Summer Time

And the livin' is easy... Finally the summer is here and life goes almost completely out in the open. Are you prepared?
Weather you plan to go to your beach-side vacation home or to spend your hot summer days mostly on the patio or in your garden, your first and most important companion is the parasol - bright, colourful like this Papaya green umbrella 
or just plain white. Whatever style you choose, just don't forget this most essential piece for your outdoor living. My choice would be  
this ivory-colored Balinese umbrella with small trailers for a subtle exotic touch. 
Also, in summer you can take the entire living room or dining room outside. It's not hard to do - just choose the proper furnishings and accessories. 
 
A big enough dining table like this 180-cm-long Guernsey solid teak table will be a comfortable place for lazy summer meals and wonderful convivial moments. To keep the exotic style you can surround it with the extremely practical and aesthetic Robinson folding chairs, made ​​from bamboo with matte lacquer finish. These easy-care garden chairs can be folded and put away when not needed. Although, my personal choice would be something more comfortable, like this armchair:

 The hand woven rattan chair will probably add more coziness, especially when combined with suitable accessories: 




For more ideas, go to Fabroom - they have has just the right outdoor furniture and furnishings for a comfortable stay in the great outdoors this summer. Another one from my favourites is

LA SIESTA double hammock

- the perfect way to relax in hot summer days with a book in hand. Oh, what a bliss!

Glamourous small bathrooms

Small bathrooms present much more challenges to the interior designer, but that does not mean they cannot be glamourous and functional, even look spacious.

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How to achieve this? One way is by leaving only the essentials - no shower curtain, no any othe space separating elements, just a sink, a shower and two nooks by the sink and by the shower. And cover all the surfaces with one material - like this beautiful mosaic above.

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In the bathroom above a white wall that continues on the sloping ceiling makes this small space look much larger. In both bathrooms a lot of natural light adds to this feeling of much larger space. Of course, the large mirror above the white sink helps for this, too.

Order of the British Empire for services to design

I just read at Dezeen that " Designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby both received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to design, following their celebrated design for the London 2012 Olympic Torch" - a great recognition for the role of design in general, I think. 

But the two designers already have a lot of awards, including the Good Design Award for furniture, and they are famous also for their unusual Tip Ton chair:


Details about The Story of the Tip Ton Chair are available in my post at Clippings.com.
In this blog you can find many other examples of great design. A floor lamp with a personality is just one of them.

Design Miami/Basel - I am fascinated ...

with South African design presented at the Design Miami/Basel event in Switzerland, especially this cabinet:

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 - you like it? Its charming, beautiful, friendly and unusual. Like nothing from the furniture I have seen and as an interior designer for quite a long I have seen a lot!

Kassena Server, Dokter and Misses, 2013. Hand painted, solid beach timber, 180 x 90 x 50 cm. Southern Guild ’s cabinet inspired by Burkina Faso mud dwellings.

Design for your kids' room

 skandium.com

Eames Elephant by Charles and Ray Eames by Vitra. Originally conceived in 1945, it didn't make it into mass production until today. Intended for children, the Eames Elephant's polypropylene construction makes it the ideal toy and/or chair, both indoors and out.

Panton Junior Chair by Verner Panton with Vitra
The iconic form and bright colors of the Panton Chair has always been favored by children. Now, it's available in a size they can appreciate as well. The Vitra Panton Junior Chair by Verner Panton is a proportionately (25%) smaller version of the original, made out of a single piece of dyed polypropylene.
Bring the whole world in your kid's room with these colourful prints:

design letterbox Design Letterbox No.EK129 Kids World39x46x13cm

design table no.EK129 Kids World 55x45x55cm
And some suggestions for smaller children:

Wall Decal - single-coloured no.AP6 Yo-Yo

 
Fleece Mural Little Sandman - Misses Magpie Is Excited Canvas Art Design Shape Circle Little Sandman - The Flying Bag - a completely new option of decoration in your home. Less kids go to bed without stories about little sandman and his friends. Enchant your kids room with our dreamy products and the charming adventures of this little magician!  Photo Wall Mural - adhesive Little Sandman In A Hot Air Balloon

THE RISE OF DIY, ART, CRAFT, AND DESIGN

This could be the title of a design trend that I would like to write about, but at the moment it is just an announcement of the start of the preliminary Program of Sofia Design Week 2013.


The preliminary program of Sofia Design Week starts with the screening of HANDMADE NATION. THE RISE OF DIY, ART, CRAFT, AND DESIGN by Faythe Levine, but I am convinced that the trend concerns all the countries, and we have a lot of evidence about that from the major design events.


This year SDW will be the Balkan Date of design and will be the meeting point of the new wave of Balkan designers. It will be very interesting! For more information and impressions, visit regularly - I will be posting. If you are interested in a more detailed report or an interview with any of the many famous designers coming to the Forum, just!!!

The Bathroom - Pure Glamour

I don't like ostentatious vanity, but this design below is just perfect - it has the right amount of glamour in a beautifully designed bathroom where every expensive material and product is used jut because of its qualities and the perfect match with therest of the interior.

Greg Natale Design

The white marble blends well with the white and gold Bisazza mosaic and the yellow glass lighting above elegantly adds modern elelement as if saying that gold is not the only and most important component of glamour :) Great design! I wish this was my project!

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