This small but select mail order company with a handmade, hand-picked collection was established in 2007, when the interiors enthusiast Laura Binns decided to combine her two main interests, craft and shopping, to create an online boutique with a difference.
Bored of mass-produced high street buys and in search of something more, she scoured craft fairs and studios to find designers and artisans who could produce unique handmade home accessories. Roost Living was born.
Laura is English but grew up in Australia before returning to London, where she now lives with her partner and young daughter. Her love of the eclectic and all things crafty is reflected in her small but perfectly formed home collection, which she has spent the past three years meticulously piecing together.
Every item is beautiful. There are gold-painted porcelain birds by the ceramicist Shan Valla - handy as paperweights or cute perched in a row on a shelf. You'll find elegant rugs and throws by the felt-cutting queen Selina Rose, with her trademark silhouette patterns formed of cut-out leaf shapes. I love the hand-thrown Wobbly bowls in pretty pastel hues by the potter Mizuyo Yamashita. They have an iridescent, almost shell-like quality and their unevenness is a delight; no two are the same.
Elsewhere, you'll find embroidered skyline cushions by Charlene Mullen and teeny tiny silver-lined bowls made from paper-thin porcelain by Emma Grant. The silver leaf inside these bowls tarnishes over time to give them a subtle, golden sheen - they're as delicate as birds' eggs and look lovely arranged on a window sill where they can catch the light.
Laura's method of stocking timeless, one-off pieces from skilled designers works. There aren't hundreds of products to browse through and it's not cheap, but Roost Living is a rare gem - an edited selection of stunning, handmade accessories from a woman who clearly has impeccable taste. In this case, less is more.
www.roostliving.com, 0044 020 7485 3455. Standard international delivery from £10 (Dh59).
AL%20BOOM
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
More on Palestine-Israeli relations
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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