blue red acqua

sofa.com

Ordering a sofa online three years ago was a leap of faith, but when we sold our house and moved to our little flat, I had so much to do that it was rather a relief to click and buy. Our two seater Jackson  – a classic style -  has provided comfortable lounging ever since. However the natural linen loose cover has had rather too much life spilled upon it and now is in dire need of replacement.The nice sofa.com people sent me a load of swatches but unable to make up my mind I decided to go down to their showroom at Chelsea Wharf. It was a worthwhile visit – seeing not only the full range of sofa styles up close and personal but some of the other things they are now producing – like upholstered headboards. I’m going with one of their own fabrics, but sofa.com will upholster in a range of other fabrics. I am still in a quandary – about whether to go for a strong graphic black and white or a subtle tonal brown/grey linen. Any advice welcome. Go to www.sofa.com.

View of the Thames from Chelsea Wharf

hooray for the gtc

I was happy to see that the General Trading Company has found a new home in Pelham Street, South Kensington after departing from its Sloane Square premises. I’ve always been fond of the GTC – because even though they sold lots of traditional expensive stuff that would fit into a well appointed country house, they also sold lots of interesting other stuff. The General Trading Company – when I first began to shop there -  was housed in an elegant building in Sloane Street.  Antiques mingled with Japanese prints, Indian rugs, Chinese vases, African baskets, embroidered French bed linen, fabulous kitchen utensils and accessories, greeting cards, soap, candles etc. Then they moved to Symmonds Street where they featured mid century furniture but somewhere along the line lost their groove. The lights went out at that site earlier this year and I have to say my heart sank when I walked past the boarded up building. But Oh Joy! The GTC is back. Here are a few pictures of the new premises – offering a smattering of what they do best – an eclectic selection of homewares and furniture.

a green shade

First of all – here’s a photograph of a house extension that’s like a piece of art – in La Baule.  The front elevation of the house has been transformed by what appears to be a floating screen of cut-out trees.

and not a bigger splash but still somewhat Hockney-esq – the pool rippling in the sunshine.

Paris in the summer when it sizzles

Paris in the summer -  a certain tristesse descends upon the  city.  Parisians seem to bide their time before escaping to the countryside or the coast for their August holiday.  The lassitude is palpable  – except for the ever present  coachloads of eager tourists conscientiously photographing monuments and buildings and each other.

A brief sojourn to Paris en route to the Loire Atlantic.  We stayed at the Hotel Arvor close to la Place St Georges in the 9th.  A charming hotel dedicated to mid c chic with Eames furniture,  scrubbed wood floors, bookshelves crammed with volumes and a breezy at-home ambiance. And a bon prix.  Nearby rue des Martyrs is lively – with little bistros and epiceries.  And a short walk to Montmartre and le Sacre Coeur.

Em’s hat in the red room.

I love the Eames “Hang it All’ coat rack.

Montmartre – picturesque in the extreme

white bike, blue bike, red bike

Holly Village

A few days ago I was up in Highgate to visit the cemetery where Karl Marx is buried.  Just opposite the entrance is Holly Village, designed by the Victorian architect Henry Darbishire, on the behest of the philanthropist Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts.  Holly Village was built in 1865 – a group of modest dwellings (4 houses and four pairs of adjoining cottages) in a romantic-cottage-meets-Gothic-revival-style around a green – all turrets, gables, towers, crenellations – and gravel paths, well kept lawns and manicured flower beds.  The wrought iron gate at the entrance of Holly Village makes it an example of one of the very first gated housing communities.  There is some uncertainty about who Holly Village was originally intended for – retired servants or private renters – or both. No expense was spared in the details – and materials include finest quality teak and Portland stone.  Henry Darbison also designed charitable housing for the Peabody Trust and many of these still exist in London today.

