Shopping find

A client asked me the other day where could she find a beautiful glass desk? Now @home have a Eames knock-off, very simple and totally elegant. Then Weylandts also have one, but theirs is a glass top on a trestle leg on the one side and a little drawer unit on the other side. Also quite beautiful, but a little lop sided if you ask me, I like symmetry.

But then I found this this stunning piece of furniture at Block and Chisel. I am mad about the chrome legs (which are fully adjustable) and the way the chrome and glass just work so beautifully together.

Yes, glass desks are not the most practical of desks. But minor problems such as constant cleaning and storage for nick knacks can be resolved with a pack of glass cleaning wipes from Clicks and some clever storage boxes. The sheer elegance and beauty of this beautiful desk scores higher on the cards than practicality!

Pretty Pretty from Vitra

That's it, it's just pretty.

From the rug (a little Paul Smith-ish) to the white couch and colourful cushions and throw right down to the 'love' cushion (I love anything with the word 'love' on it). Oh, and the owl in the corner.

I'm a huge Eames fan, so the Lounge Chairs in cow hide round this off for me. In the back is the Wiggle Stool, designed by Frank Gehry in 1972. Made entirely of corrugated cardboard, it shows that good design does not need to be expensive!

I'm especially fascinated with the fabric on the ottoman. It looks like a doodle of a building that just grew and grew and became a city!

With some art on the walls, I could live here...
:)
x a

Image via Vitra

Up and Down

I'm pretty sure that each and every design blog has done a post on stripes. Well, here's mine.

Because stripes can be very traditional, extremely contemporary, funky and fun or sassy and sophisticated.

I don't think the colour matters, the fact that you've painted or papered any area in stripes means that you have balls and don't mind that what you are doing is not 'safe'.

Who likes to be classified as 'safe' anyhow? Ga. Sies.

OK, so maybe you don't want to do an entire wall. Baby steps are good. Cushions, chairs, books (cover some books in stripe paper, place on your coffee table, it will look good, promise!) are a good way to start.

x a

Image 1 via Collette Ward Interiors

Image 2 via Made by Girl

Image 4 via House & Gardens

All other images from the files, source unknown

Every girl has to own a tiara (even if it's plastic)

I've been working with a really super fantastic girl who really knows how to string sentences together (on a project I can only reveal a little later, so keep on coming back here). Her blog is a great find, and I'm realy happy to share it with you, so go and read Tiara - musings of a princess.

She shares everyday happenings and mishaps, including how she gave away her boss's rugby season tickets (Ouch girl!) and her thoughts on buying French cars (never a good idea).

Promise, you'll love it.

x a

I ♥

Not the dress. The cupboard. (And the whole room, it is serene and calm and I can imagine not having any worries in this room)

A new life for old bottles

For the past couple of days I have been clearing out drawers, cupboards, boxes, baskets and every little corner in my small apartment. I'm a hoarder, I know it. I love open spaces and no clutter, but I like collecting and gathering things even more.

The end result of course, is that I don't know where anything is when I need it and I end up having no cupboard space for my towels!

But collecting does not need to be a bad thing. This collection has over 40 old bottles, but it's neatly displayed and there is a sense of organisation. I am so in love with these pics (sorry, forgot where I found them) it's given me new hope for my chaos!

I suppose that's what I need to do: organise my clutter.

Net vir 'n baie spesiale vriendin, op haar verjaarsdag

Inspired by the cutest, most adorable, sweetest (and probably the movie with the saddest first 10 minutes) animated movie, Up. But the real thing is just so much better, isn't it?

Lekker verjaar vriendin! Drome word waar!

x a

Winter woolies

I'm sure it's because Cape Town had it's first rainy and kinda cold day on Friday, but I am suddenly very inspired to start knitting again! I love sitting under a blanket in winter, knitting away. The unfortunate thing is that I do not have the patience to knit jerseys or complicated tea cosies or anything that takes longer than one or 2 evenings to complete! So, I tend to focus my efforts on scarves. Easy, quick, useful scarves.

I found these wonderful knits on Etsy and just love the reinvention of the scarf! I'll definitely try my hand at these, and if all else fails, there's always the option to buy from these lovely crafters! ;)

The top one is from Phydeaux's shop and the second from Homelab. I'm also totally smitten by their choice of colour! I'm loving all things grey at the moment.

Inspiration from Tim Burton's Wonderland

Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about how incredible Alice in Wonderland is. (OK, but it is.)

If you have seen the movie, you have to agree with me that the colours in this film have a way of grabbing at you and pulling you into this imaginary world. I found myself completely mesmerized by the beautiful and interesting mix of colours.

Throughout the entire movie, I was transfixed by Alice's blue grey with a hint of purple dress. The mushrooms in pink and blue and purple and orange and every other colour you can imagine! And then there are the flowers, in the most vibrant (and at the same time kinda smokey) hues of orange and pink and red.

And I found myself looking at the silk sash around the Mad Hatter's hat all the time, that lvoely salmon pink creation.

These colours would create the most amazing and evocative interiors. The funny thing is is that for my own place I have been leaning towards these colours for some time now. Seeing it all together like this though makes we really want to get stuck in and paint all the walls of my tiny apartment! (again...)

Is this the Easter Bunny?

Well, maybe not. But it's still cute as a button!!

Have a wonderful Easter, and travel safely!

Image via Flickr