Nest: Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire of Mini Moderns

Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire of Mini Moderns let The Simple Things in for a look around their stylish railway carriage holiday home.

On the Dungeness headland in Kent, this Victorian guard's carriage was nothing special when the clever couple got their hands on it. Now a comfortable holiday home with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom squeezed within a small footprint, the carriage is decorated with a predominantly white scheme, but with Keith and Mark's colourful, midcentury style.

Want to get the look? Our top six picks will add instant, elegant style to your home.

Clockwise from top left:

1. A Mini Moderns Pavilion cushion features throughout the couple's holiday home. Pavilion cushion, £35

2. Scour Etsy for classic Bakelite kitchenalia, like this sleepy Bournvita mug. Planet Utopia, £24

3. Industrial lighting is a good option when space is tight; hang this braided cord lamp from a hook or wall. Baileys, £38

4. In classic 'Whitby' design, this tea towel is archetypal Mini Moderns. Whitby tea towel, £8

5. Design classics such as this Eames chair look right at home in all sorts of settings. DSR Side Chair, £223

6. The only piece of technology in Keith and Mark's living room is a portable record player. Crosley turntable, £160

For more home and interiors love, buy The Simple Things April issue now.

The Simple Things Etsy Pages

Discovering and curating our favourite things through NEW Etsy Pages.

Nesting curated by The Simple Things on Etsy

Above: our favourite ways to NEST…

When Etsy asked us to be one of the first UK Partners selected to curate our finds through Etsy Pages we were thrilled. At The Simple Things we constantly use Etsy to source talented designer-makers to showcase in the pages of our magazine.

You can now follow our inspiration boards via Etsy Pages. Use them for gift ideas and trend-watching or as a starting point to make your own discoveries. Just click and you're taken directly to the item and seller featured!

Here's a look at some of our Etsy Pages. We will be constantly updating so be sure to visit regularly…

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Simple Style curated by The Simple Things on Etsy

Above: our favourite ways to SIMPLE STYLE

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Thinking curated by The Simple Things on Etsy

Above: our favourite ways to THINK

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Mini Moderns - Remix

During this year’s London Design Festival Mini Moderns are mixing it up!

We’re very excited to be supporting interiors brand Mini Moderns during their two-week design event, hosted by East London Design Store in their newly launched shop in London Fields. The Remix project sees them team up with a select number of designers and artists, using their past collections as a basis for new work. The store will be filled with a diverse range of curated objects, furniture, lighting and ephemera that gives an insight into the Mini Moderns aesthetic and design process.

The 2013 Remix project is based largely upon Mini Moderns’ Darjeeling wallpaper design, which was launched this year as part of the Buddha of Suburbia collection. Fittingly, since the collection celebrates a uniquely London cultural mash-up, Mini Moderns have given Remix collaborators free rein to reimagine the design on a piece of their choice. The project includes work by Zoe Murphy, Leonhard Pfeifer, Rimmington Vian, Urban Upholstery and Brume. Further work comes from artist Matt Sewell and furniture maker Benjamin Boyce, who have both used the range of Mini Moderns Environmentally Friendly Paint as the basis for their response.

Amongst the curated products in-store, expect to find 1960s and 1970s film posters, jewellery and home accessories, all selected by Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire of Mini Moderns, and East London Design Store founders Della Tinsley and Gideon Cleary. Mini Moderns Remix at East London Design Store is on 14th-22nd September, open daily 10am till 6pm. Find it at 6a Ada Street, London Fields, London E8 4QU.

From Mini Moderns: we’re getting very excited about the launch of our REMIX project and we’d love you to join us for the preview evening. To attend, please RSVP by 9 September: rsvp@seenpr.com

Spoil yourself with 15% off at Idyll Home

For the next two weeks the lovely people at Idyll Home giving every reader of The Simple Things 15% off their gorgeous home and garden accessories.

You've probably spotted Idyll Home before inside The Simple Things as their furniture and accessories are often featured in our 'Things To Wake Up And Want', we've always been big fans of their selection of unique things for the home and so are really pleased to say you can now get 15% off online as a reader of The Simple Things.

To claim your discount use the code simplethings15 at the checkout.

Happy Shopping!

Five things for the weekend: bottles

Five DIYs to try this weekend that make better use of an empty bottle.

1. Plastic bottle terraniums | 2. DIY geode bottle tops, Cupcakes and Cashmere | 3. Wine bottle bird feeder | 4. Bracelet stands | 5. Bottle chime from creationdesigns

Things to wake up and WIN (closed)

We're giving away 8 fantastic prizes from this month's wake up and want wishlist inside Issue 7. Read more about the prizes below or enter here now!

Leaf impression plate | £13 | Yaela Studio

Impressed by hand with a grape leaf before another speckled texture was added, this plate is beautiful to look at.

Cake tins | £25 | Cotswold Trading

How could you say no to a piece of cake delivered by one of these three charming characters? Design by artist Tom Frost.

Pipe lamp | £69 | Bodie and Fou

House Doctor DK's pipe lamp mixes luxe with industrial to create an eye-catching statement piece.

