Monday 30 June 2014

drawing with light 36 - Sharyn Cairns




Instead of posting one photo, as I always do in my DRAWING WITH LIGHT posts, I want to share a few photos by one of my favourite photographers, Sharyn Cairns.



photo credit:
Sharyn Cairns via hart & co | 1-2: for Inside Out | 3-4: for Inside Out | 5: for Bedouin Societe | 6: for Domayne | 7-8: for Vogue Living (1-6: stylist Glen Proebstel)

Friday 27 June 2014

Textiles: red bed throws and suzani covers



Not so long ago, I was going through an indigo phase on the blog. It all started when I made changes in my old home and was collecting styling ideas for my study room. Now I'm in a different phase because after the move I keep my desk in our bedroom and I'm not keen on using indigo textiles in here. I'm leaning towards just a hint of red, which I haven't used much when styling my home, as I have mentioned before. I don't want to go overboard with the red colour, as it can be very demanding; I'm only thinking about a bed throw, with either red stripes or any red pattern. A vintage suzani cover would be a dream come true.

For the floor I'm thinking about a striped rug in white and perhaps grey, that would go under the bed. The reason I'm keen on red is that on the floor is a new light brown carpet that goes so well with red. The above bedroom belongs to the Goa (India) home of Jade Jagger (jewellery designer + daughter of Mick) and this colour mix appeals to me very much. Maybe I should just go for the black-striped Stockholm rug from Ikea because it has such a good price.


John Robshaw Textiles: Lanna Throw + Guava Striped Cotton Throw

The website of John Robshaw Textiles is one of my inspirations for cotton throws from India and I have also been bookmarking quite a lot of suzani embroideries. Yesterday I showed you the outdoor living area of designer Richard Shapiro's Malibu home. You can see the bedroom in his Malibu house below, with a gorgeous 19th-century Uzbek suzani cover on the bed. I would love to see a cover like this on my own bed but the ones I have viewed so far are way beyond my price range.


Some time ago I bookmarked a page on the Hali website with images of gorgeous vintage Uzbek and Tajik suzani embroideries from Rippon Boswell & Co., an auction house that specialises in textiles. The collection shown on the page is stunning and inspirational but unfortunately the prices are not exactly budget-friendly.


Furbish Studio: suzani bed throw + Rippon Boswell & Co.: Nurata suzani, Uzbekistan, mid-19th century
Schuyler Samperton Interior Design: a bedroom in West Hollywood


Rippon Boswell & Co.: Tashkent suzani, Uzbekistan, second half 19th century
+ Nurata suzani, Uzbekistan, first half 19th century

The bedspread in the photo below, with just a touch of red, is another inspiration of mine. It belongs to artist Anh Duong, who has a beach house (an AD feature on my Icelandic blog earlier this year) in East Hampton, NY. Her friend, textile designer Carolina Irving, gave her decorating advice. I cannot find that particular fabric on Irving's website but the rose/blue version of Kandyli, hand printed on 100% linen, comes close.

Have a wonderful weekend!


photo credit:
1: Gaëlle Le Boulicaut for AD France via Trinkit Hunter | 2-3: John Robshaw Textiles | 4: Lisa Romerein for C Home | 5: Furbish Studio via Jamie Meares/Pinterest | 6, 8-9: via Hali | 7: Schuyler Samperton Interior Design via Quite Continental | 10: Oberto Gili for Architectural Digest

Thursday 26 June 2014

Outdoor living

Outdoor living is a temporary series on the blog that contains stylish outdoor living areas and sometimes al fresco table settings. It's about celebrating the season of summer!


Today we are at the Malibu beach house of designer and antiques dealer Richard Shapiro. It was featured in Architectural Digest in 2011 and it is one of my all-time favourite house tours (architect: Douglas W. Burdge). The rustic outdoor living area is just as stylish as the interior. Through glass doors with steel window frames you walk onto a stone terrace with the Pacific Ocean right in front. It is furnished with rattan and wicker chairs and the textiles are mainly striped. The large ceramic jar is 16th-century Thai. Did I mention the fireplace?


I had to add the reading nook in the library as well. It's such a beautiful and stylish corner. With windows on both sides, it has plenty of light, yet it has that moody feeling that I'm looking for. The mismatched stripes are perfection, if you ask me. The painting is by Shapiro himself and the antique table is 15th-century Italian.


photo credit:
Miguel Flores-Vianna for Architectural Digest, April 2011

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Summer living | Vive l'été


It is time for a dose of bright blue! The blue shades of the Moroccan city Chefchaouen have become one of my summertime obsessions. I can and have spent hours viewing images online (all the images were taken there, except for No. 5 taken in Rabat). I have never travelled to Morocco but sometimes places we have never been to seem to have a strange familiarity. I feel that way about parts of Morocco, especially Chefchaouen, which I would very much like to visit one day. Have you been there?