a mighty fine cup of coffee

A week ago I was walking from Charlotte Street towards Oxford Street.  It was late morning, drizzly, and I was just thinking about stopping somewhere for a cappuccino when I chanced upon a very stylish but totally unobtrusive café. A stripped wood vintagey interior, spare but warm.  A very intriguing menu of both espresso and brewed varieties.  An extremely interesting selection of utensils and machines for making coffee. Beans sourced from artisan roasters.  I thought hmmmm promising.  I am fussy about coffee and so often disappointed.  After dithering for a moment I asked for a dry cappuccino (I dislike very milky coffee).  What I was served looked alarmingly like a latte, but it was utterly delicious.  The foamy froth was dense but light swirled into the creamy rich espresso – which had body and bite without bitterness.

I was interested to see that they also make coffee using a little gadget called the Aeropress  -  which I recently bought having read about it on Apartment Therapy (a very interesting blog).  The Aeropress is basically a combination of the Cafetiere (or French Press) and a filter with the ooomph of an espresso machine.  It consists of two plastic cylinders (one goes into the other).  It’s not expensive and easy to use. The end result is consistently good coffee.  I recommend. You can buy it from Amazon.

Tapped and Pack, 26 Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia, London W1T 1JD.

Still in jumpers and nearly midsummer so receiving the Jamin Puech summer handbag online catalogue provided a moment of wishful thinking.  I especially love this beach bag.

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This Jasper Morrison photograph is featured in Vitra’s newsletter as part of his series of found images.

I had to copy it here because it’s so great.

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Meanwhile Jane has been busy with her gorgeous floral photos – and I adore the blousy peonies.

colour pop

Jane Reid has just sent this amazing photograph entitled ‘Flamenco Poppy’ which is so intensely vibrant and zingy it makes you want to get your castanets out.  Olé!  Jane’s exploration of flower images recalls Georgia O’Keefes large scale paintings of prairie blossoms.

Jane’s work is available to order.  For more information send us an email at info@ lovehousedesign.com.

Louise Bourgeois

I was sorry to hear that Louise Bourgeois died on Monday at the age of 98.  A long life and an immensely creative fruitful and original one. Her work will live on.  Louise Bourgeouis was courageous in her exploration of uncomfortable and secret subjects to do with sexuality, gender and emotional pain.  She explored the dark side but her work was also illuminated by humour and wit. I would like to pay my respects to Louise Bourgeois, her life and her work.

Walk gently through the flowers

Chelsea is gearing up for The Flower Show.  Floral displays abound around Sloane Square.  Two of my favourite shoe shops Emma Hope and French Sole have decked themselves out in blooms.  Emma Hope with a rockery sprouting rustic lavender and French Sole with two giant ballerinas made of flowers.  Nearby, Cartier and Tiffany compete with floral abundance.  Cartier chose an Alice in Wonderland theme for their Flower Show tribute with toadstools and a tea pot made from petals while Tiffany opted for straightforward classy resplendence.

yellow red turquoise pink blue

gymn-tastic

I love when salvaged materials are used in new ways and become totally transformed into something else.  Søren Rose, a Danish designer, has created a new line of cupboards made from reclaimed gymn floors.  The wood used in school gyms is typically robust enough to withstand years of pounding, bouncing, running, skipping, jumping.  Now the wood is more sedately treated in a series of cabinets, inlaid with coloured blocks to echo the markings on gymnasium floors.

The designer Søren Rose in jumping mode

Go to www.sorenrose.com to see more images.

SØREN ROSE STUDIO
Nygade 4, 1st fl
DK-1164 Copenhagen K
Phone: +45 33 91 33 24

Clerkenwell

While the nation went out to vote yesterday I took a stroll down Clerkenwell Close – a charming bit of old London.  The sun was shining, people were sitting at outside tables.  I was invited to the Ochre showroom to look at some of their new designs.  I love Ochre.  If I had the budget I would definitely invest in some of their pieces.  Their lighting fixtures are like works of art.  The new Eucalyptus chandelier in patinated brass is suspended from chains like a floral garland giving off a soft warm light.  The furniture is understated luxury – elegantly proportioned – andt would fit into both a modern or more traditional setting.  The Ochre team added some spring touches to their showroom pieces.

