Between 3 walls…

Wallpaper  is very high fashion right now. However, I know from different clients when I’m proposing it they get pretty nervous.  It can be a bold step to take depending of the graphic and color you’re choosing and wallpaper still have this word hanging onto it “grandma”.  But there is one place in your home I think you can go for it for sure without any hesitation, as the door is closed most of the times anyway………….

Yes I’m referring to the powder room. It’s generally a small space so it needs some little extra wich you easilly can get  by putting some graphic on the walls. And who wouldn’t like to sit amongst the trees………..  The classic “woods” from Cole and Sons.

Great graphics enhances the small rectangular space.

And you can let yourself go with color and patterns

A wallpaper from the queen of pattern Marimekko “Lumi Marja”      Photo: Maria-Isabel Hansson

Yes it is tiles but I couldn’t resist this one. What a beautiful tile and with my favourite color for the moment!

If you don’t want to deal with wallpaper I suppose you could paint your pattern too.

Another bold but very stylish pattern!

I really think this one is pretty cool “Aquarium” from Nina Campbell.

Hilder Blad found a solution if you don’t want to put up the wallpaper directly on the wall, glue it onto a wooden panel and hang it on the wall as a display.

May 14th, 2012 | No Comments »

Make a Tweet

No I don’t have a tweet account where you could tweet me, I am actually making an allusion to the real tweet, i.e. the sound of a bird!  The great sound of  spring. I wish I would have taken in more of my father’s knowledge of recognising all the different birds only by their sound. It  always impresses me when someone says oh, that’s the bird so and so! Eaven in design the birds haven’t been forgotten, there are  some quite impressive designed homes for our garden companions.

A luxury condo of the birdworld!  Designed by Vladimir Sinelnikov. It’s hinged together so opens easily for cleaning. We all know how messy birds can get!

The idea of “Birdy” came about when the designer Vladimir Jaccard went to the design school of Lausanne in Switzerland and the task was to explore the material fibercement. As it is an organic material 100% recyclable he came up with the idea for a bird house. I actually see a hanging handbag, but I suppose that eaven in a handbag there could be room for a little bird! You can lift of the sides for the cleaning.

This “folding birdhouse” is a quite clever idea. When you order it it comes in a flat sheet of steel and you are the one to fold it! A co-design between Jesper Mollen Hansen and Dorthe Weis and it’s an exclusive design for the MoMa store.

The Artist Donald Corey sure kept  the most important needs of his clients in mind creating this bird house with green roof.

This “birdcafe” by the Canadian design student Teddy Luonge is really great with its graphic cutouts.  What a meetingpoint for all the birds in the garden.

A very  conceptual design is made by the Swiss design group Big-Game

Who wouldn’t like to have this contemporary piece of sculpture  in your garden if your into design?!

The Barcelona bird pavillon (yes it’s a play on the  Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona pavillon from 1929!) by the Danish Architecte Monique Engelund

May 9th, 2012 | No Comments »

Dirty Laundry

When did you use a laundry pin the last time? I bet it was in  1970 something……… Actually I haven’t eaven seen one in a while you know the wooden ones with a spring on it. Yes like the one Claes Oldenburg made for the town of Philadelphia in 1976.

As they have been outconcurred by the drying machines or the plastic ones from China a lot of creative people have found another use for them. In art for example. When you put a bunch of them together the result is pretty impressive.

The Venezuelan artist Gerry Stecca has chosen this pin as his medium. He creates some marvelous non figurative sculptures with it.

The Dutch design group Wemakecarpets are assembling everyday items of use into carpets with impressive size.

Using products that normally have no value once used as plastic forks, pasta, cotton bolls etc.

The result not just a beautiful carpet but leaves us with a thought of the consumer society we live in.

Yes this carpet is all made out of plastic knives and forkes.

However, I think the most admirable user of this invention is an Argentinian architectural bureau Normal.

As they painted the tips of the pin it gives a remarkable graphic design in their installations.

They did several installations for the inauguration of H&M’s Homestore in London.

Yes the “wallpaper” is all made out of clothes pin precisely put together.

In another project, the interior of the architectural studio in Madrid, Juan Herrero. the clothe pin was used as a room divider.

What a beautiful “wall” to walk around.

The Brooklyn designer Steffi Min kept the design of the peg as is, so it doesn’t only look like it but acts like it. In her “Peg” lamp you just clip the bulb in.

The clothe pin has eaven been tryied out in the fashion industry. Here a design by the Swedish fashion designer Sandra Backlund. Ole!

To end off with something different, but yes it is a clothe pin lamp at the end of the room, Starbuck has given birth to a new Coffee shop called 15th Ave. Coffee and Tea shop started out in Seattle.

