Wish List: Eight ideas for home and outdoor living this summer

Mary-Cate Smith admires a mirror, clocks a cool timepiece and finds tempting tablescaping accoutrements to elevate backyard cookouts

Super-buys for indoors and out are on our Wish List for the sunshine season.

Cushion covers

In company, I do love to proclaim loudly how much I love the sea. What I fail to acknowledge is how much distance there needs to be between me and the sea to admire it from afar (cue: plenty). 

As a defiant toddler, I refused to learn how to swim but I like to think in another life I’m a sea swimmer, with ruddy cheeks and sea salted hair and a dry robe I wear even to the shops. 

Alas, why should I dream of being anyone but myself? A creature of comfort surrounded by the jauntiest cushions of waves and surfers. 

These unbleached linen cushions from BTS Concept Store, €68.95, are now my entire personality.

Starlight

Remember the glow-in-the-dark, stick-on stars you begged your mum for as a teenager? Brace your inner child: I may have found the grown-up equivalent. 

The Paulina sculptural lamp, approximately €453.59, is the brainchild of celebrated Belgian designer Anita Le Grelle. 

A constellation of tiny, indiscernible holes in the lamp shade produces a shimmering starlight effect that twinkles throughout your room. 

Shop this and more unique vintage and modern finds at LNV Home in Belfast or online at Lnvhome.com.

A clock of ages

Literature fans, listen up. Close your eyes and recall the first time you read about Miss Havisham; the clocks frozen in time at Satis House, and all around her, decay. 

Or the “low, dull, quick sound” of the ticking timepiece in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. Now replace the clocks with a mobile phone and see if the impact is the same. 

Analogue clocks aren’t just anachronistic windows to our past, they have the potential to become family heirlooms. The Otto floor clock by Formae, €747.95, is the perfect antidote to digital disconnectivity. 

A decorative winding key and pendulum hark to old-world charm while inbuilt shelving offers a unique update. As an investment item or a character in your memoirs, this freestanding clock can be purchased from Do-shop.com.

Mirror, mirror

Originating in the 17th century, bobbin furniture is having its very own renaissance (a bobbinaissance?). With a subtle nod to nostalgia, the forest green Ruan mirror, €149, from Foy & Company packs a punch without overpowering. 

An aesthetically pleasing mirror won’t perfect the art of applying winged eyeliner, but hey, at least it looks good in your selfies. 

With two brick-and-mortar locations in Letterkenny and Ballybofey, Foy & Company is a family-run business with a wide choice of stellar homeware brands. Shop this mirror online at Foys.ie or pick it up in one of the stores.

Chunky flower pot

Home of the mirror that launched a thousand replicas, and now, the bed for throuples, Gustaf Westman is the designer every interiors enthusiast worth her salt is obsessed with. 

From the cult curvy mirror to the puzzle shelves and spiralling book stands, Westman’s fresh, playful approach to furniture-making defies norms and sets a new standard for innovation in design. Is he the enfant terrible of the furniture world? 

If redefining intimacy as an interactive bed for three and creating complementary pieces like the “One Night Stand” shocks you, then yes. Don’t judge, though — he’s not all form, no function. 

Take the chunky cup and saucer, for example. Designed to minimise spillage for those of us who love to have tea in bed (me!), it’s a stroke of genius. 

From just €210, the glazed ceramic “Chunky” flower pot is the ideal starter piece for Westman fans, available at selected retailers like SSense and on Gustafwestman.com.

Pot of gold

While the ginger jar was originally utilitarian, its craftsmanship soon cemented its status as a highly coveted decorative object. 

A testament to China’s strong track record of artistry, especially when it comes to porcelain making, the high shoulders and domed lid make it ideal for showcasing fresh or dried floral arrangements or storing tea, spices, or bath salts. 

Interior designer Cormac Rowell handpicked this striking yellow piece — find it in his store in Dublin and check out his website at Rowelldesign.ie for more design inspiration.

Garden chic

Outdoor dining has come a long way since banana sandwiches on mattresses in the back garden and a light sprinkling under the hose (just me?). 

Want to elevate your backyard cookouts so entertaining guests gets a chef’s kiss every time? Dutch outdoor furniture brand Weltevree makes design-forward stoves, chairs, hot tubs and the niftiest outdoor waterworks with a sink, storage space and worktop to boot. 

Unlike a traditional indoor set-up, there are no wrong answers — imbibe a signature summer mocktail, showcase your plants or simply pose and pretend to do the above for a selfie. 

The Waterworks, €395, available at Croghan.ie comes with a powder green-hued outdoor sink and water station with worktop, perforated wall and a place to hang your garden tools.

Top of the table

You know you take your tablescaping seriously when you anthropomorphise the accoutrements. 

Nobody wants to see their table scantily clad in a skimpy leg-skimming tablecloth, right? Dressing the table intentionally is a delight, and one of my favourite artists working with linen is Jennifer Slattery. 

Laying the table for your garden party with the forest green, ivory or earthy stripes sets the scene for the night ahead — it’s giving luxury, abundance and homegrown. Order yours from €210 at Jenniferslattery.com.