Designs Of The Year 2013 | Colour Porcelain

The other day the boyfriend and I decided to hit the Design Museum. I hadn't been for years. The Designs Of The Year exhibition was on, covering all aspects of design, from graphics and furniture to fashion and digital. This was one of the few museums I didn't whizz through as I sometimes have a tendency to. (There is something in me whereby they will always remind me of a school trip on a rainy day, cagoules, clipboards, depressing historical stories and soggy sandwiches.)

But anyway this was cool stuff. Interesting stuff. AND STUFF YOU CAN FIND LATER ONLINE AND BUY. Uh-oh.

As we are about to move into our first proper (bought) house together I am mostly obsessed with anything home-y and am spending every spare penny on things for the house. No more Ikea shelves (well maybe a few),  goodbye Asda duvets, and definitely no more glasses that come free with a Happy Meal.  Come on - we've all got those McDonalds/Coke glasses...

So, not surprising my favourite exhibit was the Colour Porcelain collection. Which now I obviously want to buy all of and have for our home. This is a range of tableware made by one of the oldest porcelain manufaturers in Japan, 1616 Arita (I love the design of this website), collaborating with Dutch designers Scholten & Baijings. The pieces are hand-painted following the companies traditional use of colour. Hence the retro feel I love. The traditional Japanese colours are aquarelle blue, light green and yellow ochre and they are layered delicately and fired with different shade of glaze. Wow. Who knew a plate could be so interesting?

So anyway you CAN buy them, they are QUITE expensive, so like me I suggest you just have a little peruse at the pictures instead ...  Good inspiration though - am now determined to find something similar that is a little more affordable.