Ceramic mug | £23 | Dawn Dishaw Ceramics

The pattern on this mug is hand-drawn and inspired by the rich patterns of Persian paintings

Harvest mugs | £16 each | Darling Clementine

Make the first drink of the day even more appealing supped from these bone china mugs

Dancers tea tray | £24 | Depeapa

Veronica de Arriba's illustration reminds us to banish the morning blues and get up and dance.

Pure Nature stool | £105 | Idyll Home

Bring a touch of rustic charm to the breakfast table with this wooden stool.

Kuppila tray and greeting cards | £36 | Polkka Jam

Serve up a reviving brew on this tea-themed tray.

CLICK HERE for a chance to win this amazing collection of prizes!

*Our wake up and want wishlist was complied by WILL TAYLOR

Things to wake up and want: the Valentines edition

This 14th February treat your Valentine to something extra special whether it be homemade chocolates or a simply stunning scent...

Light bulb vase by London Garden Trading (available on Not on the Highstreet)

Mini heart-shaped bowls by Golemdesigns

Rose 31 by Liberty London

Follow your heart coin www.kutuu.co.uk

Big Love Valentine timbergram Anthropologie

Hazelnut macarons and chocolate truffles: both recipes are found in The Simple Things issue 3 available here.

Get the look: mimic the style of the Fat Radish in your home

In this month's issue of The Simple Things Alice Gao visits the Fat Radish in New York for lunch and picks up some of her favourite recipes to share with us (found in the mag on pages 34-39). Just as Alice did on her first visit we instantly fell in love with the restaurant's charming farmhouse vibe, and wanted to show you a few simple ways to recreate the style in your home.

Hang a vintage map

Food and travel go hand-in-hand, so hanging a map is a great way to inspire you in the kitchen. You can find antique and modern maps all over the web, but we're particularly fond of these two we found on Etsy.

North Pole antique map: artic sea exploring expeditions 1914 available from Carambas Vintage

Antique map of the World 1777 (high quality digital image) available from Patterns n Prints

Create a modern chalkboard

At the Fat Radish you'll find chalkboards painted directly onto the exposed brick walls, such an easy and quick way to transform a bare wall into something useful and beautiful. We found the perfect DIY over on A Beautiful Mess to save you spending a fortune on chalkboard paint, with this tutorial and a little imagination you could transform pretty much any surface into your own chalkboard, cupboards, table tops even your own coffee cup! (See pg 114 of this month's mag for details)

Here are some of the chalkboard ideas that caught our attention, we particularly like the wedding chalkboards from Her Majesty's Pug - a great way to upcycle scratched or unused silverware!

Wedding chalkboards from Her Majesty's Pug, antique framed chalkboard: Nixey and Godfrey, Barkboards available from Olive Manna

Build your own floating shelves

The restaurant also uses floating shelves to display an impressive wine collection, simple, stunning, and perfect for adding a more modern feel to a kitchen. Vintage revivals has a fantastic tutorial on how to make your own.

We've shown you how to get the look of the Fat Radish in your home, now make sure you have a go at mimicking the taste on your plate with the exclusive recipes found in this month's issue.

Air freshener pouch DIY

This air freshener pouch tutorial from Sincerely, Kinsey is a cute way of making your home smell sweet.

Sincerely, Kinsey is always full of beautiful craft and DIY ideas, and none more so than this air freshener pouch DIY. The little cotton bags with retro stamped labels are surely the loveliest way to keep your rooms sweet-smelling.

We can't wait for festive season, when we can fill our pouches with cinnamon and spice and enjoy the aroma of Christmassyness all over the house!

Pop over to Sincerely, Kinsey for a photo how-to and more crafty inspiration.

Book launch: Wonder Walls

Wonder Walls by Sarah Bagner is a scrapbook of interior design ideas with a difference.

If you've ever browsed the virtual walls of Sarah's online store, Supermarket Sarah, you'll know she has something of an eye for displaying things beautifully.

Wonder Walls: a Guide to Displaying your Stuff takes its lead from the Supermarket Sarah site, and is filled with ideas for using your possessions to adorn the walls of your home. You know all those trinkets and fabulous vintage pieces of clothing you're hoarding in wardrobe and under your bed? Here's your chance to get them out and show them off.

Sarah has travelled all over the world to meet the people who have found ways to turn their treasures into wonderfully off-kilter design features, then picked the most inspiring, interesting and quirky walls to share.

Wonder Walls by Sarah Bagner is published by CICO and is available to purchase online here.

Shop love : Rockett St George

We've been crushing on Rockett St George for quite some time now.

They're top of our list for very, very cool tea towels, and just generally excel in hunting down homeware designs with a sense of humour. Superb case in point, this tableware range including a glass milk carton and glass ziplock bag.

Also going straight into the basket are this homemade biscuit stamp (if we're baking, we want some credit) and fab typewriter tea towel. Told you they made cool tea towels!

Check out the Rockett St George online store to pick out your favourites.

Craft yourself a piglet tea towel

We’re always on the lookout for ways to put our stamp on our homes and we think we may just have found the perfect idea.

This piglet tea towel tutorial from Elsie Marley is a great way of adding individuality without compromising on functionality – after all, it’s no good if it doesn’t dry the dishes and can’t be thrown in the washing machine!

Elsie has included a simple how-to and we're pleased to find that it requires hardly any effort (and minimal artistic skill!) to achieve such a professional-looking result.