carpet & co.

What I'm always a little worried about when summer is ending, is the idea of approaching an icy  floor; how can I play with my daughter, sitting on the floor without freezing?

If you don't have an underfloor heating system, the best solution remains a nice rug.  But it's easier said than done … you have to choose the material, the color, the shape, the design, the style, etc:  a hard choice indeed!

I don't want to open the chapter of the history of rugs, because there is really an “ocean” of information, so I take for granted that everyone knows about persian rugs and  I go straight to the present.

The most interesting carpet is absolutely the one that's been used to build a fantastic carpet house in Alabama! Actually it's a very ambitious project where recycled carpets, kept in controlled warehouses for 7 years, were used; the result is 72,000 single tesserae used to build all the walls!
Very eco!!!

http://www.ruralstudio.org/projects/lucy-carpet-house

 

If you feel inspired by this project and need 100% nature , a mat in natural fiber is definitely what you want!

Fiber rugs: fibers come from the processing of herbs, leaves or cellulose, a walk in the green: sisal, rice fiber , jute, abaca,  coconut and cellulose.

Sisal  for example is a material that comes from agave, it's a little stiff and doesn't want  humidity, while rice fiber is quite soft but doesn't want colors, so you can just find it in sandy nuances. If you are curious about all these elements you can take your fill:

http://www.naturalcarpetcompany.com/stock/

http://www.fibreworks.com/

http://www.sisalcarpet.com/

 Ah the fitted carpet, great passion in the past, that used to cover any corner in the house, today is a little out of fashion but luckily there are still some countries where its potentiality is still exploited at its best with amazing results! Fitted carpets are generally made of mixed fibers, but there are of course in 100% very soft wool or technological with led inside!

If you are wary and don't want to choose a carpet that might last even 20 years, a rug is your ideal solution!  

They are realized in many different kinds;  woven, smooth, handmade with extraordinary fabrics.

Funny

 Extraordinary

http://www.egecarpets.com/

 

Technological

Colorful

Exciting

 

Ecofriendly

My favorite?
Very soft, where I can lie down for hours!


Stay tuned!

design expert II

1_ easy question!  What is this?
 

 

2_medium difficulty

 

3-difficult

Tomorrow the answer and a new test!!!!
Stay tuned

answers!!!

1_ Alessi  juicer  by Philippe starck

2_ "bocca" sofa by Gufram(also with the piercing!)

 

 3_ "livingstone" pillows by Marin

design expert!

design expert

Over two months ago I started the fantastic adventure “design for a better life”. But now a question has come to my mind: have you become more expert about design ?
And so, this week, here's a test!
Enjoy yourselves!!!!


1_ easy question!  What is this?

2_medium difficulty

3-difficult

Tomorrow the answer and a new test!!!!
Stay tuned

sheets: cosy and soft nest

I promised since my first blog I would talk about sheets, not only as printed fabrics, but as that cosy and soft nest that wraps you in your sleep and cuddles you as you wake up!

I don't know what's for you, but for me slipping under the blanket at night is one of the best moments of the day, and if you want to fully enjoy that moment, a soft and scented fabric is essential!
Where can we start from? Ethnic, classic, printed, colorful, luxury or perfumed?

First of all history: if the most famous sheet in the world is definitely the  “Holy Shroud”, in which Jesus Christ's body was wrapped after his death and upon which an impression ofhis Holy face remained, the most famous are the ones used by ghosts and prisoners! Even if it may sound like  a joke, every year dozens of prisoners escape from jails using ropes made of sheets! 

Not the last, some prisoners from Pittsburgh made a 60 meters long rope to escape: very resistant I would say!!!!

 

Going back to the choice of sheets, it is essential to understand what kind of fabric you want to fall asleep with!

If your sleep needs the maximum care, a very luxurious solution is the sheet created by Charlotte Thomas:  made of merino wool,  22 carat gold threads and Indian silk. What sweet dreams!

http://www.charlottethomas.co.uk

If you dream about exotic countries,  the ideal would be to choose cotton fabrics that recall this adventurous world.

