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Well, due to two compelling factors -- business is booming and I underestimated the volume of treasures to liquidate -- Blossom Home will remain open through the month of October. Yippee! I'm so thrilled. This gives me the chance to meet more sweet bloggers, like Margot and Lauren! Hope to see you there!
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We celebrated Richard's birthday yesterday with a lovely train ride in Niles Canyon, California. What a sweet little ride. It's a half hour ride that takes you through some classic rural California landscape, east to Sunol. Niles was an early film location and home for Charlie Chaplin.
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What eye candy. I'm mesmerized by the images over at Airspace after hearing about them on Designers' Block. They're an incredible business that provides locations for film and magazine shoots. The locales are predominantly in London, but they venture further, throughout Europe, and even Morocco.
A house in SW London...
Bath time...
Swimming pool rug...
Can you believe this is East London...
"Napoleonic chic meets opium den"...
Antique tile floor...
My dream library...
God save the...
Okay, that's all. I know what Di means when she says she's hooked on this site. I'll leave some for you to discover.
Ah, just two more...!!...
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Paul Vogel is a fabulous textile designer from London, England whose history is as colorful and dynamic as chinoiserie. From Saks, to Jean-Paul Gaultier, to Martha Stewart, he covers the waterfront.
"Over the last 15 years I have worked on projects for companies as diverse as: Levi Strauss, Dockers Timberland, House of Fraser, Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Oasis, Top Shop, Warehouse, Ted Baker, Esprit, Marc Jacobs, Boden, Jack Wills, WH Smith, GAP and Abercrombie and Fitch."
Stripes are his specialty...
They used some of his bed linens in the film Mamma Mia.
P: A bed linen range is something I have wanted to do for a long time.
I sell designs in the USA to Martha Stewart, Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn and have always wanted to produce my own range.
I teamed up with Parry Murray, the company manufacturing the range.
They make products for Cath Kidston, Colefax and Fowler, and Designer’s Guild.
We designed the range together by choosing our favourite designs from my collection.
His life of fabric began with his studies of textile design in Nottingham, England. From there he went to work in a textile mill in Italy, just outside Florence, where he worked on lines for Paul Smith, Armani, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Benetton.
S: Tell me about working in Italy.
P: I worked there for 2 years, living in Florence, commuting to Prato to the mill.
I worked alongside the designer and helped him design the collections. He'd let
me design my own fabrics, setting up the loom, making experiments which I would
then work with on the looms playing with different colours.
I returned to London and set up my design studio in 1991.
While living in London he married and in 2000 he and his wife Sam gave birth to baby Felix. They wanted their son to grow up in the countryside. That's what prompted their move to a 14th century farmhouse in Suffolk, England. And things blossomed. For the business and the family. They have three boys now.
P: We came a lot to this part of England on holiday and decided to move when it was
time to send Felix to school.
I design fabric collections for home and fashion markets for companies all over the world from my studio in Suffolk where I live with my wife Sam, my three sons Felix, Rufus and Milo, Nancy the cat, and Rosie the dog.
S: How does life in Suffolk influence your work?
P: Some of my color inspiration comes from my journeys on the school run. I have to drive down the same road everyday. The school is near the beach so there is loads to see. I used to live in London and was inspired by the crazy city with its billboards and people everywhere. When I moved I was worried I wouldn't have enough trendy inspiration that would be up to date. But I think your brain just adjusts and finds what you need wherever you are.
P: I am constantly designing new collections for the trade fairs. I exhibit in New York, Paris and Germany. I designed a range of pushchairs (baby strollers) in 2000 for Mothercare that were sold under my name. The range ran for 3 seasons and was in the press after the Beckhams and Davina bought into the range.
Paul's web site will be available later this month. I'm looking forward to getting my sheets straight from the source! Merci beaucoup Paul.
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So many people have been abuzz about the interiors in the film Mamma Mia so I thought I'd do a post on sourcing the look. Mind you I haven't seen the film. I must say, I really can't stand Abba (sorry Abba fans) and I'm too much of a Pierce Brosnan fan to have the illusion shattered by hearing him sing. Nice boys should be seen and not heard, ha.
One of the things everyone is obsessed with in the film is Donna's (Meryl Streep) bedroom. This still photo shows the serene palette and lovely textiles:
courtesy of CinemaBlend
Everyone seems to love the bedspread. If you like that sort of red embroidery on white cotton or linen there is an old art form known as Redwork. In fact I belong to a Redwork group on Flickr. You can find vintage pieces that resemble the spread in the film, like these shams found on Ebay:
If you visit the web site for Arolithos you will find examples of Cretan embroidery and rugs. And for mediterranean feeling rugs check out this jute one from World Market:
Here are some offerings from my shop that would fit in with the breezy island decor:
World Market has this bed for $99:
You can read my interview with textile designer Paul Vogel, whose pieces were used in the film and who is a great artist in his own right.
P.S. I just came across this post at Erin's blog, Elements of Style, with more ideas.
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