Making a dining table extra pretty can make a simple meal extra special.  Here’s one of the prettiest table settings I spotted over on Pinterest:

I also came across some easy-to-follow table setting instructions, a handy record to have should you be planning a special breakfast, a formal dinner party or a banquet.

I’m delighted to say that Jennifer Slattery Textiles has launched a new collection of digitally printed linen tableware named An Imperfect World – Granny’s China, Tea Party and Dinner Party and they will all be available on our online store. Perfect for engagement, wedding and anniversary gifts, they all come in wraparound gift boxes.

Jennifer Slattery 'An Imperfect World'

Grannys China Linen Napkins

Aren’t they fabulous? I’m posting an interview by Jennifer later in the week and I’ll show you the rest of her new collection then too

I spent the day at a women’s agricultural conference yesterday and you’ll be able to read all about it over on my IrishFarmerette blog if you’d like to but as I was uploading these beautiful new wallpapers at it (yes, I was multi-tasking – tweeting, blogging and uploading while listening to the speakers) it struck me how perfect the theme is considering I was listening to farming talks all day.

Katie Bourne’s new wallpapers are the latest addition to our wallpaper designers here at Garrendenny Lane and I’m loving both of her designs – a little whimsical, hand drawn, of beautiful quality and perfect for children’s bedroom and nurseries or perhaps the downstairs loo, a farm office and a farmhouse kitchen.

Cluck a Doodle wallpaper features a farmer and his wife tending the chickens, driving the tractor and doing other farming jobs surrounded by various farm animals.  It has a olde worlde hand drawn charm. Katie lives on a dairy farm in Staffordshire in the UK and perhaps it is because I am living on a dairy farm is why I am so drawn to it although I think non-farming mums and dads will love it too.

Both wallpapers are available in four colourways.

Merry Go Circus wallpaper will really feed the imagination of children, it features delightful zebras, giraffes and elephants amongst others. A really charming wallpaper design.

All these beautifully charming wallpapers by Katie Bourne can be purchased online from our online shop.

Here we go with Part 3 of 3 in my favourite products and designers from the Cream of Irish Design. First up is Klickity which we stock here at Garrendenny Lane.

Klickity – www.klickity.ie

Klickity is the brainchild of Kate Cronin and Liz Fingleton, their aim is to design and produce beautiful products that have minimum impact on the environment. They are either recycled from other products or are recyclable. Their Palm Light shade won ’Best New Product’ at Showcase this January and they have just launched their new clock, made from the same sustainable plastic materials.  Both will be available in the same variety of vivid colours and can also be purchased online at www.garrendennylane.ie. Affordable design that is innovative and fun.

Jenny Walsh Design – www.jennywalshdesign.com

Jenny Walsh has built a wonderful reputation for designing eye-catching furniture that is different in terms of its shape, colour and form. Often quirky, her pieces possess energy and movement. Jenny designs one-off pieces to commission as well as a range of limited edition furniture. I have long been an admirer of her Creature Comforts sideboard and My City coffee table. Her Isometric book shelf and Perspective book cases are just as striking and unusual.

Klickity – www.klickity.ie

Klickity is the brainchild of Kate Cronin and Liz Fingleton, their aim is to design and produce beautiful products that have minimum impact on the environment. They are either recycled from other products such as the Light Tin or are recyclable, for example, Omad is mostly made of cardboard. (I notice that the Omad is featuring highly in our giveaway choices this weekend )

 Their Palm Light shade won ’Best New Product’ at Showcase this January and was on display at the ID&A too.

Klickity they have just launched their new Fanfare clock, made from the same polypropylene material.  At the moment it is only available in the black and white but it will be available in the same variety of vivid colours as the Palm lampshades and can also be purchased online at www.garrendennylane.ie. You can arrange the leaves whatever way you like! Affordable design that is innovative and fun.

Jenny Walsh Design – www.jennywalshdesign.com

Jenny Walsh has built a wonderful reputation for designing eye-catching furniture that is different in terms of its shape, colour and form. Often quirky, her pieces possess energy and movement. Jenny designs one-off pieces to commission as well as a range of limited edition furniture. I have long been an admirer of her Creature Comforts sideboard and My City coffee table. Her Isometric book shelf and Perspective book cases are just as striking and unusual.

I hope you enjoyed our summary of some of the talented designers at the Cream of Irish Design

These have just arrived to Garrendenny Lane and are even nicer in the flesh than they are on the computer screen! If you have been looking for a Love Heart print with a difference, check out this new one by Famille Summerbelle which contains ‘Love Bugs’ – delicate plants and bugs in a love heart shape, and I love the little hanging spider!

Love Bug print in Red

We have also received the World Map prints in Night Sky and Azure blue – perfect for boys bedrooms, living rooms, offices and studies. I love it.

