Travel – Danica Interiors

4 shops in Brighton to help you on your way to a Zero Waste lifestyle

Zero Waste.

It’s a term that is being used a lot lately, even I have used it in the past, like when I wrote about the best Zero Waste places to shop online here and about buying sustainable Christmas presents here.

It’s all well and good that there is access to places online, and it is certainly easier in this day and age to buy items and products online. However, if we think about how those items are delivered to us, it still involves shipping from abroad or driving across country, which in turn uses up precious resources. We either rely on convenience when it comes to buying anything for our homes, be it food, personal hygiene or cleaning products that we don’t even think about what it is that is wrapped around these items. The packaging for these items are often at times non recyclable, and end up in landfill or in the oceans, ultimately ending up in our food chain. Animals are being poisoned and dying because of plastic pollution, and it’s thanks to programmes like Blue Planet and Drowning in Plastic that are bringing light and spreading the word on the war against plastic. It’s finally starting to open peoples eyes, though there are still quite a few who unfortunately prefer the convenience of wrapped goods and who, quite frankly, just don’t give a damn about the environment. Which, is just sad and heart breaking. It’s also down to education, not knowing where to go to start living a more eco-conscious life that is preventing consumers from making ethical decisions on what they are buying and how they affect the environment.

It is due to this demand in the market that there are now more options out there to help you on your way to making better decisions. Slowly but surely, some supermarkets are making changes to ensure that they are selling more ethical products to benefit not just their customer but also the environment. However, that is few and far between, as it’s something that will take a long time. In the meantime, there are some actual packaging free shops that are around and have been established for a few years now.

These shops are known as whole food stores or Zero Waste shops. These establishments are basically Greengrocers, like how we used to have years ago before the throw away culture came in to being. Zero Waste and whole food shops specialise in packaging free items and organic foods, things that have not been treated or near harmful chemicals and toxins, and are more better for our health. They also aim to prevent more plastic ending up in landfill and in our oceans, harming wildlife and releasing toxins in to the food system.

So, why Brighton? Well, I was going to visit a friend from University, who recently moved to Brighton. I love Brighton! I love how forward thinking the city is, how they celebrate all walks of life and all the interesting little independent shops they have. It’s because of this that I was interested in seeing if they had any local Zero Waste shops. The night before I drove down, I had a little look online to see if they did have nay shops, and I was pleasantly surprised! When I got to my friend’s, I mentioned these stores to them, as one was literally just down her road. Thankfully, she is like me and wants to make better decisions and help save the planet with her choices, so she also wanted to check these places out with me!

I also wanted to explore these places, incase some of you guys and girls did not know about them and may want to check them out when you next visit Brighton, or were also thinking of relocating to the city and needed to know where you can go for your fresh and packaging free shopping needs!

Infinity Foods

(Image credit: Happy Cow)

This shop is one of my absolute favourites! I’ve visited it before and I could spend an hour browsing the shelves, perusing the isles of products they provide and blow my entire month salary on bits and bobs… Or food.

(My own images)

It made me giddy to see they have a whole selection of packaging free and eco-friendly items for sale that were made from natural ingredients, eco-conscious, cruelty free and vegetarian or vegan. I got lost in the sniffing of shampoo bars, toothbrush powders (yes, it is a real thing!) and squealing over refillable household cleaning solutions. And, of course, scanning the food shelves for anything tasty. I think my friend might have thought I has lost my mind. It’s just that, sadly, we don’t have this in my local town or local Sainsbury’s.

(My own image)

Now, Infinity Foods are far from perfect, as there are some things that were for sale that were not recyclable due to what the packaging was made from, for example crisp packets, plastic tubs and wrapped foods. But, even though this is the case, they are doing a lot more than most of our local and major supermarkets are in the war against plastic. You can find out more about Infinity Foods here.

Down To Earth

(My own image)

The next day we visited the other 3 zero waste shops. We took a walk down the road from her flat towards a shop called Down to Earth. Down to Earth is a tiny little store that is completely vegetarian. It stocks loose vegetables from local farms, has refillable jars of pulps and grains as well as household cleaning products.

