Happy Monday

Happy Monday to all! I finally feel like spring might be on its way! The sun is shining and the crocuses are starting to come out. I had a fun-filled weekend, starting on Friday with a trip to the new Design Museum on Kensington High Street. Every Friday I try to do something cultural and as I was going to visit a dear friend in Kensington, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

As a museum devoted to contemporary design, from architecture and fashion to graphics and product design, it needed to be something spectacular. From the outside I wasn't massively impressed, but walk into the atrium and it's quite a transformation! The interior is clad in oak panels that give it a warm, inviting feeling and there are steps and walkways that lead to the museums facilities.

Look up, and you see the most stunning part of the museum, the roof. The Commonwealth Institute, which was situated on the land before, was a listed building and this meant that the roof had to be kept. As you look up, it really is a stunning sight, mixed with the oak cladding of the new walls.

The steps that lead up to the first floor are also made into informal seating where you can sit and enjoy the space.

At the top you can view the excellent permanent collection, a feast of design achievements over the decades. This wall of items is what you first see of the exhibition. It shows a selection of design icons over the past decades. The permanent collection is so stuffed with information that it was too much to take in in one go. I will need to go back and see more!