Clerkenwell Close in the sunshine

Rochdale Style

Politics isn’t the usual terrain for this blog, but after the Prime Minister’s campaign visit to the Lancashire town of Rochdale this week and his notorious faux pas which sparked a wild media frenzy, here’s a nod to the Northwest of England.  Mrs Duffy was inadvertently and unwittingly offended by an off the cuff remark made privately by Mr Brown in the back seat of his car to an aide. The big question is why was he still miked up? And why was the mike still live?  Didn’t anyone notice?  Surely someone ought to have gone shhhhh to the PM – better still disconnected him.   For me that was the biggest goof  in the Duffy debacle. The PM may have had a point about Mrs D being bigoted – but as the last debate tonight revealed, the subject of immigration is touchy.

views of Rochdale

farmer’s market

The joys of spring continue and it was positively sparkling on Saturday morning at the farmer’s market on Pimlico Green.  This is  a very picturesque corner of London – where antique shops and fine restaurants nestle together.  Daylesford Organics has enlivened this little quartier with it’s food shop/cafe and garden boutique. I bought apples, pears, fennel, leaves from the rocket man, and three bunches of rununculas for £5.  Going around from stall to stall carrying a straw shopping basket felt just so country-ish.

herbs and spring flowers at Daylesford

cup of tea

No more dunking tea bags into a mug of boiling water for me. Tea is taken to another level at Bellocq – a new shop- or rather ‘tea atelier’ which just opened in London’s King’s Road.  Located at the corner of Flood Street , it is a bijoux charmer of a place selling the most exotic and precious teas on the planet.  The leaves are stored in bright yellow containers and sold loose in little brown packets with hand written brewing instructions. Rules for making tea are precise: tea is infused with water at 80 degrees centigrade.  If the water is too hot – i.e. at boiling point – the leaves can become bitter.  With some teas – for example  Oolong – it’s necessary to rinse the leaves with hot – not boiling – water before a light brew to remove dust and other particles which could hinder the taste.  I tried a lovely tea called Le Hammeau infused with herbs and petals evocative of a summer’s day and a ‘master’ Oolong.  Goodbye PG Tips.

finally sun – and light

As if by magic the weather changed.   A saunter through The Chelsea Physic Garden in bloom on one of the first mild sunny days of the year : “Oh to be in England now that spring is here…”

These delightful 1950’s Murano glass pendant lights newly available from The French House in Parsons Green are guaranteed to add Spring joy to any room.

The Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek showcased hanging lights made from recylced pendants in Milan this week as reported by Designboom.

dance to spring

A chill wind was blowing in London today and the sky was overcast and bleak.  But gloominess was dispelled at the Coliseum this evening at a performance of the Mark Morris Dance Company’s  L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato set to music by Handel and based on Milton’s poetry. The choreography was just so joyous and life affirming and the set was an ever changing play of colour – soft spring hues of  the first blossoms  – camellia pink, violet, daffodil yellow, bluebell, soft grey  pussy willow and new leaf green.  Sunshine and velvet dusks. It was upliftng.

a rose is a rose is a rose

Jane Martin Reid sent me this gorgeous Rose image she’s just created.  It’s luscious and sings Spring.  Jane’s photos are available to order through lovehousedesign.com.