(My own image)

The majority of it’s bath, body and cosmetics items were also cruelty free, however they weren’t as packaging free as I thought it would be. Again, this isn’t that bad, they are actively trying to be, which is more than can be said for supermarket chains! I really liked Down to Earth, it was tiny bit mighty and has a great message! I love that they have reusable metal water bottles from companies that donate some of it’s profits to helping clean up the oceans. You can find out more about Down to Earth on their websites here.

(My own image)

My friend and I ventured in to Brighton centre again but closer to the train station towards Brighton Open Market. It was in here that we came across some cute little stores, cafe’s and restaurants.

Wastenot

(My own images)

It is in the Open Market where the next Zero Waste shop is located. This shop is called Wastenot. Wastenot has only eco-friendly, recyclable packaging or items that come with no packaging at all. I also love the bare, stripped back, exposed wood look they’ve gone for inside the shop.

(My own images)

One of the things I love is that they take in people’s old jars and encourage their customers to use those jars for their refills.

(My own image)

They had shelves full of refillable jars where you can fill up your own containers and restock your cupboards at home in a sustainable way!

(My own images)

They also had some hygiene products available, including a bamboo and stainless steel razor! They stocked some Faith in Nature soap bars, which is vegan and cruelty free!

(My own image)

Like the other zero waste stores, they also have refillable bays where you can refill your plastic bottles with cleaning products for your home.

(My own images)

In the centre of the shop they had a freestanding island that displayed some reusable straws, food wraps, bags, baskets and cups. For a market store that was so small, it was very well stocked with items and products that were completely packaging free! I thought it was very impressive and efficient.

How It Should Be (HISBE)

(My own image)

HISBE is a really big and edgy zero waste store. It’s exactly like how a Greengrocer used to be, except it’s more modern and appeals to a younger audience. Their branding and identity style looks very similar to that of Interior Designer and mumprenuer Sarah Akwisombe and her No Bull Business School.

(My own images)

Majority of the vegetables were plastic wrap free! It was so refreshing to see copious amounts of different variety of kale lining the shelves without being confined by packaging! You could easily stock up on all the vegetables you’d need for any dishes for the next couple of weeks here without having to worry about filling up landfills with plastic and non recyclable items.

(My own images)

Now this is a bulk buying station I can really get behind! HISBE had bay upon bay of loose ingredients that you could bulk buy in your own containers and weigh up how much it is, minus the weight of your jar or container. This often ends up being cheaper than buy the packaged goods! They had everything you could want or need, from lentils, beans, nuts, seeds and dried fruits to pasta, rice, cereals and spices. It is honestly amazing how much they had for you to choose from!

(My own images)

Of course, they also had refilling bays for your washing up liquids and cleaning solutions. At the back of store there is this reclaimed wood decorated wall with pumps and taps where you can fill up your empty bottles with household cleaning products, as well as a little butcher’s table where some laundry detergent bottles are waiting to be used. All of the cleaning products on display are cruelty free and eco-friendly! And, just in case you didn’t already have your own environmentally friendly and natural cleaning products, they have some new bottles that are already filled on display for you to buy and try out at home. The bottles are recyclable, however once you’ve used it all up, you can come back in to the store to refill them. It’s a win win!

(My own images)

As well as household cleaning products, they also had personal hygiene items for sale and they are all, for the most part, packaging free. Even if it wasn’t, the packaging itself is recyclable or reusable in some way or another, with the exception of the every now and then plastic wrap. Again, they aren’t perfect, but they are damn close!

(My own images)

As mentioned above, HISBE does stock some products that are packaged. It is still difficult to completely avoid plastic in some cases, however they do try their hardest to not have any items with it included in the packaging. They stock freshly baked bread that is both with and without plastic packaging. There are also glass bottles of sauces and cooking oils as well as tins of fruit and vegetables. Boxes of tea and coffee, you get the picture! And it’s all organic or responsibly sourced.

(My own images)

What I loved about this shop most of all was that they proudly support local businesses! Along their shelves they had different products available to buy from local farms and establishments, such as glass bottles of sauces from the Brighton Chilli Shop and also bottles of Brighton Gin. I’m a massive gin lover, so there’s no surprise there that I spotted these bottles so high up. That, and the fact that they were so brightly coloured really drew my eye to them. Each individual gin bottle had one of the colours of the rainbow on them as well as a letter that, I’m assuming, spells out the word Brighton. The B was missing from the line up and instead it spelt “Right On”. I thought this was actually quite clever, whether it was intentional or not. The rainbow colour show support for Gar Pride but the Right On also possibly indicates that love is love is love or that being eco friendly is the way to go, or it just simply was missing the B that spells out Brighton. I read in to things way too much, so that latter could just be the case. Either way, it’s AWESOME!

