trendey

Itty-bitty boho slash folklore inspiration for you this Friday. A sweet mix I think! To the left, a photo by Ditte Isager and to the right, the beautiful Mamma Maria lamp from Lekfull Design and some lovely vintage signs from Three Potato Four.

A week or so ago, Henen wrote a post about how to go urban cool and decorate with a piece of London. This urban coolness is really hot at the moment! And has indeed been for quite a while. I love splashes of this kind of decor. I got a New York graffiti building – cushion for our sofa when we had just bought it (can be viewed in this post, the leftmost one on the sofa, fromTeo Jasmin).  And I wouldn’t say no to the garvey chair pictured above, from the news shelf at Anthropologie. A cool piece of furniture! Cloaked in upholstery printed with the names of New York City subway stations. It’s scuffed with an antique finish, and it’s low. Yummie :)

Urban coolness and city charm need not be only New York or London. Anthropologie news are also these nice cushions below with the streets of Paris and streets of Brussels:

…and I wish I could tell you about all the cool and charming Stockholm items, but sad to say: I haven’t seen any. (and as a side note: I swear they would be white anyway..=)) hope I’m wrong)

Print by Swedish art director and graphic designer Therese Sennerholt

…is what Ben Brougham calles his style. With the reservation ”I’m still not sure if that exactly defines it”. Whatever the definition – it surely is difficult to label personal style – this is an interesting style! As featured in the superb e-magazine Lonny. Seeing that Mr Brougham also contributed with some interesting comments and advice we pick up this track with some hightlights.

The wall in this room is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Surf Blue. This strong teal colour could have been overwhelming, but the collection of pictures and heirlooms break up the colour and prevents that. A very clever – and inspirational – move is that he left the opposite wall white and hanged some mid-century vintage mirrors (collected from car-boot sales) on it. This makes the mirrors pick up the teal and the collection from the wall opposite.

As for collections, Ben’s advice is to only collect things you love. Base a collection on a common theme – this can be anything from colour to material to subject matter. Play with scale; group objects of varying size and scale. His choice collections includes e.g. portraiture: old pictures of people, old family objects, and he also has a passion for vintage photographs of sailors.

Full story of An Eclectic Collection can be read here, at Lonny mag. To close this, let’s hear Ben Brougham’s advice on mixing patterns: be brave. People worry about things matching too much, but design never advances if it’s not pushed. This is entirely consistent with my decor philosophy. Don’t worry, push it if you are a push-it-person, and always surround yourself with things you love and feel at home and happy with. And of course this last inspirational advice:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it right over again again again:.. the decor heros of our times are Granny and Grandpa! They knew how to do it :) Some of the most beloved items in our home were given or inherited from our grandparents. Here’s another tour at Mia’s! First up, the dining area rug – from Mike’s Grandpa. Grandpa Birger in his turn got it from his sister Elin, who was actually born and raised in the neighborhood we live in right now. In other words, this rug has been on a voyage and now, in its old days, come back home.

Next, below, my beloved pendulum clock I got from late Grandpa Sven. He got this clock when he quit his job as a private chauffeur in the 50s. I think it’s the most beautiful vintage clock there is. To the right, ceramic art signed Grandma Tora. She was a ceramic artist, who amongst other things had owls in her repertoire. This artistry is now contined through the trendey-mum (more about her works later)).

Well, not really… But close enough on the L’eau dining chair from Italian contemporary design company Calligaris (new in for 125 GBP at Heal’s)

I love the turquoise colour and the ripple effect on the seat!  I can see these chairs looking great around a white kitchen table. Only thing I’m not a 100 percent certain of, is the overall shape and design of the chair – doesn’t it look a lot like the chairs one used to sit on at school? Hmm.. I would need to see and test-sit this one in reality to make sure I don’t get any back-to-school vibes before considering a purchase!

You cry – I answer..! Here’s a round of things from my place. I’ll start off with some happy details. First – from the living room – a Banter Banner and some lovely faux peonies from Ahern’s Atelier.

And second, below, my very sweet owl who got to travel all the way from Montgomery, PA…together with some vintage lamp foots I haven’t yet decided what to do with (I’m thinking of a collection).

Now here’s some other facts to keep you updated on the trendey-sisters:

• Mia’s favourite interior style categories are Faded Glamour and the two similar ones: Eclectic styles and Parisian Chic style (the latter with a French spin).
• Mia is the little sister. Her brother-in-law calles her “Little Miss Bossy”
• Her favourite tags are granny-esque, headboard, boho charm and blue :)
• Back in the day, Henen used to use Mia as a robot. If she said “A-B-C-1-2-3″ before the tasks Mia was happy to perform them.

