hisforhome’s posterous

We've just been featured in the December issue of 'Your Home'. Initially, the magazine asked us for one or two product shots of items from the H is for Home website. This escalated to a full house feature.

A couple of months ago, a photographer and his assistant spent a whole day taking shots around our house. We're very happy with the results, they've used a lot of the photos and the article is spread over six whole pages!

If you'd like to be able to read the feature properly we've scanned larger versions of each of the pages:

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6

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Original Article

You've got your wine, your beer, your mineral water...

...or if you're lucky, a bit of fizz.

You've got your ice to keep it cool.

Now all you need is something stylish to put it in.

Step forward ICE BUCKET!

Made from all kinds of materials including glass, wood, plastic, stainless steel & silver - with shapes & designs too numerous to mention.

Some are big enough to plunge your whole bottle in - like this fantastic, 1960s yellow Cathrineholm number...

...others hold just enough cubes to keep that G&T at the optimum temperature.

Teak & stainless steel by Viners

left to right: Lundtofte, Crayonne & Stelton

We always have a few designs in stock, so if your cubes need a good home, check out the selection at H is for Home

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Original Article

We picked up this fabulous coffee set last weekend.

That made our minds up about what L should be for!

The Danish company Lundtofte produced high quality, stainless steel pieces - predominantly kitchen & dining wares, but also some decorative household objects.

They used top quality materials and manufacturing techniques - stainless steel often combined with teak and rosewood.

There are some fantastic, mid-century modern designs to be found by designers such as Tias Eckhoff, Eric Herlow and Lone Sachs.

Original Arti cle

We live in Todmorden - and run our website from here too.

It's a small market town in the Pennine hills on the border between Lancashire & Yorkshire. The market is one of its major assets.

Thursday is flea market day, with a mix of regular traders & one off stall holders having a clear out or raising money for charity.

We try to get there most weeks, trawling stalls for potential H is for Home stock. We've picked up all manner of things over the years - from 200 year old chairs to 1960s lamps.

Some traders know what we like now and draw our attention to things they've got or will soon be getting hold of.

After the secondhand stalls have been scoured, there's a great place to stop for coffee - it has an unbelievable choice of teas & coffees all on display on their shelves... with homemade cakes and doughnuts to boot!

Also on the inside market are a florist, greengrocer, cheese stall, biscuit seller, haberdasher, butchers, bakers, but alas, no candlestick maker! Having said that, there's Dawson's - a great, traditional hardware stall that never fails to have that little brush or screw that no one else seems to stock. They, no doubt, have candlesticks... and the candles that go in them too!

The market has at least 4 different butchers - everyone has their own regular or favourite. Ours is Paul Standsfield whose stall greets you as you enter through the main doors. He is Fudge's firm favourite too as he'll always throw in a big, tasty beef or venison bone for him.

On other days of the week, the outside market has the usual range of food, clothing and homeware stalls.

Special mention has to go to Alexander Gourmet Med, a Mediterranean food specialist who's usually there on a Saturday. The owner is extremely passionate & knowledgeable about everything he sells. He knows where it was made, which family made it, the methods they used and what makes it unique. We buy great olives & other antipasti, honey, chocolate, coffee, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. He's an endless source of birthday & Christmas presents!

We hope you get the chance to visit one day!

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Original Article

Not too many words this week - well... it is all about numbers!

Plenty of images though - showing numbers being used as decoration, their representation in print and some objects in which numbers are an integral part.

This charming children's book is a collection of number rhymes & finger games.

How many of these do you remember?

This mouse one's a teensy bit sad - it ends with no little mice left!

All illustrations by Denis Wrigley taken from One Two Three Four first published in 1970.

We picked up these wooden printing blocks some years ago, and have a large tray of them mounted on a wall. They have a really sculptural quality and we love the way light & shadow fall across its surface.

We found this lovely pack of old playing cards in a mixed box auction lot the other day.

When you think of items that require numbers to function, clocks would be top of most people's list. Here are some nice examples that H is for Home currently has in stock or has sold recently.

We love these early pocket calculators with their red or green displays. They seemed so space age at the time!

Not forgetting telephones - push button and dial versions.

And then there are numbers used as pure decoration. The main photo at the top is a 1960s fabric design. And there's this Carltonware money box, again from the 60s. We love the 'groovy' treatment that numbers got during this decade.

Hope you enjoyed today's blog - we don't think it's going to be too hard for you to guess what 'O' will be for next week!

