Nika Zupanc

Happy Friday everyone! It's been a long week for me, but has been brightened somewhat with the discovery of Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc's work. She's had a bit of press coverage lately with features in Wallpaper and the Australian Belle magazine. It was the latter that brought my attention to her 'Phonique' sofa (below) which was shown at the Milan Fair this year. I'm also quite in love with the 'Tapisserie' sofa (bottom image). Her work is refreshingly new and yet familiar at the same time - making them instantly likable in my book. There are plenty more fun and quirky designs on her website, so if you like these head on over and check them out!

Fullerton Bay

I'm rather enamoured with the recently opened Fullerton Bay Hotel in Singapore designed by Hong Kong based Andre Fu of AFSO. Not that I've ever needed an excuse to visit Singapore, but this place (especially the stunning check-in counter!) is certainly good motivation to book a flight sooner rather than later...

Tony Chi

Taiwanese-born, US-based designer Tony Chi is one of my all time favorites. His team creates spaces that are world renowned for being elegant and refined, in particular some stunning restaurants (including the Oak Door at the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo where I shared an anniversary dinner with my husband several years ago) and some breathtaking hotels. His recently updated website will definitely be a port of call when I'm in need of some visual inspiration. Take a look at a few of these images and I'm sure you'll see why....

Great Southern Land

You could be mistaken for thinking the title of this post is a reference to Australia, and the famous song by Icehouse of the same title (the Aussies out there will know what I'm talking about). But no, I'm actually talking about South Africa. With the World Cup action coming to an end, and recently meeting another lovely couple from here, my feet are itching and the travel bug is back. Any excuse to travel to this amazing place would do, like a wedding for example (hint, hint!)...kidding. But seriously, if I do make it to South Africa this place will be on my list of places to visit. Delaire Graff, a a short drive from Cape Town, is a stunning estate which has recently been designed by David Collins Studio. The estate is home to not just a winery, but a restaurant and boutique hotel as well. As you can see from above the surrounding landscape is breathtaking, so if the food and wine are anywhere near as good as this (and the interiors - check out the website for more pics!) I'm sure its heavenly!

Style in spades...little teeny tiny ones!

Anyone out there who has not yet got a copy of the July/August House Beautiful (US) needs to run, not walk, to their closest news stand and buy one. Immediately. Why? Because the stunning apartment which graces the cover weighs in at a mere 390 square feet, or about 39 square metres. It's ridiculous how pretty this place is. Its amazing inspiration for everyone, but especially for those of us living like laboratory animals in sprawling cities around the world. It makes my place (which is marginally bigger) feel and look as bland as a cardboard box in comparison. The home-owner and decorator, David Kaihoi, is definitely one to watch. Currently working for Miles Redd, I have a feeling this will not be the last time a place by him makes it to the front cover of a magazine.




More photos online from Studiolo, and a bit more of a back story on the man behind all this gorgeousness from an ex-colleague, Mr Nick Olsen.

San Francisco Style

I'm so pleased to be able to share with you some images of the recent San Francisco Decorator Showcase...a beautiful tower attic created by Benjamin Dhong.

For Dhong's third year of participating in the showcase he created a cool, calm and serene space that was inspired by a chic Parisian garret. The tower attic has deep dormer windows, deep sloping eaves and a killer view of the Golden Gate bridge. Sounds (and looks) divine!

The room has been painted with a very subtle mural by decorative artist Linda Horning which gives the feeling of being surround by fog or clouds (a nice change from the feeling of being surrounded by smog, like I am here!)

In Dhong's own words, "the room is swathed in a cocoon of monochromatic taupes and greys. The pop of color comes from the most incredibly chic combination of silver and various shades of teal and blue". A very chic combination indeed.

The combination of furniture and objet d'art is also pretty chic I think, an egg chair covered in silk velvet, vintage Fortuny fabric cushions, the zebra rug, a bone marquetry side table, that Giacometti lamp (in silver!). AND those stunning gilt edge brackets (those are from Quatrain by the way). Yum.

The combination of colours and furniture is absolute perfection. I would kill to have an attic like this one day to go hide in and read - how heavenly!

The creator of this beautiful space, Benjamin Dhong, looking very dapper, and completely colour co-ordinated!

The Baroness

From the same lady who created this, from the cover of Elle Decor April 2008 (photographed by Roger Davies)...

...remember? We now also have this to drool over...

from the latest Australian Vogue Living (photographed by Richard Powers).

The Baroness de Pampelonne has created a spectacular apartment in Paris for a wealthy Russian client, who received the apartment as a present. As you do.

Its absolutely stunning, and easily one of few spaces I've ever seen I feel I could move right into without changing a single thing. The colours, the furniture, the art...the mix is perfection. I spy pieces by Hervé Van der Straeten, Gio Ponti, Eric Schmitt, Angelo Mangiarotti, Les Lalannes, Baguès, Ico Parisi, Jean Royere, Otto Wagner and Philippe Hiquily...its like a roll call of my favorite designers! I won't spoil it for you by posting all the images, even though I'm tempted. So make sure you go buy a copy, because the entire apartment is to die for.

London here I come!

I booked tickets for the hubby and I for a week-long trip to London in September. I haven't been in 6 years, so needless to say I'm quite excited! The reason for the trip is for what will most likely be the most fabulous wedding of the century, and happens to coincide with the 100% Design fair. Lucky me. There are lots of things I already have on my list of things to do and see - including the V&A and Tate Modern, but if anyone out there has any recommendations - for restaurants, bars, bookshops, or anything really, I'd love to hear from you!

Sharing the pain...

I wanted to share a little something with you all...this article was published in the South China Morning Post last week - and I finally got around to scanning and posting. Voila!

* Thanks to those of you who let me know that the image will not enlarge...don't know how to fix it, but I do have a link to the article online if you're interested - click here.

Viva Italia!

Just between you and me, I was actually an Italophile long before my obsession with France, so its not ironic that I ended up marrying an Italian-Australian. Italy's contribution to the world of design is certainly not small, and this apartment is testament to that. It's filled to the brim with masterpieces by some of my favorite artists and designers including: Ico Parisi, Gio Ponti, Maurizio Tempestini, Seguso and Lucio Fontana. Plus, I'm loving the cool calm colour palette...its soo soothing. I'm honestly not sure how long a place this minimal would look that way with me living in it, but its nice to daydream. It certainly would be a nice respite from the craziness outside in this city!

Photographed by Giorgio Baroni for AD Italia March 2010.

Speaking of Italian design, that reminds me - there is a new book on another of my favorite Italian designers, Angelo Mangiarotti, now available online from Stout Books. This one is definitely going on my wish list!

And for football fans around the world, especially supporters of the Azzurri, I'm looking forward to watching Italy's first game in the World Cup later tonight (if I can wake myself in the early hours of the morning). Either way...Viva Italia!

La Villa

While searching for inspiration during the week for a new project I'm working on I found these images of the fairly new Gilles & Boissier designed "La Villa" restaurant and bar in Paris. It was about this time 4 years ago I was last in Paris, celebrating my birthday. While I may not have immediate plans to get back there, I think I'll be quite happy doing some armchair travel while checking out the rest of the images on the website. The interior is simply breathtaking, and I'm completely in love with the colour palette! Hope you enjoy...