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Thursday 25 April 2013

Wallpaper* City Guide Liverpool



Imagine our delight when we found a Wallpaper* City Guide dedicated to Liverpool - our home city! The minute it landed in the Utility warehouse we couldn't keep our mitts off this pocket sized beauty packed full all our favourite places. Amongst the pages of beautiful architecture, historical sights and the best places to rest your head is a double page spread dedicated to Utility! With pride fit to burst we must give the guys at Wallpaper a huge thanks for the nod and the stunning image of our Home Store on Bold Street. Here you can spy some our favourite products such as String Shelving, the Gubi Grasshopper Floor Lamp and a healthy sprinkling of Eames Plastic Chairs from Vitra. What more could we ask for with our friends Puschka who are also noted as one of the must places to dine! Eight clear sections reveal shopping, hotels, landmarks, escapes and urban life which are all easy to thumb your way through. We have road tested many of these places (in our spare time) and it definitely gets a thumbs up from all of us and feel it captures our charming city perfectly.

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Örsjö Lighting



The clean Scandinavian lines and effortless styling of Örsjö now grace the Utility website. Each product is lovingly crafted by expert hands in Småland, south east Sweden, an area which is renowned for its entrepreneurial spirit and strong tradition of design and handicraft. Collaborating with inspirational designers has enabled Örsjö to honour their goal of creating classic shapes for modern needs. Their dedication to the production of timeless lighting fixtures is evident through the Ginko Pendant Light, which was awarded the Best Light Award from design magazine Wallpaper* in 2008. Designed by Norman Says, it was inspired by the organic shapes of the Ginko Biloba tree and is available in a number of attractive hues.

We predict big things for the matt brass Puck Floor Light and rough copper Star Circular Ceiling or Pendant Light whose golden finishes enliven their minimalist qualities. Relinquishing the ornate and elaborate, each are a contemporary vision championing refined shapes with practicality in mind. Puck's cylindrical adjustable diffuser and slim stem clearly fulfills these objectives. Star is a halo of illumination accommodating nine light fittings with adjustable brass joints. We love the fact that it can be specified, on order, to be wall mounted or fitted with suspension cables to become a striking pendant light which is also available with a white lacquered finish. Bespoke sizes can even be made if you have bigger things in mind, just contact us and we will be glad to help realise your vision.

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Zeitraum Furniture

We've added Zeitraum to our stable of European contemporary furniture brands. This Germany company, founded by Birgit Gämmerler in 1990. Started in an old flour-mill with loft-style rooms and with the waters of the river Loisach powering its underground turbines Zeitraum still has its base there today. The first designs for chairs, tables, beds and small furnishings were drafted there and the pieces made by local joiners. The making of the furniture was always difficult, the designers preferring clever wooden joints to simple screw-together solutions, or maybe even demanding the use of bone-glue as a natural alternative to conventional resin glues. The architect Peter Gaebelein was brought into the team in 1994 to coordinate production. In the following years reliable manufacturers were found in Germany, Austria and Italy, capable of producing the furniture in larger quantities, whilst still adhering to the strict Zeitraum quality standards. Today, the pure material quality that is Zeitraum's trademark is in huge demand, and the products enjoy international success.
Zeitraum isn't just furniture, Zeitraum is an attitude to life and the things around us. The objects which accompany us through life should have character, whilst also being practical, adaptable and unobtrusive. They are a mirror and an expression of their owner, a servant and a friend. Zeitraum furniture is attractive because of its exceptionally good quality, not because of designer frills. It impresses without dominating – exciting in its simplicity. Don't just take our word for it though see the Zeitraum collection!