Herend’s association with the English Royal Family began in 1851, when Queen Victoria ordered a dinner service having discovered the Hungarian brand at the Great Exhibition of London.

Herend hand painted porcelain has been enjoyed by many generations of the family since then, including, most recently, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Therefore in recognition of this connection, Herend has launched several limited edition pieces, in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee:

• The popular Apponyi pattern has been remade in a new and exclusive cobalt blue and gold combination.

• A regal knob in the shape of a crown sits atop the teapot, as part of a set, which includes sugar dish and cream jug.
  

• Only 60 sets will be available exclusively to the UK and each piece will be numbered accordingly. Set is priced at: £385.
• Co-ordinating teacups, saucers and tea plates complete the service.

• The production of these is limited to 500 pieces and the tea plates retail at £49.80 and £85.40 for the tea cups and saucers.

• All of the new pieces have EIIR painted by hand in gold on either the reverse or the side as well as the date and issue number.

Drinking tea from fine porcelain is the ideal way to enjoy your favourite brew and what could be better than a teacup fit for a Queen!

The Jubliee pieces will be available through UK Herend stockists from March 2012, including key London stockists:
Harrods ▪ Thomas Goode ▪ Fortnum & Mason ▪ Herend & Meissen, Walton Street.

To view the gorgeous Herend collections of fine china, please visit the website.

Looking for that extra special Valentine’s Day Gift - what could be more appropriate for your Valentine than Rococo’s gorgeous new hand-painted heart design, portraying two love birds?

In ancient folklore birds chose their mate for the year on February 14. Since doves, as well as other birds, mate for life, they symbolize loyalty, fidelity and love.

The Hearts come in an attracive gift box with a clear lid, also containing 3 Ganaches – one each and one to share!
The Hearts retail at: £22.50.

The Hand-Painted Baby Chocolate Hearts; 8 Halves in gift box is also available. The ultimate gift for Valentine’s Day. Impress your loved one with one of Rococo’s most popular chocolate art pieces.

Hand-Painted Baby Chocolate Heart Halves in a beautifully ornate gift box - not available elswhere.
Priced at: .£11.95.

About Rococo Chocolates
In 1983, a young woman followed her dream - to share her love for chocolate with others.

Determined to change the way fine chocolate was perceived and presented, Chantal Coady transformed the stuffy, conservative, commercial norm of chocolate retailing, to the inspiring engagement of the senses that such a delectable delight deserved, and through it, has spread the beauty and joy of chocolate far and wide - starting with London.

To view the extensive ranges of delectable Rococo Chocolates, please visit the website.

Drummonds’ new website is beautifully designed and easy to navigate. All of its classic bathroom products are showcased, from the fabulous baths and showers to basins, brassware and heated towel rails.

Inspirational product and lifestyle photographs set the scene, but there is plenty of practical information too, making it easy to plan a luxurious bathroom down to the last detail.

Each product is shown with a technical breakdown, detailing all variations, dimensions, finishes and prices and the complete brochure and CAD drawings can be downloaded.

Pictured here is The Torridge bath, which comes with feet, for an elegant freestanding arrangement, as well as allowing for ease of installation.

• This bath offers various choices, which need to be made prior to placing an order:

• The exterior can be polished and lacquered by hand, painted (in a range of Sophie Conran colours), Primed or raw. All of these finish options are done by hand, to give your bath a stunning and high quality finish.

• Priced from: £2,825 plus Vat.

You can also access the latest news through Drummonds’ new Twitter link.

To view the Drummonds’stunning range of classic handmade baths, chinaware and brassware, please visit the new website.

Tel: (01483) 237202

London showroom: 78 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HN

The Monogrammed Linen Shop has just launched a stunning new concept in dining linen - placemat and napkin sets for the table, created using a unique combination of paint and embroidery. All very innovative and completely elegant!

Each table mat and napkin set is unmatched in its intricate detail. Designs are bespoke – only your imagination can limit you!

This new style of dining linen was born because Anne Singer, who owns and runs MLS, was looking to create designs with depth, by incorporating shading.

She found a creative and innovative way to do this – by mixing two seemingly incompatible materials: paint and thread. This unusual combination is a truly exclusive innovation in dining linens.

Available solely from the Monogrammed Linen Shop, each tablemat and napkin set takes a month to create. Prices start from £180.

To view the gorgeous Monogrammed Linen Shop’s linen collections, please visit the website.

Tel: (020) 7589 4033

About
The Monogrammed Linen Shop is a leading luxury linen shop in London. For the past 28 years their Chelsea shop has provided classical and contemporary fine linens to clients from all over the world.

