Deco December mag

E-zine winter 2016
Put eco at the heart of your interior design
www.decomag.co.uk
Upcycler Max McMurdo talks
making, doing and mending
Christmas
gifts galore!
Let’s hear it for flamingos,
the bird of the year!
Small space design:
the devil’s in the storage
Fire retardant chemicals
hazard or life-saver?
Felt art by Lucy Storrs

Contents
3. News
Editor’s Letter
Welcome to our first Deco magazine for
issuu.com, which we think complements our
online publication www.decomag.co.uk.
We’re all about eco-friendly interior design,
so we love all things upcycled, reclaimed,
sustainable, organic and recyclable - and that
encompasses a lot of design, from new
contemporary to antiques and vintage.
We care about issues too. For example,
we’re encouraging our readers to look into the
work of Arlene Blum in the US, who has done
so much raise awareness of the dangers of fire
retardant chemicals in furniture through her
Green Science Policy Institute. However,
Terry Edge is concerned that the UK is reluctant
to address the issues and we’ve talked to him
about the need for British consumers to be made
aware of the dangers of FR chemicals in furniture,
children’s products and household electricals.
See the feature on page 10.
We bring you a Christmas gift guide, we look
at the felt art of Lucy Storrs, the small space
design skills of Play Associates and at the mania
for flamingos we’re apparently in the grip of!
British craft is thriving, while our profile slot goes
to the lovely Max McMurdo, all round practical
man, treehugger and founder of upcycled
furniture store Reestore and budding TV star.
With best wishes from London,
The Deco team
COVER: a shed for Sir Paul
Smith designed by furniture
maker Natalie de Leval.
4. Felt art of Lucy Storrs
6/ Christmas gift ideas -
from vintage posters to
linen bread bags
8/ Max McMurdo
talks to Abby Trow about
upcycling and his move
into TV
10. Let’s celebrate British
craft, which is enjoying
a renaissance
11/. Introducing Lüks Linen
and its peshtemals from
Turkey (promotion)
12. Former civil servant and
fire retardant expert Terry
Edge says FR chemicals in
UK furniture are a serious
health danger and don’t
protect us in fires
14. We’re all flamingo crazy!
See our eco-friendly
flamingo art & homewares
16. Interior designer Rory
Macpherson of Play
Associates turned a tiny
studio flat into a stunning
piéd-a-terre
Publisher
ABD Associates, London N4, UK
t +44 (0)20 7561 0675
Content team
Editor: Abby Trow
Deputy editor: Kay Hill
Advertising manager: Ajay Duggal
Photographer: Mike Trow
Contact: info@decomag.co.uk
Deco online: www.decomag.co.uk
Deco mag 2

News
Head to Light School at the
Surface Design Show 7-9 Feb 2017
Bluebellgray opens first
showroom in Glasgow
Known for its large scale watercolour florals,
bluebellgray has expanded into all things
home, with bedlinen, decorative accessories,
upholstered pieces of furniture and linen
fabrics. And fans will be pleased to know that
it has opened its first (very colourful) showroom
in the heart of Glasgow’s West End: 17 Park
Circus Place, Glasgow G3 6AH.
Discover the latest in
architectural lighting at Light
School taking place at the
Surface Design Show in
London’s Business Design
Centre (7-9 Feb ‘17).
Now in its fourth year,
Light School is organised by
The Light Collective backed
by the Institute of Lighting
Professionals and you can
attend talks and see the very
latest innovative lighting
for contract and residential
interiors. Sit in on lighting
lessons and join in hands-on
demos with top designers.
Experts giving talks include
David Atkinson, Sanjit Bahra
of Design Plus Light,
Ellie Coombs of Nulty,
Rebecca Weir of Light IQ
and Sally Storey of Lighting
Design International.
Habitat launches homewares
collection for 2017
Habitat may have reduced its number of stores
around the UK but the variety of its products
remains extensive and the quality high - with eco
friendly, recyclable materials and affordability at
the heart of its ranges. The 2017 collection features
clean lines for furniture and lots of blues
nd pastels for accessories.
Pictured above: Calvo slim metal console, £325;
ceramic vases from £20.
www.habitat.com
London’s fabulous new Design Museum
opens on Kensington High Street
The Design Museum has
opened its 10,000 m2 new
home on Kensington High
Street, designed by architect
John Pawson.
And it’s well worth a visit
both for the building itself
- which feels wonderfully
spacious and airy - and the
contents which take you on
man’s journey through design
across many sectors: from
transport to furniture, fashion
to tech, you get to see
individual products and trace
the continuum from where
they started to where they’re
at today.
Don’t miss the Designer
Maker User permanent
display on the top floor...
The Design Museum, founded
by Sir Terence Conran in ‘89,
was previously based in Shad
Thames near Tower Bridge.
Deco mag 3

