Year: 2020

Table & chaise Ramatuelle 73' par Grosfillex 7

The Ramatuelle 73′ table – modern French design dining table

*This post includes gifted items While I’m finishing the renovations at CASA PYLA, I’m helping my mum to modernize and redecorate her home. Last Summer, she mentioned she would love a nice, modern garden table big enough to host all her three children and families. She was also keen to have one that she could use inside her home during Winter to tackle all her sewing and crafts projects. Crafty and gifted she is! So we decided upon the extensible Ramatuelle 73′ table by Grosfillex which can be extended from 160 to 210 cm. At 160 cm, it’s the perfect space for her to spread fabrics and set up a sewing machine. Once we add the extension and move it outside, it’s the ideal outdoor table to gather around. The nice dark grey color of the Ramatuelle table was also key to our decision. Ultimately, her future kitchen will be all white (similar to the kitchen we renovated in our home in France) and we both felt it was a good addition for the more modern look …

Throwback to our home in London

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

I was going through some old pictures and came across this one of our home in London. The lounge with its resin floor and high ceilings was my favorite space in our home. It felt really spacious and airy and I love that in wintertime, we could also have a fire going. Apart from the wooden stool which I sold when we moved to France, I have pretty much everything. The NEW-YORK print is available here. The Milk lamp is stored waiting to find its spot in CASA PYLA and the dining table is now in our home in France (available for rentals here). I’m sometimes nostalgic about our 23 years in London. Mostly when I looked at old pictures ;-) I miss our family brunches in Chiswick, going to Columbia Road flower market, hanging out in the old Spitalfields market, and grabbing a bagel in Bricklane. Yet that old market had been destroyed by the time we left London and replaced by a new, property development. However, would I move back there and leave coastal living? …

Slow living & autumnal interior

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Slow living: Mila is on holiday this week and I’ve found myself adapting to her pace. This morning I was in my PJs until 10 am…and that my friends, is slow living at its best! It’s not an everyday occurrence though. Yesterday I went for a run at 7.30 am. In fact, I’m on week 3 of the “From Couch to 5K” program using an App put together by the BBC and NHS and I’m really happy to run again. I was missing the release of endorphins. At first, I wasn’t sure I would be able to run like I used to, but the interval training in this program makes it easy and perfect for anyone who has never run or hasn’t run for years like me. So early this afternoon, I was practicing the art of slow living, sitting on the sofa drinking a cup of tea while this combo: chair + throw + rug in autumnal colors caught my attention. I thought it was too pretty for not sharing it. The throw is from …

Barbarian days: A surfing life

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I’ve recently ordered “Barbarian days: A surfing life” by William Finnegan It’s a book I meant to order a while back, then I forgot about it until I spotted it again on someone’s feed on Instagram. “Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life” has won the Pulitzer Prize and William Hill Sports Book of the Year. I’ve just started reading it so I can’t tell you much about it yet but I love reading about surfing or watching movies. Momentum Generation (available on iTunes) was fascinating! I’ve watched it twice and could watch it again. It features all the kids and then champions that came out of the 80s like Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Taylor Steele. The footage and photography in the movie are a massive inspiration for me. I met Rob Machado last year when Mila was competing in Hossegor. The weather was awful, I was running to the car to grab something and I spotted him with his daughter changing by his van. I nurtured a bit of courage and went up to him to say …

Favourite beauty products

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

I’m a huge fan of AESOP and I love using this Primrose hydrating cream in the morning. Once I have finished the pot, I clean it and use it to store small things like elastic bands, rings, health supplements when I travel, etc. OLAPLEX Hair protector is a product Steve brought me back from Cult Beauty. Love, love, love that product. It makes my hair stronger and shinier. I came across THE ORDINARY range when I was looking for something to stop my skin from being so dry. I use the 100% organic Rose hip seed oil in the evening and alternate with the 100% organic cold-pressed Argan oil. KIEHL’S is one brand I always get at the airport. I recently bought a bottle of the amino acid shampoo after getting hold of a sample and refill the sample bottle each time I travel. How about you? Which one(s) are your current beauty favorites!? Photo taken in the ground-floor bathroom of CASA PYLA. The residence is available for summer rentals here or you can contact me directly.

Sunday in Casa Pyla

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

We’ve moved into CASA PYLA a week ago and I’m slowly making it a home. I don’t want to rush into adding too many things because I really enjoy the minimalism of the space. Plus we are going to lay down the polished concrete floor at the beginning of November and hopefully lay down the oak floorboards on the first-floor end of October. This means that each time, I will need the clear the whole floor so the fewer things I have to pack and move the better. Natural light is that space is amazing and makes those days where I have to spend hours in front of my computer editing pictures a lot more pleasant. The next big job in the house is fitting the final kitchen counter and some gorgeous brass sink and tap from Nivito which are currently sitting in the garage. For those interested, the HEADING HOME fine art print is available from my shop here. Let me know if you have any questions about the house, the renovations, or anything else …

A dark office corner before and after

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*This post includes gifted items During phase 1 of the renovations at CASA PYLA, I was keen to try out a really dark room for a change. With the help of Hübsch Interiors and Farrow & Ball, I created this intimate and minimalist workspace in one of the bedrooms. Just to give you a bit of a background on our house plans, we signed the deed for villa Bagatelles (which I rebranded CASA PYLA) on my birthday in March ’19. Given our project to rehabilitate this big house, I knew we couldn’t achieve all we wanted to do before Summer ’19. So I broke down the work in several phases. March-June ’19: Freshening up the house to make it welcoming and liveable for Summer ’19. December-June ’20: Tackling the major renovations (new windows, the concrete floor on the ground floor, new bathrooms, etc) September ’20: planning a series of creative workshops. As soon as we got the keys, I started three months of intensive renovations to create a natural, Summer vibe in this old house. The bedroom …

A minimal home in West London

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My heart skipped a beat when I saw the kitchen in this minimal home in West London. The layout and glass roof reminded me of our home in London (you can see some pictures from the renovations here). Before you ask, yes I miss it from time to time. Then I think where we live now… so close to the beach and realize that there is no way I will move back to London and leave the ocean behind. There is an energy there that I feel is extremely positive for our well-being. Plus we have CASA PYLA underway and soon, we will have a beautiful home to live in. Unlike this home, we laid down a concrete floor throughout the ground floor (kitchen and lounge) instead of this pale grey terrazzo flooring. Yet, there are many things I love about this minimal home. So let me show a few details I love about this extension designed by Al-Jawad Pike. There is a very soothing palette used throughout the house with soft tones of white, pale …