Famille Summerbelle

Lotta Nieminen

Hello! Today I am presenting a selection of beautiful illustrations by Lotta Nieminen, the talented multidisciplinary Finnish designer, illustrator and art director based in NYC.
I discovered her map illustrations in the lastest Gestalten book A Map of the World. I love the hand made textures and collages feel to her work and the beautiful colour combinations. I was also very impressed by the identity work she's done for Maeven, a Brooklyn-based vintage clothing store.

Window display illustration for French fashion house Hermès.

Cityscape. Limited edition silkscreen posters produced for Lotta first solo show at Printa Gallery in Budapest, Hungary.

Cover and illustrated map of Paris for a supplement to the French newspaper Le Monde about things to do in Paris and its surroundings.

EST: Editorial illustration for Casamica, the design supplement to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The letters in Verso Est (Towards East) were illustrated for the opening spread, featuring elements from all the cultures presented in the issue dedicated to Eastern design.

With love from London by Jenny Bowers

Beautiful illustrations by Jenny Bowers. I love the way she uses the geometric shapes of the Union Jack flag to create playful patterns!

Have a nice week-end!

Darling Clementine

Darling Clementine illustrations and paper products are so insipring. I love the dark colours of the Harvest collection. They also have a new website showcasing a range of their beautiful work.

Ana Kras & Curio Magazine

The first time I spotted these colourful wool lampshades was at Nanashi restaurant in Paris (the one on Rue de Paradis, 10ème). Then I've seen the Bonbons lampshades in severals interior magazine, but I never really quite knew who designed them, until few days ago when I read the second issue of Curio online mag featuring the lampshades with an interview of Ana Kras, the Serbian designer based in New York City. Each Bonbon lamshade is hand made by Ana and is one of a kind.

Photos credits: Nicole Dufour DuRocher

Enjoy your weekend!

Zadok Ben-David

I wish I had seen this space-specific floor installation Blackfield by London based artist Zadok Ben-David. It was quite a while ago, the exhibition was touring around the World between 2006 and 2009. Has anyone of you lucky to see it back then?
The display was containing up to 20.000 hand painted steel etched flowers deriving from 19th Century Victorian encyclopaedias. It is so beautiful.

This week we are in the Alps skiing with the children. It is very sunny so I'm just about to switch off the computer and go skiing with the children and Simon...See you later!

Eames Plastic Chair

With wood or metal legs, the Eames Plastic Chairs edited by Vitra have become iconic pieces in many homes. We have the white rocking armchair in the children's bedroom that I have used so many times to rock Lucien to sleep when he was a baby. It was a wedding present from Simon's mum and was our first designer chair to furnish our flat in London.This is a selection of Eames chairs from my Pinterest board:
1. Black with wooden legs from La Maison d'Anna G.
2. Mint rocking chair from the French designer Caroline Gomez.

3. A mix of earthy colours from Alvhem Mäkleri & Interiör.

4.White with wooden legs from Remain Simple.
5.White with metal legs from Emmas Design Blogg.

White rocking chair in the Italian home designed by architect Fabio Barilari. What a view!

Yellow with wooden legs from Bourbon Daisy.

Macro knits and stitches. Maison & Objet - Part 2.

Since the Aran rug knitted with large needles and thick wool by Dutch designer Christine Meindertsma (a post I did back in december 2009), it seems that the trend of macro knits has taken over in our interiors: from the Phat knits by dutch designer Bauke Knottnerus, to the beautiful Knit stools by Irish textile designer Claire-Anne O'Brien to the Serpentine Chair by Eléonore Nalet for Ligne Roset.

This trends continues with the Mangas Collection for Spanish company Gan designed by Patricia Urquiola. The original idea was inspired in the look of hand-woven sweaters and the results is the most original.

Same very unique design but this time with macro stitches by Charlotte Lancelot. Gan has launched a new concept called Gan Spaces. The rug is the starting point and then you have the option to elaborate in its design by adding coordinating cushions, poufs and accessories.

Embroidery of the World

Happy new year to you all! I hope you had a wonderful time during the holidays. We are just back from London where we spent 4 days partying, drinking (tea!), relaxing and visiting friends and family. Now we're back in Paris and sadly the sky is as grey as it was in London...
To start the year I wanted to share with you this beautiful book Embroidery Design of the World I bought it when I was in Japan back in September. Embroidery is not usually my thing, but I was so fascinated by the drawings, patterns and colours that I needed to have it on my bookshelf! I often flick through the pages to find inspiration.

Textile walls

Inspiring colourful textile walls by Dutch artist Wies Preijde.

Demond Meek

The series of derelict homes from the East coast of America by photographer Demond Meek are a real inspiration for my current project on houses. Check his Slumbeautiful site, and follow him on Instagram here.

Weaving materials

We Make Carpets is a Dutch collective who mixes traditional skills to make unusual carpets with a critical view of the consumer society. At first you see a beautifully crafted carpet, but with a closer look you discover surprising items like soldier figurines, band-aids, or plastic forks cleverly assembled to create colourful graphic patterns.

Seen on Plenty of Colour.

Origami paper lampshades

These beautiful origami lampshades are going on my wish list this Christmas!

Monotone, Duotone, Multitone

The Index Collection by Dutch design studio Raw Color is series of tea towels and blankets. The total collection consists of 3 different colour series. Each series follows the same process, from Monotone, through Duotone, to Multitone, with the first shade taking the lead and a new tone will be added in the following step.

Hanna Konola

Beautiful prints and illustrations from Finish designer Hanna Konola.

Enjoy your weekend and/or the holidays with your children. Tomorrow we are going to London for few days to spend time with our dear friends and family.

Slow Wood

Slow Wood, handmade wooden furniture crafted in Fryslân (Netherlands).

Enjoy the weekend!

Max Lamb

I discovered the work of London based designer Max Lamb at the Parisian shop Centre Commercial in the 10th arrondissement.

Last Stool. Stackable stools in copper or enamelled steel.

The Hawkesbury Sandstone Collection consists of a set of steps, a table, four stools and a bench, each piece cut using a CNC diamond wire saw and finished by the stonemasons at Gosford Quarries, Australia. This collection is available at Broached Gallery, Melbourne.

I was also very impressed by his Hexagonal Pewter Stool carved in the sand on a Cornwall beach.

Newmore (new+humor)

On monday I met Yoriko at Pulse (trade show in London) the lovely and cheerful Japanese designer behind Newmor. She was exhibiting the prototypes from her graduation show from Saint Martins College. I instantly fell in love with her playful collection of quirky objects.

Ladle of Nessy.

Arctic Soap Case - with bear.

Pushpins of Living Matter's Bottoms.

Brush of Fried Shrimp.

Cristals & Lasers

8m x 6m wall art by Matt W. Moore. The Portland based artist did this mural as part of his Cristal and Lasers show at Since Utopian gallery in Paris in 2010. He is now back at the gallery until mid June to present his new work Gravity.
Seen on Unurth Street Art.

Knit stools

By Irish textile designer Claire-Anne O'Brien.

Raw Color

Daniera ter Haar and Christoph Brach are the designers behind the design studio Raw Color based in Eindhoven (Netherlands). They are both graduates from the Design Academy. The work of Raw Color reflects a sophisticated treatment of material and colour by mixing the fields of graphic design and photography. This is embodied through research and experiments, building their visual language. This is a selection of their work:

Flow.

Colour Stills.

On Strike.

Raw Textile.

Raw Color 3. Examination on the visual structure of the vegetables.

Paper shades.