Anthropologie

The old antiques market Antiquarius in King’s Road in Chelsea closed down months ago and after major refurbishment a branch of Anthropolgie just opened in its place.  The interior space is massive and feels light and airy, but while I think there are a lot of very clever design touches – including a waterfall, a wall of woven binding, the skylight – the overall effect is somewhat confused. This is the second shop in London of the US chain which combines girly fashion with home furnishings. Clothes and household goods are sold side by side in no particular order.  However after trawling around for awhile  I found myself irresistibly drawn to the kitchenware – which is very colourful and charming.  I bought an adorable butter dish.  I have another one on hold.  And if I was starting off in the world all over again I would be sorely tempted to stock up on all the lovely crockery.

i♥ny

I am just back from a fleeting trip to the states.  While most of my time was spent in Baltimore, Maryland and Massachusetts, I made a brief sortie to New York.  It was a sunny and mild March day, the city glistened when I got out at Penn Station. The weather was far too nice to bother taking the subway and besides I didn’t have an exact itinerary in mind.  I just wanted to soak up the city.  I walked over to Gramercy Park which looked pretty in the early spring sunshine and sat at an outside table on Irving Place watching people pass by.  I meandered into Greenwich Village and then Soho and stumbled into a great vintage shop run by Paula Rubenstein at 65 Prince Street.  Paula has been there since the 1970s and remembers Soho when it was still in its post industrial limbo  – way before Marc Jacobs, Chanel and Prada moved in.  I chanced upon familiar old relics like the Vesuvius Bakery and the Café Reggio where I drank cappuccinos and read Plutarch as a student.   I love that there are still places in NY which have been there forever.

Paula Rubenstein’s shop at 65 Prince Street

I made a mad dash over to the Museum of Modern Art.  I had not seen the latest and widely heralded refurb.  The sculpture garden is happily as charming as it always has been.  The new MoMA definitely feels more voluminous though less intimate.

and some pictures taken during my NY wander

leftovers

Brixton Market – known for its a mix of hot food and cool music – now hosts new and emerging artists and designers through the Space Makers initiative – the biggest empty shops project in the UK.  Brixton Village aka Granville Arcade (entrance on Coldharbour Lane) has made twenty empty shop units available rent free to artists and start-ups.

Leftovers is one such shop – selling French antique costumes and vintage clothes and accessories sourced in Paris and New York.  Owner Margot Waggoner trained as a fashion designer with Alexander McQueen and Brigitte Campagne.  She has a great eye for detail and there is something special about each piece in the bijoux box of a shop. And her prices are reasonable.   It is well worth a visit!!!

thanks again

On Monday I was in Carnaby Street to visit an exhibition of illustrations, including work by Debbie Powell, whose charming images can be seen on this website.  The exhibition is at Kingly Court on Kingly Street and is only up until this Saturday 13^th March so hurry up if you have not already been.  There is a lot of lovely work – and it’s very affordable.  Prints (unframed) are only £40.

Did you know Carnaby Street is celebrating 50 years of being – er – Carnaby Street?  I guess as the epi-centre of London cool – though after its heyday in the swinging sixties  Carnaby Street began to lose its shine and went through years of being dismal and touristy with every other shop selling plastic knick knacks decorated with the Royal family and Union Jacks at rip-off  prices.  Carnaby Street is cool again.  There is a clutch of trendy clothes shops, hip places to eat, and if it feels a bit sanitized it is nevertheless  reborn.

At the top end of Carnaby Street is Liberty’s department store which has also undergone a recent  renaissance.  Liberty has always been more than a department store…it showcased the finest examples from the Arts and Crafts movement,  sold ceramics and prints from Japan and China – and became internationally renown for its floral lawn cotton.

looking down to the ground floor of Liberty

The Carnaby Street side of Liberty has been decorated in a lawn print. That is where Merci has a pop up shop which just opened on Monday for only the next few weeks.   Merci is the Paris lifestyle shop with heart (proceeds go to Madagascar) which I visited in January.  Merci and Liberty joined forces to create a capsule collection – an Anglo-French fusion of style – mainly cushions, an adorable Liberty print valise (which was selling like hotcakes), the cutest children’s romper wear and the most clever roll of cotton print napkins that tear off like kitchen rolls.  I particularly liked the slouchy sofa in a Liberty print covered with big downy cushions in various florals.  I also liked the pop-up wardrobe and the bright pink tape used to hang things on the wall.

