Posts tagged colporter

I go through phases of being obsessed with certain houses I have seen online or in magazines. I revisit the picture or website and examine it. Repeatedly.

You may recall the Annabel’s House obsession. Finding the website 1st-option.com was the worst thing that could have happened to a stalker like me. Anyway, there is a new house on it. It may even trump Annabel’s. I think there must be some connection between the two as the style is remarkably similar. Maybe Abi is also a house stalker like me.

So here is a link to it in its full glory. And here are some of my favourite kitchen pictures reproduced from 1st option with a bit of a commentary…

I really hanker after some horizontal panelling. I like that it is a twist on the traditional tongue and groove. Taking inspiration from New England clapboard but working so well as a foil for edgier vintage finds. It gives a depth to the kitchen. Much more homely than bare walls, not as fussy as wallpaper. 

I have quite a bit of train memorabilia and the Station Sign with industrial lighting and school radiators is a look I really love. Get in touch if you require any help sourcing Industrial lights. I have a stash about to be refurbished.

Could this room be any more up my street?

Painted kitchen, exposed shelving and more vintage loveliness. This is the perfect kitchen diner to me. Everything on hand. Both practical and pretty. Thumbs up.

We will have a pantry in our new house, yay. I will definitely take some inspiration from Abi’s. Love the simple shaker shelving and light stone worktop.

How original not to have the side return window used as a second kitchen entrance. So clever. I have never seen this but it has to catch on. It still allows light to flood into the original rear reception and is stylish and ever so useful. I love the 7 up and Pepsi crates. Colporter had loads of these until Ben snaffled them all up for Ben’s Canteen.

Kitchens are now more than just a place to cook or eat, they are where the kids do their homework, Mum or Dad work on a laptop etc. A space to sit and relax is also now essential. And doesn’t this work a treat.

I could go on and on about this house but I will save the other rooms for another post.

So TOTA has opened, finally! Now most people have had a few weeks opportunity to visit themselves I can blog about the design and branding.

So how did we go from this…

and this…

to this…

Let’s start at the beginning, how did Colporter get this gig? Well it is all thanks to this blog. This time last year I blogged about Tooting and what I love about it. Someone posted that blog to Streetlife where Victoria and Gary (The TOTA owners) read it. Victoria had never read a blog before but got a bit sucked in and read back through my archive of posts. She decided that we had a similar aesthetic and that she would get in touch to talk about the interior of their planned restaurant.

My husband and I went to have a dinner, cooked by Gary of course, where they told us the plan to bring a neighbourhood restaurant to Tooting. We were so excited to get some Tooting goss, let alone to get the job to pin a design down.

Many coffees and Pinterest boards later I came up with a mood board which had to try to marry up two people’s needs and wants for the restaurant. Victoria fancied a smart Farrow and Ball paint job but Gary wanted industrial, urban, warehousey feel.

What about budget? What about living with some parts of the unit from the Spice Lounge days? All considerations. And when would the lease exchange. It came in handy on occasion that I am also a property lawyer as well as an interiors addict!

Working from the outside in.

TOTA Exterior

We knew from day 1 this place had to have major kerb appeal. Tartine is nearby and nice looking, but the rest of the block is a bit bland and we wanted to stand out. We had to “arrive” in style. The vital ingredients were as follows:

1.  Smart logo
2.  Wow Factor shopfront and paint job
3.  Upper floors to match
4.  Window boxes
5.  Awning
6.  Black and white tiles.

Check out my little pen and ink drawing on the mood board. Spookily like how we ended up.

TOTA Main Restaurant

Lighting plays a big part in TOTA. Gary loves factory lighting so I took him off hunting for vintage goodness at my favourite antiques markets.

I got them rewired and now they look like this.

Mixed in with some smaller french disc pendants and some bare bulbs on different coloured flexes and spot lighting. And the “chandelier” we had “Mark the Spark” make us.

Floor

We wanted a stripped wooden floor but as Spice Lounge had a perfectly serviceable, albeit cherry wood, engineered wood floor we thought we might be able to make do and paint it grey. As luck would have it the builders noticed that the original floor was underneath, intact up to the bar where it was a patch of concrete. We kept both, the concrete although rough and a bit unfinished looking is industrial and therefore right up our street!

Walls

As with the floor, the strip out revealed some cool original features…the red wall, the green steel and the bare brick wall. Playing right into the Industrial Brief!

Seating

Tolix Style Chairs are having a moment. Comfortable and complementing the look, I sourced these reproductions from a contact I use for some of my vintage stock.

The Banquette seating pulls the scheme together in a modern vibrant green colour but traditional chesterfield style.

Bathroom

So glad we decided these loos were not liveable withable. I have seen worse but the new ones are much more TOTA.