The Haul

That’s right. I was suckered in to buying a few pieces for myself to take home. I mean, I had to! I am guilty of not always having a reusable bag ready whenever I pop in to the shops even just to buy myself some lunch, let alone an actual proper food shop or clothes shopping. So, I thought it was time to buy things that would help me when I go shopping for loose produce.

(My own image)

Of course, I could not resist going in to Lush to get a few bits and pieces. They weren’t even for me! I got them for my boyfriend, who I introduced to their products a few years ago and now he is as obsessed as I am! You might be thinking that they aren’t zero waste, but they are! In case you did not know this, Lush’s pots are recyclable. They have a policy where if you bring in 5 empty Lush pots, whether they are the black ones or the clear ones, you get a free face mask and the pots that you return to them go back to their manufacturing facilities to be recycle and made in to new pots. This means that is isn’t mixed with any other materials and it won’t become a lesser product. It follows the cradle to cradle ideals! In addition to this, Lush also sell a lot of products that are zero waste and packaging free. You can find out more about what Lush are doing to be zero waste here.

I got myself a couple of small cotton netted bags from Turtle Bags to use when I got to the supermarket and buy loose produce, a solid shampoo bar by Friendly Soap, Georganics Natural Toothpowder and a Mooncup from Infinity Foods. One of the small organic Turtle bags to my boyfriend as well for when he goes to the shops.

When I visited HISBE, I got two more Turtle Bags but these were bigger and looked more like shopping bags. Turtle Bags have been around since 2001, spreading awareness of how harmful plastic bags have become to the environmental and wildlife. They created their own shopping bags made from fair trade and organic cotton, and a lot of their profit goes towards spreading awareness and creating opportunities for disadvantaged producers. You can find out more about Turtle Bags here. They also make beautiful tote and canvas bags from recycled materials as well which also look really fashionable! Keep up the good fight, Turtle Bags!

I’m hoping that by buying these products, it will help influence me to continue to be more selective with what I am buying and bringing in to my home and that it will really get me to think about the products end life or how I impact the environment with my consumerism.

What do you think of these stores? Have you been to them before? What are you doing to be more eco friendly at home? Have you got any tips on how to be more zero waste? I’d love to hear what you guys are doing or how you tackle the war on plastic everyday! Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!

I hope this post has been insightful and has helped anyone that hasn’t started yet know that it’s easy once you know where to look around and see where you can source things to be packaging free. Slowly but surely there are more shops opening up across the UK in cities that are being more ethical and sustainable with the items they sell which helps spread more awareness. I know it’s a long way off before everyone goes plastic free, but if we take a step forward each day and make conscious decisions when purchasing our food and other necessities, we can make a huge difference! Not just for our homes, but for wildlife, for sealife, for our oceans, our land, our planet, our one and ONLY home, and for the future of our children, our grandchildren and the future generations to come. In the words of Sir David Attenborough:

“Never before have we been so aware of what we are doing to our planet – and never before have we had such power to do something about it.” – Sir David Attenborough

Speak to you all soon!

Danica x

December 18, 2018December 17, 2018 by Danica

Keep: Zero Waste Shop in Farnham!

Sign in the main café of Okomoko.

A Zero Waste shop has opened up not too far away from where I live! Keep is a packaging free, eco friendly and sustainable shop that started out at a local market in Godalming and has now set up permanent residence in a 100% plant based café Okomoko on Downing Street in Farnham.

View of zero waste and cruelty free personal and house cleaning products.

They’ve set up shop in one of the rooms upstairs inside Okomoko and I love what they have done with the small space they’ve got to play with. Now don’t get me wrong, this room is bigger than my own bedroom, but they’ve managed to fit a lot in there which is more than enough for their customers and what they need!

Any plastic bags they do have, they allow customers to take home to use as bin bags, which is still finding a use for them!