As quality is their first concern, the company will only use the most beautiful laces and embroideries, together with the finest Egyptian cottons, linens and silks to produce the sheet sets, table linens and towels.

The Egyptian cotton percale range starts at 300-thread count and is famous for its softness and crisp appearance.

Belle Amie a new collection, designed by iconic Swedish designer Marianne Westman has been added to the New House Textiles range of homewares….

Now in her 80’s, Marianne Westman, has always created pretty designs and products inspired by her immediate surroundings and Belle Amie was one of her first designs, drawn from wild flowers near her home.

A small-scale, cheerful flower print, it comes in the classic sky blue / bright white combination, which is such a perennial kitchen favourite.

Belle Amie brings a period look to the kitchen and is now available in a collection, which includes trays (from £21.96), oilcloth (£23.28 per metre, 150cm wide), paper napkins (£4.79) and a trivet (£17.28).

Belle Amie is part of the New House Textiles collection of Homewares, available to buy online.

The collection is very well priced, ranging from £4.56 for a set of stylish paper napkins, to £58.44 for a linen and cotton tablecloth, which will grace your table for years to come.

To view the complete New House Interior’s Belle Amie Homeware collection, please visit the website.

If you are considering installing Underfloor Heating and looking for the best possible information and its suitability for your property. Then you will be delighted to know that Excelsior Information Systems (the owner of UK Home Ideas) has now launched www.AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk.

The website offers a wealth of in depth information, to provide solutions to your queries, so that you are not only well equipped to select the best system for your property, but also to achieve the best deal for this very significant

Once you start doing research on the web, you’re likely to discover, as Excelsior did, that there is very little independent first-class information and advice on the subject out there.

Most sites belong to product manufacturers, trade bodies or other organisations with an agenda to promote.
So Excelsior embarked on a mission to generate the finest underfloor heating website in the UK, to provide an independent source of information for the underfloor heating buyer – and AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk is the result.

Quenton Fyfe, Excelsior’s MD commented, “Because we are a publishing company rather than an underfloor heating supplier, we have no agenda, or partiality, so we can offer you an honest synopsis of the whole market, with no hidden plan, and no strings attached.”
“We have spent many months, and invested heavily in commissioning extensive, original research into the Underfloor Heating market in the UK, to enable us to bring you detailed, independent information to help inform your buying decisions.”

“Our aim is to create the highest quality, most informative websites in the UK, in each market we enter.”

AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk offers the following articles about the product, such as “Wet Underfloor Heating” and “Saving Money With Underfloor Heating”, as well as consumer advice articles like “Choosing the right Underfloor Heating” and “Installing Underfloor Heating”.

There are many more articles in development, to ensure that AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk becomes the most comprehensive underfloor heating website available on the web.

So before making that important decision to buy a system in the UK underfloor heating market, why not prepare yourself, by reading the detailed articles on AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk ?

As an informed consumer, you’ll be well prepared to make the best choice, and get the best deal on your underfloor heating system!
We hope you enjoy this site, and find it helpful.

If you have any comments or suggestions, Excelsior will be pleased to hear from you.

The Annual Homes & Interiors Scotland Exhibition is returning to Glasgow’s SECC on the 28th – 30th October 2011, bringing together a wide range of exciting attractions to improve your home and lifestyle.

Show highlights include the inspiring Interior Design Showcase, where the country’s leading interior designers show their unique takes on six different rooms sets, a Kids’ Zone filled with fabulous ideas for children and, for the first time, a Christmas Fair featuring luxurious gifts and stimulating décor ideas.

The Talented Makers section is returning to the show for a second year, presenting the work of the country’s finest up-and-coming furniture and craft makers.

Editor’s Picks, the show’s most popular attraction, features modern and contemporary designs from around the world, plus talks by one of the UK’s leading artists and interior designers, and President Elect of the British Institute of Interior Design, Sue Timney.

The Exhibition will also present a host of high profile chefs, landscapers and gardeners, who will be on hand over the weekend sharing their tips, tricks of the trade and trend predictions for 2012.

The exhibition will be split into zones with exhibitors grouped together by sector, to make it easier than ever to find exactly what you’re looking for.

There will even be a state of the art cinema room, kitted out in the latest high tech gadgets from Loud & Clear, plus a demonstration area.

Presentations will take place over the weekend in the show’s Design Theatre, in addition to TV personalities including interior designer John Amabile.

Meanwhile the hugely popular champagne bar and wine tasting area, will give you the chance to take a break from browsing to sample some fine tipples.

There will also be a host of retailers exhibiting with something to suit every style and budget.

Key Information:

• Opening times: 10am until 5pm, Friday 28th to Sunday 30th October 2011. Advance tickets £7

• From ticket soup: £7 (plus £1 booking fee) www.ticketsoup.com or 0844 395 4000.

