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Higher Desk
17th April 2013
I think the Higher Desk designed by Berlin / Shanghai design house Coordination is great.
Perfect for use in confined spaces, the minimal cork, lathed oak and lacquered steel table has an interchangeable, shorter leg that can be propped against a ledge / unit / stack of books to work more effectively within a space.
(via Dwell)
Tom Dixon
2nd April 2013
My love for British designer Tom Dixon came from working at Myla when I finished college.
The Bone – a Tom Dixon designed, resin vibrator – was one of our best selling products. People came into the shop just to look at it, and although it was a beautiful thing (and paved the way for a new wave of designer sex toys) it was also crazy expensive at £199. Customers bought it anyway.
Dixonary is the first comprehensive book of his work over the last 30 years, published by Violette Editions. With personal notes on each of the 150 pieces reproduced, he explains the inspiration behind his work and the design process.
This would be an amazing addition to any designers book collection.
Pretty Pegs
28th March 2013
Pretty Pegs make amazing sofa and bed legs that can be used to jazz up IKEA furniture.
These SEVA ones are my favourite. Dip dyed feet are the way to go!
Design Indaba 2013
4th March 2013
I ended up popping into Design Indaba for a quick run around yesterday morning, and these were some of my favourite finds…
Farah Hernandez
I’m a sucker for succulents and the little guys potted in Sara Hernandez’s gorgeous ceramic hangings were absolutely divine.
Nina Du Plessis
These wooden geometric wall hooks were amazing … and very reasonable at R80 a hook.
Milame Design
Emma Atkinson’s ink drawings were cool and reminded me of one of my favourite prints by Supermundane.
Mona Pants
I completely fell in love with Simone le Roux’s creatures. She has some awesome illustrated characters on her Behance site, but the handmade dudes were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
The Tale of Balaclava Bear / Sootcookie
I’m always drawn to Tanya Laing’s work and last year I picked up a Sootcookie ceramic paper plane which I love. The Tale of Balaclava Bear is a collaboration between her and Alex Goldberg and although I’m not so into the bears themselves, I think the story behind them is awesome.
Jinn
The simple elegance of Jeanine Benjamin’s bracelets and rings were lovely. Too bad she didn’t have that triangle bracelet at the expo because I would’ve bought it for sure.
Mervyn Gers Ceramics
Although this brand felt a little commercial (and have designed ranges for some big name restaurants and vineyards around Cape Town) I couldn’t help but fall in love with these African/Chinese plates. The dragon, rhino and machine gun combinations were beautiful and bizarre.
20eight
Concrete jewellery, lighting and bowls with some lovely angles.
Simple Intrique
I spotted this folded African map on some Design Indaba signage before going into the expo and it was even more beautiful in real life.
Miffy Dream Lamp
5th February 2013
I love this Miffy Dream Lamp by Dutch design studio Mr Maria.
(via FAB)
Stéphane Parmentier
21st January 2013
These Forest Line tables and Tie & Dyie Occasional table by Stéphane Parmentier are gorgeous.
Embrace
17th December 2012
Embrace by British designer John Green is beautiful and clever.
I would love one in our converted warehouse apartment (one day!)
(via FAB)
Landcarpet
8th November 2012
I saw this Hong Kong Landcarpet this morning by Austrian carpet designer Florian Pucher and had to share.
Love it.
(via DesignMilk)
Sneak Peeks / Design Sponge
25th September 2012
I always love looking through Sneak Peek on the awesome Design Sponge blog.
I thought this shot from Sarah + Rupert‘s LA home was a really cool way of somewhat hiding the TV. Nice.
Post-Itable
20th June 2012
Post-Itable by Milan based Soupstudio is rather genius. Never lose your doodles or that important phone number again!
(via DesignTaxi)
Ikea
12th June 2012
As most of you know I have a bit of an obsession with Ikea and the trouble is there’s no Ikea in South Africa. The other trouble is the 23kg weight limit (46kg if I count Si and get rid of all our clothes!) I have to travel home with, which means I can’t realistically buy chairs or picture frames or chopping boards or most of the other fun things they sell if I go while I’m in London.
Last Monday however, after a 2 and a half year hiatus (through circumstance, rather than choice) I found myself in Ikea. It looked exactly the same as the last one I went to in Hong Kong which was comforting, although I didn’t expect anything else. I thought I could just go for a look…
I had fun wandering through the showroom and got ideas for kitchen storage we might need one day when we actually have a kitchen; I saw some great beds covered in cool sheets in cute bedrooms, and kitchens full of things I never even knew I needed.
I carried 3 cushions around before deciding I could probably only fit one in the bag back to Cape Town.
I found an amazing wooden chopping block for £5 (about R55) that would cost over R200 back home. Unfortunately it weighed about as much as it cost in kilos so I ended up putting it back.
I did eventually give in to the Ädelsten pestle and mortar which is made of marble and weighs about 5kg too, but my reasoning was we’ve been looking for a pestle and mortar for ages and after giving up on finding one in Africa (which I know is crazy), Ikea it was.
In the end I bought a can opener, a garlic press, the Blanda Bowls, some teatowels, the pestle and mortar, an Eivor cushion, a bag to carry everything in and last but by no means least, a bag of obligatory frozen meatballs to eat while we’re here. Very restrained I thought (and between you and me it’s probably lucky we have a 23kg luggage limit).
