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Interiors

in Furniture, Interiors, Ispiration

ISaloni 2015: lights – part I

20 April 2015
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Vibia
Artemide
Artemide
Alessandro Spada
Axo
Bover
Sylcom
I got back yesterday from ISaloni or the Salone del Mobile in Milan and this is a selection of  lights that caught my attention. 
Follow me on Instagram and keep tuned if you want to see more photos. 
 
Sono tornata ieri da ISaloni o dal Salone del Mobile a Milano e questa è una selezione delle luci che hanno catturato la mia attenzione. Seguitemi su Instagram o state sintonizzati se volete vedere le altre foto.
Artemide
Axo
Artemide
in Interiors, Ispiration

Busy marble

12 February 2015
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David Hicks’s bathroom via Remodelista
Photos by Stephan Julliard/Tripod Agency
Photo by Michael Paul/Living Inside
Photo by Max Zambelli
Marble is always a good choice for a bathroom or kitchen, you can’t go wrong with it, it is timeless, elegant and it can easily look contemporary with the right furniture. The new trend is using busy heavily veined marble, like Grigio Carnico (which I used in one of my latest projects) or Paonazzo, in simply designed spaces. These precious marbles are amazing and they make the room standing out straight away but they are so busy that it is also down to taste. What about you, do you like it? I think that the grey marble and golden kitchen is fabulous!
P.S: The chair below is not made of marble! It is covered by a digitally printed fabric.  
 
Louis XV Goes To Sparta armchair by Maurizio Galante
Logos bookshelves by Margraf
in Interiors, Ispiration

New ways to do geometric

6 February 2015
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Geometric is a big trend this year; it came back into fashion with the invasion of concrete tiles and consequently of geometric patterns for floors to spread then to textiles and wall coverings. 
There are many nice designs out there but what I wanted to propose here are some different uses of geometrics. The tiles Dandelion pictured in the photo top left are designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune for Marrakech Design. They are hexagonal tiles that can be installed with multiple layouts depending on how you turn them when installing. Bolon (top right photo) offers an innovative alternative to carpeting, the Bolon Studio carpet: tiles in five shapes and different colours that you can combine as you like (and easier to replace in parts if the carpet gets damaged or its is stained). 
The Circus wall paper by Cole & Son (below, photo by Paul Raeside from Living Etc.) is used to create a colorful decorative background, a valid and economic alternative to big sized art work.  
In the picture below,one of the possible uses of the cards made of synthetic paper by the Loco collection by Ixxi. Each square is  formed by two cards printed on both sided that you can arrange as you like creating your personal art work.
The wooden wall shelf Doppelt by Fundamental Berlin (above) adds character to a corner and allows you to display some of your little treasures. 
The Circus wall paper by Cole & Son (below, photo by Paul Raeside from Living Etc.) is used to create a colorful decorative background in this space with an arch and it offers a valid and economic alternative to big sized art work. 
As you can see, using the lateral thinking, you can combine shape, use and pattern to create refreshing products that gives a certain degree of uniqueness. 
 

 

in Furniture, Interiors, Ispiration

Intelligent kids furniture

11 January 2015
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I was looking for a bunk bed for Giulio’s room and I came across this great collection of furniture by Rafa Kids.  This Dutch company was founded by a married couple after the interest created by a bed they designed for their first son. It includes solid and space-saving bunk-beds, desks, stools, slides -all without sharp corners-, rags and vary accessories: simple designs with three main colour themes (dark-brown, natural and white-wash) that are appropriate for different ages. 

I have recently developed an interest in a city I actually don’t know much about, Amsterdam. Two friends of ours moved there a few years ago and they are really satisfied and happy despite the harsh climate for Italians at least! The city is not too big and it is very well organized and the Dutch are friendly and easy-going. Moreover, properties are much cheaper than in Rome. Maybe in 2016?
What do you think, do you like Amsterdam?

in Interiors, Ispiration

10 Corso Como

2 January 2015
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Happy New Year everyone!
I got back from Milan yesterday, a vibrant city I really like. At least once a year I pay a visit to 10 Corso Como, still one of the most interesting places in town.  
10 Corso Como was founded in 1990 by Carla Sozzani (better known as the director of Vogue Italia). Initially it included only an art gallery and a bookshop but now it has a fashion and design shop, a bar, a small hotel and a roof garden. The logo was designed by the American artist Kris Ruhs. 
Here are some photos for you!
in Color Inspiration, Interiors

