Animal-themed interiors

The wonky-legged pup was being particularly charming today – and it doesn't take much to make me come over all animal-y. That did it. So thought I'd do a round up of some favourite four-legged items for the home. A couple of things I've had my eye on for a while...

1. This Bitossi dachshund  (or 'Hound No. 44' as he's affectionately known) is part of the Rimini Blu collection created in the early 1950s by Aldo Londi who was, at the time, art director of Bitossi ceramics. There's a whole menagerie available alongside him at SCP but he is one of the cheapest – he's £30.71 and measures 24cm high – and, I think, the best.

2. Oh 'Urban Fox' how innocent and wholesome you look on this sweet Lisa Jones bone china mug. Nothing like the rangy and mange-y specimens that prowl the city streets round these parts, bin riffling, courting deafeningly and cat scaring. £12.50 from Hunkydory Home.

3. It is only as I type now, that I see I have osmotically been drawn to a double dachshund situation. That is what happens when I spend time with my 99-year-old granny and we talk about bad husbands and the short-legged succession of expensive dogs she always much preferred (spouses and canines, I should add, all hers). This 50x50cm cushion is just a tenner from Habitat.

4. Want this lamp. Want this lamp. Want this lamp. Why oh why is it £79 (from Liberty)? The long lasting joy it would bring its owner would surely justify the cost. But, just in case, I've also found that Good Gracious sell almost as nice versions (and in different colours) for just £39.99. They're currently out of the white ones though (just red, pink and green). But Caravan have them at £49.99. * NEWS: GG have white rabbits back in stock – and they are, I'm reliably informed, the very same as the Liberty ones!

Affordable designer gifts

I do a lot of online window shopping at some of my favourite stores - Aram, SCP and Donna Wilson... but the prices (especially for compulsive shoppers like me, who can't leave with just one thing) can make your eyes hurt a bit.

So hurrah for Christmas - when accessories suddenly come to the fore. Check out some of these affordable goodies from swish shops.

Regular readers may have clocked my mild owl obsession... so I couldn't resist including this tea towel from the delightful Donna Wilson. Just £11 - and one of a whole wedge of lovelies for under £20 on her webstore.

I love a good map. And have seen a few of them by the stylish Future Mapping Company about, usually framed and in shop windows and more money than I can justify spending on something I probably don't need. SCP is selling unframed versions of this Dayglow World Map for just £20. Yes, yes, it's the framing that costs... enter my next new discovery: Eframe. This online frame ordering store may not provide bespoke designer action (and my brother and sister-in-law, who run a very swanky framing store in Sydney would be horrified) but the selection is pretty damn good (I recently bought a couple of simple, solid black Nielsons), very affordable - and the customer service is spectacular.

I'm also totally smitten with this early 1950s Bitossi ceramic sausage dog, £29.99. He measures 24cm high, and is also from SCP. 

Finally - these beautiful Bauhaus miniatures, designed by Jonathan Hopp, come from Aram Store*. They're pretty diddy - just 5-10cm high, but perfectly formed and, at just £29.50 each, the perfect gift for the architecture nerd in your life. 

*nb, Aram Store's online shop has yet to open for business, until then it's all about some old-fashioned face-to-face service, at the shop, which has been just behind the Strand in London since the 1970s - but it's worth the outing as it is a truly a place of wonder and also has a gallery on the top floor. 

SCP's affordable Kiosk gift range

I'm a sucker for a nice bit of packaging. I can't usually afford things in the gorgeous SCP shop, however their new Kiosk range of gifts, on sale from 17 September, are debit card friendly and rather delicious. 

This cute Kaufmann's cream, from Germany (above), may be a tad pricey for what it is at £7.99 - but a pretty package is not just for Christmas (see below). A lovely present for stylish women who want mitts as soft as a baby's bum (or just a lovely tin to display artfully). 

There are so many tempting other items in SCP's Kiosk collection too, from an old-school carpet beater (£44.99) to a Japanese butterfly can opener (£13.99), beautifully packaged Finnish chalk (£9.80), a red plastic pocket flask (£11.30) and a cute Portuguese weather rooster (£11.99). 

Nice box: colourful packaging in my bathroom foraged from many holiday
shopping trips. I like to think it detracts from the rather unsightly uPVC windows