Habitat: The start of a mini, modern love affair

This week Habitat went bust and I'm gutted!

LOVE this old catalogue cover, + it was only 20p!!

After hearing the news I was saddened, initially for purely selfish reason but also the huge, gaping hole I think it will leave in the British High street. (Also gutted that there is no Ikea store near me to ease the loss.)

I'm sad that now,when I eventually have a grown up life, I won't be able to go and splurdge in there for my grown up house. Sigh.

Also sad because I worked there when I was studying and had a great time and met some lovely people.

However, on the plus side there is now a fantastic closing down sale which I have already indulged in ( if I was still staff there I would be seething at all the circling vultures, instead I consider myself a savvy spender in the throws of recession, ha!)

But, that's enough of real size houses, that's not why we're here is it?!

For a while now I've been excited about the evolving area of modern miniatures.
They are so much more realistic looking than they used to be, and there are a growing number of talented miniaturists bringing this modern style to new audiences. It's all very exciting.
So, with this in mind and the sad news of Habitat's demise let's channel a bit of iconic, contemporary design into the mini world!


For thoroughly modern miniatures head to Elf miniatures for a range of off the peg and bespoke minis.
I was drooling over their made to measure furniture in another recent post, In the kitchen

These are some particularly Habitat-esque pieces to be found there.

For inspiration and great read, check out Call of the small for a fab insight into the versatility of modern minis.

Finally, for the most amazing example of contemporary miniatures that I've found to date go get lost in Modern mini houses.

I've literally lost hours of my life on this blog.
I think what's most engaging about contemporary style dolls houses is that, when done well they could pass as our actual, real-life present day homes.
Don't get me wrong, the traditional, historical dolls houses will always have their charm, but for now, I will be having a mini love affair with all things modern.