I wanted to bring it up because I love the interior. The use of the reclaimed wood all over makes it a very warm place filled with history. If our Geneva branch would look like that I think I would go more often!

They received in 2010 2 Grand Prizes for their retail environment from the Awards and Recognition Association.

Flipping through my “interior photo” file I stumbled over this photo. It was taken in a hotel during a travel to the national parks in Arizona. Inspired by the Native Americans feather art! Quite clever I think.

April 24th, 2012 | No Comments »

B,B,C

as in Brass, Bronze and Copper is the hottest trend this spring.  The first question that comes into my mind when thinking about these 3 different? materials is what is the difference? Curious as I am I had to look it up. So here comes a quick lesson in chemistry! Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin and Copper is actually the only material that is pure.

So what is the difference in color?

Bronze, slightly goldish, brass has a greenish tone into it and finally copper is more reddish.

Great now when we have that sorted out let’s see how these quite traditional materials can be used in a more contemporary setting.

The designer that has picked up this trend the most this spring is Tom Dixon

His Void lamp is an interesting  piece. Having lived in Chicago I cannot help thinking about Anish Kapoor’s Cloud gate………

I’m sure he must have passed by here………

His Block table with a granite top and copper legs. The copper really gives it a sleek and shiny look and a great contrast to the black top.

Yes his passion for brass goes all the way into the kitchen! Pretty cool don’t you think? Especially if you want something else in a contemporary kitchen than white and grey! The kitchen “Beam”  is a metamorphosis of an art installation and an industrial kitchen.

The fridge is just simply gorgeous!  It’s a design for a danish company Lindholt Studio

Another Tom Dixon lamp

Peter Legge Associates is an Irish architectural firm that designed this beautiful cottage in Connemara Ireland. And of course I couldn’t resist when I saw these copper lamps.

You can actually rent this cottage click on their name to see more pictures of this beautiful little place.

Copper really brings warmth into a contemporary setting. And on a fire place it is as if the copper is reflected in the fire or vice versa! but a great combination.

The American luxury bathroom company Kallista carries these beautiful faucets “Trinidad”

“wavelet” wouldn’t mind washing my hands in this one.

The Swedish company Klong has given an updated touch on the timeless oil lamp “Patina” designed by Broberg och Riddarstrale.

And here are a few pictures I took at the Furniture Fair in Stockholm in February.

March 20th, 2012 | No Comments »

P as in Pastel and Pale!

After having attended the Stockholm’s furniture fair in February I spotted a few trends and one of them is that  pastel is back in town!

It’s an easy color to live with as it is just a hint of color! And as spring is on its’ way it is easy to fall into it too!

I like the touch of the intense yellow that stands out from the pastels.

It’s an easy palette of colors to use in contemporary interiors as it is non dominant colors.

The use of several  colors in one room without it being whimsical for the eye.

Great colors to use in a kitchen makes you think of frosting and candy!

Montana’s shelving system on the fair in pastel colors of course!

You can easily paint your drawers of your cabinet.

If you don’t want to paint just add pastel via fabrics.

You can get pastel colors on your terrace by these chairs Dr. No by Philippe Starck.

Yes it resembles a chair he did some years ago but here one of the legs pops up through the back! A fun detail!

Nika Zupanc has designed these  lamps “Lolita” from Moooi,  makes you think about a swinging skirt from the 1950’s.

Even our coffee can be served in pastel this spring by Stelton.

Normally when I post something I always want to check up the designer and the company. However, this beautiful side table is supposedly from a company called CBY furniture. But I cannot find anything on it. If you know anything about this company or the designer who did this please let me know I would like to know more.

It is beautiful though!

If you want a quick touch of pastel in your home why not do like Rebecca and paint some spoons!

March 15th, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Atelier Oï in Geneva

Last night I went to the opening of the Oi-Phorique exhibition at Teo Jacob in Geneva. The famous Swiss trio of designers called Atelier Oi had done one of their installations. It’s an installation made in 3 parts, the movement, the effects of reflection and music.

March 4th, 2012 | No Comments »

The Lady of Lace

One of my  readers sent me some pictures of Cal Lane’s work and I fell in love with it at first sight. What an incredible work! So I wanted to share her work with you.

Cal Lane a Canadian native sculptor and welder artist. She turns the most banal daily objects into pure beauty by cutting intricate lace like patterns into steel and iron.

The clumsy old wheelbarrow turned into a pure delight.

One person’s trash is another’s treasure as it goes is so true about these old oil tanks.

But her work is not only to transform something ugly into pure beauty but she also questions what is going on in the world we are living in.