art of felt
The art of felt
Artist Lucy Storrs ‘paints’ with felt to create
beautiful, atmospheric and very tactile works
Above: Enticing Mountain, 70x94cms, wool, £880, part of Lucy Storrs’ new landscape collection. Below: Feeling At Home. www.lucystorrs.com
Painting a picture with.....
felt? it’s not something many
can do, but Lucy Storrs’
charming work shows the
artistic possibilities of wool.
If you like the idea of an
artwork that is somewhere
between 2d and 3d, then you’ll
love Storrs’ work. Being made
from springy wet-felted wool,
her pieces have a sense of
life and movement - but they
also have a delicacy and an
ethereality that make them
very interesting to look at. You
do want to stand and stare.
While she’s not alone in
working in felt, Storrs is
highly accomplished in the
technique and interest in her
work is growing. ‘I had never
come across work like mine
and I got the idea for it about
it about 14 years ago when
a friend’s chlid came home
with a mouse he’d made at
nursery using felt!
Storrs lives and works in
London but grew up on a hill
farm in Dartmoor and says
sheep and wool have always
featured large in her life. She
likes to use British wool for her
work, but it’s not available in
the myriad colours of
merino wool, so she does
tend to use more of the latter.
‘I buy my wool in Yorkshire
and buy it ready-dyed but
before it’s spun into yard. So
what I receive are what look
like bags of candyfloss!’
Storrs’ latest pieces are
landscapes featuring her
favourite colours of the
moment, pinks and greens.
Deco mag 4

Deco mag 5
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The Northern House:
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Deco mag 4
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Deco mag 4
Paul Warren Design
Beautiful interiors
with eco chic
www.paulwarrendesign.com
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Deco mag 5

Hope yule
love this!
Give a present that won’t be
forgotten in a day or so..We
have some quality ideas
with eco credentials
Above: Midnattsol collection of
ceramic and enamel tableware by
Isak (isak.co.uk), from £10 Light: LED
‘filament’ 003 pendant set by Plumen
£150, 10,000 hours of light approx
(plumen.com) Far left: Christiana,
original vintage ski poster, £550 at
Antikbar (antikbar.co.uk) Far left,
centre: Made in Wales, new Litelok
bike lock, £85, 2.4lb weight, recyclable
composite material, able to withstand
heavy assault from bolt cutters!
(litelok.com) Far left, bottom: Rose
cushion made from vintage fabric at
L’Atelier Natalia Willmott, £45
(nataliawillmott.co.uk) Bottom row,
centre: Danish Retro mugs in six
colours, £7.50 at Rigby & Mac
Bottom right: Parkminster natural
reed diffusers come in various subtle
scents, aromatic oils, £18, at Cottage
In The Hills Left, centre: digitallyprinted
on organic cotton and perfect
for hydrangea fans, the Eden cushion
by Reflect & Repeat offers vibrant
colour and a modern graphic look.
40x40cm, £55 (reflectandrepeat.com).
Below: Tulip tumbler by glass artist
Emma Britton, £29 (emmabritton.net)
Deco mag 6

