Le Chalet Zannier

I feel like something soothing to start the week…

This Swiss ski chalet should do it. Not particularly seasonal given that we’re supposed to be experiencing summer here in New Zealand but these photographs are so calm and tranquil that they’re putting me in a very good frame of mind. The cool, neutral colour palette suits the crisp light of the northern hemisphere.The course appearance of the serge fabric used to upholster the sofa and the other upholstery elements complements the rough plaster walls and the heaviness of the solid pine beams. The artificial lighting is constrained so that the few pieces of furniture and the variable, textured wall finishes are displayed in a theatrical way. The overall effect; the colour palette, the soft and careful lighting and the calmness of the environment puts me in mind of Vermeer. Calm and tranquil but full of interest. I really wanted to place a visual of a Vermeer interior here but I think that ‘The girl with the pearl ear ring’ is a beautiful reflection of this space.

www.lechaletzannier.com. Thanks to Kool and Kreativ blog for directing me to this chalet.

Oh me oh my!

Today I’ve been looking at kitchens. I’ve been looking for this one in particular to the point of distraction. You know when you’ve seen something somewhere and you think ‘I’ll find that again’? Well the big news is that the world wide web is a huge place and that’s pretty darn optimistic. Turns out that the page was saved on my ipad. How did I not look at all of my electronic devices for the past entire day?

So, I’ve fallen head over heals in a big way for this kitchen by tec Architecture and Marcel Wanders in Casa Son Vida in Mallorca. This is my dream environment where traditional forms have been given the ultimate twist – over scaled Gustavian style cabinets masquerading as free standing pieces of furniture with sculptural undulating mouldings and ornate brassware spray lacquered for over the top drama. To balance the bold, the central island (equipped with all of the bits that actually make this a kitchen) is a white ‘block’ and this pureness plays down its existence to let the two heroes do the talking. Total eye candy.

Photos by Gaelle Le Boulicault and care of www.archdaily.com

Solomon and Wu – something very different

I’ve got a bit of a thing for architectural details and mouldings so I was pretty excited to find Solomon and Wu recently. They launched their first collection at The London Design Festival in 2010. I like how they’ve summed up their design philosophy so I’ll let them do the talking:

‘Solomon&Wu came together with the vision of bringing the best elements of contemporary design to a tradition of mouldings that has seen no development in 100 years. Throughout history architectural style has dictated the atmosphere of public spaces, displaying a wealth of detail that contained meaning and context for the people of the day. In the 21st century we have moved into an age of austerity dominated by a minimalist aesthetic, at Solomon&Wu our aim is to create mouldings that belong to the world we inhabit today. By taking the traditional formats of mouldings and applying contemporary design Solomon&Wu create fresh and entirely new products. We make elements you will recognise; skirting, cornice, wall panels, ceiling roses, corbels and architraves but never will it look like something that has come before.’

I like a lot.

www.solomonandwu.com

Cubist Rose - this gets a big tick from me

Hudson Skirting - like the edge of an iceberg against this raw timber floor

Linear Structure - the cornice works for me. If I was specifying I'd simplify the architraves to let the cornice do the talking

Cubist corbels - Oooh I'm very excited about these! I have no doubt that you'll be seeing plenty of them in the future

Kelly Wearstler

I enjoyed reading the article about Kelly Wearstler, the interiors guru and fashion designer, in Harper’s Bazaar recently. Talk about everything you could possibly wish to be in your life; gorgeous, wealthy, complimented and listened to! Kelly’s interiors are complete. They’re considered and variable. She has input into every element of the room and the cohesion is glorious. There is something of the 80′s and the Memphis Group in a lot of them, carefully chosen pieces from antique dealers throughout the world – I’ve never bonded with the MG myself but if you love it, you LOVE it, you know? Whatever, her choices are beautifully proportioned and they’re striking, so much so that I imagine guests to each interior wandering through the rooms exclaiming ‘what is that?’, ‘look at that!’, ‘did you see that?’. That’s an inspiring interior to visit isn’t it? To further the cool element, in my books anyway, she once said: ‘I never did a job with white walls’. What a breath of fresh air! I’m personally looking forward to the passing of the current phase for white walls and colour pops. I mean, I get it, I do. But the possibilities for a space; the colour, light, proportion, texture, scale and pattern – are absolutely endless aren’t they?

The Tides, South Beach

Viceroy Anguilla

Hillcrest Estate

Bel-Air Villa

 

Bello

I’ve got a new retail crush on Bello (140 Willis Street, Wellington). My heart skipped a beat when I spotted the beautiful display of Bollen Glass in the window – so effortlessly cool, delicate, precious and enormously collectible. From Amsterdam, the Bollen family business is renowned for its mouth blown glass vessels, using virtually the same techniques as their ancestors did 1100 years ago. All of their pieces are copied from centuries old models as depicted in paintings by Rembrandt, Jan Steen and Vermeer.

Equally eye catching are the porcelain bowls from Potomak Studio in Italy. Handmade and glazed in real gold and silver, these are unique and elegant.

And don’t even get me started on the sumptuous shot velvet cushions that Bello will have made to order for you in any one of a very sophisticated palette of fine English shot velvets. Divine!

What a wonderful addition to the retail landscape of Wellington – I’ll be back – often.

Bello Glass 09

Bello P87 - fabulous!!

Potomak gold glaze