Saturday 29 August 2009

Lightbulb moment

After all those years of world energy saving efforts, time and expense, who knew someone would make light bulbs trendy again? Commerce and nostalgia, hand in hand.


Treasure your light bulb moments.

(From the Sundance catalogue).

Wednesday 12 August 2009

Summer love






Enjoy the rest of the summer!

(Pictures from one of the most beautiful, inspirational, chic blogs I have ever seen, The Lisa Porter Collection)

Tuesday 11 August 2009

Like it? Test drive it!

Have you ever gotten stuck on a nice home, someone else's home from an interiors magazine or another blog?
I bet you have, because I have, too. Yet you are not quite sure the style is for you. Well, if you are willing to drive to London you can test-drive the style. Spend a week in the house of your choice (see and shop, too) and then you'll know.





Yes, these properties exist and can be rented at reasonable prices through Ivy Lettings. Do let me know if there are similar schemes you know of in your country!

Monday 10 August 2009

Catalogue progress

Friday 7 August 2009

Shop update


Some great stuff is getting ready for Autumn/Winter 2009/10 at the shop!

I am currently proof reading the new catalogue, one of the few ones to have seen it before hand. Great photography. Poetics applied to reality. Amazing new products. Can't show you just yet, but here is a clue: a new Dutch designer is on to something!

See you soon!

Monday 3 August 2009

Home style tips from Kelly Hoppen

South Africa born Kelly Hoppen is one of the best-known British interior designers, whose clients include Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and the Beckhams.


(Picture from Maison et Objet Paris)

Ms. Hoppen was recently awarded an MBE for services to interior design. She is the author of Kelly Hoppen Style: The Golden Rules of Design, East Meets West: Global Design for Contemporary Interiors, Table Chic: Ideas and Themes for Creative Tables.

Her latest book is Kelly Hoppen Home, where she explores the entire process of creating a home that meets the clients needs.

My personal favorite though is In Touch: Texture in Design where she explains the introduction of a textual dimension in the home. The book also features a directory profiling the key characteristics of different textures along with care advice.

Now to the high chic thrift tips:





(picture source: unknown)

"Her ensembles are known for their fabulous floral displays, but Hoppen’s favourite cheap-chic trick is to buy fake flowers. She produces some faux hydrangeas. The stems are snipped off, leaving the soft flower heads, which, piled into a square glass vase, look elegant and oriental. Then she places single flowers into tiny globe vases".

Indeed, talk of hydrangeas, fake or real, allows Hoppen to blossom and open up. They take her back to her grandmother’s flower garden — Stone House, just outside Cape Town — which she says is her inspiration. She describes it as “a safe haven”, a home layered over years, put together “with patience and love” — an effect she strives for. In particular, she treasures memories of her grandmother’s gorgeous fabric combinations: suedes, chenilles, velvets, leathers.
(Pillows: Kelly Hoppen)

These textures are a staple of Hoppen’s style, and, she says, adding a contrasting fabric can be part of a cost-effective makeover. “There are lots of things you can do to revamp a home inexpensively,” she says. “You can uplift cushions with bands of fabric.”

Heaving out a roll of French espadrille canvas and a silver-grey velvet cushion, she suggests alternating between canvas in summer and velvet bands in winter.






(Picture credit:cox and cox)

For maximum effect on a shoestring, she suggests a mix of freestanding lights, table lamps and candles. “The more lighting you have, the more choice you have about creating a mood.”








(Picture credit: Paula Prass)

Another top tip is to use vegetables as decoration. We sit at a table loaded with artichokes, aubergines and limes from nearby Portobello market, placing them in glass cylinders and globes to produce instant, opulent textures and colour.

Finally, Hoppen lays eight polished red apples on a square black plate, with a gap, bottom right, where a ninth would complete the square. “Any reason you’re not using nine apples?” I ask. “Yes. Because they brought me eight,” Hoppen says.

Read full article here. Visit Kelly Hoppen here.

Saturday 1 August 2009

Happy Birthday Anna-Maria!


One of my favorite bloggers all over is Anna-Maria Horner. July 31 was her birthday(but I did not visited the net for pleasure, yesterday!) so please head over to read her bright and sunny blog posts and wish her the best.

I wanted to save her own wish here. She writes:

"Wishing you marbles under your pillow".

(Read where that came from here)

Happy Birthday, dean Anna-Maria, and many happy marbles to you, too!

Best buys