Continuing the accents of green in the lighting and seating, the tongue and groove in the bathroom is Calke Green from Farrow and Ball with the Limehouse crackle retro metro tile from Tons of Tiles. Yes, we know metro tiles are ubiquitous but we all loved them and they are so reminscent of Tooting Broadway and the Northern line we just had to!

The F and the M signs on the loo doors are from the wonderful vintage website The Vintage Wall and from an early numberplate from a vintage car. The Men’s mirror is from a little boutique I know*. The Ladies’ mirror bought on a Colporter antiquing trip with Victoria.

*that is my euphemism for TK Maxx. 

The Bar

The mood board and our Pinterest Board had an image of a bar that Gary just loved. Our clever Project Manager had it copied in mild blackened steel.

Check out those corners.

Little Details

A french sign.

Vintage tins for the bill.

An optician’s poster…

Some vintage office trays from Northcote Road Antiques in TOTA green and grey are a different way of displaying the pastries.

And finally…all the little branding details which I will blog about next time. Until then give it a try and see the design for yourself.

Coming soon…the branding materials…

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They do say everything comes around again and look what is hot again now, exposed brick.

If you read this blog often you will know that Colporter has been working on the design and branding of a new restaurant in Tooting, TOTA. We have tweeted a few photos of the walls we uncovered in the strip out and have been teased about our obsession with them but they have been a real gem of a find as the client wanted an industrial look and some character. A bit like this, a cafe called The Grounds in Sydney.

It is funny how when you decide on a look all of a sudden you start noticing it everywhere.

Or is it just because it is at the fore front of your mind?

Either way exposed brick does seem to be having another moment right now, be that on Tooting High Street, a New York Loft apartment or a quirky cottage.

This time it is not brick slips or fake brick effects like it was in the 80s but the actual wall, in its raw state. You could say it is a bit more honest but getting a wall back to this raw state is not always easy, and so is not quite as honest as it looks. It can be a little contrived.

I love a bare brick wall best when it is in a kitchen, especially when mixed with industrial elements, or in a commercial space.

I love it even more when there are some old layers of paint on the brick. Check out the wonderful wall annotations above.

I like the above half finished look, it works with the decor. If my Mum came round and saw that she would certainly ask when I was expecting the plasterer. Like all fashions it is not for all tastes.

This one really works for me, the contrast of the modern window treatment with the original brickwork and an oversize Chandelier. Very rough luxe.

To challenge my own preconceptions on brick here it is in a bedroom. This may even be one of the clever Tromp l’oeil wallpapers which are very effective. Rockett St George do a great range if you do not fancy chipping off perfectly good plaster. 

Ultimately that is the problem, you do not know until you reveal a ruddy big patch what your bricks are going to be like. We do not all have an urban loft style home so it may be one of those looks where you do not practice what you pin.

I am an absolute sucker for branding. Show me a cool logo, some quirky stationery, I am completely won over. You can imagine how excited I was therefore to take on an extra role for the owners of Tooting’s new restaurant, TOTA of advising on and designing their branding, as well as the interior design.

This week has seen that new logo revealed…

The Tooting Twitterati seem to like it. I will post more on the branding of TOTA in a few weeks when we get closer to the opening date and when the Menus are finalised. Oh how my tummy rumbles.

Anyhoo, the lovely TOTA font is from a Family of fonts called Frontage. I see that another stylish new brand, Loaf are also using it in their fantastic branding. Check out this little parcel that arrived from Loaf here today.

Loaf is the new name for The Sleep Room. I guess they realised that if they wanted to branch out into sofas, as they have done, their name was a bit limited. Their rebrand is super smart. I love grey and yellow (see earlier blog posts and my good friend Erica’s blog modernmummusthave) it is very calming and not overdone in the marketplace.

Their attention to detail in the packaging is second to none. 

I had stickers very like this on our wedding favours. TOTA’s restaurant menus have cool “call outs” like this as well. It works with the font and is not obtrusive. The grey ticking is very chic. A lot of thought has gone into this sample package. This is very sensible as all too often samples of fabrics are bunged into a manilla envelope, cut in all different shapes with no care. I like what I see here so far, so I expect their sofas and furniture should have been made with the same degree of care… see what they have done here people? I am buying into the brand. I think they are a quality outfit so I MAY part with some hard earned cash.

But hold on. What is this little sachet?

Great! Some Hot Chocolate for me to spill on the gorgeous new sofa. And that is why I shall not purchasing one just yet. Yes, great branding, superbly designed sofas but I have 3 kids who cannot brush their teeth without spilling down their clothes and so I just cannot yet indulge myself. I have to put up with our brown leather sofa for a few more years.

They are very lovely though and I will file the samples (and the box they came in) away in my “ideas box” for a few more years.

It has been too long since I last blogged so I shall ease myself back in gently with a regular feature.

