Ever since I was a young child I was fascinated with liveable spaces and the thousands of stories that were entwined between their details. I was completely obsessed with people’s stories and the ambiguity of human memory. When I read about Front Projects on Design For Mankind www.designformankind.com, my intrigue with garden variety stories was revitalised. Front Projects is a Swedish design group and and their “Story Of Things” collection looks at the similarities and differences between items from homes all over the world.

Various homeowners’ possessions have been reproduced in red plastic and printed with stories about how they were acquired. My personal favourite is the African mouth plate whose owner proclaims “I got it from my friend, for no reason whatsoever… It’s on the table. I use it for peanuts.”  The appropriation of this tool and its sentiment highlights the real simplicity of happiness and overwhelms me with (more…)