Image: Design Soda

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If you are a regular around here (thank you btw) then you will know that at about this time each year I break loose from the city for at least a day to see the sea and take in some of the vibes of one of our coastal towns. I always come back inspired and wanting to share my visual memos on these towns with you. On Tuesday this week we visited Brighton for the first time in forever, it was my husbands birthday and the promise of record shops for him, both funfair rides and the sea for the little person, and a colour walk for me, made this day trip pretty irresistible to all of us. 

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Image: Design Soda

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Everyone has their own version of Brighton, right? Whether you love it’s regency opulence and transgressions, it’s decaying grandeur, its black and white inter-war crime world immortalised by Graham Greene, or the sixties Mods of Quadrophenia, there are many versions of Brighton. Unlike many seaside towns on our island, Brighton has a fairly unique place in the British imagination as a locality of cool Bohemianism. It is quite fitting that it’s the first, and still only, Green Party constituency in the U.K. It is also, to my mind, quite a green city in visual terms. From the colours painted on railings to the sixties mint of Vespas I associate with Brighton to, of course the sea, Brighton falls fully within that shade. 

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Images: Design Soda

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It is a city evolving, the decaying grandeur mentioned above may soon be a (much maligned) thing of the past, with lots of rebuilding on the seafront currently underway. However, it’s also a thriving city of creativity with an artistic buzz and stunning heritage. I was very handily given the insiders low down by Hello Pea Green on Instagram so a lot of our colour walk was inspired by her brilliant suggestions, and then I bumped into her in real life at a press show yesterday and she’s a super lovely lady to boot.

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Images: Design Soda

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Now, as you may well be aware, my favourite colour lies somewhere between green and blue so Brighton was a bit of a dream for me, all the mints against blues were exactly what makes my heart sing, but actually there was also much inspiration to be found elsewhere. The graphic surface design on the walls of Ultimate and Silo was gorgeously punchy, and there was much botanical styling to covet, particularly the light bulbs amongst botanicals in The Flour Pot Cafe and the hanging succulents (one of which I just had to take home) at Workshop Living.

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Images: Design Soda

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In contrast, there was also the super fresh design of new restaurant Pascere having its soft opening when I chanced upon it and had to go in to check out the bar tiles and velvet (think they may get a lot more of this as word gets out over the coming weeks!) to the thing that most of us probably associate Brighton with – its piers, both the preserved one and the vanquished ruin in the sea. The town may not have got my memo on the weather (in fact London has been pretty remiss this week too) and stubbornly rained for much of the afternoon, but getting out of London and seeing a town with identity and a design ethos was a real tonic.

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Images: Design Soda

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There was so much to see, too much to pack into a day trip in honesty. I already have a pretty long list for our next visit but if you know of any more must-see spots please drop a comment in the space below and I’ll add them to the list. Thanks in advance! 

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Images: Design Soda

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