I got to meet the owner and founder of Keep, and had a lovely chat with her about her shop and how she came to source her loose ingredients. I’ve always been curious as to how zero waste shops source their bulk foods and she was kind enough to show me her stock cupboard. I can confirm that all their bulk buying foods come in big potato sack or material bags!

Shelf with loose ingredients in jars on display, ready for customers to bulk buy in their own containers.

What’s fantastic about this shop is how they’ve decorated the room with items that are second hand, recycled or reclaimed. Nothing was bought brand new, and that really is in keeping with the message they want to send out to their customers. The huge display cabinet was already part of Okomoko’s furniture, however the white shelves and the repurposed ladder-shelf are all their own that they’ve sourced elsewhere.

There is something so satisfying about their display of loose goods, where you can scoop the food and ingredients you need in to your own jar or container, then have the staff weigh them for you on their scale at the centre island/counter of the room.

Tons of eco friendly homeware products on display.

In one corner of the room they have homeware goods that you can use in the home, as well as for on the go. They had a natural wicker carpet beater, straw baskets and bowls, pottery and ceramics from a local ceramicist, bamboo and stainless steel straws, coconut bottle brushes, bamboo dish brushes, rice bran organic food wraps, coffee cups and all sorts for your every day needs at home or for when you are out and about. They even had charcoal filters that you can put inside your reusable water bottles to filter your water.

My own ecoffee reusable bamboo cup with William Morris’ Strawberry Thief pattern.

I noticed that their coffee cups were all the William Morris range and I even spotted the exact same one that I bought from Amazon with Morris’ Strawberry Thief pattern on it. I absolutely love this cup and use it whenever I can, even at work! It’s made from Bamboo fibres, is dishwasher safe and is great for when you are commuting to and from work. It comes with a little tap that slots in to the drinking hole, to prevent it from spilling. Ecoffee Cups have a range of different patterns, so fear not if you aren’t a William Morris fan or if floral patterns and motifs are just not your thing. You can even get a plain coloured one, they cater to everyone!

Shelves filled with large bottles of cleaning products with pumps attached to them, perfect for customers to come in and refill any of their own bottles with the cleaning liquids they need.

It is great to see that in another corner of the room, they had a refilling station for your laundry detergent, washing up liquid, floor cleaner, etc. The list goes on for how many different cleaning products they have for the home. They also had cleaned out plastic water bottles that you could buy and use to refill with the cleaning liquids, another way how they are using plastic for another purpose instead of just chucking them away and clogging up the already full landfills.

A second hand wooden ladder that’s been repurposed in to a shelf is a fantastic idea and it look incredible with the different personal hygiene items on display.

Along the right hand side wall is this gorgeous repurposed ladder that has been turned in to a shelf. It displays an array of different personal hygiene products. These include solid shampoo bars, conditioner bars, organic reusable cotton make up removing pads, bamboo toothbrushes, stone soap dishes for the bathroom, cream deodorants in glass jars, the list goes on! So many choices and it was lovely to see they have my new favourite solid shampoo bar from Friendly Soap for sale, too! All the soaps smells incredible and I’m sure the ladies thought I was a bit weird going around sniffing all the soaps, but I can’t help myself! To the right of this ladder is another shelving unit with cards, postcards and items from local crafters and also a basket of wooden cotton reels for sewing machines! It’s great to see that Keep are promoting local artists and crafters. Okomoko is a very community based cafe and they often source their food from local resources, farmers and bakeries to sell and promote to their customers and it’s fantastic that Keep are doing the same!

Keep is the first completely Zero Waste and packaging free shop that I have been to and I am very impressed with everything they’ve done and how far they have come! If you are ever in Farnham, I highly recommend that you go and check both Keep and Okomoko out for both shopping and to try out the plant based food that is prepared fresh on site.

Bag designed and made by the insanely talented textile designer Ali Cottrell, and my mini haul from Keep: bamboo straw, bamboo toothbrush, stainless steel straw and natural rice bran and cotton reusable food wraps.

Now, you know the drill. I can’t seem to go in to any of these shops without buying something. However, I didn’t buy anything for just myself, I actually bought things for other people! I’ve decided that I’m going to be making some of my loved ones their Christmas presents this year, which will be themed around going as plastic free as possible, but that is for another blog post for another time. I did buy this stainless steel straw for myself and it was the last one they had left! I can’t wait to try out the food wraps and the steel straw!

