Nicholas Serota, director of TatePhoto: Courtesy Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Sir Nicholas Serota, outgoing director of London’s Tate, who is known for usually remaining tight-lipped, broke with his norm on Wednesday to advise the unhappy residents whose homes neighbor Switch House, the new Tate Modern extension, saying “If you want privacy, get net curtains.” Those complaining are irritated about the newfound display upon which they have found themselves in the wake of Tate Modern’s recent expansion. The museum’s new addition overlooks the private residences of the Neo Bankside building (which, according to The Guardian, includes some homes as close as only 20 meters from Switch House), thus giving museum-goers the ability to observe people in their luxurious homes. But, despite their proximity, inhabitants of these apartments are not part of the new hang on display at the Tate Modern, and the museum itself was forced to remind visitors of this fact.

Serota explained that a sign has been displayed stressing that people were, “not to gesticulate, to recognize that people who live nearby have a right to some privacy.” The Neo Bankside apartment building, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour, sells homes to the tune of a cool £4.5 m ($5,842,057), and their design and exclusivity may perhaps contribute to the public intrigue surrounding them. “I could swear I spotted a Francis Bacon,” a recent visitor to Tate’s Switch House said to artnet News, not referring to the hang inside the museum. artnet News further reported that local politician Adele Morris described people “literally hanging over the balcony and taking photos of [the residents’] rooms and then posting them on the internet.” Many of these have appeared on social media, including Instagram. Yet, Serota seems to harbor no sympathy for the inhabitants of these high-scale apartments, offering the not-so-subtle rebuttal: “I need to repeat the fact that clearly people purchasing those flats were in no doubt that Tate Modern was going to build its new Switch House building and the character and uses of that building were widely known.

People purchased with their eyes wide open,” he concluded. Beloved artist and UK national treasure Grayson Perry then threw his hat into the mix, speaking on Radio 4’s news program World at One, stating that this was now a class row. wamsutta blackout curtainsHe pointed out that net curtains are widely considered a working class furnishing item and are effectively banned in some high priced developments. black curtains 54x90He also added that although he had some sympathy with the residents, many working in the arts were having to leave the capital due to rising house prices and the disgruntled residents should “embrace it, or move.”estasi curtains Follow artnet News on Facebook.ezzeddine curtains

Our apologies we don’t support your browser. Please update your browser to view Anthropologie correctly.Chequered flag for a winning team At the end of a pretty country lane in Buckinghamshire, we discover The Chequers, the cosiest 17th-century inn imaginable, with beamed ceilings and a modern touch. nolans curtains dun laoghaireHere, we get a warm welcome and the key to a top-floor room, which is reached by a twisty-turny staircase. iclone curtainsThe room is furnished with the sort of stripped-pine furniture - chest-of-drawers, dressing-table with swing mirror, wash-stand with marble top and decorative tiled back - that would bring a gleam to any collector's eye. Unfortunately the view is of the kitchen roof. There's more: pink striped wallpaper with an old-fashioned frieze running along the top, flowery curtains, pine bedside cupboards, plus a slice of Genoa cake and shortbread biscuits to tempt the hungry guest.

The adjoining bathroom is immaculate and has a bath as well as a modern shower. Going downstairs, we discover a bar, with oak posts, beams and flagstone floors and a row of tall chairs lined up just so at the bar, plus a few squashy sofas with a lot of cushions, plus a lounge bar with leather chairs and yet more sofas. So this little inn isn't so little after all. Through open doors, we can see a large lawned garden with tables and chairs where there's a barbecue going on. Taking our drinks on to the terrace outside, we find a seat and watch the goings-on. Soon, someone's hurrying out to find us. "Your table is ready!" At the restaurant we are greeted by Giuseppe. We had already noted that some tables had been laid in a small courtyard beyond the restaurant; these have huge umbrellas and lights like old-fashioned street lamps. "Would it be possible to have one of those?" we ask. He goes off to investigate. "We have a small one, please come and look to see if you think it's suitable." Following him through the large red-painted restaurant proper, we find that he has inserted a small white-clothed table between a couple of others.

"What do you think?" he asks. He and the waiter, who had been standing by, now put chairs on either side and, with Italian panache, proceed to set it with crisp white napkins, cutlery and polished glasses. In no time at all there's an ice bucket on a stand with our wine next to us. And to think that we've just swanned in out of the blue, not even regular customers, just overnight visitors. My husband has chosen the baby plum tomato tarte tatin with peppered goat's cheese melt, and balsamic syrup for his starter. "Simple but beautifully done," he says. I find my gravadlax of Scottish salmon with malt whisky, potted shrimps and honey and cucumber roulade quite wonderful - it's the whisky that makes it special. Next he has callops (sic) of monkfish, chorizo rosette with coarse-grain mustard cream glaze and chargrilled fennel; while I've chosen confit duck leg, Griottine sauce, coriander pesto mash and spinach. Must say, all of this is way beyond our expectations. "That's what I like to see," says the waiter, "clean plates!"

Puddings get a clean plates award, too: crème brûlée and summer pudding are beautiful to look at and beautiful to eat. "Everything in this place seems to be run to the same high standards," my husband declares later. Giuseppe tells us that the chap with the grey beard and the butcher's apron who's emptying the ashtrays is Peter the boss. "He and the rest of the family run it. He'd never admit to being the boss, but he's always the first person up and about in the morning." As for me, I just love the big red restaurant, its walls covered with paintings, where we could have eaten last night if it hadn't been such a warm evening. Nearly every table is taken this morning and breakfast goodies - fresh fruit, yogurts, packets of cereal, grapefruit and prunes, everything one could want - are laid out on a large table in the centre of the room. We're amazed to see the number of young people in here, many of them parents with babies and small children for whom high chairs have, of course, been provided.