British designer Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien have designed a collection for Italian brand Moroso. The collection Charpoy and Chaupar was presented a the last International Milan Furniture Fair and have already won their own cult following. The idea behind the Charpoy and Chaupar range is to present two different and complementary approaches through Doshi and Levien’s work; Levien represents Europe and Doshi’s work is strongly influenced by her Indian roots.
The duo works with the concept of “the unity of opposites” by combining handmade, one-of-a-kind work with industrially manufactured elements, and they have a special interest in the design of non-Western cultures. Perfectly in keeping with Moroso’s belief that cultural diversity is an enormous asset, Nipa Doshi says: “Globalisation and internationalisation are seen as the destruction of local cultures and environmental resources. We like to see globalisation as a way of bringing together diversity and breaking down standardisation”.
The collection is split into three products ranges: ‘Charpoy’ (meaning four legs) is a reworking of the Indian daybed of the same name, a Corian side table and a range of cushions made from silk and linen. ‘Charpoy’ comprises a mattress made from cotton and silk, with a traditional India board game hand-embroidered onto it, in stark contrast to the high gloss black lacquered wooden frame, from Italy. The Indian women who worked on the project have stitched their names in Hindi onto the final pieces. The side table is adorned with an Indian miniature painting, portraying a scene from the Indian epic, ‘Mahabharata’. The cushions are named ‘Tools of Inspiration’ and are the product of a collaboration between Nipa and a workshop of craftswomen in Ahmedabad, founded in 1986 by Nipa’s aunt. Adorned with patchwork, appliqué and traditional embroidery, the women have reproduced their own working tools on the cushions, together with simple, everyday objects around the home, like Chai-making apparatus and a collection of stationery (resource: Wallpaper magazine).
I love the clever balance between traditional and modern, craft and chic, hand and factory-made! If you would like to see this gorgeous collection for yourself: it is now on display at the new single-brand Moroso shop in New York. The products will go on sale at Moroso later this year.
Browsing through the design section of nymag.com I found this apartment owned by art adviser Sharon Coplan Hurowitz. The entire house is packed with beautiful design and art. Hurowitz’s collection is focused on European designers from the nineties to the present, Boontje to Wanders. This lady sure loves Dutch design! Her decorating sense is fearless with the bedrooms painted in blue, green, and violet. The image above is from the dining room, where Hurowitz’s daughter hangs out in a Nest high chair. I posted about this fab chair earlier this year (the Nest chair is available from Little Fashion Gallery). Above the IKEA dinning table (meant to be temporary) hangs Rody Graumans’s 85 Lamps. The chairs are Marcel Wanders’ New Antiques chairs, designed for Cappellini.
The pendant lamp, Random Light, in the top image is from Dutch designer Bert Jan Pot (I have this lamp as well!). An Elizabeth Peyton self-portrait hangs above bench quaderna by Superstudio. In the living room (lower image) the Bouroullec brothers’ Cabane structure (one of only three made) is paired with a Piero Lissoni sofa. The self-portrait is by Thomas Ruff. The two tables are by Marcel Wanders: Flower coffee table designed for Moooi (with legs, in front of the sofa); the other for Bisazza (the one on the left).
Click here to go to nymag.com where you can read the whole article and see all the photos of this gorgeous apartment.
Early this year I wrote about Autoban, a young and very talented design company from Istanbul, Turkey. Box Sofa is one of their latest designs. Inspiration for this sofa, which is made from Oak and Walnut, came from the 1950′s modernist approach. It is certainly worth checking out Autoban’s website as their entire collection is gorgeous and very original.
Discovering foreign countries, making new friends, tasting exotic dishes. According to Bugaboo, this doesn’t have to end after becoming a parent. The Dutch manufacturer of the famous pushchairs has created fun day trips that you can do together with your kids.
Discovering a city together with a child can be an inspiring experience. Strolling trough Berlin or New York with a Bugaboo Daytrip you will discover new aspects of the city: a funny elevator or a hidden gem of a shop. You can download the day trips (available for various cities world-wide) from the Bugaboo website (go to section Explore). The artwork that accompanies each day trip is gorgeous!
This bed (seen in the World of Interiors) is great for lazy, relaxing days. It will make a perfect day-bed to be used outdoors! The beautiful Baldaquin frame and natural cotton drapes from Cote Bastide are available from UK (online) shop Bodie and Fou.
Through Skinny laMinx I found Sam’s Etsy store Homegrown Skinny where she sells some gorgeous bags. Click here to go to Homegrown Skinny’s shop. The price of the bags is $29.
One of the most beautiful Greek Islands is Santorini. Santorini is essentially what has been left from an enormous volcanic explosion which destroyed the earliest settlements thereon and led to the creation of the current geological caldera. I stayed on the island a few years ago and I can tell you that the natural beauty of the island is stunning!
One of the island’s beautiful hotels is The Vedema. This gorgeous resort is surrounded by a wall like a fortified town and offers self contained apartments and villas. All the buildings are designed around a beautiful 15th century winery. There are 45 spacious villas in pastel-hued town houses domed with distinctive cupolas with marble bathrooms, local furnishings, and terraces. All were renovated by well known Greek decorator Aggelos Aggelopoulos. I think he did an excellent job. I love the fresh combination of white with bright turquoise!
Although Aggelos has used some bright colours, the interior decoration is respecting the history of the house. A collection of antique furniture reminds the guests of the long history of the building and enhances the uniqueness of the hotel. For more information you can visit the website of The Vedema Resort.
Fency is a bench that also doubles as a fench. Clever isn’t it? It is designed by Freeline, a Dutch company that has a lot of beautiful outdoor furniture in their collection. I couldn’t find much information about this ‘fench bench’ but if you are interested you can contact Freeline at info@free-line.nl.
You might know ferm LIVING from their gorgeous wallpaper. But did you know that this Danish company also has some great wall stickers in their collection? Wall stickers are a big trend these days, and I have to say that I don’t like all the designs that I see. But the patterns from ferm (Danish for ‘clever’) are beautiful, and they are available in some great colors: black, silver and gold.
Isn’t the gold sticker on that beautiful turquoise coloured wall stunning? The wall stickers are available from Design Public or from ferm LIVING directly.
How hard is it to find comfy, cute, and affordable chairs? HouseandGarden.com just launched a helpful slideshow of great dining chairs put together by Grace from Design*Sponge.
It is worth checking out the slide show. Also if you’re not looking for a dining chair! Click here to go the House and Garden website.