The names of all the photographers, with links, are under 'photo credit' and let me add that most of them have more images from Morocco for you to enjoy. If you are interested there is a post by blogger Jeffrey Bale called Chefchaouen blue, where he tells the story of the city. He also wrote a post called The Colors of Morocco.
Whatever you do this summer, make it one to remember!

photo credit:
1: Jose Rodriguez | 2: Luca Gargano | 3: Siel of Mademoisielle | 4: danieleb80 | 5: Barbara Griffin Robinson | 6: Beum Gallery via Pinterest | 7: Jodie Taylor | 8: Alexander Dragunov 
- all images taken in Chefchaouen, Morocco, except for No. 5 taken in Rabat

Tuesday 24 June 2014

house tour: a small mountain retreat in the Pyrenees

This rustic mountain retreat in the Pyrenees, close to the town Olat, is only 35m2 (377 ft2) and used to be a stable for cows and sheep. The owner, who wanted a second home to escape the city life of Barcelona, got Serge Castella to help him make it habitable. He now refers to it as his match box in the mountains.

The living room area (also used as a bedroom) has a wonderful mix of furniture and instead of a coffee table there are two wooden blocks. I like seeing the Verner Panton chairs in the small dining room. Their modern look contrasts the rustic elements of the space.
The home was featured in the Spanish edition of Architectural Digest and if Google Translate doesn't fail me, the interior designer describes the owner as a bohemian party animal, but adds that he is cultured, refined and chic. He says he had Ibiza, its 70s popular architecture, in mind when designing the space. To give it character he used furniture by architects/designers Charlotte Perriand (the sideboard), Mathieu Matégot (the magazine rack) and Marco Zanuso (the violet Arflex chair). Decorative pieces like art, vintage ceramics and tapestry on the kitchen wall add more charm.
And finally, the stylish bathroom with black walls.
photo credit:
Mark G. Peters for AD España

Monday 23 June 2014

Archist City by illustrator Federico Babina

Last week I came across these illustrations, Archist City, by Italian artist Federico Babina, where he playfully interprets art as architecture and vice versa. The ones with Serra and Miró immediately grabbed my attention. A few seconds later it were Dalí and Mondrían, then Rothko, and after that I was simply awestruck by Babina's vision and beautiful design.
About his project Babina says:
Art and architecture are disciplines that speak and lightly touch each other, the definition and function of the architecture are changing constantly with the development of contemporary art. In this exercise of style I took pleasure imagining architecture steeped of art, designed and constructed through the interpretation of an artist’s language… It is easy to find the art hidden behind an architectural shape or see reflected a geometry of a building painted on a canvas. It is impossible to conceive of the history of art in exclusion from that of architecture. (In/Out blog)
I could have posted all the illustrations but decided on these seven. Now I'm a bit curious to know which you find most impressive.

photo credit:
Illustrator Federico Babina (discovered via In/Out blog - Arent & Pyke)

Sunday 22 June 2014

drawing with light 35



Old man in a bookshop, Madrid, Spain

photo credit:
Kelly Chomat via Pinterest

Saturday 21 June 2014

today's cup

photo credit:
Lisa Hjalt

Friday 20 June 2014

notes à la mode 48

Actress Lupita Nyong'o photographed in Marrakech for Vogue US
Yesterday I showed you a beautiful terrace and garden on the Ain Kassimou estate in Marrakech that belongs to socialite Marella Agnelli, and today I decided to stay there. Actress Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Oscar for her role in 12 Years a Slave (2013), is on the cover of Vogue US, the July issue, and inside the magazine is an editorial that was shot by Mikael Jansson in Marrakech.

I wasn't sure whether to create a NOTES À LA MODE post or to combine these three images (my favourites from the shoot) with home décor in Moroccan style, because, honestly, I couldn't care less about the clothes Lupita appears in. Apart from the jewellery pieces by e.g. Cara Croninger, Pebble London and Jonas Studio (I'm not a jewellery person but I love statement necklaces), it were the tiles, cushions, spices and Moroccan people in the background and foreground that caught my attention.
I like the way Lupita shines in these images above without outshining the others. Director Steve McQueen told Vogue that he had seen "thousands" of actresses trying for the role in 12 Years a Slave, but when he saw the tape Lupita sent in, "[it] was like looking for a piece of glass on a sandy beach and finding a jewel … She has this aura about her."

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!
photo credit:
Mikael Jansson for Vogue US, July 2014 • Lupita Nyong'o styled by Phyllis Posnick

Thursday 19 June 2014

Outdoor living

Outdoor living is a temporary series on the blog that contains stylish outdoor living areas and sometimes al fresco table settings. It's about celebrating the season of summer!


This is a terrace on the Ain Kassimou estate in Marrakech, Morocco. It takes my breath away every time I look at it. The owner is socialite and Italian art collector Marella Agnelli (the widow of former Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli (I read somewhere that he was called the unofficial king of Italy)). The property used to belong to the Hermès family and was a horse farm and polo grounds, but Agnelli bought it in 2007 and brought in garden designer Madison Cox. The terrace is part of the master-bedroom suit, planted with bougainvillea and shaded by a split-bamboo pergola. I just want to spend a day there with a do not disturb sign and books.

Above: A pavilion designed by architect Bill Willis. Below: The fountain outside the guest wing of the Ain Kassimou estate
photo credit:
Eric Boman for Vogue, August 2006