Deco mag 7
Far left: Rusty angel wings, £5
a pair at Velvet & Dash. Made
from metal offcuts left outside to
rust (velvet-dash.com) Left: The
British Coast framed picture by UK
screenprinters Bold & Noble,
printed on recycled card,
40x30cm, £35 (boldandnoble.com)
Far left, second down: modern
designs for a funky table, ceramic
coasters by Pushka Home, £7
each (pushkahome.com) Below:
Seedball wild flower seedballs -
scatter them where you will, £5.99
a tin (seedball.co.uk) Bottom left:
screen printed linen breadbag,
made in Cornwall by Helen Round,
£19.95(helenround.co.uk)
Deco mag 7
Above: sustainable hand-rolled
beeswax candles made in West
Ireland by Mindful Productivity,
from £4.95 (mindfulproductivity.
net) Above right: Nudo Gift Adopt
olive oil - adopt an olive tree in Italy
for your friend or family member
and they receive oil from it each
year. From £39, Nudo Adopt
(nudoadopt.com) Right: Handmade
leather washbag, made
in UK, by Teales, £54.99
(teales.co.uk)
Deco mag 7

profile: Max McMurdo
Take back control!
Designer Max McMurdo, founder of Reestore,
author and rising telly star, thinks we could
all do with being a bit more self-sufficient
when it comes to furnishing our homes.
Interview: Abby Trow. Portrait photograph: Mike Trow
The word ‘upcycling’ makes
as many people roll their eyes
in horror as open them in
wonderment.
It’s become a bit of a buzz
word...a buzz hobby..a buzz
little business to be in; but
for those who say they like
to live with things that look
professional and not put
together by a five-year-old
or a really hopeless Heath
Robinson, upcycled wares are
to be avoided like the plague.
Max McMurdo is a
designer who wants to call
off the cynicism around
upcycling, not because he
believes anything made
from a pallet must be good,
but because it makes sense
on many levels not to
throw away perfectly good
materials - since throwing
away usually means adding
to landfill mountains.
‘My motivations are about
the environment, but I also
see that the way things are
going, people need to be
able to make things for
themselves.’ (And he is a
man who made himself a
floating home out of a
shipping container..featured
in George Clarke’s Amazing
Spaces on Channel 4.)
Because lots of us
haven’t been getting richer,
but poorer, certainly since
the ‘08 crash, and that need
to conserve that was innate
in people well into the 1970s
is definitely what’s needed if
you’re in that group who’re
finding money’s too tight to
mention, thinks McMurdo.
Ah, but there’s a bit
problem in that people aren’t
handy any more; most of us
can’t even change a plug
let alone hang a shelf or lay
some tiles! ‘That’s true and I
was fortunate to have a dad
who was practical and taught
me my handy skills,’ says
McMurdo. ‘And I loved design
technology at school, which
taught me a lot - I’m
very concerned this subject
has been marginalised by
changes to the school
curriculum, because we
all need it!’
So McMurdo’s solution is
for people to make a
conscious effort to learn to
do things around the house
and to learn by doing and by
getting things wrong and by
having another go. ‘There are
lots of conflicting things going
on here. For a start, we’re
afraid of using tools,
especially things like noisy
drills - and that goes back
to not learning use them in
school. We also expect
things to be right first time
so lose patience and heart
too quickly.
‘I don’t accept that some
people are born handy and
most aren’t. We can all learn
to do things perfectly well,
but we need to give it time
and to practise. And the
satisfaction is immense
when you‘ve mastered a task
yourself and don’t have to pay
someone huge amounts to
come and do it for you.’
The financial imperative
could be the driver behind the
rise of the upcycling
movement, if calling it a
movement’s not OTT..and
that has a knock-on positive
impact on the environment.
‘I don’t see myself as an eco
warrior, more a bit of a
treehugger, but what
motivates me is what I really
hate, which is waste.
‘So my design work is
focused on using what we
already have. And the
challenge for me is to design
and make cool contemporary
stuff in a way that respects
the planet.’
McMurdo studied
product design and
visualisation at Bournemouth
University and after
graduating went to Cologne
to work as a car designer.
He soon became dismayed
by the lack to will to produce
eco-friendly cars and at
overmanning in the wrong
departments - ‘there seemed
to be 4,000 people
designing one car’...so after
two years he returned home,
fired up by a wish to work
on smaller design projects
and to be a designer who
didn’t make more waste.
‘I found furniture offers a
more manageable scale and
it’s also a very demanding
field because we ask so much
of a piece of furniture. Think
how strong it has to be yet it
should be lightweight and not
cost a lot.’
And his own interest in
using recycled materials led
him to design some
pieces that were met with
such a positive response that
he set up his furniture
business, Reestore, based in
Bedfordshire. It offers singular
pieces of upcycled furniture,
such as the shopping trolley
chair, or the bathtub chaise
Deco mag 8

