Interiors plus
Tamsin Blanchard
Supermarkets have cottoned on to our hunger for homeware. But the produce is often past its sell-by date
Not content to feed and clothe us, supermarkets are now moving into our homes. Along with oven-ready meals, cut-price jeans and underwear, DVDs and gardening tools, we can now expect to find lighting, vases, candles, storage, bed linen and kitchenware at our weekly shop. Sainsbury's has introduced a range of kitchen equipment with a little help from Sir Terence Conran, and a collection of vases and ceramic knick-knacks by handbag designer Orla Kiely. Her bags are phenomenally successful - and rightly so. She's a very good bag designer. But her designs for Sainsbury's - retro graphics printed on vases and picture frames - are just watered-down motifs that have little to do with the designer's drawing board. But people like to buy a 'designer name', which is fine if the design is worthy of the name that's selling it.
The latest supermarket chain to get in on the home market is Asda. 'Fresh new ideas for the home this autumn' fanfares the press release. But do we really need another scented candle, or an aluminium disc vase that is shaped so that you can only fit one flower stem into it, which seems a bit useless?
But perhaps I'm being too mean. If you are after some bright new bed linen, Asda's certainly is fresh. The 'Pucci-inspired' duvet and pillowcase set is all the better for looking like a 10-year-old's version of Pucci swirls.
And at just £7.97 for the set (yes, that's a double duvet and two pillowcases), you really can't go wrong. There's an equally funky red, orange and pink polka-dot set. And I have to confess I feel sorely tempted by the chunky-knit wool throw (£29.92) in lovely autumnal shades of pink and red.
It looks so cosy I could see myself becoming very attached to it. Apparently Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has consulted on the collection, but Asda seems to be being quiet about that. Far better to let the product sell itself. If it's good, it doesn't need a 'designer' tag pretending it's something it's not.
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