January 2012
THIS WEEK'S MUST DO, SEE, BUY
Stella Loves...
These delightful, 5cm alphabet brooches by House of Ismay are hand-made from old maps. We think they'd make a quirky addition pinned to a handbag. £9 each, from ifeelsmug.com
October 2011
INTERIORS NOTEBOOK II
Go with the grain
WALNUT OWL £28
by Matt Pugh for Smug (ifeelsmug.com)
March 2011
alexloves.com
Alex Vanthournout writes, "It has been a long time since I've done something for my Alex Loves Angel section, my one-woman-challenge to put the amazing independent shops in my beloved Angel on the map. It's not for lack of great shops in the area, I just got distracted. But, like all good things in my life these days, a 'meeting' on Twitter got me in touch with Lizzie Evans, the owner of Smug, one of my favourite quirky design boutiques ever - not just in Angel.
When Smug opened on Camden Passage 2 years ago, it was a little out of the ordinary nestled between the vintage stalls and shops. It dared to be different, so obviously I loved it. From top to bottom it is filled with gorgeous unique and quirky things, ranging from scarves to stuffed animals to vintage 50s furniture to makeup. When you walk in, you quite literally don't know where to look first.
Everything in store is a real credit to Lizzie, who not only designed the shop herself, but handpicks every little item from designers all over the world. It's clearly a passion project for her, and it really shows: she works closely with a lot of her designers, who often make exclusive items just for her shop. Stabo made an exclusive scarf with the Smug bullfinch and guinea pig logo, whilst designer Matt Pugh will be making one of his wooden owls in yellow for Smug's 2nd birthday in June.
The shop is set up like a little home: there's a kitchen area in the basement, with all the kitchen/dining items down there. On the ground floor you'll find smaller items, like cards and scarves and stuffed animals and books and candles and umbrellas and... Perfect for those who just casually wander in. Upstairs there's the larger furniture, a wall with "Smug's TOP TEN gift ideas', and regularly changing collaborations with artists - almost like a small gallery. In a dream world, I'd walk through the doors of Smug one day, lock them behind me and just move in. It's pretty much perfect.
I ended up leaving with a big handmade stuffed pig for my newborn godson - although I secretly want it for myself... I think this is a time when we should all support our independent shops a little more, so when it comes to gifts, this is now my go-to place: individual, unique, and there's most definitely something for everyone. Mother's day gifts, anyone? For the time being, you can preview a lot of the items online, but you can't buy them just yet. But Lizzie told me that's all about to change soon with a real online shop... hold on to your wallets!"
January 2011
The Islington Tribune very kindly offered us a last minute advert for free in their weekly newspaper as they like the shop so much. Thanks again guys!
January 2011
My, doesn't he have big feet?! Bit a of a funny one but press all the same. Red Magazine used SMUG's vintage blankets and eiderdowns to style this article in their January 2011 issue.
Vintage Welsh Tapestry Blanket in pink with yellow, white and green (middle).
Late 40s Paisley Eiderdown also in pinks, yellows and greens (top).
frankie magazine
December 2010
www.frankie.com
"Lizzie Evans lives in the renovated top floor of her parents' townhouse, London UK and works as an interior architect and owner of homewares shop SMUG."
Frankie Magazine Australia have published this fantastic book about designers live/work spaces from across the globe. We're really pleased to be part of it. Come see us in store for a look at the full 10 page spread about Lizzie's live and work spaces.
November 2010
We're proud to have been included in the new Independent London Store Guide. It's a great little book and at £9.99 makes a lovely gift. We sell it in store so pop in for your copy.
October 2010
SMUG
Tucked away between the ubiquitous antique shops of Islington's Camden Passage, new comer Smug may be bijou, but it stocks a neat range of 1950s homeware that sits perfectly with current designers such as Donna Wilson and Lisa Stickley. Best finds include some vintage sugar shakers and gorgeous Welsh wool blankets.
13 Camden Passage, N1 8EA(73540253/www.ifeelsmug.com). Angel tube, 11am-6pm Wed; noon-7pm Thur; 11am-6pm Fri, Sat; noon-5pm Sun.
Ceramic Owl Candlestick Holder, £12.
mydaily.co.uk
October 2010
Helen Costello writes "There are certain shops you wish were yours and I so wish Smug were mine. The creative mind behind this gorgeous lifestyle boutique is interior and graphic designer Lizzie Evans, who has filled her North London shop with all her favourite things. We had a quick word to find out what inspires her."
