Is there a supermarket, fashion brand or e-commerce platform left that hasn’t branched out with a homeware line yet? Instead of socks they now sell sconces, and vests have been replaced with vases.
The pandemic accelerated this shift: where millennials once flaunted their individuality via their clothes, now they signal their impeccable taste credentials via their homes.
I’m certainly not in a position to judge on that front, but I do think there’s a problem emerging with the shortening life cycle of interiors trends.
This is readily facilitated not only by every high street chain store and fast fashion website, but also by a growing clique of Instagram sellers offering one-stop shops for the latest trendy trinkets, or what I like to call “landfill”.
I’m sorry to burst anyone’s bubble but trust me, this is no way to shop.
The catastrophic environmental impact of fast homewares is a big issue here, but for me there’s an even bigger aesthetic one, too.
Who wants their home to look like it fell off last month’s trend pages? Not me.
I shop around for one-of-a-kind pieces that you just can’t find at a one-stop online design shop. Forget late-night swipe-and-click binges in bed, I much prefer getting up before dawn for a frosty morning at one of London’s many fantastic antiques markets and car boot sales.
My fellow furniture fanatics will have my guts for garters if I give away too many secrets — we’ve all seen how oversubscribed the Tuesday antiques market at Kempton Park racecourse has become — but I can tell you I’ve found many a treasure at Chiswick car boot on the first Sunday of the month.
Pimlico car boot is also decent and is on every Sunday. For the best market finds, get there early, bring cash and make sure you’ve got change and smaller notes if you want to haggle.
If early starts aren’t for you, get to know a few dealers who share your eye — you’ll pay a bit more, but what you lose in pounds, you gain in hours in bed.
They are usually knowledgeable and often eccentric personalities and can source pretty much anything your heart desires.
I’m especially fond of Mario Kardana — you won’t leave his Hackney Road shop empty handed.
Also in east London is Toby Ziff at Two Poems’ London Fields showroom. He has a scrumptious selection of smalls.
And what’s the point in having a column if you can’t plug yourself? Pop down to my showroom on Lant Street this weekend where I’m hosting a sale of old and new designs along with Lant Street Wine, which will be selling bargain bottles.
A weekend of design and wine — what could be better?
