art, and hubby and I often argue over what goes up on our walls (subsequently, not a lot). We hardly have any photos on display in our home and admittedly, the white walls do look a bit blank. Not that it matters as we'll be moving out in the foreseeable future (Ha! Still no building quotes, it'll be mid May at the earliest before we appoint a builder… I could cry).

But in Milan last week I found myself completely enamoured with these polyamide models made by Dutch artist Peter Jansen. Aren't they just the most fascinating objects? The actual size was probably not much bigger than a 1.5L bottle of Evian yet the detail and absolute perfectness meant I could quite happily stare at them time and again. Can't find out how much they cost, but I'm guessing it would probably be my entire kitchen budget. For now, I shall settle for these snaps…