On this website you will find a lot of ideas to enrich your dreams with!
http://www.snapdeal.com

You can also find a lot of suggestions on
http://www.etsy.com

not only ethnic!

 

 

Anyway the most exotic and luxurious cotton remains the  Egyptian one: its weft and processing make it as soft and light as a feather! It's like slipping into a cloud!

http://www.target.com

Are you looking for color? Personally I love Desigual's patterns and chromatic choices
http://www.desigual.com

but for the most demanding or for those that want to design their own dreams, the best idea is definitely to choose the pattern personally  and print it on wonderful 100% cotton fabrics !
If you want to do that, this is the right site!

http://www.stoff-schmie.de/
do what you feel like!

Linen is one of the most ancient fabrics, and one of the most used for sleeping, the  weft of its structure is fresh and its fibers are good for health and for the body. 

If you think of linen, for sure you want a bright and plain fabric; you can find very good solutions on

http://www.linoto.com
http://www.thebestbedlinenintheworld.com/

an infinite choice!

 

There has ever been great demand for silk, so that it has become one of the symbols of luxury in bedrooms seen in movies!

An extraordinary testimonial was Marilyn Monroe, who only used to wear silk and sleep in silk!

I'm sure the website  http://www.manitosilk.com/
can satisfy your curiosity and your silk purchases!

A last touch of design, to stimulate your senses at best during your sleep, the perfume for your bed: “Sensi Scandia” proposes  fragrances that are  ideal for sheets and pillows!

And now I wish you sweet dreams!!
Stay tuned

color & color

When you get into the world of color mixes you open an infinite chapter. If secondary colors, in fact, are 3, the possible combinations multiply enormously!

Eugene Chevreul, a famous chemist, consacrated his life to complementary colors, studied their brightness and contrast, and even published a color encyclopedia in 1864, trying to collect all the possible shades: he found 14,400.

Even today his “cromatic wheel” is a point of reference for the study of color.

 

Going back to the main  secondary colors,  definitely green remais the most popular, at least  in nature!

Green is the color of Mother Earth, a symbol of  peace, calm and balance. For the Chinese it embodies the  yang principle: masculine, active and vivifying! If you want to take care of your health with green, you have to know it is  perfect for hypertension, eye tiredness and nervousness; pure relaxation!

These fantastic peculiarities are better and better known, in fact green is frequently used  in schools, offices and hospitals.  

The same for the coolest projects  of interior design. The greenest of all?
The Arola-Samsung restaurant in Barcelona: all green!

Speaking of design, my green “ must have”: the “midsummer” lamp by Tord Boontje!
Of course in green!

http://www.polyvore.com

Orange is the symbol of pure energy: coming from red and yellow, it has the same properties but not the  negative aspects! It's perfect to cure lungs , thyroid and spleen, it  brings optimism and happiness!

“Orange” projects are spreading all over the world with great success! An example of personalities really fond of “orange” are the architects  Jakob and Macfarlane who often use it in their projects: here are two examples, in Lyon and in  Paris.

 

and for the interiors, the Spanish studio Tomas Alia just works with pure colors, very therapeutic!

http://www.tomasalia.com/

The real orange “must have” is supposed to be the fl/y lamp by Kartell,

http://kartellstorela.com/shop/fly/

but I have  recently fallen in love with the “Bright Wood Collection” by Avanzini that lightens and changes color; high price but super design!

Purple is a cold color but it is related to creativity, to spirituality and to the force of mind. 

It  relaxes, moderates appetite and helps circulation, a real beauty elixir; for these properties it is frequently used  in all beauty treatments in spas  and fitness centers!

But it is quite hard to insert purple in interior design because it's a powerful color. For this reason the ideal solution is definitely the one of introducing it with small color elements and diffusely through light; a fluid wellbeing!