• On-the-door tickets, £10 per person.

For more detailed information on the Homes & Interiors Scotland Exhibition, please visit the website.
Tel: (0141) 567 6025

The featured picture - courtesy of Amabile Designs.

Following up on lots of interest Vax has received in their ‘Vax ev’ cardboard vacuum cleaner, they have now launched a dedicated website at www.cardboardvax.com.

In the UK we are rapidly running out of landfill space to deposit around 100 million tonnes of waste produced here every year.
Therefore it’s important that we find new eco friendly manufacturing methods, for products that reduce this waste and our impact on the environment.

Enter The ‘Vax ev’ greener cleaner:

• The Vax ev vacuum cleaner has been constructed for optimum sustainability, using recycled and recyclable materials including cardboard that reduce the burden on landfill.

• The Vax ev was developed by industrial design student, Jake Tyler, with the support of Vax’s new product design team.

• Jake worked with the team, based at Vax headquarters in the UK, for a year under the student placement scheme.

Currently the Vax ev is a fully functioning prototype and Vax is considering limited production in Europe and also plans trials in people’s homes within the next six months.

So if you’re interested in taking part in one of these trials, please register your interest via the website.
http://www.cardboardvax.com/get-in-touch.

For further information about the ‘Vax-ev’, the world’s first cardboard vacuum cleaner, please visit the website.

Emma Bridgewater has added to her popular Sampler Collection in the new Autumn catalogue, with a handy large dish, an elegant comport and some pretty kitchen textiles to name but a few.

Sampler is easy to fall in love with for collecting, but it’s also a pleasure to use every day, as it represents everything that’s cosy about being at home.

The pattern is one you’ll want to use for breakfast before school, with your children as you help with homework, or enjoying a chat with a girlfriend over a big mug of tea on a cold afternoon.

The Sampler Large Dish is a really useful piece, decorated with Emma’s favourite pattern, Sampler, which echoes her love of Victorian hand sponged pottery. The dish is just right for serving your favourite foods over lunch, or at an impromptu dinner party. £49.95.

Sampler Comport echos Emma’s love of Victorian sponge ware and is just ideal for holding a Victoria sponge cake. £59.95.

The Sampler Double Oven Glove is as practical as it is pretty. £13.

The cosy Sampler Cocoa Mug easily provides for a really generous cup of hot chocolate. Decorated with the sweet romantic lines of Sampler, this is a piece to treasure and would make a lovely and thoughtful gift. £21.95.

Visit the website to see the complete range of Emma Bridgewater’s charming Sampler Collection.

Tel: (0844) 243 9266

Brabantia is going for purple, as its latest trendy colourway, for their Get Together tableware, as well as coloured kitchen bins and corkscrews - they feel that there’s something deeply reassuring about the colour, a hue that exudes luxury, quality and success.

Or possibly it’s the warmth it produces that is so appealing, especially in the depths of winter when it’s cold and wet outside.

Purple is proving to be an extremely popular interiors look right now, so Brabantia has introduced the colour to a number of products in its collection this season.

Get Together
Brabantia’s important announcement this year was its launch of a complete tabletop collection for casual dining called Get Together.

The range features three contemporary colourways - purple. white and grey, as well as a range of materials - porcelain, stainless steel, wood, textiles and tactile silicon, making it effortless to ‘mix and match’ the colours, shapes and materials, to achieve the right look for your table.

• Featured here for Breakfast – a wooden party plate, purple table runner, porcelain bowl, silicon and steel egg cup, coffee mug, napkin ring, napkins and candleholders.

Porcelain
From dinner plates to breakfast bowls, cappuccino cups to tea mugs and even oven dishes to serving platters, there are 56 items to choose from, so no matter what the occasion, you’ll be confident serving any meal with this first-rate porcelain tableware. Prices start from £3.50 for a purple Dip Server.

Textiles
The Get Together collection also offers a wide selection of fine quality textiles including table linen and towels. Tablecloths, runners, napkins, kitchen and tea towels Etc. are all available in the three co-ordinating colours. Prices start from £5.95 for a purple napkin.

Cutlery
A modern-look set of cutlery (24-piece) in brushed steel is offered, as are a selection of serving spoons, salad servers and a cake server.
Flatware prices range from £11.50 for a cake server to £69.95 for a 24-piece set.

Accessories
Brabantia has brought together a collection of 24 stylish accessories. Stainless steel salt or pepper mills and crushers, napkin rings, candle holders and serving bowls Etc.
Price for a purple egg cup with matt steel dish, £10.95.

To view the complete Brabantia Get Together collection, please visit the website.

Tel: (0845) 602 4877 for stockists.