My recipe for the perfect Gin and Tonic. I recommend either Monkey 47 or Hendricks for the gin, Schweppes for tonic, and an ice bucket from The Lacquer Company as the perfect accompaniment to any drinks table. 

Call 0207 736 0758 for UK stockist

All photos courtesy of hedgehog

I have been doing almost all my extraneous Christmas shopping online this year apart from a major trawl of J Crew and Crew Cuts yesterday that sorted out almost all my nephews and nieces.

This morning I found The Hedgehog Shop, the cutest things for children including a good supply of  stocking fillers.  I am itching to give the Chef’s costume to a blossoming Nigel Slater, there are miniature domestic chores products like ironing boards, mops and buckets and snow shovels!  There is an entire grocery shopping section including mini wire baskets and trolleys and spanish woven baskets, which are so sweet and rain shoes that i really want myself.  

The prices range from a few £ to more serious things like blankets and vintage Lloyd Loom chairs for a couple of hundred but there are masses in between.  This is really a great site for small children.  The art section and crafts are also terrific.  I want more children to shop for! 

Hi Rita, I am a massive fan and have been struggling with so many tester pots trying to match the living room paint colours from the Bank Street apartment and also your NY East St appt. Can you tell me what it is? and also where you bedroom wallpaper (NYappt) is from? is it Viviers/ Colefax? thankyou in advance! London based new homeowner

Hi, the wall colour at East Street is Paint Library ‘Rita Says’, which you can buy from Paint and Paper Library on Elystan Street, SW3. The bedroom wallpaper is from Twigs called ‘Fuschia’ in coral. I will have to get back to you about Bank Street! x 

What is that “soothing gray” color in the beautiful living room on page 49 (also 64-65) in “Decorate” by Becker and Copestick? How do I get that color or match it in the United States? I’ve tried to find a gray or beige type color that is both soothing and also contrasting to a whiter white on doors and door frames. There is another color in the book that might work. It is on page 184. Thanks.

Hi, the paint colour is Rita Says by Paint and Paper Library. Unfortunately it is no longer stocked in the US, but there are a few stockists left that hold Stark paints, which may be able to mix you the colour  x 

The Perfect Drinks Tray

Tips on how to create the perfect drinks tray, as told to Kotur

Tips on the one of London’s finest street markets. A must see this weekend. 

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/03/letter-from-london-a-walking-tour-of-one-of-londons-finest-market-streets/?_r=0

Bit silly, but I rather like.

Spent this morning with Marianna Kennedy in Spitalfields. Always so inspiring. I just love her sense of scale.

Makes one wonder who is inside…

I want this sofa. This months Interiors. #WoI