All posts filed under: BLACK

The Basalt table by Normal studio

Black dining tables and black coffee tables add, without a doubt, modern luxury to a home. The Basalt table designed by Normal Studio adds warmth and textures too. Founded in 2006 by Jean-François Dingjian and Eloi Chafaï, Normal Studio is a French industrial Design agency located in Paris (Montreuil). Both have designed products for Ligne Roset, Tolix, SEB, Tefal and more recently the stylish Mimic mirror for Muuto and many more. SHOP MY FAVOURITES FROM THE MUUTO COLLECTION Cut from a single oak trunk to get an even aspect, each piece is handcrafted and burned with a blowtorch (see video below) to get this deep colour becoming close to a mineral aspect. Once finished, the designs retain their natural tree rings and represent the history, beauty, and destruction of nature….basically life. You can watch below how the Basalt table is made. It’s fascinating, don’t you think!? Burn wood was also used on the outside of French Fashion Designer Aurélie Lecuyer’s home, a beautiful family home designed by Atelier Ordinaire. If you’re looking for a similar finish for your …

5 things I want right now!

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

It has been a pretty gloomy week on various levels so let’s lighten up things with a bit of fashion and it’s fridYEAH after all… I really love this all black look I posted on Instagram, and it’s pretty much my go-to outfit at the moment. It’s fashionable, comfy, easy to pull together with a hint of fashion. I usually pair it with an oversized coat and if the weather gets warmer, swap my black jumper for a white tee-shirt. Voilà, job done!

3 beautiful dark on dark bedrooms to inspire you

3 beautiful dark grey bedrooms

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

I did some housecleaning on Sunday and changed our linen bedlinen for a dark grey. Looking at our bedroom (first pic/and here), I have to admit that while I love white interiors, I really love the dark grey wall of our bedroom in France. Dark grey feels stylish and modern yet very intimate and welcoming. Once we have sold this house, I’m planning to move one of the Ikea Malm bedframes back to the bigger house and paint it in dark grey like the back wall of our bedroom. Has anyone done this before on Ikea’s Malm? Until then, here are three beautiful dark bedrooms which I find very inspiring. The first one was photographed by Wendy for Nu Interieur, a Dutch company I love a lot and which designed the leather handles I used in our bedroom in London. I love the Flos 265 Wall Lamp in the second bedroom (sorry couldn’t find the author & credit accordingly). I also think the bedframe in the third picture which looks like a large painted canvas, look fabulous and should be fairly easy to do with a …

HOUSE TOUR: A beautiful, architectural house with black cladding

Beautiful, architectural home with black cladding

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

Having fitted cladding (see other picture here) to the back of our home in London, painted the front of the house and Steve’s tree house in black, the Ridge Road residence with its beautiful black cladding and its Butterfly chairs really stroke a chord with me. This beautiful, architectural home is on the Mornington Peninsula (south of Melbourne) and has been designed by Studio Four. Located within the Moonah Links golf course, the house is surrounded by nature and according to the Architect: “It is difficult to gain more than a glimpse of the dwelling through the surrounding vegetation. Where the house is visible, it blends within the landscape, the black timber cladding and dark reflective glass selected to help dematerialise the building form from its natural surrounds.”This is a grant building and project, which considering the size of the large windows fitted on steel frames, must have been quite pricey but I thought it was a great inspiring building to have in mind, should you consider adding black cladding to your home. The Ochre Barn in Norfolk is another good example of building with black cladding.The large front deck …

Using dark hues in the bedroom

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

I keep being asked what shade of paint I used on the wall of our bedroom in France. I used Down Pipe by Farrow & Ball which is a deep dark grey. I initially used the estate emulsion which has a lovely chalky finish but it shows marks a lot more. So over the past few years, I’ve freshened up our walls with the modern emulsion which has a low sheen and most importantly is waterproof.

Are you a black floorboards kind of person?

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

I didn’t think I was…Last Saturday, Steve and I went to buy floorboards for our loft conversion and while I had an all-white scheme in my head for the top room, once in the shop, we ended up buying some large black floorboards similar to the ones featured in the first image of my 5 inspiring white kitchens post. Our decision to go for black floorboards this time, was dictated by two crazy things!Firstly: our deadline… We are aiming to complete the top room within two weeks so Mila can have 9 of her friends staying for a sleepover after celebrating her birthday (and these can be delivered within 5 days instead of the usual 4/5 weeks).Secondly: our common desire to try something differentWhich is a first too! Hahaha… I mean, the kiwi and I often want the same things in life but we usually spend a fair amount of time disagreeing about finishes, design, materials, budget, etc. but for some reasons, this time, we have been very much in sync.I’m not complaining! All I can say…there is hope …

5 inspiring and stunning black kitchens

Published by BODIE and FOU Style Blog

Following my post on the 5 sleek, inspiring and gorgeous white kitchens that inspire our kitchen’s Masterplan, I initially considered a black kitchen especially after seeing Vipp’s black kitchen in Copenhagen.However, I do think black kitchens stand out better when fitted in a very spacious, minimalist room like the Vipp flagship store where we had our pop-up store and Blogger styling competition last week, or one filled with natural light.While our kitchen has a glass roof on one side, the other part has a lower ceiling and we felt, it would make the room looking even smaller rather than giving it the sensation of space we are aiming to achieve so white it is for us (this time!). Here is a selection of the most beautiful black kitchens I came across… I’m loving these glossy black tiles. It’s so different from what we see regularly. It feels daring and luxurious yet the wooden stool, the wooden chopping boards, the industrial Potence wall light and the skylights add a warmth, inviting feeling to the whole room. If I had the right …