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Seven perfect Christmas gifts for people who just love beautiful, functional things
William Morris famously said to have nothing in your house that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. These things do their best to hit both targets.
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Christmas gift ideas for men
From fathers to brothers to lovers, we run through some smart ideas for Christmas presents for the men in your life.
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The Utterly Inessential Wimbledon Shopping List
We've rounded up all the utterly inessential products — posh tennis gear, in other words — that you absolutely do not need to enjoy Wimbledon, but would probably fancy having anyway.
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The Utterly Inessential Mother's Day list: 16 gifts guaranteed to either surprise or delight
Is your mum the sort who's happiest with what she knows — or one who loves a surprise?
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Supercharged home Wi-Fi, smart headphones and a mobile phone literally anyone can use
Our Utterly Inessential Shopping List returns with some technology that is far cleverer than we are.
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The best weekend bags and finest holdalls that (rather a lot of) money can buy
Going somewhere nice? You might be soon, so here's Hetty Lintell with her pick of the finest holdalls and best weekend bags you can buy.
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Best smart speakers for non-techie people: What to expect, what you'll love and what doesn't work
Smart speakers are no longer the preserve of tech geeks and millennials — these handy speakers are, and (as we'll discover) particularly handy for those living in the countryside. We've looked at some of the main contenders to see which one comes out on top: Google Nest Audio, Amazon Echo Studio, the Apple HomePod Mini, and the Audio Pro G10.
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The £11,000 dog sofa, the £640 water bowl and other extraordinary things for pampered pets
Nothing is too good for our furry friends, as this pick of utterly marvellous — if slightly unhinged — shopping options demonstrates perfectly.
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12 things to buy for a truly beautiful nursery
Make the little one’s room a haven of calm, says Hetty Lintell.
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How to thrive in Lockdown 3.0, from enjoying nature and music to the Wonders of the World
If you'd told us 11 months ago where we'd be now, we wouldn't have believed you — but here some tips on keeping your head held high.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Three things to help you keep fit as Lockdown 3.0 rumbles on
If you stuck to your resolutions in January, congratulations. If, like the other 99.999% of us, you didn't manage it then step this way...
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Best January sales deals, from winter coats to exquisite jewellery
Not all the best purveyors of luxury hold January sales — but some do, and the Country Life team has picked out some of the most beautiful items on offer.
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The Utterly Inessential last-minute Christmas gift shopping list, from £15 to £9,600
It's the most wonderful time of the year (for buying things that you don't technically need, but really love the look of in any case).
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Headphones for wannabe rock gods, an indoor jungle and notebook nirvana
A renewed sense of optimism and positivity seems to be taking hold of the world this week, as rays of sunshine seem to be peeking through the grey clouds that have shrouded 2020's skies.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Winter's least appropriate shoes, a bed of rare glory and an everything-proof mobile for adventurers or the incurably clumsy
Every week in this little slot, we lament the nastiness out in the world and suggest that you alleviate some of that negativity with something to make you smile. This week's selection comes from Victoria Marston and Toby Keel — enjoy.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: A watch that's older than planet earth, the ultimate bowl for tasteful dogs and saving the planet via the medium of cashmere
If Nero were alive today, he wouldn't have fiddled while Rome burns — he'd have bought stuff off the internet. And this is the page he'd have come to in order to help make his choices, where he'd have found the weird and wonderful as picked out by Victoria Marston and Toby Keel.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: The smartwatch equivalent of a 110-blade penknife, time-travelling teddy bears and a sewing kit that's cross-stitch meets clock-stitch
Is it right that we fight off the ennui of 21st century life by buying things we don't really need, but want anyway? Probably not, but that's the world we're in, and Toby Keel and Victoria Marston are here to help you navigate your way through it.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: The ultimate face mask, salvation for bored dogs and saving the world, one coffee capsule at a time
Well all be wearing face masks for a long time yet, so in a shockingly topical twist to Utterly Inessential we have one that fits the brief of design-overkill quite magnificently — as well as our usual mix of wonders. Victoria Marston is your guide.
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Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Defying the end of summer, a clock that doesn't tick and a dinner party in a box (N.B. dinner not included)
Time to forget the necessities and indulge in this week's nice-to-haves. Victoria Marston and Toby Keel are your guides.
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Back to university special, featuring eight creative ways to blow through your student loans
We hate to break the news, but unless you're planning a career in academia, medicine or some other equivalent specialism, a degree itself falls well and truly into 'Utterly Inessential' territory. And if you're going, why not go in style?
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The Utterly Inessential Shopping List: Tea for one, gin for anyone, and the solution for a ponging pooch
Victoria Marston guides us through this week's collection of wonders, where every whim of fussy humans and even fussier dogs is taken care of.