1. Ädelsten Pestle and Mortar
2. Tirup Armchair
3. Eivor Cushion
4. Pokal Mug
5. Kalaset Espresso Cups
6. White Ribba Frame
6. Black Ribba Frame
7. Blanda Blank Stainless Steel Bowls
8. Köttbullar Meatballs
(photo from the Skinny laMinx stall @ Neighbourgoods Market)
Rory Dobner
11th June 2012
A Central Saint Martin’s graduate, Rory Dobner is my kind of illustrator. I first discovered his work last year when I found his Alphabet tiles in Liberty (and ohhhh they are amazing!)
Intricate, beautiful and quirky, his illustrations involve everything from gun-toting octopuses and posh cats in hats to sweet flowers, skulls and sexy girls (he’s done a lot of bespoke work for Agent Provocateur).
The other weekend we found his store within a store at The Shop on BlueBird and I could’ve spent hours in there going through all the amazing bits and pieces. Oh, and the best bit? He’s into neon. Check out his gorgeous vintage neon script pieces here.
*Tiles and neon love script have been added to my wishlist!
♥ LDN
7th June 2012
Leaving sunny Cape Town for London last weekend was difficult, but despite the rain (and gale force winds) there’s something about London itself that makes the weather (almost) bearable.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not feeling inclined to move back anytime soon, but every time we come I have a lot of fun.
Here’s a little round up of what’s been going down in London town:
The Jubilee
It’s the Diamond Jubilee and British patriotism is in full swing – there are flags everywhere. I’ve snapped a million photos of houses decorated with Union Jack flags, kids faces painted in red, white and blue, shop windows flying the colours and products everywhere (from couch covers at Ikea to gym clothes at Sweaty Betty) covered in the Union Jack.
My favourites so far are the Limited Edition Union Jack tea-towels I picked up from Ikea yesterday (look out for an Ikea post coming soon…) and the Union Jack Dr Martins I’ve seen people wearing – oh, and of course THE most adorable little Harry Street ♥ in his Union Jack jumper. Eek!
Elizabeth
She’s an icon and she’s everywhere. I love her hats and I think she’s kind of cute – especially when she smiles. This piece by British art collective Prefab77 popped up in Dublin recently and although it’s intended as a bit of monarchy mockery, it’s still rather cool. Let it Reign, a collection of Elizabeth II screenprints is Prefab77′s Limited Edition Jubilee offering.
David Beckham
Gracing the cover of July Elle is *drumroll please* Mr David Beckham. It’s the first time in British Elle’s 27 year history a man has been on the cover – and actually, they gave him 3. Need I say more?
The Photographers Gallery
We went to check out the newly opened Photographers’ Gallery on Monday. I wasn’t that impressed by the layout of the new site, but the images on show were great, as always. Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky’s exhibition Burtynsky: Oil is on until the 1st July.
The Tube
I don’t like the tube much, especially at 8:30 in the morning during rush hour. What is kind of cool though, is that the Central Line is now on Twitter. Keep track of updates and delays on the track @centralline – clever.
My Bookhou Bag (for you Sherm)
I wrote about my new bag that was waiting for me a couple of weeks ago. I finally got it yesterday and it’s everything I could have possibly asked for – and more, more, more! Hooray! Thank you bub and thank you Bookhou - I will be shopping with you again!
Magnetic
14th May 2012
This morning I saw these Very Big Magnets from Kudu Magnets on Fab.com. I think they’re cool, but there’s no way I’m fitting one of those on our fridge!
Time Out
8th May 2012
I don’t have kids, but if I did I would probably buy this Five Minutes Time Out Timer Stool.
(via Freshome)
Sneak Peek
26th April 2012
I’ve always been a massive Peeping Tom. I absolutely love looking through people’s windows when I’m walking down the street to see what their front rooms look like and it usually ends with Si dragging me away. These days there are so many awesome sites that let me spy into people’s homes and lives and get up close and personal with everything from the bathroom to the bedroom sheets – all from the comfort of my own computer. Yay!
Here’s a few of my favourite sites for awesome home inspiration.
Slanted Mansion
“A deep interest in emerging and established creatives and inspiration arriving from other non-styled, creative interior blogs and books…”
we-are-awesome-spaces
This is how the creatives roll in Cape Town.
The Glow
Can these woman be any more stylish? Wow.
DesignSponge
Cute, quirky and colourful sneak peaking.
Alice Stirling Design
The posts are a little few and far between, but when they do come they’re always awesome.
(How amazing is the tablecloth in the image above?)
Luminous
13th April 2012
We have 3 glass tables in our rented apartment and I’m always complaining because they get so dirty.
If we had this beautiful Luminous table by Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka it might be a different story!
(via Dezeen)
ChaChaMoon
21st March 2012
Last night we went to ChaChaMoon for dinner.
The food was good, the interior was super cool, but their logo is what does it for me!
Canteen
15th March 2012
Last night we went to Canteen with our awesome friends Lynnda Needles and Richard.
It had the most amazing interior, lighting to die for and the food was really good! Eggs Benedict, a pint of pale ale and warm scones with clotted cream and jam at 10pm. Yum.
London at it’s best.
Goet
8th March 2012
I finally found out who make these awesome wooden stools! Another great discovery at Design Indaba…
Goet is a South African furniture and product design company and they make beautiful wooden furniture, lights, bowls and vases. Mmmmm.
Drops Pouf
23rd January 2012
Don’t you just want to eat these? Drops Pouf by Camilla Hounsell Halvorsen are gorgeous. Check out her beautiful Drop Chair as well.
(via DesignMilk)