‘For me,
I define
upcycling
as adding
value through
design.’
Above: jelly moulds are perfect for that industrial
look lampshade. Below right: a pallet box seat
Above: Christmas antlers
made from bits of waste wood
and metal pipe Below: a
plastic bowls, metal swivel legs
and some offcuts of fake grass
and voila, a chair!
longue, pieces which are very
well made. ‘I think a big mistake
people make when upcycling is
to neglect the finish. You need
to sand, you need to paint, you
need to really work on the detail
and if anything, an upcycled
piece requires more meticulous
attention than when working with
new materials.’
McMurdo - who appeared
on Dragon’s Den in 2007 and
came away for 50 grand - has,
though, had to stop taking orders
for Reestore products at the
moment as he’s finding himself a
rising television star - not that he
uses the word star.
He’s appeared with Kirstie
Allsopp on Channel 4’s Fill Your
Home For Free, he has a new
series for Channel 4 coming out
next year, he’s done work for the
Discovery Channel, and he gives
talks at events such as Grand
Designs Live. And he has taken
up an invitation to work with
Sugru, the mouldable glue
people - adding that he told
them he wouldn’t do anything
for them until he’d attached
a teapot to one of his glass
doors using Sugru. If it was
still stuck fast three months
later they’d talk, if it wasn’t,
they wouldn’t. It was.
McMurdo also wants to
help tackle homelessness
and he works with homeless
charity Emmaus, visiting their
shops to show customers
how they can put new life and
style into second-hand
furniture. ‘Though it amuses
me that people often ignore
the G-plan piece and pick up
something plastic...I have to
point out in the right direction!’
Deco mag 9

itish craft
Brilliant British craft!
We’re all going crazy for craft thanks to the
amazing skills of our designer-makers
Above: handmade lampshade by Julia Kilminster
British homes are becoming paeans to fine
craftsmanship, as more of us turn avid
collectors of ceramics, glassware,
woodwork and myriad styles of artwork - all
made by our home-grown designer-makers.
The abundance of craft fairs around the
UK is testament to the thriving craft market
and a visit to any of them shows just how
talented our makers are. Some have trained
at art school, others are self-taught, but the
results are the same: huge diversity, inspiring
quality and professionalism.
Ceramics is very much in the limelight,
thanks to shows such as Ceramic Art
London/York and ceramics are always a
big part of the Handmade in Britain fairs.
Spring Fling in Dumfries & Galloway is a
great place to see Scottish craft, while the
West Country is well served by the Cornwall
Design Fair and the Contemporary Crafts
Festival in Bovey Tracey, Devon. Not to
mention the Craft show at London’s Olympia.
So many craftspeople deserve a mention,
such as ceramicists Adam Frew, Sophie
Cook, Ali Tomlin, Yuta Segawa and Nicola
Tassie; textile and mixed media artist Corinne
Phillipps, glass artist Juli Bolaños-Durman,
and wirework artist Helaina Sharpley.
Top: embroidered
mixed media artwork
by Cornwall-based
Corinne Phillips
Left: ceramics
by Nicola Tassie
Below: glassware by
Juli Bolanos-Durman
Bottom right: Yuta
Segawa’s miniature
ceramic pots
Below, centre:
Lampost by wirework
artist Helaina
Sharpley
Deco mag 10

