Festival highlights

Retailers from all over the UK and beyond are making a beeline for the Home and Gift Buyers’ Festival in Harrogate this week to choose new products for their shops.

The event is for trade buyers only but provides a good indication of trends while showcasing fresh designs. We had a sneak preview of the festival, which runs from Sunday, July 17, to Monday, July 20, at the Harrogate Exhibition Centre. Here is some of our favourite homeware from the show:

*We think Yorkshire-based surface pattern designer Kate Thornburn will be a big hit. Her beautiful ceramics are influenced by the traditions of the Potteries and have a timeless elegance. They blend nostalgia with contemporary design and they are all made in Stoke-onTrent. Her latest collection “Wild Garden” stems from her love of blue and white willow pattern china. Her work, which includes mugs, jugs, coasters and plates, starts from £6 for a coaster and £15 for a mug.

*Baa Stool make clever use of British sheepskin and its products, which are made in a cruck barn in Wales, have all the hallmarks of great design. You want to stroke them, they make you smile and they are eminently practical. Imagine coming home on a cold winter evening, kicking off your shoes and putting your feet up on a these wooly stools, which start from about £200.

*Lorna Syson’s designs derive from her love of the British coast and countryside. Her patterns and illustrations adorn everything from lampshades and wallpaper to fabric and cards. Our favourite is Broom and Bee Sky, seen here on a lampshade, £56. It was inspired by Lorna’s honeymoon hideaway in rural Leicestershire. She says: “Broom and Bee Sky evokes memories of warm May days spent celebrating the perfect marriage of British flora and fauna. The Broom’s yellow blooms signal bounty for the bee, radiant against a May sky.”

*Mini Moderns’ new Modern Kitchen Collection is predictably impressive. Produced in collaboration with Ulster Weavers, it features the Irish firm’s best-selling prints, There are oven gloves, tea towels, aprons and a set of china mugs. The tea towels are a work of art and would look great framed.

*Freddie fox terrier, £30, by Amica Accessories is Fairtrade and made of felt. He’s very decorative and would also make the perfect, low maintenance companion. Cuddle him, tell him your troubles and settle down together with a box set – the Ultimate Crufts Collection, of course.

*Memelou: Yorkshire designer Michelle Gemmel, aka Memelou, designs greetings cards and prints. I love her Mr and Mr wedding card, which features a couple of jaunty Frenchmen and a naughty wink.

Useful Contacts

Home and Gift Buyers Festival, Harrogate, www.homeandgift.co.uk

Kate Thornburn, www.whatkateloves.co.uk

Baa Stool, www.baastool.co.uk

Lorna Syson, www.lornasyson.co.uk

Mini Moderns, www.minimoderns.com

Ulster Weavers, www.ulsterweavers.com

Amica Acessories, www.amicaaccessories.com

Memelou greetings cards, www.memelou.com