Flowers on the Roadside

I am often so tempted to pull-over the car and whip out the pair of scissors I keep in my glove box and cut flowers from bushes on the roadside. Today I did just that. I was driving over to pick up Harry from sailing and I saw these big bright beautiful pink flowers on a huge bush on the side of the road. I did a u-turn, stopped and cut a few. They have very prickly stems so I had to use the paper bag in the door pocket which was left-over from Harry's sausage roll this morning to handle them. Although they have dropped a little bit since arriving home, I do think they look pretty in the aqua vase I put them in on our fireplace mantel. It's amazing what beauty you can discover without even spending a cent.

Swedish cottage

Photography : Beatrice Ugland

A Gambrel Designed Long Island Waterside Beach Home

I'm a big fan of Steven Gambrel in general.  We see a lot of photos of his

work shared over and over again.  What amazing talent.  This house is 

next to the water near the ocean, a lake and an inlet so it's very much in

context to use a lot of blues and greens through the house.  I love all of

the architectural detail and floor to ceiling bookshelf installations in this

family room.

Love the over sized water bottle to the side of the bench.

 

 A galley kitchen with clean lines.

 

 Here's the formal dining area.  Aren't the round seat cushions cute?

 

Love the large scale photo on the wall.  Gambrel always has 

great wall installations.  An X bench with nail heads?  Love it!

 

 Here are more of those blues and greens I was talking 

about.  What a lovely green he chose for the walls.

 

The blues and greens carry on into the bedroom.

 

What a gorgeous kid's room.

What a YUMMY bathroom!  I'm definitely drooling.  I've always 

wanted big windows in the bathroom.  You can't go wrong with 

marble in a bathroom.  I'm also a fan of gray, it's such a great 

neutral color that can paired just about any other color palette.

You can pair gray with colors to make a space look feminine or

masculine.  For example pink and gray is a bit feminine while 

gray and canary yellow could be used for a more masculine feel.

What a comfy looking couch in this living space.  

I'm a sucker for a tufted sofas. 

And of course being near the water, a house is not complete without

a sun room or an outdoor space where one can dine with family and

friends. 

What is your favorite room from this house and why?

New Spaces Old World Charm

If you like Steven Gambrel's type of design, his work is

found in this book:  New Spaces Old World Charm.  The

book has a great collection of homes that were designed 

in the style just as the title suggests.  Here's a peak at some

of the spaces in the book.  Definitely check the book out if

you like this style.

 

I leave you this week with a special from an artist I know that has really

fantastic art that is perfect to use in any room or hall for that matter!  His

name is Harrison Howard and some of his work reminds of me the older

classical Chinoise style from the Europeans.  Either way, you must check

out his site.  25% off on all Limited Edition prints from now until 

November 5, 2010.  To take advantage of the offer, you must email 

Howard with your selections (not through the shopping cart.)

Photos of the Steven Gambrel designed 

housein this post from House Beautiful

Suzani Chair at Jenny's House

I love seeing where bits and pieces from our shop end up. Here's a picture above of one of our vintage French chairs, which we covered in a suzani, in the kitchen of a lovely customer and blogger, Jenny from My Pink Door...I think it looks great in her kitchen/dining area with the fantastic black and white floor and the other mismatched chairs.

A New Window

Today we worked on a new display in our front window at Black & Spiro. We wanted it to be fresh and colourful and eye catching. This is our last window before our very exciting Christmas window which will be installed in a few weeks time. We wrapped bits of remnant fabric around birdcages and hung them in front of a gorgeous bright pink and white and black floral fabric. It always makes me feel so happy when we have installed a fresh new window at the shop...

“INTERIEUR” 2010 eye-catchers

 

 

 

This weekend my husband and I went to the INTERIEUR 2010 exhibition in Kortrijk. Every two years this interior design exhibition shows us the latest trends in modern design. A lot of European exhibitors are present, introducing their innovations to the public.

