EBay, how much do we love you?
The worlds most comfortable chair .
The GPlan 6250 was designed in 1962. Recently relaunched as a Vintage design ‘The 62’
We bought an old one for £100 on EBay and had it reupholstered making a considerable saving on the current price. Inspired, some friends did the same.
The longer story is here.
theoldmortuary website and blog is a little over a month old. This was the first person to want to follow us but he has only just got here. Follow us to see all the cool stuff that thrills a snail and a few other people who love the stuff we love.
We 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.
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.
This 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.
Today was supposed to be breakfast at The Canteen, Maker Heights, but somehow the morning slipped into afternoon . 
Breakfast is the reason we go to Maker Heights , not the only reason , but the main one. To arrive too late was a shock, one which required coffee and quick thinking .
As it turns out missing the breakfast slot was a good thing, we just ordered random things and were blown away , metaphorically and actually, by the amazing tastes of the food and the wind . Potato wedges with cheese, Asparagus Salad, Smoked Mackeral Pate and a tasting board, all delicious. This is not however a food blog, there are a million bloggers out there who can write good stuff about the food here better than me.
If I were a food blogger, I would go on and on about just how tasty the food at The Canteen is, but this is an Art, Design and Style blog. So I’d say get over there ,check out the funky art, Hope that it’s not too full for you to see the eclectic style and enjoy some fabulous food whilst you discuss the design and landscape.
The Canteen at Maker Heights@makercanteen
So beyond breakfast why do we go to The Canteen at Maker.
1, The views, they are spectacular .
2. The Coffee, seriously good coffee.
3. Most importantly for a design blog . The Style
4 The Welcome, all the staff here are lovely every time we come.
5 The countryside around South East Cornwall is known as the forgotten corner of Cornwall. Getting to Maker Canteen takes you through spectacular countryside.
6 After today, we will be going for all the other lovely food, we may well miss breakfast more often.
7 The Vibe. This place makes you smile, a lot. Sometimes too much.
And then you fall off the bench 
The Tamar road and rail bridges are immense structures when viewed from below. Sunset, on spring evenings gives them a gorgeous blast of warm colour.
Sometimes solitude sneaks up on you and sometimes many of us sneak off to find it. Time out from busy lives. This is a favourite spot in Cornwall and the solitude was fleeting but precious.
Temple is a word that the world recognises as a space for contemplation and quiet Solitude. Say that word in Cornwall currently and people’s reaction is somewhat different.
Temple is the site of life -changing roadworks on the A30. The delays caused at this particular Temple have hugely impacted on businesses and people, almost certainly causing harm to those who are trapped for hours in their asphalt misery.
The picture above was taken after one such traffic experience. Whilst not exactly the silver lining of a cloud it is somewhat representational of the sentiment.
The Old Mortuary was converted from a single story Chapel of Repose, where people viewed their loved, or not, one, and a back work room, to a two-story extension attached to our existing cottage. The dimensions and style of the mortuary are slightly different to those of the cottage. We decided to maintain the utilitarian/industrial, albeit on a small scale, nature of the conversion. We wanted to replicate a concrete finish on the walls. This can be hideously expensive but our builders, Superfit, worked creatively to give us the finish we wanted in a more economic way. The result is beautiful and very hard wearing.
The full story of the conversion will be a whole other story, one day.
theoldmortuary.design 