Design Porn: Jennifer Collier

Paper SLR camera, £140 (you choose the map location)

“If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” William Morris

So I’m right in thinking that this is basically carte blanche, isn’t it, to cram as much beautifully-useless stuff as possible into my, um, bijou flat and offset all that frivolity with the mere existence - somewhere, don’t ask me where - of an iron? 

Good. That’s cleared that up, then.

Of course, some things in life are both beautiful and useful. Just off the top of my head:

• Henry the Hoover
• Vanessa Paradis
• Virtually the entire animal kingdom

And some things merely exist as objets d’art for our viewing pleasure. Oh hai, glorious paper cameras. This is just the kind of impractical loveliness I want to fill my home with. I'm sure William would approve.

Paper SLR camera, £140

For me, Jennifer Collier’s paper creations are the epitome of useless beauty, and I will be clearing shelf space for them, stat. Jennifer uses found and recycled paper to remake common household objects. She’s laughing in the face of practicality, isn’t she? In fact, it’s Pretty vs. Practical round her way and well, I don’t fancy Practical’s chances much.

Paper teacup, £55

I mean, just look at this paper teacup and saucer. You can’t drink your morning cuppa from it, but by 'eck, it’s a looker. And - be still my beating heart - this one is made from old love letters. What’s more, you can provide Jennifer with your own heartfelt notes (Does anyone still get love letters? I suppose you could ask your beloved to transcribe that vaguely touching email he once sent you, if not) and she’ll create a bespoke teacup for you. AT NO EXTRA COST. I know. 

Paper knife set, £70

I like these paper knives. I find them vaguely sinister in a good way - look closely and you’ll see they’re made from Three Blind Mice (No, not actual blind mice. That would be horrid). These would look great hanging in a kitchen. Unsurprisingly, I am of the opinion that kitchens need much more in the way of papery decoration. Perhaps not near a naked flame, though. 

Paper music cassette, £45

Everyone misses mix-tapes, don’t they? Even unfeasibly young people sense there is something fundamentally missing from their courtship rituals. This paper cassette is just brilliant. You can specify the lyric you’d like printed on the ribbon, as well as choosing whether the tape is made from vintage sheet music or your own papers. I would love to get one of these. Swoon.

Jennifer creates so much papery goodness, from suitcases to sugar bowls, Super 8 cameras to shoes. Most of her work is available to buy from madebyhandonline.com, and you can check out some of her more extravagant pieces - like sewing machines and typewriters - on her own website. I really like the fact that you can provide her with your own papers, photos, or letters and she’ll make a one-off, completely personal piece for you. I can’t describe her work as cheap, but for something so special, I’d be willing to splash the cash. I just need to dust off these bookshelves first.