If you want to know more about this fair, please visit the website www.interieur.be.

I want to share with you some company addresses and new products which catched my eye.

 

 

TULP FIREMAKERS

www.tulp.eu

This is a Dutch company that produces beautiful gas and led fireplaces.

They call in famous designers to design a fireplace, as Piet Boon, one of the most talked about designers of The Netherlands.

Gas fire   design Piet Boon

If you want to know all about Piet Boon, visit his website www.pietboon.com

Gas fire   design Piet Boon

 

Gas fire 

Gas fire

Gas fire

Gas fire

Led fire

  Led fire

Led fire

Even a beautiful teak gas fire  for outside use.

So if you want some further information please visit the website www.tulp.eu.

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LAURA MERONI

www.laurameroni.it

An Italian company designing beautiful made to measure furniture and paneling.

The doors and especially the paneling caught my eye!

I really love this dark colored carved rosewood paneling! Very contemporary but very beautiful to me!

 

Brushed lacquered wood cabinet

 

Doors available in mapple, cherry wood, walnut, rosewood, oak, teak and wenge.

 

Detail of the wall board with integrated sliding door, carved on both sides. 

 

Wooden table with inlaid top.

For further information, please visit the website www.laurameroni.it.

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HYDROSTOP

www.hydrostop.be

Hydrostop is a Belgian importer of bathroom design products.

These designs catched my eyes!

I am so sorry that I can not give you more details about the sinks and the bathtubes, because I did'n’t have enough time to talk to the representative of this company.

But I would not hold you back discovering these products.

 

 

What do you think about this elegant bath tube here below? I actually didn’t discover it at the fair, but visiting the Hydrostop website, my eyes catched this bath tube design with the French LXV-styled legs. I hadn’t seen it before! Do you love it? I do!

To see more bathroom designs, please visit the website www.hydrostop.be.  

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FORMANI

www.formani.nl

Again a Dutch company that designs and imports high-quality door and furniture fittings in various styles.

And even this company calls in famous designers to design their fittings!

I love to show you the door handles,  furniture and window fittings, designed by (again indeed!) Piet Boon.

 

 

This company has next to the Piet Boon designs, a wonderful collection from other famous designers to discover!

For further information, please visit the website www.formani.nl.

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BERKER

www.berker.com

Berker is an international company and a supplier of high-quality switches, for all kind of interiors, from the luxurious atmosphere to the industrial look!  They emphasis on quality, design and innovation.

Their switches are in use all over the world.

Let’s see some of their switch ranges.

A switch from the Palazzo range. With marble and mahogany effects and 24 carat gold-plated décor rings.

This piece is like having a jewellery on your wall!

 

A switch design in Bauhaus style (1930).

 

Switch from the fine classic style design.

 

 

Glas serie switches.

 

 

Crystall ball range.

 

To choose your individual switch, please visit the website www.berker.com.

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NIKO MYSTERIOUS

www.nikomysterious.eu

And last but not least, I want you to meet the mysterious switch collection of the Belgian company NIKO.

The Niko Mysterious wave contral makes life easier! Coming home with your hands full of shopping bags of files? Then you no longer have to put everything down to control the light switch.

The switches are almost invisible integrated into the wall of the woodwork. It adapts itself to the color of the wall. Only a discreet circle remains visible. In the dark this circle lights up with a soft, warm, white glow.

The wave control activates lighting by waving at a distance. When you are 50 cm away from the switch, its edges light up and when you wave within 10 cm, the switch is activated.

Let’s discover THE ART OF DISAPPEARING!

You can paint or wallpaper over the switch.

 

 

Niko Mysterious socket outlets and media connections can also be integrated into the wall or into the woodwork.

 

Discover more about the Belgian Niko Mysterious collection, visit www.nikomysterious.eu.

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I hope you will be happy with the addresses of the companies and their innovations I shared with you today!

xx

All images of the websites of the respectively companies.