A house in Cheltenham

Lucinda Williams is an interior designer and teacher who lives in Cheltenham.  She recently finished renovation work on her own house– and the result is impressive.  Lucy has a great eye and there is a sense of play in her scheme.  A  restrained palette of greys is enlivened with a punchy shot of red and witty touches like a chair covered in a Union Jack flag.

In Lucy’s own words:

‘These pics of the sitting room – all the furniture are old pieces that have been re-upholstered.  The red sofa is upholstered in red military jacket fabric! The chesterfield is an old Victorian double drop arm and the wing back chair is an original from Howard and Sons.  The Union Jack chair is covered in old vintage flags.  All the furniture  - including the mirror and table in the hall – is from a great guy who runs a lovely antiques business in Cheltenham called Blighty.  He has a shop in a lovely Regency street in Cheltenham.  I have tried to mix the sitting room up with contemporary fabric and colours and very traditional styles – the pics above the red sofa are  mum’s.   I have also mixed up the lighting with a combination of a chandelier and two low hanging black drum shades at the reading end’.

Here are the pictures Lucy sent of her charming house.

lemon zest

I could barely prise my eyes open this morning but when P brought me my hot water and lemon with the new issue of Coté Sud I bolted upright with uncharacteristic liveliness. (I am not particularly a matin person).   The theme of this latest issue is le citron – and the sunny lemoness of Menton on the Côte d’Azur.  Menton is a grand old town with its Belle Époque palaces and lush gardens.  Once upon a time Katherine Mansfield, Nabokov, Cocteau, Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier whiled away some time there.  I’d go in a shot given the chance.  I was dazzled looking at the sparkling sea, shimmery light and bright colours -turquoise, yellow, ochre, bright green, hot pink – and that was just photographs in the magazine.

I honestly felt as if I had a double dose of vitamin C this morning.

Here are some tourist snaps of Menton found on Google Images

A Single Man

Tom Ford’s debut film is masterful.  A Single Man is based on a story by Christopher Isherwood about a college professor, George Falkconer (Colin Firth) who is grieving over the death of his gay lover.  The film takes place over the course of one day – the day George decides to end his life.  Outwardly George appears calm and controlled – almost obsessively so.   He meticulously tidies  his affairs, clears out his office,  lays out his funeral suit with a matching tie and a white starched shirt taken from a drawer where two neat and perfect piles of identical shirts are stacked.  He buffs the shoes he is to be buried in.  This facade of control contrasts with  his perceptions  and memories  which are heightened and vivid.  It’s as if he sees things for the very first time – a flower, a sunset.  Moments from his past are replayed in his mind on a continuous  loop – happier sensual times with his boyfriend.   The film delicately balances George’s outer world of order and control and his inner turmoil and torment.   George lives in a modern wood lined glass house in Los Angeles.  The house is glass but George has a sense of being ‘invisible’.  The house is a minimal masculine space yet also warm. The wood, the lighting, and the textures suggest this warmth.  There are flashbacks of cosy times with a fire burning and the dog curled up on the rug beside George and his lover .  This set – designed by the team behind Mad Men – mirrors George.  Very different is the house his friend Charley (Julianne Moore) inhabits – which is peach, cream, coppery, gold, glam and luxe.  While period details are obviously spot on – it’s the way in which the production design supports the drama which is so engaging.  It’s style as part of content.  Other visual references suggest Hockney – the L.A.  swimming pool paintings.  It is film made with an artist’s eye.

St Valentine’s Day

One of the best things about February is the excuse to eat chocolate.  Not that one ever really needs an excuse…but  from the beginning of the month  heart shaped boxes of choccies and all kinds of sweet things tied in red ribbon appear on shop shelves and why wait until St Valentine’s Day?  I’m a fan of Roccoco Chocolates – especially their scorched chcocolate almonds – and beautiful packaging.  Beastie Girl has now perfected her brownies – which help a lot in getting through these cold grey days.

