Author: BODIE and FOU Style Blog

Insert coffee table by Ferm Living

It took me a while to find a nice, coffee table for the lounge in CASA PYLA but it wasn’t something I wanted to rush. Along with your sofa, the coffee table is a key focal point when you walk into a lounge. It’s one of the first things you notice and can often make or break a scheme. I had a very clear scheme of natural materials, colors, and organic shapes in mind for CASA PYLA. As the house is located two minutes’ walk from the beach, I wanted to use similar natural tones to the ones found at the beach. Similar to our home in London and our first home in France, it was also important to me to create a space that felt like a holiday home all year long. In those Covid times, having a home that makes you feel relaxed is important. To create a timeless, soft minimalist vibe, I favored natural materials such as linen, light wood, leather. Then I focused on keeping a soft, natural palette using shades of whites, …

SUMMERTIME fine art print

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

I’ve added a new print to the shop. I love the sense of freedom and Summer vibes that exude from this picture. I’ve just ordered it from the studio in 70 x 100 cm to hang it in CASA PYLA so I will show you what it looks like once I’ve reeeived it. I will also soon make BAYWATCH available in landscape format as I’m currently working on an XL size for a client

Geberit AquaClean in Casa Pyla

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

Each time, Steve and I renovate a house, we aim to use different materials and innovative technology. In CASA PYLA, the two tech installations we did was installing an under ceiling heating and fitting one of the toilets with a Geberit AquaClean shower toilets. What are Geberit AquaClean shower toilets? Essentially, the AquaClean shower toilets take personal hygiene to the next level. It is a convenient way to pay particular attention to intimate areas in the most gentle and natural way at the touch of a button. Each AquaClean shower toilet comes fitted with a water spray nozzle. This feature makes them extremely sanitary, both for the user and for the bathroom itself. Each AquaClean shower toilet also comes with a remote control so you can decide on the best setting appropriate to your needs or the one you are the most comfortable with. There is also a lighting option should you wish to leave it on at night. This video shows you all the different options available and how you can adjust the height of the shower and the water …

A fresh start

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

This is it, we are starting a new year, a fresh start. It is time to tidy things up and embrace the year ahead. This year, we stayed in France due to Covid but I have to admit that hanging out at home was a good thing to do. Those few days between Christmas and New Year Eve when life slows down always feel a bit special. Somehow you know that most shops will be closed (in France), your fridge is full, it’s cold outside and there is no need to venture outside. So you can enjoy a guilt-free trip on the couch and that’s why we’ve done. Reading, drinking tons of tea, napping, watching Netflix, and running every other morning for good measure. This Covid 2020 year (let’s hope it’s the only one) has, like any other year, gone by fast. Somehow time during lockdowns felt slow until it wasn’t. I felt I had plenty of time to do things until time ran out and I hadn’t done half of the things I wanted but …

Table & chaise Ramatuelle 73' par Grosfillex 7

The Ramatuelle 73′ table – modern French design dining table

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

*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

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

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

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

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 …