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Original Article

This week's blog is a small homage to a glorious colour. O just had to be for orange.

We are big fans, and judging by our popular photos on Flickr and items that always sell well on H is for Home, so are a lot of you out there.

Orange has the wonderful ability to look warm & cosy in the winter or lively & fresh in the summer.

Orange objects really catch the eye. It enables them to shout loudly in a collection of other brightly coloured pieces.

Alternatively, it's perfect as a highlight colour within a muted decor or against natural materials.

We've given a few chairs the orange treatment!

We did a G is for Garden a couple of months ago having just planted out some annuals. Our French marigolds are doing well in the sunshine & showers.

Till next week! x

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Original Articl e

This is the beautiful, stylised fruit & leaf design of the Eden range designed by Marianne Westman for Rorstrand of Sweden in the 1960s. The pattern was used to decorate various pieces of oven and tableware.

We have this lovely, lidded sauceboat from the range available at H is for Home

It can be used for sauces, compotes, relishes... and is gorgeous enough to simply keep on display!

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Original Article

Geoffrey Baxter joined James Powell & Sons (Whitefriars) in 1954 where he initially worked as Assistant Designer to William Wilson.

Baxter's contemporary work soon began to filter into the Whitefriars output.

Scandinavian design was a strong influence during the 1950s & 60s, but under the direction of Baxter, an individual, strong, distinctive look evolved for Whitefriars and British glass in general.

New shapes, colours and textures were developed.

The main photograph above shows pieces from the textured range first produced in 1967. Actual tree bark was used in the moulds!

We have this piece known as a nail head vase in the tangerine colour way - along with other Whitefriars items - available for sale at H is for Home.

They look fantastic in groupings or as stand alone pieces.

They provide that initial flash of colour, but also give a wonderfully tactile experience on closer inspection.

To find out more about Geoffrey Baxter and Whitefriars Glass this book is invaluable:

Whitefriars Glass, The Art of James Powell & Sons (from Amazon.com) Whitefriars Glass, The Art of James Powell & Sons (from Amazon.co.uk)

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Original Article

Geoffrey Baxter joined James Powell & Sons (Whitefriars) in 1954 where he initially worked as Assistant Designer to William Wilson.

Baxter's contemporary work soon began to filter into the Whitefriars output.

Scandinavian design was a strong influence during the 1950s & 60s, but under the direction of Baxter, an individual, strong, distinctive look evolved for Whitefriars and British glass in general.

New shapes, colours and textures were developed.

The main photograph above shows pieces from the textured range first produced in 1967. Actual tree bark was used in the moulds!

We have this piece known as a nail head vase in the tangerine colour way - along with other Whitefriars items - available for sale at H is for Home.

They look fantastic in groupings or as stand alone pieces.

They provide that initial flash of colour, but also give a wonderfully tactile experience on closer inspection.

To find out more about Geoffrey Baxter and Whitefriars Glass this book is invaluable:

Whitefriars Glass, The Art of James Powell & Sons (from Amazon.com) Whitefriars Glass, The Art of James Powell & Sons (from Amazon.co.uk)

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Original Article

Our small Pennine garden has woken up - well, started to at least! We've been out at the weekend sweeping, potting up seeds, planting strawberries and some colourful annuals.

We have lots of shady corners, so hostas and astilbes do really well.

Ferns like it here too - we're really fond of these little ones which self-seed and sprout from the old stone walls.

This is another self seeder. It can take over a bit if left unchecked, but if it's restricted within pots and cracks between paving it looks wonderful - the bright green leaves and pretty white flowers really lift the shaded areas... and it's always good to get plants for free!

We have a little project for the summer, renovating this little, old greenhouse which was about to be thrown on the tip. It's a house in the loosest sense of the word - being only about 4 feet wide. We'll try not to lose any of its shabby charm, but if it doesn't get some TLC soon it will fall to pieces.

We love these bits of metalware in the garden - old dolly tubs, buckets and watering cans.

Also the drainpipe hoppers which look lovely when the flowers start to spill over.

We've got our seating arrangements sorted out, picking up a Victorian cast iron bench over the winter.

Also a more portable 1960s metal & plastic weave chair... and this fab 70s floral lounger.

The birds are well catered for...

Although its about time they started to find their own food now. We've made a good start, but there's plenty left to do... and Fudge is always happy to supervise proceedings.

It's nice to be able to sit back and survey work done so far though... and plan the next move from our strategic headquarters.

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Original Article