Love House Design is in the midst of a makeover and I want to thank Debbie Powell www.debbiepowell.net for the charming new header for this blog and  Paul Gardiner who is infinitely patient in programming and building the website.  We are rejigging a few things and I am excited about the new look Limited Editions page.  I’m very pleased to introduce Enormouschampion, who are two printmakers based in Brooklyn, New York.  They are inspired by typography and nostalgic tunes and their latest edition -  perfect for Valentine’s Day – is available only through their website  www.enormouschampion.com and Love House Design.  Here is a sneak preiew of their poster, aptly titled “For Ever and a Day” from the George Gershwin Song.  May you all have lots of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and chocolate.

life without the dirt

When I was 16 I was sent to California for the summer to study at the University of Santa Barbara, a shy and bookish girl.  My first impression when I got there was how verdant floral and fecund it was – the air filled with the scent of eucalyptus – the sky impossibly blue.  The second impression I had was how smiley everyone was.  New Yorkers never went around beaming – telling each other to have a nice day.

When I went to see the movie It’s Complicated the other day I didn’t register that it was set in Santa Barbara.  I later googled and had a little ah-ha moment.  The film – whose alternative title could be Sex and the Middle-aged Divorcee – was ultimately a rather silly romp.  Meryl Streep has a fling with her ex husband and a little frisson with her geeky architect. She is as giggly and awkward as a 13 year old girl as she flits between the two. All the flirty shenanigans are set against a backdrop of sparkly perfection.  Her grown up children are pretty and sweet and well adjusted.  Her job running the dream gourmet bakery restaurant (I’d buy my bread there) is idyllic.  But what really was the stage stealer in the perfection stakes was her house.

The house (which bloggists across America have drooled over) is a Hacienda style ranch set in a garden of such lush greenness that the grass itself should be nominated for an Oscar.  The kitchen was total lust.  Open plan with shelves brimming with an enviable collection of crockery.  The table was laden with domed stands housing the yummiest looking chocolate cake and pastries.  I’d be in heaven with a kitchen like that – or even being invited over for a cup of coffee.

But the kitchen was the bone of contention and Meryl’s character has decided that she wants to Renovate. She longs for a separate kitchen and dining room and a bigger bedroom.  Her new bathroom will not have two sinks because it is depressing.  She doesn’t want a His and Hers when she is only a Her.  She employs an architect – played by Steve Martin -who  is very responsive to all her requests sent to him in 47 emails and it is his job to interpret her dream.

He ropes off the new extension on her lawn and places two ladders, side by side, to indicate the new story to be built for her bedroom which will have a die-for view of the ocean.  Hmmmm. Will the new extension eat up too much of the garden?  A question not posed in the film.  Not seeing the plans I can’t say whether the new elevation would work or not.  But the notion of improving on perfection left me feeling giddy.

The Los Angeles Times wrote a piece about Meryl’s garden when the film opened in the US.  They got a bee in their bonnet because everything looked so preposterously perfect.  In one scene, Meryl,  wearing a rather frivolous sun hat and carrying a straw basket, was collecting perfectly formed rosy red blemish free tomatoes. It was her Marie Antoinette at Le petit Trianon moment – nature with the dirt removed.

A stitch in time

Back in September I met Bricolage, a newly formed textile cooperative, at the Tent Design Show.  Five textile graduates – Katherine May, Polly Burton,  Yemi Awosile, Clara Vuletich and Naomi Paul,  who met while studying at Chelsea College of Art and Design – decided to join forces as a way to support each other while developing their own particular disciplines.  While they are each involved in different work they share a common ‘make-do’ attitude to textiles.

Bricolage had a pop-up shop at Brixton Market until a week ago where they sold handmade textile products, ‘all made or sourced thoughtfully by members of the group’.  I went to see them and can vouch that their unit was a delight.

