House & Garden Guide to Interior Decoration

     Another lucky charity shop find here.  'The House & Garden Guide to Interior Decoration' dates from 1967 (my copy is a 2nd edition from 1969) when the multi-talented Robert Harling was editor. (I really must do a post about him.)  Anyway the book is a wonderful period gem, marvellous in every way, full of strong, confident designs and colours such a contrast to today's bland, safe interiors. Clever and witty too. Below is a small selection - favourites, yes - of a vast array images this fascinating book contains.

House and Garden 1968 I The Conrans at home

Sheer coincidence.  After a couple of posts on Habitat catalogues from the mid-to-late seventies there arrived in yesterday's post the March 1968 edition of 'House and Gardens' (edited by the multi-talented Robert Harling).  Unbeknownst to me when I bought it on ebay - from a lovely seller, who very kindly sent a short, hand-written letter with the magazine: turns out they were a bit of a Conran fan too - the March edition contains a smallish feature on the London town house of the Conrans - Caroline and Terence.  (It had to be an NW postcode didn't it?)  I simply bought the magazine because it (also) features the home of Osbert Lancaster, a bit of a hero of mine.  A real bonus then.  I hope to post some more pictures in the coming weeks - the magazine is such a delight.

No hint of the Conrans on the cover - it shows the Cotswold cottage of Hugh Francis.  No idea of who he is but he does have a lot of taste.

A stinking cold and Robert Harling

Funny how things take you.  I'm siting here, Sunday afternoon, with a stinker of a cold and feeling, at times, bloody miserable.  I've been spending some of my time on the internet - quite a lot of it on Pinterest.  (Yes, I've joined - just after Christmas.  You can find me on www.pinterest.com/somechameleon)  One pin led to another and I found myself back on Ben Pentreath's blog (Do all roads, like Rome, lead there?), looking for the name of a short-lived magazine published in the late forties dedicated to graphic design.  'Alphabet and Image'.  A few more pins led me to a whole host on information on Robert Harling, co-founder of the magazine, including his very lovely house.  And what a remarkable man he was - I'm tempted to call him a renaissance man: designer, journalist, novelist, editor.  Worthy of a more detailed blog when I feel better.  Though it is interesting how our interests develop, become more intense at a particular moment in time.  I had read Mr Pentreath's blog sometime ago, but it was only this afternoon did it bear fruit.