You can follow Keep and their journey and progress on instagram here. Also follow their Facebook page!

What do you guys think? Have you been to visit Okomoko and Keep yet? Is there any packaging free shops near you you’d think I’d love and want me to check out or write about? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day everyone! x

December 7, 2018December 7, 2018 by Danica

Surface Design Show 2018: My Top Picks

Last week I went to the Surface Design Show 2018 in London at the Business Design Centre. I like going to exhibits or trade shows to see what companies and manufacturers are creating in the interior and architecture worlds, to see what is in trend, to find out about new materials, inventions and technologies, colours, textures, and I also love to see how they display these wonderful surface designs and ideas!

Surface Design Show inside the Business Design Centre, Islington, London
(My own image)

This was my second year going to the Surface Design Show, and I did find that it was a lot of the same companies that displayed last year, which is not a bad thing! It means it’s great for that business, that they are so popular that they can exhibit again and grow their customer base or catch up with any existing customers and clients in person.

There were also some that I didn’t recognise from last year, which was cool to see and refreshing. With all that in mind and without further delay, below are my favourite displays and exhibitors from Surface Design Week and why!

Innerspace

Innerspace Stand
(My own image)

Innerspace is a family run and independent company from Cheshire that create interesting, innovative, textural and stunning hard surface materials to be used in interior spaces, be it offices, restaurants or hotels.

Close up of wall panels
(My own image)

This display was by far my favourite, and I’m guessing you can already see why! I had a lovely chat with their managing director, Richard, who designed the display. We talked about the display and the work they do. The display was designed by Richard and inspired by the work of artist Charlie Edmiston, with it’s geometric shapes in the different finishes and materials the company makes, which makes it truly eye-catching from any level in the Business Design Centre and a perfect homage to Edmiston’s bright, juxtaposing paintings.

Tile sized samples of the different wall panels and wallpapers they produce
(My own images)

They had these little samples out of their panels that can be installed at any size the client desires, some with coloured wood, hay, moss and even dried flowers. I asked about the moss and flowers, and Richard explained to me about how they are preserved. They dry out the moss and flowers, but they preserve them with non toxic chemicals and keep them bright and colourful with food safe dyes (so essentially food colouring) which is just amazing! This way it is sustainable and eco friendly, and you know that you aren’t exposing yourself to harmful ingredients or toxins with these installed in your office, restaurant or home. I loved that this display was so interactive, where customers and clients can really feel, look at, pick up and mix and match the samples to get some ideas for their spaces. This is something that’s really important when exhibiting at a show like this and Innerspace definitely delivered!

Playing around with samples
(My own image)

I couldn’t help myself and started playing around with their samples that were out on the table there and then, creating a scheme in my head and looking at how these different materials could work together. It made me seriously consider having a moss feature wall or even a small board for my room. They can make these panels in a tile format so that it’s easy to install and you can mix and match with the different materials they have to offer, to create a unique design on your wall, or they can even create rolls of the hay and wood surfaces for even easier application if you wanted a whole wall of it, which is also then better for the environment as it’s using less materials but will still have the same effect as having solid wood on the walls. Find out more about Innerspace on their website!

Finsa

Finsa Stand
(My own image)

Another display that was eye catching! It was made entirely out of MDF! This MDF shown by Finsa is called Superpan, which has a chipboard core, allowing it to be able to carry a lot of weight, making this material perfect for kitchen cabinets, chairs, tables, counter tops, stairs and even floors and ceilings! Very impressive!

Table top, plate and cutlery made out of laser cut MDF
(My own image)

Finsa had a table and kitchen set on display that was made out of the same material. The whole stand was designed as if it were someone’s home, which you could then interact with and explore through virtual reality! I’ve never done virtual reality before, not even in gaming, so I thought I’d give it a try. It was pretty genius! You could see what colours and finishes the MDF could be produced in. This material can be used in a variety of different interior spaces such as offices, residential, third spaces, used for doors, in vehicles and in retail design. They offer alternative finishes on top of the MDF boards such as melamine, laminates and veneers.

Find out more about Finsa here.