Katherine May who is a quilter (she has some quilted furniture pieces at Liberty and her work is soon to be exhibited by the V&A in their upcoming Quilt Exhibition opening 24th March) sent me an invitation to take part in a quilt making workshop at their pop-up.  I was very happy to go along.  About a half dozen other women attended.

Women sitting in a circle concentrating on sewing was a very Zen experience. I am not very good with needle and thread – all thumbs – but Katherine is a patient teacher and the other women were helpful and friendly.  I wonder if prairie women at quilting bees ever felt as calm and cosy.  I managed to stitch three little squares together.  A start.

books etc

By serendipity I stumbled upon La Belle Hortense on the rue Vieille du Temple.  La Belle Hortense is a tiny bookshop/wine bar apparently named after a 19^thc pulp novel and specialising in an interesting selection of vintages and literature. It is only open in the evenings from 5pm until after midnight and is one of the most delightful places ever.

The bar itself is small – seating maybe six people max.  In a room beyond the bar there are a few tables.  A man with Tarot cards laid out before him was eating a baguette and drinking coffee.  A young couple, deeply engrossed in their separate volumes, were sipping hot chocolate.

There is a small English language book section which I perused.  I flicked through the Alice B Toklas Cookbook with its amusing anecdotes and somewhat bizarre recipes – including one for ‘an omelette in  an overcoat’ which is a normal omelette aux herbes or whatever, topped with three poached eggs and then covered in a thick white sauce studded with mushrooms and some other ingredients which I now have forgotten.

On the subject of literary cafés , I finally made it over to Merci – the ‘concept’ store that opened last year with much fanfare and acres of press.  Marie-France and Bernard Cohen, the husband and wife team who created the deluxe children’s brand Bonpoint, converted a huge once industrial space in the rue Beaumarchais. in the 4th.   A café on the ground floor is lined with shelves filled  with a massive selection of second-hand volumes and comfortable vintage furniture.  On a weekday morning it was as hushed as a library. The coffee was good and I was offered a slice of freshly baked cake by the waitress.

Merci is a very chic mix of industrial design, modern classics, tribal pottery and ethnic textures.  The clothes department has vintage and Isabel Marant.  Annick Goutal scents are sold in simple flacons at a good price. I dabbed each and every on my wrist until I couldn’t tell them apart.

Proceeds from sales go to charity in the third world which makes the whole ‘concept’ more meaningful.  Does it justify the prices?  Hmmmm. I suppose it depends on how flush one is feeling…

encore paris

Further inspirations…an old fashioned hat shop – the Chapellerie Simon – brimming over with all manner of chapeaux – and where I bought a traditional black beret which kept my hair dry in the pouring rain.  A stroll through the Marais, diving in and out of little boutiques to escape the weather.  Vintage clothes shops were jammed packed with rails of retro vêtements and people – fusty and overcrowded.

A lovely interlude at the ever stylish Café Beaubourg overlooking the Pompidou Centre.  A quick dash around a retrospective of modern furniture design over the past 30 years under the aegis of VIA (Valorisation de l’Innovation dans l’Ameublement ) an organisation which was se up by the French government and industry.   Love the sleeping pod.

Paris

A few days in Paris – even in the middle of January and in the pouring rain – is a wonderful tonic.

I stayed at the Hotel Bourg-Tibourg in the Marais and had a little Jacques Garcia moment.  He designed the hotel for the Costes Brothers, who own a host of stylish hotels and restaurants in Paris (including the uber luxe Hotel Costes and L’Hotel where Oscar Wilde whiled away some time).  The Hotel Bourg-Tibourg is more modest (in terms of price and size) but intimate and charming.

