Category: Interior Design

Real Interior Design

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Interior DesignLeave a comment

IMG_0696We devour Interior Design magazines and Pinterest is a regular time waster. How often do you see loo rolls featured? We’ve repurposed an old French hatstand, from TK Maxx to hold loo rolls and really without them in position it would still be an old hat stand. The Crystal Palace poster came from Brixton Village. Hand blown glass bottles from Kokkino Chorio, Crete and the Vanishing Cream from Shanghai.

Real Interior Design is about curating our possessions into colour themes and reusing things into contemporary life. We have far more use for loo rolls than hats!

 

Daylesford Day Out

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Architecture, Coffee Hunters, Interior Design, Interior design inspirationLeave a comment

IMG_0582Yesterday the stylehounds of theoldmortuary. design went to the new extension at Daylesford Organics in Moreton- on-the-marsh. For me and the hounds it was a first although I regularly visited the Marylebone branch. However whilst working in Cheltenham and living in Gloucestershire Hannah had hunted down the rural base in search of coffee and decided we should all visit. IMG_0572.JPGWhat a feast for the eyes. Daylesford Farm Shop takes pretty to a whole new level. There was texture and colour, perfume and chatter. We came away inspired and happy.

 

Stuff

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Interior DesignLeave a comment

IMG_9963In our home we have to find space for ‘stuff’. The belongings or memorabilia from two sets of parents, now dead, and two previous individual homes. That’s a big ask of a small cottage. The sensible answer to this is that you can’t keep everything : recycling out to charity shops is not only the answer , it is also the right thing to do. If we don’t need it then a much better use is to generate money for a charity while getting it into the hands of someone else who can make use of it.

To achieve a  balance and have a home that is organically styled rather than superficially beautiful with no depth of character we have curated some collections.

Casually placed in a couple of rooms are small collections of old vinyl records. Pre dating bespoke covers they have cardboard sleeves advertising the shops that sold them. They take up very little space but give a big warm hug of remembrance every time they catch your eye.

Real Interior Design

Our name in lights

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IMG_6995IMG_6968We wanted to preserve the memory of the old undertakers building that we redeveloped last year. As luck would have it London Signs had their workshop not far from our flat in Gipsy Hill. We commissioned this neon sign from them .  Visiting the workshop was a great experience as many of the signs they make are iconic all over Britain. It’s lovely to see craftsman created signs that are not digitally designed.

oldmortuary.design- our style

 

The Hutong Cafe, Plymouth.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Food ( but this is not a food blog), Home Towns, Interior Design, Interior design inspirationLeave a comment

My dogs are urban dogs, they like a circular walk on tarmac with plenty of green space to run around on and a dog friendly cafe for a bit of a nap. I’ve been trying to recreate that for them in Plymouth. Today I struck gold for all of us.

We parked at Devils Point and had half an hour of fabulous sniffs and running about before descending the steps into the Royal William Yard to call in at Ocean Studios before taking the road back to Devils Point.

The Hutong Cafe just outside the grand gates of the Royal William Yard used to be a pub. Now it’s a stylish cafe serving great coffee.IMG_9451I’m not the main coffee addict at theoldmortuary.design but I do know a good cup of coffee when the bubbles on the crema reflect beautiful oily-looking copper colours on the  top of a simple black coffee. So there we go, top marks for the look of a black coffee, top marks for flavour. My piece of cake was great too , but as usual I’m really more about the style of the place.

Hutong has great style. Easy on the eye, industrial retro , done impeccably, which is not always  as simple as it looks.IMG_9452

Style is also about the ambience  of the place and Hutong gets it right. Dogs are welcome either outside or inside, nearer to the front of the cafe.IMG_9459George, one of the owners, was welcoming when we arrived and he and Owen the barista  were involved in conversations with everyone in the cafe at some point during my visit. Later I met Jack , George’s brother and co-owner, who is equally engaging. George and Jack have great plans for the future of this cafe and they were a pleasure to natter to. Chris the chef made a brief appearance to smile , completing what seems to be a winning team. A cafe this good is a great addition to the area and a fabulous place to take the most dedicated of coffee lovers.IMG_9457

theoldmortuary.design- our style

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Interior Design1 Comment

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Theoldmortuary is furnished predominantly by recycled and repurposed furniture and fittings. The Barcelona chair here was an eBay bargain bought in Kent. The yellow cushion is by Harlequin from John Lewis and the one behind is from Hoi An , Vietnam. The pouffe comes from Habitat and the picture above was painted by Juliet Cornell and represents the mineral pollution that exudes into the mud of Devon Great  Consuls mine at Gunnislake. The walls are painted with Farrow and Ball  Railings.

 

IMG_0428This cuddle sofa has been recycled from our flat in London. The bee pillows come from John Lewis. The wallpaper is Flying Ducks by Mulberry and the painted wall is Railings by Farrow and Ball. The prints are simply illustrations of insects printed by inkjet printer on pages from an old book.