Deco Promotion
Lüks Linen: ethical, natural affordable luxury
Thick fluffy towels are
delicious but there are
disadvantages to them,
the obvious ones being
their weight and the time
they take to dry.
Which is part of the reason
why Rachel Ward, founder of
Lüks Linen, fell in love with
Turkish peshtemal towels.
She loved their long history
and their practicality: they
were woven for use in the
hammams and so don’t weigh
much and dry very quickly.
For frequent travellers, they
take up very little space in a
suitcase and they can have
many identities - they can
be towels, throws, blankets,
scarves, baby wraps and
picnic blankets, while Ward is
also offering cushion covers
made from peshtemals.
Peshtemals have been
woven on hand-looms in
communities throughout
Turkey for generations,
explains Ward, using
locally-grown cotton. While
this cotton hasn’t been
certified organic, it is
mountain-grown in parts
of the country.
Lüks Linen works with small
family weavers to high ethical
and fair trade standards.
Prices for peshtemal
products are very reasonable,
Above: Lüks Linen cotton peshtemals
come in a wide range of colours, sizes
and weaves, though the most
recognizable is the diamond pattern
starting at £22 for a towel.
Look out for the
distinctive traditional
diamond weave and
you can choose from a
wide variety of colours that
range from subtle neutrals
to stunning jewel brights.
www.lukslinen.com
Deco mag 11

