"Dream tonight of peacock tails and diamond fields . . ." wrote Thomas Pynchon in his richly imaginative novel V. The newly opened Jonnmar showroom in Donnybrook offers a similarly luxurious approach to interiors, inviting clients to dream of exclusive furnishings, fabrics and lighting from a range of internationally acclaimed designers from Baccarat to Collier Webb, Clive Christian to Luxonov. The light fixtures in themselves amount to works of art; the showroom's window display features an exquisite Marie Coquine chandelier by Baccarat, in hand-cut crystal shaded with a silk umbrella.
Taking centre stage inside are Jonnmar's exquisite rugs, specially designed and tailormade using 100 per cent worm-spun silk from China and wool from the Himalayas or New Zealand, and some stunning ottomans in British velvet, including the Courbe sofa, available in a variety of shades and pictured here in Rubine.
Founded in Paris by Dublin designer Jeffrey Aird, Jonnmar provides architects, designers and private clients with a complete interior architecture and/or design services. Like its Parisian counterpart, the Dublin showroom has an array of stone, wood, glass, parquet and metal samples, allowing it to function as a design lab for project meetings. The attention to detail is absolute. Even Pynchon would have been hard pressed to get peacocks and safety devices into the same sentence, but Jonnmar has a range of exuberant fire extinguishers in quirky colours and designs, one of which sports – you've guessed it – a peacock feather. The new showroom is at 44-46 Donnybrook Road, Dublin 4, and the collections can be viewed online on jonnmar.com.
Wooden you like a TIE fighter for Christmas?
If you have a Star Wars fan in your life, you'll likely know what a TIE fighter is. If not, here's a beginner's guide: it's a single-pilot vehicle carried aboard a Star Destroyer or other battle station from the Imperial fleet, ready to engage in a fast-paced dogfight with rebel forces at the drop of a galactic hat. Propelled by twin ion engines (yes, I did find all of this on the internet and not inside my head), it's also an extremely cool piece of space-age design – and the Tramore-based company Copper Coast Woodcrafts has now produced a wooden version as part of its selection of handmade Christmas gifts. These include everything from families of cheeky wooden reindeer to bespoke longboard cruiser skateboards. All of which, alongside the company's traditional products with a modern twist – chopping and serving boards, timber tree decorations, keepsake boxes and engagement ring boxes – are currently being showcased at the 34th annual Waterford Crafts Fair at Garter Lane Theatre in Waterford.
The TIE fighter costs €150, the reindeer €30 each, chopping boards range from €20 to €45 and the skateboard is €200. The fair, which features more than 40 crafts businesses from the southeast, runs until December 23rd.
Take a bite out of your Christmas shopping
The Dublin Christmas Flea's compendium of stalls includes some great buys for the home, such as beguiling woven baskets by The Village Workshops, ranging in price from €7 to €70. that can be used as plant pots, laundry baskets or decorative fruit baskets –- ideal for the foliage-loving office colleague you got for Kris Kindle. You can buy unframed prints from €10 from Clover Rua, a fab Dublin company that has recently been commissioned by Harrod's to design its new shopper bags; decoratively simple basalt black vases by Aisling McElwain Ceramics; and colourful lengths of fabric by Print Block's stable of designers, €95 each, that can be used as scarves or table runners. The Vintage Hub has cool Scandi accent pieces from €50; there's steampunk-style upcycled lighting from Jings Crivens Industries from €40, Molloy & Son woven wool blankets, from €80, and adorable woven dolls by Guadalupe Creations, from €12 to €100.
Indoors at Point Square, Saturday December 9th and Sunday December 10th, 11am-6pm Dublinchristmasflea.ie
Know where you can shove it
The world may not need another coffee-table book about storage, but in Remodelista: The Organized Home, Julie Carlson and Margaret Guralnick have done something different – providing lots of photographs of storage solutions and adding helpful information about how to achieve them. Moving from entry halls to kitchen, utility room, bedroom and bathroom, Remodelista gives lots of good ideas for each area: hidden charging station in the hall, a laundry section that disappears behind sliding doors, and pot lid stackers used to store purses and clutches to name but three. There's a great, if aspirational section on larders, and a masterclass in what storage jars to use in the kitchen (of the hundreds on offer, just nine are recommended). There's advice on how to corral all the cords in your life, lessons in cutting down on plastic, the best ways to store coats and shoes and what to do with suitcases (stack 'em inside each other if you are lucky enough to own a set of Victorinox nesting hard cases). Even if you do none of the above, it's a soothing read (Artisan £13).