I’ve got stripes, stripes around my shoooulders...

I rather like the impression of black & white stripes in decor. It’s classic, modern and stylish. Stripes work well in any style. How ever the trend winds blow. I love my b&w Bob Pappelina rug, it always fits somewhere. There are some b&w stripes around this Autumn, e.g. in the well-circulated pics above from DAY and Ferm Living. Always classic and an interesting style-break in many settings, right now I’d combine the black-white-striped details with grey, with colour schemes like these, added a bith of warmth.

Personally, I am not particularly fond of modern graphic patterns, I think they often have a disruptive effect. As small details though, they can be really nice..

| photo: Trine Thorsen |

For large surfaces, I prefer a white pattern against a black background rather than vice versa. These dramatic walls below are really cool I think. And and extra hello to the boho charmig magpies!

| photo: Andrea Ferrari |

I've got some news for you
Fembots (fembots) have feelings too

Are-n’t the-se fo-bots lo-v-ely! Found object robots - in artist Amy Flynn‘s versions made up of various bits and pieces such as old tins, handles, tea infusers, a pocket watch and hydraulic fittings. Very creative, quirky and fun. An assortment of Amy Flynn’s Fobots can be found at Anthropologie.

I think there are several elements that make retro robots, and fobots in particular, an interesting decor item of our time. It’s recycled waste: Old parts transformed into something new through pure creativity. Each piece is unique. Vintage. The retro look of these robots has aesthetics of a bygone era: Reminiscent of technology beliefs in the 50s and 60s that maybe, around the distant year 2010, robots like this will be serving us humans…(!) Hm, wouldn’t that be something! :p

The fobot is charmig and an excellent eclectifying detail. Retro robots of course feel at home in an industrial vintage style, and may for sure add interest and fun to any scheme. There are quite a lot of robot stuff around, including some nice posters/prints. Below are some examples: Doreen Box Art Robot Print and The Warmth of Your Metal Heart Print from John W. Golden and a Vintage Robot Retro Pop Art Print from Moster Gallery. Also, I couldn’t let this cute thing out, a Robot Corkscrew from Urban Outfitters.

For some urban cool and big city charm, a piece of London imagery could be just the ticket - especially if you’re a Londoner or an anglophile! :) The items below, with echoes of both the letters and monochrome trends, would look great in so many design schemes. I particularly like this print with the coordinates of the city of London (25 GBP) and the bus blind cushions (85 GBP) from Rockett St George. Am loving the on-trend charcoal grey+punchy yellow color combination!!

Also check out the real thing: Vintage London transport signs (starting from 189 GBP) are available from London Bus Blinds…

And isn’t this 2 metres tall wall sticker of the Big Ben rather striking? It even includes a fully functioning clock! :) Also from Rockett St George at 120 GBP.

There is a blog called Fine Little Day. Maybe you all knew about it. I didn’t. It has a shop attached to it, a fine little shop, but what I particularly want to talk about is wallpapers. Wallpaper-envy. Of all the wallpapers on the planet, these below are of the kind I’m most passionate about. Vintage, in the very best sense of the word. Colourful in a muted, faded way. Floral in a pleasant non-disturbing kind of way. Most of all, they are granny-esque. If I’ve understood it correctly, they (i.e Elisabeth of Fine Little Day and her family) bought an old house, that looked like this on the inside …

Yummy. We might see more of this when they have moved in and settled (I hope). Another cool – fine – thing is that the son of this household, Otto, 9 years old, has designed his own wallpaper. It bears the name “Ohoy” and it is actually nominated to The Formex Formidable design prize.

You can vote for Otto & “Ohoy” at the bottom of this page.

…if you pardon my French. To me, French/eclectic/Parisian interior style is associated with great beauty. It is no news, at all, I love them ol’ French headboards. An Eiffel Tower is really the least you can have in your home. Seriously. A French reminder. A link to dreams of centuries past, a bohemian life and decadent creativity. I have no image to match my internal scene (!), but here’s some of all the Eiffel stuff around right now.

| images: Lampe Tour Eiffel je t’aime from Absolument Design, one- two and three photos from Flickr, a wall sticker from Rockett St George. Crystal Eiffel belongs to photographer Isager Brinkley and greyish pic is collected from RUM |