Petrus

Petrus Stand
(My own images)

These concrete tiles in Petrus’ display really caught my attention, especially in these colours! They’re so gorgeous and I love that you can see a bit of texture where the concrete dried with a few air bubbles in them.

Close up of concrete wall tiles
(My own images)

Another thing I found amazing about these tiles is how 3 dimensional they are. Petrus have a whole range of tiles that are different shapes, sizes, colours and designs. Some have lines carved in to them, some have raised geometric shapes that create shadows and pick up on lighting in interesting ways, creating dimension and variety. Find out more about Petrus here.

Tile of Spain

Tile of Spain Stand
(My own images)

I automatically fell in love with this display. I went to Spain back in October 2017 for the first time ever and loved seeing all the different tile designs they had in the towns I visited, so this display really called out to me!

Different Spanish tiles on display at Tile of Spain
(My own images)

Tile of Spain had lots of different tile companies from Spain exhibiting within the space, full of a variety of different styles, shapes, colour combinations, textures, 3-dimensional elements and patterns to look at. The companies on display are listed below:

Cas Ceramica
Ceramica Elias
Cevica
Dune
El Barco
Equipe Ceramica
Harmony By Peronda
Roca
Zirconio
ZYX by Colorker

There were so many different tiles in the space that I couldn’t pick a favourite as they were all so stunning! Find out more about Tile of Spain here.

Pintark

Set up inside Pintark Stand
(My own images)

The whole of Pintark’s display was covered with panels and boards of upholstered shapes in leather and other fabrics, mixed with metals and veneers. The detail in some of their designs was amazing, like the fan shaped leather covered tiles, each had their own colour combinations and quilted or embossed patterns on them which could create a really unique and visually contrasting wall.

Different displays of materials and surface displays by Pintark
(My own images)

It’s fantastic how they have taken these materials and thought of new or inventive ways to use them, such as combining metal, leather and wood to create a tessellating triangular and geometric wall-cover design, or creating a lighting panel with the same materials in a honeycomb pattern. I also love the large rose artwork they created out of small bits of rolled up mixed colour fabrics and split them up on to separate tiles, creating something that could be a stand alone art piece in anyone’s home. Find out more about Pintark here.

Treniq

Treniq Stand
(My own image)

Treniq is like the Facebook and pinterest of the Interior Design world. An international social network for professionals in the industry, where you can build relationships and make connections with other designers as well as find furniture and products to use in your projects. You can find out more about Treniq here.

Timber Terrazzo, Coffee Grounds Bowl & Mushroom Mycellium
(My own images)

Though I found that all really interesting, what fascinated me the most was the range of materials, surface designs and products they had on display that showcased new inventions and technologies in the product design industry, especially the products that were sustainable and made from recycled materials. A terrazzo made from left over bits of timber, a bowl made out of old ground coffee beans and a materials made out of mushrooms and plant fibres!? How cool is that!? I thought these were so clever and amazing! Click the images to enlarge and find out more about what these materials are made out of!

Faux tiles, planks and panels made from recycled or mixed materials
(My own image)

They had tons of things on display, such as magnetic putty, glass fibre concrete, recycled plastic that looks like wooden planks, eco-friendly panels made from combined newspaper, cardboard and office/forest waste products, there was so much to look at or fan girl over. Find out more about them in the pictures below!

Glass Fibre Concrete slab, Environmental Composite Panel, Recycled Plastic plank, fused and recycled Glass and Ceramic silicastone and Magnetic Putty.
(My own images)

There it is! My top picks from the Surface Design Show. Did you go to the show? If so, did you see any of these on display? What did you think? What were your favourite designs or displays this year? Comment below!

Have a great week everyone!

Danica x

February 15, 2018February 15, 2018 by Danica

Upcycled Hour Live: Brighton, July 2016

I got the opportunity to help out at Upcycled Hour Live design fair in Brighton! It was fantastic and right in the city centre!

The fair was held at the Brighton Unitarian Church next to the Pavilion Gardens and was filled with eclectic and interesting upcycled pieces handmade by professional designer makers.

I was very excited to work this design fair because Zoe from Muck N’ Brass was displaying her furniture pieces there and she is one of my idols! I also got to meet Charis Williams from the tv series “Kirstie Allsopp’s Fill Your House For Free”, yet another one of my interior design and DIY influences, who decided to visit the fair.