You know the drill, smart road, smarter front doors. You guess the road and F&B colour you think is closest to the front door.

A nice neutral (but still lots of pigment) grey with wonderful original encaustic floor tiles and wrought iron railings. Love the bay tree too.

A classic green, the owner here has toned in nicely with their encaustic tiles and has chosen to paint the frame the same colour as the door. We have done that, not sure I will next time though.

No doubt this is a lovely front door but perhaps a tad anaemic given it does not have the encaustics in this case. Safe though.

No-one could accuse the next door of being neutral or safe…

This one is eye popping! I am not sure this is a new paint job but it is very refreshing amongst the sludgey greys, beiges and greens. 

As usual tweet or comment on here.

Look at these. Nuff said. Coming soon to Northcote Road Antiques Market.

I am not meant to be blogging tonight, so many little jobs to do, but I just got snapping in the dusky evening light in my kitchen and had to share these images.

My new bunch of blooms from the lovely bloke in Hildreth Street Market Balham. Tenner.

Placed in a Colporter Hungarian Jar, stylists own (poncey).

Next to the new French Gig Posters with their sherbety colours (soon to be on the stall). Swoontastic.

I have had a large glass of Chablis so at this stage of proceedings I am even seeing beauty in the tomato pasta smeared on the floor.

La vie est belle or something like that. A bientot.

The last few months have been so hectic for Colporter: the Moyser Rd Pop-up, joining Northcote Road Antiques Market and sourcing enough to stock both places. All with my little sidekick Hattie in tow.

We have been delighted with the response from people seeing our stuff in a real, rather than online, shop. It especially warms the cockles when someone really “gets” the quirky things we like too. So when Ben, from the eponymous Ben’s Canteen got in touch to talk about a collaboration we were giddy.

We had just vacated our storage/pop up in Tooting so it was super timing.

Ben and Sarah have kitted out the restaurant in a very stylish manner with some Colporter-esque items so our wares work well in the airy and light space.

We have popped some of our smaller items on a couple of shelves. Now St John’s Hill residents can eat, drink and shop. In a few weeks we may shake things up and change what is in there so be sure to visit frequently!

So far I have only sampled the Skinny Flat White and a Mushroom and Goats Cheese Sandwich (both excellent). I can see we will be popping in to our new pop up rather too frequently with grub and coffee this good!

Once we have settled in the plan is to hold a regular Vintage sale here with some larger pieces from our range. Watch this space…

I have been a bit lax on the blogging side of things recently. 3 nippers, 3 shifts in the Northcote Road Antiques Market a week,  TOTA, life etc is taking its toll. On Sunday we decided we needed an adventure. A day out having fun and no jobs. So we  went “into London”.

Boy did we cover some ground. These soldiers are getting younger all the time.

Fred loves Michael Portillo’s Great British Railway Journey on television. That book is his pretend “Bradshaw” (if you have seen the show you will understand) and that is the rail network of course.

I would buy that sun dial if I saw it at a booty.

Even burger vans are rocking the metro tiles. But there is only one place where the Williamses go for Burgers…

We were all concerned to see this incident at Leicester Square.

Anyway, the real point of the blog: on the way back we found a real gem of a building  back in what the boys sweetly call “Our London” on Conyers Road SW16. I thought I will snap that for t’blog.

The Streatham and Vauxhall Water Company Pumping Station. Reminiscent of the Brighton Pavilion but in a resi street in Streatham. How random. How stunning. This is grade ii listed and I am not at all surprised.

Can you imagine such a utilitarian thing as a pumping station being built with such ornament now? I do find most modern architecture totally uninspiring. What a joy to stumble upon this in suburban Streatham after an afternoon seeing such iconic landmarks. Let’s just hope that Kevin McCloud or that Geordie architect, George does not come across it. It would be yuppified and flats before we know it. Until then it is pumping out lovely fresh drinking water for the Sarf Londoners and long may it do so please Thames Water.

As some of you may know we have finally managed to join the Northcote Road Antiques Market after a long long wait (longer than an allotment I bet).

Now our stall is set up I can browse some of my fellow stallholder’s beautiful finds.

There is a real mix of antiques. One of my favourite stalls is the silverware. I do love a dining table dressed formally for dinner. These bundles of separate knives, forks and spoons are an inexpensive way to make your own canteen of cutlery. Or you could supplement your existing cutlery with some fish knives or dinky cake spoons.

I quite fancy some boned handled knives like these.

Vintage linens are a thoughtful wedding gift, especially now dowry chests are a dim and distant memory.

Solid silver sugar shakers, thimbles and the like are good christening present fodder.  

For wine lovers you cannot beat a decanter. Even a cheap bottle of plonk looks and tastes better when decanted into a crystal vessel.

I hope this whets your appetite to come and browse. Come upstairs too so you do not miss Colporter.