World Map – Azure Blue and Night Sky

I’ll be back later with a lovely ‘Wallpaper Wednesday’ post all going well

We’re delighted to say that we are now stocking Klickity Lighting at Garrendenny Lane. Irish designed and created ceiling lights and tabletop lamps that are very eco-friendly, stylish and vivid. We first saw Klickity at Showcase 2011 where their Palm ceiling lampshade won the New Product award in Tabletop and Interiors.  In order to introduce Klickity to you properly, I decided to ‘interview’ the 2 ladies behind the business – Kate Cronin and Elizabeth Fingleton.

When was Klickity formed?

Klickity was founded by Kate Cronin in March 2010. 

 

 

 

 

What are your backgrounds?

Kate says “In 2006 I graduated from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin with a BDes Honours in Industrial Design. I then moved to London to work as a packaging designer. Over the two years working with the company I learnt about production methods, manufacturing considerations and got to observe a small business grow and develop. This gave me the confidence to move back to Ireland and start my own business. I’m currently working on an MA in Design Sustainability at NCAD so as you can imagine I’m kept busy!“ 

Liz says “I graduated from Dublin City University in 2006 with a BA in Business Studies and then, like a lot of business students, I joined a Big 4 accountancy firm to complete my chartered accountancy training. Having worked in financial services for almost 4 years I realised I wanted to use my business skills in a creative industry. Luckily a chance encounter with Kate led me to take on the role of business development partner in Klickity in August 2010. I have creative input and also have the satisfaction of developing a business from the very early stages, it’s just what I was looking for.”

 

Light Tin is a fabulous Light, Do tell us about the process by which it is made?   What kind of tins is it made from?

 

Light Tin is a lampshade made from redesigned post industrial food tins. We love the shape and size of the tins so we have to keep our source a secret! But I can tell that we rescued the tins from being thrown in the recycling bins of a local restaurant. We insert a metal attachment to the inside of the tin which affixes to any hanging ceiling light fixture to make an intriguing yet practical lampshade. The outside of the tins are powder coated in various colours to give a high quality finish, while the inside of the tins are left in their natural gold coloured metal state which reflects light from the bulb. The Light Tin is available in two bold colours at the moment, red and blue. Klickity are re-using a product that would otherwise get recycled thereby saving energy and essentially up-cycling waste into a value added item. As the old adage goes ‘One man’s waste is another man’s treasure’. 

 

 

 

What awards/prizes have you won so far?

We were delighted to be awarded the Best New Product Award in the Tabletop and Interiors category for our Palm lampshade at Showcase Ireland 2011. It was great experience for us and a real confidence boost to start the new year!

 

 

What about Palm – tell us about the design process for it.

Kate says “When I was working in London I used to set myself design challenges just to keep my product design brain active. So I’d stay back after work and come up with ideas. I wanted to design something as simply as possible out of one sheet of material to keep production efficient and have as little waste as possible. This led me to the shape of the leaves for Palm and after months of tweaking I finally came up with a working prototype I was happy with. I love that it is so versatile. We can keep adding new colours to keep it fresh and I already have thought of 3 other products that we can develop using the same concept, so it’s very exciting.”

 

Omad is really different, really shapely and elegant and very different.  You say it is environmentally friendly, how important is this to you?  The card is recyclable – how long then do you expect the lamp to last? (i.e. does it have a short life span being made of card?)

“Omad was inspired by my belief that card is a beautiful material for lighting as it’s strong, flexible and translucent and most importantly widely recycled. I want people to use it for as long as they want to. But the beauty of it is that when the time comes you can disassemble it, recycle the card and post the electrics back to us so our lamp won’t be clogging up landfills for generations to come. I made my first Omad 2 years ago and it’s still going strong. Perhaps being made of card it needs some TLC but you’d be surprised how long it can last,” says Kate.

 

 

Do you have any other designs in mind/ what are your plans for the future?

“Kate’s sketch book is full of ideas waiting to be put into production but we need to pace ourselves and gradually bring new products to market. As the business is self financed I’m a big proponent of organic growth!”, says Liz. “Growth wise, we want to increase our customer base in Ireland before looking towards an export market. As new products are added to the range we plan to remain focused on our core principles of sustainability, quality and affordability. I can tell you our next product is going to be a really funky colourful wall clock, so watch this space.“

 

Our mission statement is to ‘consider the environment’, this occurs during the conceptual stage of product development, i.e. if we think something is going to be very wasteful on resources we redesign it. I believe smart material use and manufacture are imperative to a more sustainably designed future. We are not claiming to be perfect though, every company can continually improve their systems from procurement to packaging and waste disposal. We haven’t reached a level yet where we can sit back and say ‘oh we’re carbon neutral’! But being environmentally friendly is something we continually consider and strive towards.

 I luurve Light Tin and am seriously considering them for my kitchen or utility.  Have you got a favourite and what do you think of what these Irish designers have created?