I missed Kelly Hoppen. Yup. It happened. And it seems I’ll miss Lulu Guinness tomorrow and even Cath Kidston in November! Aaaarghh!
What am I talking about? I’m talking about the Friday Evening Talks at Victoria & Albert Museum, about which you can read here. The Talks feature artists, writers and designers talking about their work and inspiration. When I visited the Telling Tales exhibition recently (yes, I will finally get round to writing about it as it was A-MA-ZING) I took the leaflet with events, but to my perish I only flicked through it two days ago..
…and it turned out there was a talk by my guru Kelly Hoppen just 2 weeks ago… and even though Miss Lulu is only to appear tomorrow, and Miss Cath in two weeks, there is no chance to see either of them, as all tickets are obviously sold out and though I’m on the waiting list, I was not given much hope…
But I managed to get a ticket for a talk by Konstantin Grcic, an industrial designer behind these objects:
Stackable Chair_One by Konstantin Grcic for MagisOsorom seating for MorosoOrcus secretary desk by Konstantin Grcic - closedOrcus secretary desk by Konstantin Grcic - open
Click on Konstantin’s picture below to go to his website and see more designs:
Konstantin Grcic
Konstantin Grcic is an award-winning industrial designer whose work includes objects for Capellini, Iitalia, Krup and Muji. He is also the curator of the Serpentine Gallery’s forthcoming show, Design Rea. His own work is pared-down and combines formal strictness with mental acuity and humour. He discuss the ideas behind the exhibition and his career with Alice Rawsthorn, design critic for the International Herald Tribune.
So, hopefully this will be as inspiring as all that I’ve missed and will miss…
Further to my post about vintage, second-hand finds a few days ago, let me share with you what I found in shops on my Polish trip. You know I love a budget find – and all that’s featured below comes from high-street retailers.
One of the super-hot designs of this season – cross-legged side table. I’ve seen it on cover of the new John Lewis catalogue, of the Dream Bathrooms (from Homes & Gardens) too, and inside many recent magazines! I find it so light and delicate – it can visually lift up any sofa it stands next to, and add elegance and subtleness to the bedroom when used instead of heavy bedside tables:
Cross-legged round black glass side / coffee table
Funky retro lamps – white & black – absolutely spot-on for now and for such a good price! Found in the local equivalent to Homebase and consting from £30 for a table lamp, through to £60 for the floor lamp.
The huge wall light from the series is the truly fabulous – it has this designer feel to it which makes it a great statement piece, and it’s so versatile due to the long arched arm – one moment it can be used over a table, another – give you the reading light over the sofa…
Retro eye-ball wall lamp with long swing arm
Another (bargain!) table lamp replicating the eye-ball shape, working well with minimalist, retro and modern interiors:
Eye-ball glass table lamp
Is it only me or does this lamp look like it was made from a jar? 🙂
Funky jar ceiling light
And now – inspired by nature and thus timeless, but fun at the same time, the ‘twigs’ lamp:
Night / table lamp made from twigs
Loads of such ‘wavy plastic‘ designs around, both on high street and at designers, and yet few of them cost £10…
White retro plastic floor lamp
This gorgeous glamour, delicate ceiling lamp with crystals-and-sheer-white-glittery shade will most probably find its place in the yellow bedroom. Under £30.
Glamour white ceiling lamp with crystals
Now to some coffee tables.
This one intrigued me with its lovely visible wood design (check out both the general pattern and the 3 tiles in the middle of the top), its practicality (huge drawers) and its lightness achieved thanks to slim metal legs (this photo does not show off the lifting effect too well). Price: ca. £200.
Wooden chunky coffee table with drawers
This one I love for its functionality and versatility – not only in size and shape but also colour and finish. I adore such items for their aplicability to small spaces, when you need something smaller for everyday, but need space when entertaining guests.
This one is pretty simple, not from best materials either, but interesting enough to have cought my eye… and I had to give it a second look when I saw the price – for £80 you can buy it for a few years or for your rented flat without guilt!
3-tier coffee table
Sleek, linear design makes this chair a great addition to a sharp, elegant home office:
Sleek elegant wood, metal and leather office chair
And finally – what lovely fabric! Believe, when I cast my eye on the same sofa in cream alcantara, I haven’t blinked twice. But this is an example of how the choice of fabric can dramatically influence the look, instantly making it a fashionable statement for the bachelor’s pad.
Silver shimmery L-shaped sofa for a bachelor pad
…believe it or not but this is not all I want to share with you from my trip – there will still be one more buy, and a DIY project we’ve completed in our flat back home.
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Tak jak obiecalam, po znaleziskach ‘z drugiej reki’ – czas na to co znalazlam w polskich sklepach podczas mojej ostatniej wizyty. A bylo tego sporo i naprawde pozytywnie mnie to zaskoczylo – a zgodnie z moim motto, szukalam jedynie produktow w dobrych cenach!
Znalazlam wiele pieknych dizajnerskich lamp – niektore retro; najciekawsza z nich to ‘kinkiet’ z biala kula na bardzo dlugim ramieniu dzieki czemu moze oswietlac dwie strefy – no ale zyrandol ze sloika nie odbiega oryginalnoscia!. Inne inspirowane natura i dzieki temu ponadczasowe (bardzo ciekawa lampka nocna z galazek drzewa), a takze lampa podlogowa z falujacych kawalkow plastiku, bardzo modna w tej chwili – a jeszcze za taka cene?! No i piekny delikatny glamour w postaci krysztalkowego zyrandola z przeswitujacym abazurem, ktory, cos tak czuje, znajdzie swoje miejsce w zoltej sypialni.