A tip on how to decide your colour palette

5 December 2014
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I was flicking through the December issue of Living Etc when I saw the Spacecrafted rug by Jan Kath, pictured in the photos above, and it was love at first sight. The hand-knotted rug, available at Front London, replicates, using up to 60 colours, the impression of gas clouds, asteroid nebulae and depth. It took Jan Kath and weavers working with him almost 15 years to realize his vision; consider that the rug has more than 150-200 knots per square inch, we are speaking about an excellent quality artifact.
The decoration of this house, lived in and created by the architect Rory Macpherson, is built around a few singular, distinctive pieces like the rug and the photos; the result is elegantly simple, fresh and timeless modern. 
The preponderance of white is interrupted in the living areas by hues of strong colours and unified by accents of blue.
Decorating a house can be overwhelming if it is not what you do for living (and sometimes even if it is). If this is your case, I advise you to start from a piece you love -a rug, a painting, a vase, a light- and get inspiration from it. Let the objects that you want to be in dominant positions in your house inspire the colour palette, as in this beautiful example by Rory Macpherson. 
in Color Inspiration, Interiors, People

The world is pink: The Gallery by India Mahdavi

12 September 2014
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India Mahdavi has struck again. She signed the new interior of The Gallery, the London brasserie inside Sketch, the avant-garde restaurant, bar, art gallery owned by Mourad Momo Mazouz (see my post about The Glade, another bar inside Sketch). She must have watched Mad Man: the inspiration clearly comes from the late Forties and Fifties but everything here is in a soft pink shade, ceiling included. The Gallery must have been a difficult space to decorate; it’s one big room with high ceiling where furniture and details can easily appear too small or insignificant lost. India Mahdavi manage to do a great job and she managed to propose a strong balanced and uniformed vision. The predominant pink color guides the eye around the space, fluidly and enhance without letting it prevail the magnificent made by 90 different types of marbles (designed by Martin Creed for the previous decoration). 239 black and white illustrations by David Shrigley give the brasserie a contemporary if not urban feeling. The sofa benches in a smooth velvet are practical and make the place cosy, the lights on the tables create an intimate atmosphere (I have always wondered actually why nobody has never used them again). Not to mention the fabulous combination of pink and the copper in the bar and of some details. Superb. India, you never dissapoint me.

in Interiors, Ispiration

Papageno caffè

9 June 2014
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 We went for a drink at the Papageno Caffè in Viale Aventino in Rome, well located between Circo Massimo and Piramide and only two stops away from where we live. It is the perfect place for a summer aperitivo, a mix between a literary cafè, a Parisien bistrot and a bar in New York, as a comment in Trip Advisor says. The ceiling, the bar and the tables are covered with tin, the interior is a mixture of different shades of grey softened by the colours of the books and some quirky vintage objects and lights. The stickers representing palm leaves recall the exotic theme emphasized by the painted parrots and the African head wall lights.

 

in Interiors, Ispiration

Concrete tiles

2 June 2014
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 Concrete tiles are very trendy now and often used in kitchens and bathrooms. We bought some in 2011 from Mosaic der Sur and installed them between the oak counter top and the wall units of our Ikea kitchen; every single person who walks into our apartment makes a positive comment about them.  
Concrete tiles add some colour, a pattern and an exotic touch to an interior without the glossiness and coldness often associated with ceramic tiles. Concrete tiles are also easy to maintain and don’t show dirt up as much. If you decide to buy some, make yourself sure that the person who is going to lay them is familiar with this product; they are in fact much thicker than normal tiles and more difficult to cut. Also if you purchase some concrete tiles online, keep in mind that the colours displayed are only indicative and that they are probably going to be much darker. 
In a simple and elegant space like the one above, dominated by white and wood (photos by Fabienne Delafraye and Yoann Cimier from Cote Sud April/May 2014), they look good all around the house.

 

in Color Inspiration, Interiors

Stone Blue by Farrow & Ball

14 May 2014
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 With colours it is all a question of light. This is Stone Blue by Farrow & Ball, a shade I have recently used and I really like because it is rich but not too strong, it a sea blue with a hint of grey. Colours absorb light: look how different the same paint appears to be in all these photos, in different naturally or artificially lit rooms. Take these issues into consideration when you choose your next colour palette, the shade you pick could look much darker than expected or change according to the time of the day or the weather or the artificial lighting. It is always advisable painting a large patch of the chosen colour on the wall and observe it for a day. Don’t be afraid to experiment though: the beauty and the fun of paint is that it is easily changeable. 
Stone Blue by Farrow & Ball looks really good in contrast with white. 
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