Fashion Inspired Design

When designing a room, you can draw inspiration from pretty much anything. I particularly like the idea of creating a room inspired by fashion. So to answer commenter Dhruv's request a couple months ago, I decided to create a couple moodboards based on the fashion forecast for the 2010 spring/summer collection.

The French trend agency NellyRodi was commissioned to come up with 2010 fashion trend forecast and they came up with the four following themes:

- Ode to Nature
- Popular Appeal
- Southern Folk
- Light Tech

ODE TO NATURE: Modern ceremonies, half-pagan, half-religious, which evoke the goddesses and vestal virgins of Antiquity, pre-Raphaelite paintings and symbolism. A romantic, spiritual, poetic appeal.

POPULAR APPEAL: A woman-child with a retro look set in a Twin-Peaks universe. She looks like Mom and he looks like Granddad. A playful, girly mood juggling vintage patterns and faded 60’s and 70’s Americans colours creates a mundane atmosphere with a twisted angel.

SOUTHERN FOLK: A creative melting pot in a mix of influences and civilizations. From this universe, we rediscover both the appealing glamour of seductive movie actresses like Maria Felix and the humble elegance of traditional folklore outfits.

LIGHT TECH: A new beginning showing optimism and progress. Technology becomes playful in a sweet way. A new positive high-tech is restarting with references to the naivity of the 50ies.

Stay tuned for more soon!

source: Cosmoworld | you might like this | Living Etc |

Observing

One of the many reasons I decided join the world of interior designers and decorators is the opportunity to draw on a regular basis. During my studies in interior design, one of our teachers brought us to various public places to do quick observational sketches, as shown here. It was a lot of fun and it's a great way to better understand perspective drawing and notice various design details in a space.

Coffee art for coffee shop

I recently came across this really original artwork on Coffee on Paper by Brasilian designer, Dirceu Veiga who's a coffee art artist: He makes art with coffee. What a neat concept! I like the idea of creating scenes of people in a coffee shop.

Of course, I think these art pieces would be very nice and appropriate in a little coffee shop, which inspired me to create inspiration boards.

The Hoppy pendant light (from Dark) reminds me of coffee beans, My Cuppa Tea and My Cuppa Coffee cups (from SUCK UK) link the artwork with the product, Pawn Stool, Richmond Chair, Tightback chair, Bishop Chair, Magazine Rack (from Gus Modern) add warmth and a richness to the space, and the floor tiles from the Weathered Concrete collection in Natural Grey (from LSI Floors) provide a nice contrast.

Milk bottle lamps (from Droog), Coffee on Paper (from Dirceu Veiga), simple dining table (from Plushpod), Upcycle Ottoman (from Gus Modern), Utilo Tea Stick (from Blomus)

source : Dark | Suck UK | Gus Modern | LSI Floors | Droog | Coffee on Paper | Plushpod | Blomus

Casa Folha : Bringing the inside out

The architects from Mareines + Patalano in Brazil, created a beautiful eco-friendly beach house in Angra dos Reis, called Casa Folha (Leaf House), one hour south of Rio de Janeiro. Shaped like a giant lotus flower, this house's concept is inspired by Brazil's indian architecture, said to be perfectly suited for hot and humid climates. For this project, the architects were looking to integrate the living spaces with the surrounding environment, connecting the occupants with nature. As such, most of the living spaces are open to the outside and most of the materials used for the construction of the house are natural.

There's a lot of neat green elements in their design. The roof protects the occupants from the sun and collects rain water in the center. The roof is also supported by a central steel column that also redirects the collected water to be used to water the plants in the garden and to flush the toilets.

There are no air conditioning systems in the house. The house is cooled through natural ventilation, taking advantage of the breeze from the sea. Most of the material used for the construction of the house is natural or recuperated. For example a portion of the wood floors comes from old electrical posts. This is definitely a green vacation home that's respectful of its surroundings and the environment. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new era of environmentally friendly vacation homes.




source: Mareines + Patalano | inhabitat