I loved all the different styles and pieces that were there, like these industrial lights made out of old bicycles, copper pipes and mannequins, along with knitted lampshades! These lights are designed by Janer Designs, find more awesome lights like these on their website: http://www.janerdesigns.co.uk

How clever is this!? Using your old pairs of jeans as upholstery! This has definitely inspired me to try this technique out on one of my next projects!

Jo from Reclaimed & Reloved displayed some truly beautiful pieces of furniture. I just love those elephant lamps! (I was lucky enough to see them in person before they became lights.)

These are a few more of my favourite picks form the show.

I really enjoyed myself and loved helping out. If you missed this show, do not fear! There are plans for another Upcycled Hour Live show in London and up North!

To be sure that you don’t miss out next time, head on over to http://www.upcycledhour.co.uk for more information and updates.

If you are a designer maker that loves upcycling or someone that is a fan and is looking for inspiration, why not become part of the Upcycled Hour community and join in with all the fun on twitter! Every Tuesday evening at 8pm, members of the Upcycled Hour family tweet about their current projects or contribute to themed topics by using the hashtag #UpcycledHour

Upcycled Hour was created by Chris Billinghurt of Upcycled Homes, where hundreds of professionals have built a community to inspire each other and spread their love for saving the planet.

I hope you enjoyed this post and got a few new ideas for any future upcycle projects! I know I have!

Thank you for reading!

Danica x

August 26, 2016September 5, 2017 by Danica

Spirit of Summer 2016

I was very fortunate enough to help out and gain some work experience at the Spirit of Summer fair at the Olympia London. I got to help out at an amazing artist and designers stall.

Her name is Anna Jacobs, a trained artist and her homeware products are stunning. I was very lucky to be able to work with someone so talented! It’s no surprise that I would fall in love with her pieces, being a colour lover. You can find more of her products on her online shop here.

I got to have a wander round on my lunch break to see what else was on display and it was very inspiring! I loved the wide range of homeware and furniture products as well as clothing that was available to buy.

Straight away Holy Cow Home LTD’s stall across the way caught my eye, with it’s eclectic, bohemian style and bright colours. I really wanted one of those umbrellas and the patchwork armchair!

This stall was absolutely gorgeous, covered all over with beautiful flowers. Just look at that swan!

This stall displayed some wonderful glass pieces, which were all made from recycled glass!

I never knew this design fair existed until I was asked to work it. It was so inspirational, exciting and fun, and I hope to do it again one day, whether it’s helping out again or with my own stall.

If you’ve never been to the Spirit of Summer fair, make sure you attend next year as I’m sure there will be plenty more to do and see!

Thank you for reading!

Danica x

August 22, 2016September 5, 2017 by Danica

The Crystal: London

Hello everyone, I am back! It’s been a pretty tough term so I apologise for not keeping this blog updated. I promise to try and keep you more updated with all things Interior Design in my life.

I have just finished a Sustainability assignment for my optional unit at University where we have to design and brand a sustainable café. As part of this assignment we, as a class, visited The Crystal in London, which is a 100% Sustainable building owned by Siemens across the Thames from the O2 Arena. This was a very insightful and interesting visit. I’ve always been passionate about reusing, recycling, upcycling and sustainability and caring about the environment and planet so it was a no brainer that I chose this subject as my optional unit.

The Crystal

To no surprise, the building itself was designed to look like a crystal, with the roof slanting in different directions and angles, ensuring the building is self shading from the direction in which the sun rises and sets over it. All of the outdoor walls are made of triple insulated glass, to add extra insulation. The structure itself is made of metal beams which can all be reused.

Along the top of the roof are solar thermal panels and solar panels for electricity and heating. Rain water collecting system are used to filter rain water through a black water filtration system so that they can use the rain water for bathrooms and taps. The rain water that is filtered, however, is not drinkable.

I loved this living plant wall made of moss and soil breeze block styled bricks. This is a key element in biophillic interior and architectural design. I’ll do another blog post on Biophilia and how you can bring more of nature in to your home or space to create a healthier indoor environment.

They also had displays about water and how only 0.75% of it is actually drinkable, which I found fascinating. There were displays on energy from wind turbines and pavement slabs that absorb movement and convert it in to energy.

