Bloom by Norm Architects

.

"A series of installations throughout out the festival site 

prompted visitors to consider form, materiality and alternative perspectives"

Just admired these beautiful images of the recently created spatial concept by 

Norm Architects in collaboration with Golden days for Bloom 

 - a festival of nature and science situated in the heart of one of 

Copenhagen’s  largest parks, Søndermarken  - and I keep watching them

over and over... Inspired by the stunning mix of nature and art!

Riga Chair

 As I told you in one of my previous posts I have visited Riga for a 

design tour with a group of bloggers, photographers and journalists and once again 

I must say it really was a surprising and very inspiring visit and definitely

 worth a second visit in the nearest future!

In addition to the nice people, the amazing historic (Jugenstill) buildings, 

the tastefull food and the green parcs, we also learned more about Latvia 's minimalist 

design during the tour! One of the companies that we visited was RIGA Chair.

RIGA chair is a trade mark of Riga Chair factory and since its founding in 1999 they 

 quickly become a leading brand that produced serveral collections for home and 

office with natural materials as birch and beech wood combined with fabrics in 

different shades.  Besides the Red Dot Design Award winner - the flowershaped stool 

designed by Aldis Circenisa -  I was attracted immediately by the stunning 

kids chairs collection and in particular the Roo rocking toy!

"The basic idea behind the Roo rocker was to find a shape with the potential to be 

produced out of a single package of flat plywood sheets.  The minimalistic, archetypal

 shape gives the immediate impression of a rocking toy.  For some, it may look more

 like a sheep, or kangaroo; for others, it still looks like a good old rocking horse, "

Roo has received the IF Product Design Award 2013 and the German Design Award: 

Special Mention 2014 and is available in birch, beech, oak, walnut veneer or 

laminate in various colours. It 's that I no longer have small children but otherwise

 I was definitely tempted to buy the Roo... only the stunning decorative value 

would be a good reason, don't you think so?!

                                                                                                                                                 photo's elv's 

Svalnas -

 

Just admired the new modular Svalnas shelving system that Ikea has

 released and I love the way on how you can easily change the 

look of a room in this case the bedroom!

The natural warmth created by the bamboo and the combination with 

the stylish monochrome  and natural accessories makes it very inviting to try and 

create your own personal bedroom don't you think so!

Beautiful simplicity and inspiring stylingwork created

 by stylist Pella Hedeby

                                                                                            photos: Ragnar Ómarsson

Afteroomchair by Menu #giveaway

Today some snapshots of some of last weeks changes (and try outs) at

my workspace/bedroom with a tribute to the beautiful 

Menu Afteroom dining chair that has finally arrived in my home ;-)

About three years ago I wrote my first blogpost (here) about this chair and 

I still love the simplicity and the clear lines of its beautiful design 

This three-legged chair is an homage to functionalism and to the Bauhaus school of art & architecture.  The chair is availble in various versions and I choosed the black dining chair 4 
to add in my renewed and refreshed workspace. The three legs, the round details and its flexible backrest made it an interesting and practical chair for us to add in our relatively small bedroom/workspace.  What do you think? 

Are you,  just like me,  a huge fan of the stunning Afteroom chairs by Menu?
 I have teamed up with Menu and started a giveaway on my instagram. 
You will find all details here
                                                                                                                 photos and styling elv's 

                                                                                             

Sand by Melo

 Today I was really exited about the news of the launch 
of the handcrafted ceramics collection by Swedish brand Melo.

I have shared new work by Melo before (see here) and also this time

 they've surprised me tremendously

 For their ceramics collections Melo has collaborated with 

talented potter Ida Svärdström and the clean design in combination with 

the beautiful light sand colour gives the collection ( a limited collection of 

50 copies of  5 products)  a timeless and soft minimalistic appearance.

Beautiful simplicity  as I love it so much...

                                                                                                                         Styling: Pella Hedeby

Summermood

An inviting patio surrounded by the most beautiful trees and plants, 

A mix of old and new (love the grey Ikea 'Bittergurka' watercane) accessories as 

cushions and sheepskins and simple old pots and bottles filled 

with flowers to create a cosy atmosphere...

Just admired this beautiful harmonious garden at Livet Hemma

that made me long for many more beautiful warm 

summerdays with family and friends...

Always inspired by the creative green ideas of stylist Tina Hellberg

see more at her instagram feed here

ARKET

This week the first press images of H&M's new brand ARKET 

has been publiced and  I can't wait  untill the opening of their first 

store (Brussels, Copenhagen, Munich and many more will follow soon)  at  the end of

the summer at London (Regent Street) and to see more of the collection

 after the launch of their webshop!  

All the shops will also include a cafe decorated in Scandinavian style and besides

 their timeless fashion collection (that will last for several seasons)  

the stores will have shoes, accessories and home furnishings selected

 from other brands as Iittala and Duralex.  

The Chair ‘Skedblad’ (crafted from solid oak) designed by Carl Malmsten will be used to 

furnish all the cafés. The chair has been put back into production exclusively

 for ARKET and is based on original drawings from the Malmsten archives. 

Magnetic Latvia

I was not very familiar with the Baltic area and in particular Latvia,  

but I am really pleasantly surprised after our visit last week! If you follow me on

 instagram you might have noticed that I have visited Riga where I was invited to join a

 design tour with Dutch journalists, editors and bloggers and it was amazing!

 In a four-day press trip we explored the Latvian design culture under the name 

Magnetic Latvia and it was so inspiring to visit and discover the various Latvian 

designers and locations in Riga and Latvia's West coast. The kindness,  

the nice people who enthusiastically told us all about their country,

their designs, their handmade products and their history really made it very special!

Besides well-known design styles of Latvia to discover, including Art Nouveau and 

Jugendstil,  Latvian designs are characterized by the minimalist and functional style of 

Scandinavian design.  The designers make use of neutral tones and natural materials  

Just beautiful and simple as I love it so much!  

One of the stunning locations that we've visited was the University of Latvia

 (Academic center of natural sciences) The modern interior which sees use of untreated 

concrete is brought to life through the use of wood,  the curved lines of railings,

 the use of lot's of greens (loved the compositions), wall paintings (by artist Luīze Avotiņa)

 and enormous glass walls as well as beautiful minimalistic furniture. 

Each floor of the building has its space assigned to student relaxation or independent work and I was attracted immediately by the used MAFFAM FREEFORM basalt fiber hanging

 chairs ( made from volcanic basalt fiber and natural resin) created by Raimonds Cīrulis.

  Basalt is a rock that can lie happily at unbearable temperatures as well in the cool depths of our oceans, where it comprises majority of the Earth’s crust. The basalt lace seashell is specifically made in a way that makes it perfect for meditation, self-exploration, and 

energy rejuvenation and felt so comfortable. It also made me and my fellow bloggers,
 dream of having a huge garden where we could hang the chair in a big high tree and 
enjoy the sunny moments in a very relaxed way!

Fortunately for us there are different sizes of the hanging chair but there are also 

several other designs available...  Chairs, tables... 

you will find all the information here!

                                                       

                                                                                                            photos: elv's