One of her earlier exhibits, “Car Bomb,” explored deeper meaning as well.
“My new work has become more political, the consequence of living in a time of war and feeling the guilt of a bystander,” says Lane. “With the first political piece titled ‘Filigree Car Bombing’ I focused on creating a tasteless relationship of images. Images of flowers and ‘prettiness’ in the form of a violent and sensitive situation.”

She expresses herself also in other medias, this exhibition was called “dirt lace” an installation she did in New York 2004. She is constantly being exposed all over the US and has had exhibitions both in France and Belgium. I hope she comes back to Europe soon to be able to see her work “live”.

Thanks Isabelle for sharing her work with us!

February 28th, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Estelle is her name……..

and her is the Swedish princess born yesterday. She is the daughter of the Swedish Crown princess Victoria.

All the bakeries in Sweden were selling like crazy the traditional Swedish “princess cake” you see on the picture, seeing it I quite long for one, with marzipan on top and sponge cake with marmalade in between yammy.

I thought I would give some kids’ design inspiration to the newly become parents.

The first question is always where should the baby sleep? How about this 2-in1 bassinet and rocker. A perfect cradle if you don’t have a lot of space which is often the case. You pick up the baby,  flip the side down and it becomes a rocking chair. How genius!

KOO is designed by a worldwide design team Lunar, based in the US and in Europe.

After a few months the next question is how do we want the high chair to look like? The thing is with the high chair that it will take part in your everyday life in your home, so you would like it to melt in with your interior and not to stick out! I thought this design “Ovo” from a Spanish design firm CuldeSac is a great compromise in practicality and looks.

I like the simpleness and the mixed of materials in between the wood and the polypropylene.

The next big issue is of course how shall we decorate the kid’s room? This is my favourite part in interior design, because here you can really let your fantasy loose. These cut outs of animals – always a great attraction for kids – are easily done in wallpaper and gives a great effect. Love the chair by Tord Boontje for Moroso.

I really loved this idea of the bird houses.

Nature is a great inspiration for a kids room in this very whimsical room.

The world as a theme. I like the idea of the suspended rocking sofa.

But what kids like the most is a place where they can through themselves into so the design of these soft rocks are pretty cool.

February 24th, 2012 | No Comments »

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I just came home from a wonderful week of skiing and had put this post on publish for Valentine’s Day, but at my disappointment I just realized that the system for some reason hadn’t recorded it! So here it comes a few days later but hay shouldn’t it be Valentine’s day everyday???

Perhaps the most classical gift on this day would be chocolate! But how unclassical isn’t this really cute wooden box made by David Stark . NB the spelling on the box!

On top of it, it will last forever!

Yes it’s true that heart shaped presents on this day gets quite banal! But when I fell over this piece of art I was really touched by the idea behind it! It’s called “51 love stories” and is made out of precisely 51 love stories!

Paul Octavious is an American photographer and designer.

You can even literally give a way a piece of your heart!

If you want to be sure that he or she will hold your hand go for this one doubled mittens!

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day Everyone!

February 19th, 2012 | No Comments »

Let’s stay in bed!

Siberia has taken over Switzerland at the moment. It’s freeezzzing cold (but beautiful). This morning the temperature said -12C i.e. 10F for my American friends.

So it’s the perfect excuse to stay in bed with a good book! But when you think about it it’s always nicer to go into a bed that’s inviting. So what does your bed linen look like? I think it’s really worth the while to give an extra effort when buying your sheets after all you’re at least spending 8 hours in them per night!

Now how fresh isn’t this! I think this is exactly the feeling you want to get sliding down into your bed, freshness and strangely enough coolness!

I have a preference for the off centered prints. It gives a great graphic impression.

It’s the detail of the yellow birds which makes this linen stand out!

I discovered the American company West Elm too late during my stay in the US otherwise I would have bought plenty from there!!!! This print is an inspiration from 1950’s style floral fabrics.

It’s like going into bed on a floral field in summer. How great isn’t that!

This is just gorgeous! Also from West elm they have borrowed the butterflies from vintage prints.

Now on to perhaps a little bit more creative bed linens. The British company True Love Always has a saying “People’s sheet should be exciting as their dreams……”

They work with graphic designers to get their prints.

The Russian designer Vadim Chemiy is concentrating on the human body. I thought this was a pretty cool idea!

And its different positions……….

Perhaps a controversial design because the inspiration is the use of card boards the homeless use to protect themselves from the cold! It’s is 100% cotton and incredibly lifelike!  But however, a portion of the proceeds do goes to homeless in the Netherlands from where the designer comes from.

OK, I’m going back to bed!

February 7th, 2012 | No Comments »