The Hotel Bourg Tiboug

Jacques Garcia draws on a myriad of historical references to create theatrical, sumptuous and romantic interiors. He enjoys juxtaposing different styles and periods (a little Louis XV here, a little Empress Eugenie there and a soupcon of chinoiserie, par exemple).   For the Hotel Bourg-Tibourg  M. Garcia was inspired by the Middle Ages and created crestellations and Gothic arches and used a palette of deep jewel colours in an array of striped patterns (replicated from Medieval manuscripts).  The overall effect is not without wit.  Jacques Garcia described his effort more like a  television set design version of the Middle Ages..harking back to historical drama series of knights in armour on steeds in  battle.

My room, the size of a boite de chaussure,  was very cosy.  The bathroom was lovely…excellent chrome taps.  The view was a courtyard.

A drink at the bar of The Hotel Costes in the rue St Honore on a rainy night was the perfect antedote to the weather.

The most delightful cafe/bar was the très mignon Cafe au Petit Fer à Cheval in the Marais with its horseshoe shaped bar.

Swedish style

One of the few things on television worth watching at the moment is the BBC detective series ‘Wallander’ starring Kenneth Branagh as the brooding Swedish cop.  The series is filmed on location in and around the seaside town of Ystad, in the north of Sweden.  What’s so good about the series is that the camera lingers on the wide and often bleak landscape – redolent of Ingmar Bergman’s films. Nothing is hurried and frantic in the shooting which is a refreshing change from the chop-chop style of how most things are filmed these days.

The interiors in Wallander are quietly Swedish – either mid-century modern or slightly Gustavian.  In last Sunday’s episode the wealthy baddie lived in a wonderful country manse with stark white walls, stone floors, heavy wooden doors, sparsely furnished.  It could have been a spread for The World of Interiors. I salute the series on style grounds as well as on its dramatic merits.

I therefore feel inspired to devote this post to all wonderful things Swedish -from Wallander to Bergman and iconic modern Swedish design to some of the latest furniture innovations.

from ‘Wallander’

Ystad in Sweden where Wallander was shot

Ingmar Bergman

from ‘The Seventh Seal’

from the folks at Skandium

a fuson of traditional and modern from www.string.se (above and below)

Eatge coffee table by Kovisto Rune Claesson with overlays of formica and plywood

paper pulp chairs for children using 100% recycled paper pulp

Sandberg’s fresh take on traditional Swedish design

Eric Rohmer

Eric Rohmer, the veteran filmmaker died yesterday at the age of 89.  Of all the French New Wave directors Eric Rohmer went on the longest and was the most prolific – he made over twenty films.  His last film, ‘The Romance of Astrea and Celadon’ came out two years ago in 2007.  He was the master of human observation, telling seemingly small stories but with larger philosophical themes.  It was through the telling of simple tales about ordinary people, that Rohmer could explore bigger issues and moral conundrums.  Rohmer became an international name with ‘Ma Nuit Chez Maude’ in 1969- about a man caught between the woman he is pledged to marry and the woman he falls in love with and ‘Claire’s Knee’ (1970)- about an older man who becomes obsessed by a young girl’s gracefully slender knee.  They were part of a series of six films under the umbrella of ‘Six Moral Tales’.

He went on to make so many memorable films…mainly about contemporary life.  One exception was ‘La Marquise d’O’, based on a novella by Heinrich von Kleist,  set in Napoleonic times, and starring the dashing German actor Bruno Ganz.  The film is visually exquisite as well as romantically charged.  I remember when I first saw the film I was as knocked out by the 18^th century interiors as I was about the swoony love story.

In fact Rohmer was as much an artist as he was a filmmaker and philosopher.  He apparently was extremely exacting about every single visual detail in his films.  Colour was very important to him and the overall palette of a film was integral to the storytelling.  Yet the films of Eric Rohmer appear visually casual as if he stumbled upon the rooms, apartments, houses and other locales  – always exquisitely chic, in the way only the French know how.

I was very sad to hear of Eric Rohmer’s death.

Eric Rohmer

‘Claire’s Knee’

‘Love in the AFternoon’ (‘L’amour l’apres-midi’)

‘Pauline a la Plage’

‘La Marquise d’O’