maison & objet trend: mixing, patchwork & ethnic chic

This nice rug, in the first image, captures two trends in one: patchwork AND ethnic chic! Well done. 

Ceannis, that also makes some wonderful bags, gives the patchwork-trend a try as well, on their pillows.

TM Collection, in the last image, makes its own mix, of ethnic fabric and bohemian prints. They design fashion as well as home wear, like pillows and lamp shades.

maison & objet trend: pastels

This nice stack of plates by Reichenbach shows a good overview of another, more muted colour theme: nice, dark, powdery pastels with a touch of yellow and lighter tones. Lovely porcelain cutlery, also.

maison & objet trend: colour

Another big, big thing, in interior design as well as fashion, is colour. Pastels, nudes and greys are combined with more bright, bold, almost fluorescent colours. I saw combinations of colours without print, but also fabrics with prints with flowers. The motto is: put as much colour and flowers in it as possible, and then add a little more.

maison & objet trend: layering and stacking

Maison & Objet is, besides shop owners, visited by stylists and journalists, to see what is going on. Funny to see that some ideas that I saw a few years ago in Milan, found their way to other designers  Like the pile of mattresses by Dutch designer Richard Hutten. In the first image you see his design, shown in Milan in 2008.

You can see it translated in a way that is close to his design with a lot of colourfull mattresses, or, for a more sophisticated look: mattresses in soft greys, combined with grey pastels by Desio.

maison & objet

End of January I visited Salon Maison & Objet in Paris. It is a big trade market with a lot of home design, where you can the latest trends on interior fashion. The fair is huge, with halls as big as the New York train station, with, for instance, only table wear or scented candles. I skipped a few halls (those) and I got lost a few times, but I saw some really beautiful designs, and got some inspiration for future designs. 

maison & objet, 1

A tiny part of the fair is Objets de Mode, with small boots for little design companies, like La Cerise sur le Gâteau, Zoe de las Cases, Miss Print and Numero 74. The designs are all really personal and authentic. But, if you want a general trend, there's a lot of humour in it and a lot of colour.

La Cerise sur le Gâteau (www.lacerisesurlegateau.fr) makes home linen, like dish cloths and bed linen, but I like the pillow cases best. With which you can add a light, funny and colourful touch to your house. (first image).

Zoe de las Cases (zoedelascases.com) makes inventive, cute objects for your house. Like posters, bags and boxes with beautiful old family pictures printed on them, or a game with different scents. Her latest design is this stamp kit, which you can use to cheer up you paperwork. Like contracts or bills, for instance. (last three images).

maison & objet, 2

I loved the wall paper and fabric by Miss Print, (www.missprint.co.uk). The fabrics are all hand printed. The wall paper Dandelion, shown in this picture, is also available in yellow and grey. (first image)

Numero 74 from Italy restores (and sells) beautiful vintage children's furniture and also makes lovely soft hand knitted blankets and toys (www.numero74.com), on the last two images.

maison & objet, 3

While I tried to skip a few halls I got lost in the hall with all the big fabric producers. Luckily, because otherwise I would never have met the wonderful fabric designer Marie Riche of Lalie Design. Unfortunately her booth was too full to take a good picture of it, so she sent me and overview of some of her fabrics.

I also stumbled upon these wonderful, handprinted pillows by Geneviève Lévy édition (www.gl-edition.com), as you can see on the two lower pictures.

my house

I really love my bathroom. It is in the middle of our house. If you open the sliding doors, you can watch movies on the wall from the bath tub. The bedroom is separate from the rest of the house. Images by Paul Barbera.

my house

I designed the interior of our house myself. This is office and my walk in closet. Images by Paul Barbera. The image of the greyhound is made by Euan Myles.

This is the camera I'm using for the images on my blog: the Olympus PEN EP1.

Like I said before, you can choose from different options to take really beautiful pictures without having to study for ages. This image was taken with the option Pinhole.

merci, encore

Here's some images of Merci on the inside. So you can see for yourself how nice the shop is.

more merci, merci

Merci sells beautiful flowers, wonderful interior stuff, the softest bed sheets, wonderful stationary, tape it a lo of beautiful soft colors  (I bought lots), clothes, and more. And, also important, sustainable, as much as possible.

our trip to Paris

Last week I went to Paris, with my boyfriend and my two baby-girls Rosie and Viv.I brought along a new camera: Olympus Pen Ep1. It's a digital camera but with a lens and all kinds of wonderful features. For instance, you can select different kinds of art-settings, like PopArt (with ultra bright colors), Soft Focus and Pinhole. I know it is cheating and real photographers will probably laugh at me, but I love it! Some features are a bit eighties, like soft focus, but Pinhole lets me take pictures in a way that I love. I really admire the work of Brenda van Leeuwen (www.brendavanleeuwen.nl), and there's no way (no way!) these images look like hers. But they do reflect a bit the atmosphere she always puts in her images. A bit dark and moody (nice moody), and a bit dreamy.

We had one goal: to check out a new shop (kind of new), Merci, at Boulevard Beaumarchais 111. Tip: it is around the corner of Rue St-Claude. So don't start walking down the Boulevard on the wrong end (near Place de Bastille) like we did. Because it is a long, long walk and there's nothing nice to see. Unless you are a Harley Davidson-shop lover.

I love Merci! It is big and light. It is not overstuffed with products, they made a good selection of all the things they like. www.merci-merci.com 

It was a lovely day on friday, so we took the girls for a walk, through 2nd and 3rd district.

one of my favourite spots

Near La Guimorais in Brittany, France.

the sandy road leads to a perfect little beach

no beach bars, no music

only the sea and some sea lovers.

this picture was taken by Sander Stoepker

details

lovely silk flowers by Dulken and Derrick

rug

nice rug, unfortunately I can't remember who made it.