Dalej – stoliki kawowe. Piekny wzor slojow przyciagnal moj wzrok do pierwszego mebla, ale tak samo interesujace sa w nim dwie niezwykle pojemne szuflady i metalowe nozki dodajace stolowi lekkosci. Potem trafilam na kilka stolikow ‘warstwowych’,interesujacych tym bardziej im wiecej mozliwosci ustawienia daja (idealne do malych pomieszczen!). No i moje ulubione ostatnio – stoliki ze skrzyzowanymi nozkami, ktore nadaja niezwyklej lekkosci kazdej sofie przy ktorej stoja, oraz elegancji i delikatnosci sypialniom, gdzie zastepuja ciezkie stoliki nocne.
No i jeszcze dwa ciekawe meble do siedzenia – przepiekny, elegancki i prosty w formie fotel laczacy drewno, metal i skore doda szyku kazdemu gabinetowi, a kanapa z niezwyklym lekko blyszczacym szarym obiciem bedzie wygladac pieknie w kawalerskim mieszkaniu modnego mezczyzny – idealny przyklad jak duzo zmienia material, gdyz ten sam model widzialam moment wczesniej w bezowym obiciu z alcantary… wystarczy powiedziec ze nie spojrzalam na niego drugi raz, a ta wersja az wyprosila zdjecie.
…ale ale, to nie koniec relacji z tej podrozy – podziele sie jeszcze z Wami kolejnym zakupem i projektem zrob-to-sam ktory popelnilismy z mezem w naszym polskim mieszkaniu!
How pretty is that! Viv has completely remodeled her studio by converting an unused space in her house into this gorgeous haven of creativity! I live the DIY aspect of it which not only saved the budget, but also immensely personalized the space. Check out the gorgeous butterfly mobile, Eames style chair, painted wardrobe and this antique sideboard on the right! Not to mention the pretty designs over the desk (Viv’s own, and you can buy them in her Etsy shop here).
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Co za piekne studio! Viv przemienila niewykorzystane miejsce w jej domu w przepiekne, kobiece studio w ktorym tworzy swoje male dziela. ‘Zrob to sama’ to jej motto i dzieki temu przestrzen zostala upiekszona nie tylko tanie, ale i bardzo wyjatkowo. Zwroccie uwage na piekna ozdobe z motyli, krzeslo stylizowane na Eames, pomalowana szafe i zabytkowy bufet. No i oczywiscie obrazki nad biurkiem, ktore sa dzielem Viv i ktore mozna kupic tu.
So we have a Flat. Our first baby. We love it and have a million ideas for it.
The slight problem is, that it’s in a different country 😦 back home. We’re in London, the flat is in Poland. And even though we bought it over a year and a half ago, we never managed to live there for longer but a few weeks as we moved abroad around this time.
Can you imagine how painful it is to have to wait to make it gorgeous?! Nevertheless, me and my husband are planning and decorating it in our minds (…and on paper. And in 3D).
Apart from the usual decorating aspect, we need to decide on the functional division of the space. We both love open plan living, so we have decided not to build the second tiny bedroom for now, in order to have a bigger living space. So, the floor plan is something like this:
Our flat's floor plan
Since we have a small flat (around 60m2), we need to have multifunctional spaces (and fair enough as open living is all about that!), bearing in mind we have not been able to do anything about the wall of the living room as this is the supporting wall to really reshape the space.
What we needed to figure out is – where will we put the home office space? Where is my piano going to be? Will we have a formal dining space? Where will our guests sleep? How to fit all that in there and not clutter the space unnecessarily? And questions to be solved later – where will we plan the room for the baby? What if I’ll need a bigger / enclosed space for my studio?
For now – ideas for the first problem – the workspace.
The possible locations for the desk are:
in the ex-tiny-bedroom / ‘dining’ room
in the living room
in the bedroom
For now I’ve planned the first option (desk in the dining room) and here are the results:
Version 1 using the colors we have on the walls now (white and green):
Workspace in the dining roomWorkspace in the dining room
Advantages: It’s comfortable in terms of space (the dining table can move slightly more towards the kitchen if necessary). Good natural light available, but not South-facing so will be bearable in the summer. Also, close to the coffee supplies which is so important when working! 🙂
Disadvantages: It’s in the center of the activity so there is potential for disruption. Also, no space for a couch there (we originally had one where I’ve now put the desk).
This is a very similar version just with a statement wallpaper added. Still unsure which option I prefer.
OK – so I’m finally back from my day of window-shopping (well, not exactly – I actually bought some side plates, two books on design and color, and hand cream!). First, let me share with you the furniture side of my IKEA findings.
– a space-saving solution for small kitchens. Also, table top is bought separately so one can get a bigger one if space permits:
Ikea Billsta table and Sebastian bar stools
– one of the more stylish double desks I have seen on the high street (and it is not easy to find a desk for two…)
Ikea BESTA BURS double desk
– an interesting dining table ‘for surfers’ as my husband called it :). Not sure what the name is though…
Ikea oval dining table
– …and that’s how the Bernhard chair looks in reality – was very comfy as well!
Ikea Bernhard leather chair
– nice idea for kitchen fronts – in wide-and-glossy units-dominated kitchens, this vertical beech set provides a welcome change:
Ikea Solar kitchen units
– Now the tricky part – what the hell is this wallpaper / material on the wall? I thought I’ll find it in the online catalogue but there are no matches to ‘wallpaper’ and I am pretty sure it is one, as it reflected light when photographed with flash. Really pretty French country style, with roses and birds… anyone knows?? I attach a magnified view of the design as well. HELP! I see it in my mother’s bedroom and I need it desperately and why oh why have I not asked anyone of the staff?!
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Interior Design inspirations by Indywiduum Design 