fire retardant chemicals
When you buy a chair, sofa or
mattress, do you think about
the fire retardant chemicals
in the product? More than
likely such a thought never
crosses your mind and if you
do happen to notice the label
saying ‘fire-resistant’ on it you
may well enjoy peace of mind.
But more people are
starting to question the need
for furniture sold in the UK
to be so heavily treated with
flame retardant chemicals,
some of which are highly
toxic - particularly the
brominated ones (BFRs) used
to back-coat upholstery fabric;
so toxic in fact that DecaBDE,
the main BFR for furniture,
been banned in the US and
heavily restricted in the EU.
So UK furniture bought within
the past few years will contain
high levels of DecaBDE.
House fires in the UK are,
mercifully, rare and fires that
start in furniture rarer still - in
the case of the latter it’s fewer
than 50 a year.
The powerful global
chemical industry argues
that it’s FRs that have made
furniture fires such a rarity;
however health lobbyists,
scientists and green
campaigners point to two
other factors which explain
why sofa fires have become
so rare:
*far fewer people smoke
in the UK (it’s around 20 per
cent of the adult population
compared to 75 per cent in
the 1960s) and of those who
do, they tend to smoke
outside rather than in
their homes.
* More than 90 per cent of
UK homes have a fire alarm.
These factors, says Terry
Edge, a former civil servant at
the Dept for Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS),
now the Dept for Business,
Energy & Industrial
Strategy (BEIS) mean it’s time
to re-examine our furniture fire
regulations, which were
introduced in 1988 and
haven’t been revised since.
(Though BEIS does have a
consultation document out for
consideration by industry at
the moment.)
Terry Edge has been a key
driver for change to our fire
regs because for 12 years he
was the lead civil servant on
the Furniture and Furnishings
(Fire) (Safety) Regulations
(FFRs), and his extensive
knowledge has led him to
conclude that:
*we’re being sold
products billed as
fire-safe when they’re not.
* we’re being sold products
that are treated unnecessarily
with very harmful chemicals,
some of which are classed
as neuro-toxic.
‘I believe there is a case for
giving people a choice of
whether to buy furniture that’s
chemically-treated or not,
as happens in the US,’ says
Edge. ‘You can make
furniture fire-safe without
using FR chemicals, though
it would be more expensive
to produce than cheaper
products that are FR treated.
But with the health issues
around FR chemicals, people
should have the information
so they can make a choice.’
Edge says he was made
aware of the risks to human
health posed by FR chemicals
after meeting environmental
health scientist Dr Arlene
Blum who set up the Green
Science Policy Institute in
California in 2008.
She has devoted much of her
career to taking on the
chemical industry in the US
and her research has resulted
in changes to FR laws in the
US and the banning of certain
groups of FR chemicals
from furniture and baby/
children’s products.
‘Arlene’s work has shown how
dangerous FR chemicals are.
Very simply the chemicals
break away from the foam or
fabric and become part of the
dust in the air. The particles
settle on surfaces our homes
and we touch them and ingest
them,’ says Edge. ‘And in the
case of a fire, they emit a
toxic smoke.’
Why do we have FRs?
UK furniture fire regs were
introduced in 1988 in
response to an increase in
house fires attributed to
furniture being filled with
inexpensive and highly
flammable polyeurethane
foam. This foam is a
potential fire hazard if not
FR treated because it melts
rapidly when heated and
becomes a liquid, causing a
fire to reach peak heat release
within 2-3 minutes - the point
at which a fire will ignite
everything, so to speak.
So the government brought
in the FFRs, which remain
the toughest in the world and
comprise three tests for
flammability: - one for fillings
(the CRIB 5 test you may
have heard of) and a ‘match’
and ‘cigarette’ test for
cover fabrics.
And it’s the match test that
Edge is particularly concerned
with because he maintains
until it’s changed, unsafe
furniture will continue to be
sold to consumers.
‘I’m not saying all
chemicals should be
banned from our furniture.
The chemicals used to make
foam less flammable are, on
the whole, not too problematic
regarding toxicity.
‘But the match test and the
cigarette test allowed the
chemical industry to argue
that cheap fabrics used to
cover a piece of furniture
should be back-coated with
FRs and these tend to be
brominated, which are known
to be very dangerous to
health.’
Since 1988 the match test
has involved holding a match
flame to a piece of fabric
wrapped around foam that
has NOT been FR treated. The
flame is held against it for 20
seconds and to pass the test,
any fire should have gone out
within two minutes. With the
cigarette test, any smoulder
should have gone out within
one hour if fabric is to pass
as fire-safe. So in short,
most fabrics will have to
be back-coated with FRs if
they’re to pass the match test,
since they burn easily if you
put a match to them.
Edge says this nearly
30-year-old match test
simply does not achieve
safe furniture and must
be changed.
‘For a start, it’s ridiculous to
test using foam that’s not FR
treated, or combustionmodified
as it’s known in the
trade, because no UK
furniture is made using
untreated foam. And the test
doesn’t take into account that
many furniture makers use a
(usually polyester) fibre wrap
layer between the fabric and
the foam both for comfort and
ease of construction. This
layer makes furniture highly
flammable because it’s not
compressed so it creates a
layer of air which would fan
the flames in case of a fire.
‘The test doesn’t deal with the
known industry problem of FR
undertreatment. So to save
money, fabric will be given a
minimal coating of FRs which
won’t stop the off-gassing
but in the case of a fire, the
FRs don’t do the job they’re
supposed to.
‘The third issue is to do with
Scotchgarding - that
treatment you’re offered with
new furniture that’s supposed
to make it stain-resistant.
Deco mag 12