There were a lot of interactive displays as well. One display had bicycles attached to a screen which you can go on and see how much power you produce and what type of machinery you can operate with that energy.

A couple of other interactive displays were one where you try and build a sustainable city on a budget over the next 25 years, and another is to build a Grade A sustainable house, office or apartment using renewable resources and responsibly sourced materials as well as fixtures.

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The café was less interesting in terms of design, however the idea behind it is fantastic. All of their food is locally sourced from local farmers and suppliers and it’s all organic and free range. All the cakes and sweet treats are baked on site and they also had great recycling stations or bins where you separate everything: recyclables, food and liquid. Behind the bin is a real life plant display to help improve indoor air quality.

Everything about this building and their ideas and concepts really inspired me and a learned a lot for my project.

Afterwards, me and two of my class mates decided to take a trip on the Emirates cable car across the Thames towards the O2 arena. This was so much fun, even if we did scream as we got to the highest part and the wind blew, causing our car to rock a bit.

Thank you for reading and I hope this inspires or informed you a bit on sustainability and being ecofriendly. More blog posts to come on the café I designed for my Sustainability project.

Danica x

February 16, 2016September 5, 2017 by Danica

Zero Waste.

(Image credit: Happy Cow)

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Sign in the main café of Okomoko.

View of zero waste and cruelty free personal and house cleaning products.

Any plastic bags they do have, they allow customers to take home to use as bin bags, which is still finding a use for them!

Shelf with loose ingredients in jars on display, ready for customers to bulk buy in their own containers.

Tons of eco friendly homeware products on display.

My own ecoffee reusable bamboo cup with William Morris’ Strawberry Thief pattern.

Shelves filled with large bottles of cleaning products with pumps attached to them, perfect for customers to come in and refill any of their own bottles with the cleaning liquids they need.

A second hand wooden ladder that’s been repurposed in to a shelf is a fantastic idea and it look incredible with the different personal hygiene items on display.

Bag designed and made by the insanely talented textile designer Ali Cottrell, and my mini haul from Keep: bamboo straw, bamboo toothbrush, stainless steel straw and natural rice bran and cotton reusable food wraps.

Surface Design Show inside the Business Design Centre, Islington, London (My own image)

Innerspace Stand (My own image)

Close up of wall panels (My own image)

Tile sized samples of the different wall panels and wallpapers they produce (My own images)

Playing around with samples (My own image)

Finsa Stand (My own image)

Table top, plate and cutlery made out of laser cut MDF (My own image)

Petrus Stand (My own images)

Close up of concrete wall tiles (My own images)

Tile of Spain Stand (My own images)

Different Spanish tiles on display at Tile of Spain (My own images)

Set up inside Pintark Stand (My own images)

Different displays of materials and surface displays by Pintark (My own images)

Treniq Stand (My own image)

Timber Terrazzo, Coffee Grounds Bowl & Mushroom Mycellium (My own images)

Faux tiles, planks and panels made from recycled or mixed materials (My own image)

Glass Fibre Concrete slab, Environmental Composite Panel, Recycled Plastic plank, fused and recycled Glass and Ceramic silicastone and Magnetic Putty. (My own images)

Surface Design Show inside the Business Design Centre, Islington, London
(My own image)

Innerspace Stand
(My own image)

Close up of wall panels
(My own image)

Tile sized samples of the different wall panels and wallpapers they produce
(My own images)

Playing around with samples
(My own image)

Finsa Stand
(My own image)

Table top, plate and cutlery made out of laser cut MDF
(My own image)

Petrus Stand
(My own images)

Close up of concrete wall tiles
(My own images)

Tile of Spain Stand
(My own images)

Different Spanish tiles on display at Tile of Spain
(My own images)

Set up inside Pintark Stand
(My own images)

Different displays of materials and surface displays by Pintark
(My own images)

Treniq Stand
(My own image)

Timber Terrazzo, Coffee Grounds Bowl & Mushroom Mycellium
(My own images)

Faux tiles, planks and panels made from recycled or mixed materials
(My own image)

Glass Fibre Concrete slab, Environmental Composite Panel, Recycled Plastic plank, fused and recycled Glass and Ceramic silicastone and Magnetic Putty.
(My own images)