Click below for the whole article.
www.mydaily.co.uk
October 2010
Each pot is hand coiled, slip decorated and then for the final firing embellished with line drawings that endeavour to capture different identities through illustrating the objects we choose to define ourselves. Pets and cars feature alongside caravans, picket fences and trainers. Post War Architecture held dear the premise that nothing could be too good for the common man - but who is he? This question preoccupies the English, and is a question Emilie has asked herself and others since childhood when moving between the localities of different family members in Sheffield and experiencing the complex snobbery prevalent throughout British society. What are we trying to identify, or contain?
August 2010
Smug has been featured in the new Timout London Shopping Guide. It's a fantastic book and we're really proud to be mentioned four times in it - including the interview with Lizzie pictured left.
Smug
13 Camden Passage, N1 8EA (73540253, www.ifeelsmug.com). Angel tube.
Open 11am-6pm Wed, Fri, Sat; noon-7pm Thur; noon-5pm Sun.
Graphic designer Lizzie Evans has decked out this new lifestyle boutique with all her favourite things; the result is a space that's a labour of love as well as a canny commercial move. With its rainbow kitchen accessories, Lisa Stickley wash bags, vintage-inspired soft toys and 1950s and '60s furniture (of the Formica and Maid Server ilk), you can see why she might be proud of it. Pixi make-up, retro brooches, old-fashioned notebooks, stylish alarm clocks, colourful cushions and a cute range of aprons and tea towels are further draws. The old school Casio watches for men and women, displayed in the glass-top counter, are particularly popular purchases.
This book is available at SMUG for £9.99
Smug is now also listed in the shopping chapter of the Timeout London Guidebook.
August 2010
The Great Little Shop Awards
Smug is happy to announce that we've made it into The London Magazine's shortlist of London's best independent interiors and collectables shops.
Check out our listing by clicking the link above.
Smug, 13 Camden Passage, N1 8EA (020 7354 0253 of ifeelsmug.com)
Packed to the rafters with an expertly curated selection of retro furniture, melamine kitchenware, textiles and kooky accessories.
June 2010
June 2010
May 2010
Hello Lizzie, what is your role at SMUG? I
guess I'm the creator, curator and custodian of SMUG. I designed the building,
managed the building project, designed the brand identity including the website www.ifeelsmug.com, source all of the
stock, style the space, and I even do the accounts with a little help from my
uncle!
When did you open the store? The
store was opened in June 2009 on two floors. In November of the same year we introduced
a 3rd floor of homewares which opens at the weekends.
What was the original idea or concept? I
wanted to create a 'home'-like space where people could really get a sense of
what a 50s Formica table, anglepoise lamp, Donna Wilson cushion or contemporary
artwork might look like in their home. I always wanted SMUG to be, not the way
people saw me, but they way they felt when they found something just perfect
for them in a friendly little shop in Camden Passage. Like they'd been let into
a secret and become part the SMUG family.
You have spoken about a division of three floors. What
type of products are on each floor? The lower ground floor is
full of kitchenware, vintage and new. 1930s heavy pressed glass jugs sit along
side enamel pots and pans and brightly coloured melamine cups. Hand screened
and locally sourced tea towels hang over the backs of 50s kitchen chairs and
dustpan and brushes made from oiled beech and horsehair hang from the walls.
The ground floor is filled with quirky stationary from vintage looking exercise
books to rulers made from reclaimed hardwoods and laminates. We also carry the
exquisite make up range 'Pixi' which sits on a yellow vintage dressing table.
There are also trunks full of toys handmade from vintage jumpers and monkeys
made from furnishing fabrics as well as the jewellery by young London based
designers laid under glass in the cash desk.
The 1st floor houses Stag sideboards, vintage floral Eiderdowns, welsh wool
blankets both new and vintage, cushions by Donna Wilson and Emma Loves Retro
and 40s mirrors and contemporary Italian clocks line the walls.
March 2010
Lizzie Evans is a Camden Passage store owner and interior designer with a bowerbird's approach to style. She tells Anna McCooe how her vision takes flight
Smug - the sensation - has gotten a bad rap. Fortunately, Smug - the Camden Passage lifestyle store - is enjoying quite the contrary reputation. Since August 2009, when interior designer Lizzie Evans opened the doors of the store she refurbished herself, the space is fast becoming one of London's go-to interiors destinations and is a firm favourite for stylists and designers. Smug, for most, would be putting it lightly, but the warmth behind Lizzie's expression as she shows me around is more ardent than self-satisfied.
Why the name for the store then? "Smug is the way I want people to feel when they find something in the store they really love, as though they'd been let in on a little secret," she says. "Besides, being house proud isn't so bad, but it's about how your surroundings make you feel rather than impressing other people."