Fire retardancy
chemicals:
help or hazard?
Former civil servant Terry Edge says the UK
government is ignoring evidence that our
FR tests are not fit for purpose and consumers
are being sold furniture that’s unsafe
Well, Scotchgard is made with
silicon which is highly
flammable, so what you’re
doing with Scotchgard is
adding back chemicals that
make the furniture incredibly
flammable. ...I would definitely
advise people decline
Scotchgard treatment.
New match test could
reduce by half amount
of FRs use on fabrics
Edge worked with product
safety test expert Steve Owen
at independent test house
Intertek to develop a new
match test that would
actually make furniture firesafe
but would mean many
cover fabrics would no longer
need to be back-coated with
BFRs. It would also make
a separate cigarette test
unnecessary duplication.
‘This test would reduce FRs in
cover fabrics by up to 50 per
cent immediately, and
probably to nothing in the
longer run since the test
allows for the use of new
fibres and weaving
technologies to ensure fire
resistance,’ says Edge.
The new test involves
wrapping upholstery fabric
around FR-treated foam
covered with a polyester fibre
wrap cover made to a set
specification. The test closely
replicates today’s furniture
construction methods and
because the foam filling is
treated with FR chemicals,
when the untreated fabric is
ignited, the match flame goes
out when it reaches the foam -
because, says Edge, the FRs
in the foam are doing their job.
Edge says the new test was
itself rigorously tested and
to date no one has come
forward with any technical
objections or reasons why it
doesn’t work: ‘We could be
keeping huge quantities of FR
chemicals out of fabrics used
in the our furniture.
‘The rest of the world does
not have a small flame test for
furniture and you have to ask
yourself why there’s been so
little call for a change to
regulations that haven’t been
revised since 1988.’
It’s a statement of fact that
FRs are worth billions of
pounds to the chemical
industry and the more
products it can persuade
government should be treated
with them, the more money
it makes. So it has a vested
interest in maintaining the
status quo and Edge says
he’s seen at first hand
how it works hard to keep
people on-side.
Its line is always that FRs
save lives by slowing the
development of a fire and
giving people crucial extra
minutes to escape from a
burning building. But Arlene
Blum’s research brings this
assertion into question and
she says it’s toxic smoke from
FRs that kills people in fires.
Terry Edge, who was eased
out of his job in 2014 after
bringing a whistle-blower
case against BIS, says what’s
important for consumers is
health and there should
be more open debate around
the heavy use of chemicals
in products we all have in our
homes that are known to
be harmful to humans - and
the environment. ‘And with
furniture, the picture is very
different today compared to
the ‘80s - when only around
five per cent of people had a
smoke alarm at home.
‘And thanks to the work
of Arlene Blum in the US,
far more is known about the
dangers of FR chemicals.’
LEARN MORE
THE GREEN SCIENCE
POLICY INSTITUTE:
www.greensciencepolicy.org
To read the document on
Intertek’s proposed
changes to the Match Test,
cut and paste this link into
your browser:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/416984/
bis-15-150-technical-annex-systematic-rationale-for-modification-of-the-furniture-furnishings-fire-safety-regulations-in-relation-to-schedule-4-schedule-5.
pdf
FIRA - The (British)
Furniture Industry
Research Association
www.fira.co.uk
CHEM TRUST
www.chemtrust.org.uk
http://terryedge.weebly.com
Deco mag 13

flamingo homewares
Pretty flamingos
‘Flamingo’ has been one of the most widely searched terms on the
John Lewis website this year and sales of all things flamingo have
rocketed. So if flamingos amuse and delight you, we have some
eco-friendly homewares that celebrate this funny and pretty bird
Above: Pretty In Pink, oil on canvas painting by London-based artist Sarah Elder, a former BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year. Sarah loves painting flamingos on her travels
in Africa and she offers high quality prints of her work for £150. She also has her work printed on silk scarves and shawls so you can wear a flamingo with pride.
www.sarahelderart.com
Deco mag 14

Deco mag 13
Top left: Sanderson non-woven Flamingo wallpaper, £57
a roll, printed in UK a roll Top right: Cole & Son Flamingo
wallpaper from its New Contemporary collection, printed
in UK with water-based inks, £77 a roll Centre left: hand
silk-screened flamingo organic cotton teatowel by
Bristol-based Rolfe & Wills, £12, which uses eco friendly
inks Centre right: Flamingo print fabric on 100 per cent
linen by UK fabric house Clarke & Clarke, £19 per metre
Right: flamingo linen cushions, hand-screen printed in UK
by Rapture & Wright, £65 each.
Deco mag 15

