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Want to give your kitchen or dining room an instant makeover, without paint or power tools? Placemats can add a burst of personality without any fuss. Like these spirited placemats from Martin and Michele Yeeles, a British couple who moved to the U.S. in 1993. Martin is a graphic designer and Michele is a former shoe designer. Together they founded a funky paper goods business with a curious name: Bob’s Your Uncle.
Their Roadside Pad features pictures of signs Martin took on road trips around the country. The Diner Pad captures six nostalgic scenes at a landmark diner in Watertown, Mass. For a laugh, the Recipes Pad has recipes written by kids, so you can learn how NOT to prepare things like waffles and raisin-stuffed grapes. Each of these bundles has six copies of six different designs (for a total of 36 placemats.) There’s also the 26-sheet A-Z Coloring Pad, if your diners like to doodle at the table. All the placemats are printed using soy-based inks on cardstock paper that’s sourced from responsibly managed forests. They’re disposable – but if you want to preserve them, you can laminate some or even frame a few (we’re planning to frame our favorites).
As for the name, “Bob’s your uncle” is a British expression that means a task is very simple. Legend has it Prime Minister Robert Cecil appointed his nephew to a prestigious post in the late 1880s, therefore to have Bob as your uncle was a guarantee of success. In that spirit, we think these fun placemats are definitely a sure thing.
— Ann