As moments in time go, August 2009 wasn't exactly optimum for opening a lifestyle store. Thankfully, this interior designer knows exactly how to work a silver lining. "Since the housing market crashed, people are putting themselves into their homes more. They are less dictated by fashion, it's okay to be interesting and if nobody else has something, all the better," she says. Opening in a recession did mean Lizzie's product sourcing had to be spot on. Every carefully selected item in the store - be it a 1950s telephone table, a hand-stitched soft toy or a contemporary artwork - is utterly unique. "The things I sell aren't cheap - I don't like anything mass-produced or disposable - and so they had to be irresistible," she says. "I have regular customers who save up each month to buy one thing."
As an interior architect Lizzie may be at the helm, but Smug is a family business. Together her family refurbished the historic Camden Passage site, restoring the waxed boards and tarnished manhole covers, and introducing more glass for greater light. The store now also moonlights as a gallery space for Lizzie's father and brother's contemporary art business, Lodeveans Collection. "My family is too creative to take orders and so we had to be entrepreneurs," she jokes.
The refurbishment of the site and now the upscale lifestyle store is just one chapter in the changing face of Camden Passage. The born-and-bred Islingtonian, who would spend her pocket money at the antiques market, is thrilled to play her part. "I could feel a change coming a few years ago. The area was always charming, but not many people were buying things in the shops. Now it is starting to thrive."
So yes, the renovate and profit dream may have burned out, for now, but with a renewed pride in individual style burning in the embers, Lizzie is happy adding fuel to the fire. The question begs to be asked: what's so wrong with being smug anyway?
To visit Smug head to 13 Camden Passage, N1 8EA; 020 7354 0253
www.ifeelsmug.com
March 2010
www.dailycandy.com
Your place is filled with cool, quirky objects. Your art collection is amazing. And friends love the gifts you give.
Smug?
Not you: we're talking about Lizzie Evans's delectable new boutique. The interior and graphic designer spent her youth splashing pocket money on bric-a-brac around Camden Passage and now puts her aesthetics to work at Smug.
The refined retail space retains the rusty old features of the building but contrasts them with modern fixtures and contemporary art. And because the shop is packed to the rafters with an expertly curated selection of retro furniture, handmade toys, melamine kitchenware, textiles and kooky accessories, you might even call it a microcosm of cool.
And we know how Evans'll feel about that.
Smug, 13 Camden Passage, N1 8EA (020 7354 0253 of ifeelsmug.com)
February 2010
Smug,London
Local Islington girl, Lizzie Evans, is one of those types that are so often referred to as, 'annoyingly talented', it's a turn of phrase that's terribly easy to use in these circumstances, especially given the name of her shop.... the 'annoying' fact is, however, that interior and graphic designer Lizzie has every right to be....'Smug', her Camden Passage boutique is a wonderfully retro hotpot of inspiration that just oozes class. Kitchenware, glassware, clothing, ceramics and handmade toys are just some of the terribly cool and retro bits and bobs on display alongside retro furniture, artworks, accessories and textiles... as fabulously curated as it is designed, Lizzie's little emporium of cool would make any of us feel infinitely smug!
January 2010
Good vintage
Lizzie Evans has every right to feel self-satisfied. Her north London shop Smug is chock full of lust-worthy accessories, clothes and furniture including rare 1960s pieces, which she sources herself. It's the sort of store we dream of opening. 13 Camden Passage, N1 (ifeelsmug.com)
December 2009
Smug Lizzie Evans new lifestyle shop sells everything from glass and tableware to hand-painted enamel brooches. Standouts include adorable silk-screened throw pillows and stuffed animals made from vintage sweaters.
Above right:No. 13; 011-44-20-7354-0253; ifeelsmug.com
October 2009
Smug
Collectable homewares and accessories. Closed Mon, Tue.
13 Camden Passage,
N1 8EA (ifeelsmug.com)
Angel
September 2009
One stop shop Camden Passage, N1
Against the gentle backdrop of antique bric-a-brac, the chicest passageway in town continues to spawn quality independents.
Smug
Graphic designer Lizzie Evans has decked out this new concept shop with all her favourite things. With its rainbow kitchen accessories and pixie make-up bags, you can see why she might be proud of it.
13 Camden Passage, N1 8EA (ifeelsmug.com)
August 2009
Smug
Just off the beaten track that is Upper Street lies a great little shop. Situated on Camden Passage right by the antiques market is Smug the lifestyle store. Lizzie Evans, owner ad interior designer, has filled the space with bright melamine kitchenware, retro glassware, handmade toys and chic ceramics. The look is young, fun and eccentric and works well with the one off pieces of 1960s furniture that she has collected over the past few years. there are a few really special pieces of art on the walls too. The store is definitely worth a visit.