 

An irremissible purple design element: a wall covered with wallpaper!
You can find beautiful ones on http://www.designyourwall.com

Aren't these colors enough?
We'll find more and more!

Stay tuned

Color & feelings

I'm a “colorful” person: at home, in my clothes, in my purses, wherever I look into my life, I can see  color.

But what induces people to choose a  color rather than another one? And which are the best colors?

Of course we are driven towards a color by the moment fashion, you see and see it again, and you can't do without. For example my passion for the “turtledove” color  has become a legend; turtledove buildings, turtledove brochures, turtledove tiles, turtledove furniture, turtledove logos, etc. But we “feel” many colors because they belong to our memories and experiences.

Anyway,  each color has a direct relationship with our body. Colors,reflecting light,  have different wavelengths that  interact directly with our brain and our organs.

Do you have a fever?  Shut yourself up in a blue room, with blue sheets and a blue light, and everything will surely go.

Color has always had a great importance, so much that in the past the  “cochineal”, an insect used to  prepare the red color, was exchanged with gold and silver and was considered one  of the Spanish Empire treasures!

All this teaches us the choice of the colors to use at home has to be taken very seriously .

Tendentially colors should be mixed to get a perfect balance of stimulation of the different senses, but history is full of people really fond of color!

Zaha Adid in the new hotel he designed in Madrid, used just pure colors: white or black bedrooms, red or orange bathrooms!
http://www.zaha-hadid.com

But colors used so “massively” might have collateral effects.
 Red is a strong stimulant, it increases blood pressuse, fires and excites passion! It's the color of love and of spicy food.

A bit of red is necessary at home to be always  stimulated and never bored; maybe better in the living room,  in the dining room or in the kitchen, definitely not suited for sleeping!

But you can't resist passion! Actually the famous designer Verner Panton, great precursor of the use of intense color, consecrated a whole room of his project for the “Varna Restaurant” in Arhus, Denmark, to red. Floor, lamps, tables, chairs,  all strictly of the same color! An “electrifying” result!

http://blog.verner-panton.de

My  red cult piece? Of course the “Egg chair” by Arne Jacobsen !
http://www.fritzhansen.com

Among the three primary colors, yellow is the color of the sun and of gold. It helps reflex readiness, muscle tone and stimulates perception.  If you feel blue, yellow is the color for you!

The architects Lange and Ingels  know a lot about “yellow” designing; they have built a sunny building to fight cold and the grey Danish sky.

 

If we wanted to glance at design dedicated to gold, we could really sweep through it!

Love for what is glittering is boundless; both in the East and in the West there are a lot of projects dedicated to golden architecture. A little example to whet curiosity: the American architect Robert Stone realized a house in the middle of the Californian desert, completely designed in gold and champagne nuances , a real sparkling “mirage”!

 Small as it is, cult yellow in the kitchen! “Smeg” fridge is now a  design icon!

Ahhh  blue, how wonderful the shades of blue are: aquamarine, light blue, Persian blue, sky-blue, electric blue, night blue, ultramarine …

I like all of them, none excepted, and in the blue I could live forever: it's the color of water and of sky, of serenity, of reflection. If you have any nervous tension or any  inflammation, blue is a real panacea!

My favorite “blue”  project is very technologic: the Hotel Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa Raganali Island has a restaurant and some rooms with a view of the seabed thanks to wonderful glass  caps! A really amazing and very “blue” effect!

Design in blue for the vase ”Iittala”  by Alvar Aalto:  pure harmony!

 

A special mention for white. The sum of all colors, symbol of purity, light, cleanliness, of good that prevails over evil! It's a vitalizing element that fights both mental and physical aging! To be used for dressing, sleeping, eating, working: absolutely no limits!

Philippe Starck, a French designer of genius , loves “white” projects “. The”Hotel la co(O) rniche” he built  in France is a blaze of white!

The white cult design?
No doubt: “Barcelona chair” by Mies Van der Rohe!

What about all the secondary colors? I leave  you to your curiosity now, see you at my next post!
Stay tuned