Small space chic
Limited space is a price we pay
for living in a big city. So
if you’ve bought yourself a
shoebox, best consult an
interior designer for some
clever and beautiful storage.
Text: Abby Trow
Above: this bedroom was created from a small roof terrace and it has a wall of bespoke wood wardrobes offering plenty of storage. Play Associates was asked to turn
a tiny studio in London into a modern pied-a-terre for a couple whose refurb budget for the whole flat was £50,000.
Rory Macpherson, founder
of interior design studio Play
Associates, was asked to
transform a ‘tiny and
unexciting’ studio in
London’s exciting Notting Hill
into a bijou one-bedroom flat.
The project involved
turning a small roof terrace
into a bedroom and putting in
lots of clever storage. An air
filtration system was also
fitted, reclaimed wood flooring
was installed and FSC-woods,
LED lighting and eco paints
were used throughout.
And before you ask - the
budget for what was a major
renovation job was £50,000.
‘Our brief was to create an
engaging space that makes
small scale living a pleasure,’
says Macpherson, who says
small flats can be a tricky
design challenge and one
where interior designers can
prove invaluable because
their training allows them to
get the most from the space.
‘We had to design
carefully-shaped joinery to
allow as much storage as
possible, while maintaining
an open feeling to what is,
fortunately, a light-filled
apartment.
We also like to give our
clients living space that is
healthy - there’s so much
evidence now about sick
building syndrome - so we
incorporated an air filtration
system to benefit the
wellbeing of our client.
Macpherson explains that
with this flat, a tiny space
became a little less tiny after
the roof terrace was turned
into a bedroom. ‘We did
extend the space by some 60
per cent, from 215 to 350 sq ft
and the flat was transformed
by having a reasonable-sized
separate bedroom.’
Go with the flow
Macpherson says the first
thing to do with any room -
and studio flats are essentially
a room, is to work on the flow.
‘That means deciding what
works best where according
to how people will actually be
living. So you need to think
about how the occupants will
be moving around in a space.’
Storage
Macpherson says storage
is, of course, crucial to
successful small-space living;
however, don’t go overboard:
‘You need to design builtin
storage that looks good
but doesn’t occupy most of
the flat! I urge people not to
Above: the bathroom is small but
perfectly formed with tiled surfaces
and a shower in the bath. It has
wooden cupboards on one all and
a wide wall-hung basin
Deco mag 16

small space design
Right: If you have a small space,
design it with a few stunning pieces.
The kitchen features a sink/workspace
unit housed in a brass frame with a
Marmoreal (an engineered marble)
workop that brings colours to the
space Below, left: the pink wool
upholstered banquette has storage
space under the seat, while the table
top is made from recycled cheeseboards
Below, centre: An alcove is
perfect for a lovely wooden bookcase
with a cupboard underneath Below,
right: the herringbone wood floors are
made from solid reclaimed oak. Find
reclaimed parquet at salvage yards
such as Lassco.
Finishing touches
Artworks by Tania Ling
(www.tanialing.com)
Compact sofa from Heal’s
Normann Copenhagen wool rug,
Menu side table
Flos lamps
overdo it because otherwise
a small flat will become too
boxy and you can’t live well
in it.’
‘And I think small spaces
need art on the walls and
crucially they need good
lighting for different moods.
Macpherson says the
kitchen is the heart of this
home, with clever full-height
integrated FSC-oak veneer
storage along one wall, built
by joiner David Vivian, which
houses a mini Fisher & Paykel
dish-drawer and a fridge/
freezer, as well as offering
plenty of cupboard space.
But what gives the feeling of
being a kitchen rather than a
strip of cupboards is a
beautiful sink/worktop unit
painted dark green that sits in
a brass frame and has a
stunning multi-coloured
Marmoreal worktop - an
engineered marble by
designer Max Lamb
manufactured by
London-based Dzek. The
ceiling and pendant lights
are by Areti.
The flat has a sloping
ceiling and Macpherson
clad it with tongue and groove
timber. ‘If there are quirky
features, it’s best to make
the most of them so they’re
attractive to look at.’ Tongue
and groove can be painted
easily and looks homely, as well
as adding a layer of insulation.
The six-seater dining table,
has a top made from recycled
cheeseboards, while a
bespoke upholstered
banquette has storage
under the seat.
Play Associates use
natural, sustainable and
recycled materials. So the
flat’s herringbone floors are
reclaimed solid oak,
natural paints have been
used throughout and an air
filtration was incorporated
into bespoke partition wall
between the bedroom and the
living space to keep the flat
ventilated with fresh air.
Deco mag 17