inspire Archives - Page 2 of 4

Posted on June 1, 2015May 15, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Using Pattern & Light In and Around Dining Areas

Exquisite dining – in your own home. Who’s to say you need to head downtown for a memorable, fine dining experience? While we will not be making dinner menu suggestions, we would like to give you a few tips on how to arrange your dining area to create an elegant and luxurious atmosphere.

Low hanging light solutions over the dinner table really bring the area into emphasis, and we find them to be a great way of enhancing the dining experience. They also add a flare modernism to the space. Our favourite ones look like this:

Pattern at the dinner table: to add a subtle yet outstanding note to your dining area, we recommend using high quality design place mats and coasters. These will serve a double purpose, protecting the surface of your dining table, and adding a dash of personality and an accent note to the table:

If you would like to see our entire collection of tableware accessories, they are available on our website: coasters and placemats.

After-dinner relaxing

For the after-dinner lounging area, we prefer low intensity lighting and even candle light, depending on the context and guests you’re entertaining. This will help create a relaxed and intimate atmosphere. Add a glass of wine, and you are bound to be a fabulous evening in. Here are a few examples:

Comfortable, visual textures as patterns: According to designer Abigail Ahern “soft furnishings are the five-minute face-lifts of the decorating world, instantly perking up your room with an array of different textures”. You can sue these either as stand-alone statement pieces, or bundled up to create contrast and play, using different visual textures. Recommended materials are silks and cotton, and our own collection offers luxurious cushions in daring patters and texture, ideal for adding a subtle yet outstanding note to your dining area:

From top to bottom, cushions suggested are:

Black Keys cotton cushion, black & white
The Dance cotton cushion, Turquoise blue
Modulate with Feeling cotton cushion, black & white
O What Sweet Delights silk cushion, purple

Posted on May 28, 2015May 15, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Designing for Outdoor Spaces

When you’re looking to arrange an outdoors living space, sky is the limit, right? But this also means there are so many options, it may become daunting to choose the best ones for your space. In this blog post, we aim to show you a few of our favourite arrangements and decorations, and hopefully offer some inspiration to help you design your outdoor space – just the way you want it.

Furniture: The choices you make in picking the outdoor furniture will have a great impact on the feel of the space. For example, we recommend using a monochromatic colour palette adorned with sumptuous cushions and throws for a more glamorous look:

Alternatively, if you’re going for an urban style, choose contemporary designer & luxury outdoor furniture, which we recommend you enhance with bold accessories for a pop of colour:

Lighting: Whether it’s still daytime or getting dark, we think the use of different levels of lighting adds a special ‘je ne sais quoi’ to the outdoors living space. In line with the overall style of your space, you may decide to go for more contemporary or sumptuous options – below are a few suggestions. As interior designer Shelly Riehl David says, “Nothing flickers like real flame in a gas lantern”. Looking at these pictures, we could not agree more:

Posted on May 25, 2015May 15, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

How to Decorate a Conservatory

If you live in a moody weathered country, but would still like to enjoy the blossoming season, we’ve prepared some tips for you in this blog post. We’re presenting our top two favourite tips for arranging a cosy, inviting conservatory into a delightful design, perfect for city or suburb residences:

Tip #1: Base colours. The main purpose of a conservatory is to bridge that gap between indoor and outdoor living, and one way of doing this, is by allowing sufficient light into the space, and making the best use of it. To take full advantage of the glass walls and ceiling, use colours that reflect it back. Our favourites include a monochrome arrangement, a plain white design, or a naturalistic colour, such as green:

Tip #2: Complete the look. While keeping the space neat and airy is essential, don’t let it turn too boring. One challenge for conservatories, is the lack of hard walls, which are generally the no. 1 choice for decoration. To compensate, we recommend using soft furniture as a great workaround. Use a few bold design cushions to add personality to the space and at the same time make is look more cosy and inviting. We recommend using colours and patterns that liven up the space, especially if you’re looking to add a contemporary twist to your conservatory space. In the example below, we recommend three of our cushions that come in high contrast colours, to spice up the look of this conservatory:

From the top, the cushions recommended to complete this design are: ‘Black Keys’ Cotton Cushion, ‘O What Sweet Delights’ Turquoise Blue Silk Cushion or ‘Modulate’ Cotton Cushion. Our entire range is available here.

Posted on May 19, 2015May 11, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Salone Del Mobile, Milano – Part 2: Glass Furniture

A couple of weeks ago we posted about the vibrant root vases we discovered thanks to Salone del Mobile in Milano. Today we’re looking at Patricia Urquiola’s work, also present in the Milano exhibition: and we were quite taken by her innovative approach!

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Are you as intrigued as we were? Entitled SHIMMER, the collection comprises low tables, consoles and shelves in laminated and glued glass, characterized by a special iridescent multi-chromatic finish:

The nuance varies according to the angle of the light source and the vantage point, giving the reflected objects a magical and ethereal appearance:

We learned from Glas Italia that the collection items come in opaque or transparent glass, or transparent glass with a special micro dot decoration. We this this one in particular is hypnotically elegant:

Posted on May 14, 2015May 11, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Big Ideas for Small Space Interiors

Continuing our post from a few days ago on decorating small spaces, we’re now looking at a few more tricks and accessories that can enhance the look of small interiors.

Dark colours. Although some people are intimidated by the use of dark wallcoverings, when used properly, they can add a dash of coziness, intimacy, and dramatism to the space. Moreover, a repeating pattern on all walls makes the lines between them blur, thus giving the impression of a less constrained space. Not to mention, it can transform a featureless room into a super exiting space. Here is our interpretation, using the Geometry of the Sound, Blues / Purple on Black wallcovering from our latest collection:

Geomtry_coloured3

Add a mirror. Probably the oldest trick in the book, and for good reasons too. A mirror will not only make the space feel bigger, but it will also reflect back some of the light – deal for slightly darker rooms, and it will add an extra dash of sophistication to the room, whether you make use of a stylish mirror, or a plain one:

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Round, not square. We agree with House and Garden on this one: a round coffee table creates the feeling of circular space, and also makes it easier to place other objects around, making it ideal tor small interiors:

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Make use of vertical space. This one is our favourite! Often times, when we think square footage, we only consider the floor. But with a little bit of ingenuity, walls can easily turn into extra space! While it’s not always the best idea to overcrowd a room, it certainly works nicely with some small interiors. Use shelving units and make the most of the verticality of your room, in a nice and elegant way. