I love a flower print on a summer dress and now I love a flower print on whatever I can think of. What is it about covering everyday items in floral motifs and pastel polka-dots which makes them a hundred times more exciting and appealing?

When I came across Cath Kidston designs a few years back it was love at first print.

Of course, Cath isn’t the only designer to ever have adorned their items with flowers – she didn’t invent this. There are plenty of flower-covered, polka dotted items in plenty of shops. It’s fair to say though, that this brand had a lot to do with the revival of this style. They do this so well that it inspired me to put Cath Kidston cereal bowls, tea-cups, side plates, an oven-mitt and tea-towels on my Christmas list. I never thought I would ever ask for an oven-mitt at Christmas. And thanks to a tolerant boyfriend, our kitchen is now akin to a Cath Kidston showroom.

There is something nostalgic, homely and comforting about this kind of style which makes me imagine a simpler, nicer time in the world when people had values and would take the time to serve tea in a teapot every day, and sit down and talk to each other with a homemade cake cooling on the kitchen table (optional). Items which reference the past fulfill a need for value and meaning. They are inspired by a familiar 1930s and 1940s aesthetic which reflects a quaint cosiness and simplicity, which, in these uncertain and troubled times is the biggest seduction of all.