Shop stop: colonel in Paris

It always starts with the Front and here it already looks amazing, my favorite color blueish grey ... so the rest is probably good too ... what am I talking about... well a shop in Paris called Colonel that I have marked as a must-visit next time I am going to Europe.

In 2010 Isabelle Gilles and Yann Poncelet met each other while sipping cocktails and the rest is history ... a beautiful collection lamps from their own brand and a beautiful brick and mortar shop carrying other great brands like HAY too. 

I shared some more images on BKids the other day. 

All images by Colonel

..colonel

Table manners by Mirella Sahetapy

Just some eye-candy for you today  ... for me it is pure inspiration and that it is just what I am looking for this week ... my plans are creating small settings for some photography. What are your plans for the week?

The seres is called 'Table manners' and was produced for Elle Decoration NL  January issue.

The beautiful photography and styling is done by Mirella Sahetapy from the Netherlands. 

[2 MORE IMAGES]

 

{previous post about Mirella on Bloesem}

..Mirella Sahetapy

Monday's quick start: Desinere from Singapore

Rik and I scrolled around town last weekend and visited P5 (more about this gorgeous shop later this week) and supermama ... there I briefly met one of the designers from Desinere ... he was taking pictures of this gorgeous Paperweight called Rok  and I was lucky this morning to find them on their website. 

He told me he and his partner will be going to Milan next week to present their work and I am sure it is going to be a big hit! I have fallen in love with all their designs and the one I love most ... is a beautiful woven basket made from leather... unfortunately NO pictures yet ... but I hope soon after the Milan fair. 

I wish Desinere success in Milan! It was nice meeting you. ~irene

[MORE IMAGES AND INFO]

Links to the designs of Desinere: paperweight Rok, table Monolith, bowls and plates Mappa

and rocking stool Itty Bitty.

 

All images by Desinere. 

..Desinere

 

TimeCapsules - make history

Just wrote a post about TimeCapsules at BKids ... a new BEST present created by Dutch product desginer Anouk van der El and graphic designers Mae Engelgeer and Marloes Sijm.

More info over at BloesemKids or at TimeCapsules.

 

 

.. TimeCapsules.

Moe chairs by The Bureau from Singapore

{Moe chairs by The Bureau}

Last year when Marjon I worked on a city guide of Singapore for Anthology magazine and while looking for a little shop called Nana & Bird we bumped into the guys from The Bureau. It was their funky office that caught our attention at first but soon when we started chatting we learned more about their collection Moe chairs...

... I'm happy apartment theraphy is helping me out today with some background info on the Moe chair: "That quote, from Kai Yeo of The Bureau, nicely sums up this latest project called the Moe Chair. The Moe Chair is the old-style school chair that used to be found in every Singaporean classroom, a visual touchstone for anyone who has been through the local school system here. The Bureau's 6-piece version on this chair is homage to the old yet has created something entirely new and still very functional."

So very spontaneously we created a mini photo-shoot and see here the result... At the time the chairs were not in full production yet... and I'm not sure if they are available via any shops at the moment... best advice I can give send these wonderful guys an email ... I'm sure you will enjoy meeting them as much as we did!                    

ps. just spoke to Kai from The Bureau and he told me they have stock available!

[MORE IMAGES FROM THE SHOOT]

 

All images by Dutch photographer Marjon Hoogervorst aka Vorstin  : Series for Sale

 

..The Bureau is Singapore-based graphic design firm.

 

 

Goodbye Kuala Lumpur - Hello Singapore

{I Dream poster by Anna Emilia}

Lovely readers… I feel I have not let you in on some, very exciting news I think…it has been so hectic these last couple of weeks or months actually that I really only now find the time to tell you more about this… in short – after having lived in KL for almost six years, we moved to Singapore – we only arrived last week so I consider myself lucky I have my internet connection sorted (almost…). Our move to Singapore fills me with both excitement and, I must admit, some sadness. Exciting because my new home-town is absolutely buzzing with creative vibes and is home to many of my online friends. It has beautiful architecture, is clean and provides for a safe environment for my two (three...) Boys. 

I feel sad to leave behind the many good friends I’ve made in KL over the years – local, international or some combination of both – KL is a true melting pot of cultures and people which is what I love so much about that city. In addition to the amazing food and shop culture. In the past, our moves were always instigated by my husband finding yet again a job in an ‘exotic’ place, but this time, truth be told, I was the one that told my husband that we should move. Why you might think? Well, personally, I have started to feel increasingly unsafe in KL. And this not a ‘posh high maintenance expat mom’ complaining, but a genuine concern about safety is widely felt by locals and internationals alike. This sense of not being safe creeps up on you – first, you are not really aware of it but then you are suddenly overwhelmed by it when you find yourself discussing with friends (attempted) child abductions, violent break-ins, bag snatching and carjacking more or less routinely.

The British school my boys attended doubled and then seemed to have tripled the number of guards at the school gates after a Dutch boy who attended an American school was kidnapped (and later released unharmed). This case made the news, but there are many cases of child abductions (some that don’t end well) of local kids that do not make the headlines. Similarly, our gated community started to feel more like a prison – with my friends joking whether the dozens of guards were meant to keep the residents in or the bad guys out. Especially females and kids are vulnerable – all of my female friends have drivers that double – in their own words – as body guards. KL was not like this when we arrived there almost six years ago – and my friends who have lived there all their lives or much longer than we have, assure me that KL, while rough around the edges perhaps, was a friendly and safe place.

Then, very unfortunately, the risk of harm to me and my family hit very close to home – I will spare you the details but suffice to say that I and my boys have been threatened and stalked. This can happen everywhere of course, but to me that was it – I knew we had to move.  Constantly being on guard when walking around on the streets and not even daring going out by myself at night. Just simple things that I have always taken for granted, such as going to a shopping mall with my kids and doing some groceries started to feel uncomfortable and unsafe.  

Of course, this is my personal experience, and I am sure there will be Malaysians and expats that disagree wholly or partly with me. The fact is that this is indeed my experience – a bad one, among the many good experiences that I have had living in Malaysia. And just like the positive ones I wanted to share this with you in the most balanced and transparent way possible.

I always told my husband that I would follow him everywhere around the globe, but that I would never live in a place where I felt my children would be unsafe. I don’t want to be naïve as I know there are many places in this world that are unsafe, especially for kids, and many of the people that are affected by those circumstances cannot simply pack up and leave – so, yes, I consider myself very fortunate that we were able to move to Singapore. 

I do feel sad to have left Malaysia…a beautiful country with a friendly and diverse people. But I will cherish many fond memories of our time in KL, although I wish I could have moved for more positive reasons. 

So Hello Singapore! Excited and thrilled that we can start a new phase in our life. I will be sharing with you all the great things this city has to offer…starting this week with insights on local design and interesting places to visit... 

~irenexoxo