All posts filed under: furniture

Dreaming of a grey sofa for our holidays home in France….

As much as I love our Ghost sofa by Paola Navone in London, a white sofa would definitively not have been practical for our holidays home in France (you can see more photos here).  The house caters for 8 people but has often a tribe of young children running around, entering the house from our side to another, spreading sand from the beach to eventually collapse on our large sofa in front of the TV.As I did not intend to have a nervous breakdown each time we were there, I deliberately kept the interior design of the house simple and low maintenance when I re-decorated the house a few years ago.Failing to find an affordable, contemporary designer sofa in grey which was my first choice (and under pressure from the CFO of the house to stick to our budget), I went for a large, modulable dark brown sofa from the Swedish giant – which is ok and comfortable but looking at these inspiring interiors in hues of greys, whites and wood, I really wish I could change our sofa to a grey one now. Anyone …

4 styles to create an inviting, family-friendly dining room

Our friends Elena and Graham moved into a new home which needs some work but has massive potential and just seeing it, made Steve and I craving for a new home decorating project.They have already painted the walls of their dining room in white and will sand the original floorboards to varnish them.As they are planning to get new dining chairs, here are a few examples to create an inviting, family-friendly and welcoming dining room. Personally I love them all which won’t make the decision process any easier but hey…Which one do you prefer? // Scandi warmthAs they already own a white Arne Jacobsen table, wooden dining chairs like these below would look beautiful in their room that is filled with natural light and will soften the room, adding textures and a natural vibe. // On a budgetI love finding styling ideas on a budget because it requires creativity, ingenuity and I’m a firm believer that style is not about money. If I had a TV show, I would love to help people to create beautiful homes on …

A touch of Spring happiness…

Just because I went to work today to finish our workspace shot (#hateworkingonsunday) for our forthcoming Spring Summer 2013 catalogue and that really, really…this Winter is really to start getting really depressing and still very cold, here is a bit pink softness to bring Spring happiness into our lives. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————- // Styling Harriet Paterson Photography: Adrian Briscoe | pink ball  chair from here http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UxVs

Styling from the weekend: Paulistano chair love

I have the chance to have two of these beauties at home, the Whisky Paulistano with the stainless-steel frame and the White Paulistano with the black iron frame. It’s by far my favourite piece of design. I can’t tell you how much I love the lines of this chair…. The frame is made of a continuous 17-foot single bended steel bar (shaped under 200 lbs of hydraulic pressure over 24 hours) and then welded in a single spot and it looks simple and beautiful and for something that was designed in 1957 for The Athletic Club of São Paulo, it has not aged at all.Last week, Francois and I shot several Paulistano chairs including this shot below which was taken in  a beautiful family home in West London but could have well be taken in a home in Paris… don’t you think it has a gorgeous French vibe?The new UP poster by Fine Little Day on the wall is available from here and the Milk lamp from here. Photography: François Kong | Styling: Karine Kong http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UxVs

Truck | Inspiring Japanese shop

Was the weather beautiful where you were today?It was wonderful in London…The room where we shot our new linen aprons for men was filled by a beautiful, natural light and this, added to the beautiful dark grey, light blue grey and light grey linens of the aprons made everything incredibly inspiring to style…I was in heaven.I also started styling the bed linens collection and I think once the shot is finished with the right light, details etc…it will be a very inviting room. You can see more pics on Facebook. Talking of inspiration, today I also felt really inspired by this gorgeous Japanese shop called TRUCK which was founded by Tokuhiko Kise and Hiromi Karatsu in 1997. TRUCK design furniture with timeless appeal and integrity, the kind of design and concept I particularly affectionate. I was also very attracted to their styling which felt real and then I read that they do everything themselves for their catalogue, from styling to photography. Like us, they shot their catalogue in the homes and shops they live and work everyday, with their own things as props like I do and …

Prouvé RAW

Steve is a G-Star RAW man which suits me fine because he looks very handsome in their clothes and I love how manly yet stylish their cuts are (which is why the Jules leather bag will be perfect for him!).We went there on Saturday to get him a new pair of trousers before he flew to New-Zealand and I picked up their in-store mag to see the latest campaign shot by Anton Corbijn but then discover the special collaboration between the Jean Prouvé Foundation, Vitra and G-Star RAW.Prouvé, a forefather of the modernist movement and trailblazer for the machine age, was a metalsmith, engineer, maunfacturer and architect who in his lifetime would design anything from bookshelves to bicycles to buildings. His success would be in uniting honest materials, functional requirements with the complex demands of mass production.The result of this amazing collaboration between the Prouvé Foundation and G-Star is a collection of 15 pieces that channels Prouvé’s original intentions in terms of quality and functionality while also bringing the designs up to date with new …

NA3 stool by Norm Architects for &Tradition. Available from BODIE and FOU. Buy online now

♥ NORM Architects for & Tradition

I have already mentioned my love for the work of Kasper Rønn and Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen from NORM Architects when I posted about the Fredensborg home, this gorgeous Copenhagen penthouse and recently about the beautiful Milk table lamp they designed for &Tradition. Here is a sneak peek of the NA collection they also designed for &Tradition.

I love this!

I’m feeling a bit under the weather today. It has been a little bit busy these last 2 weeks working on our catalogue. I need a little break here but this cheered me up…How cute is this?? Our customer’s baby daughter in Portugal climbing our white ball chair* Thanks Ana for this wonderful image! Update:Talking of getting cheered up…What about this lovely email I got on Tumblr! one word: WOW! Actually 4 more…Thank you very much! (C) Ana F Louro *back in stock this week http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UxVs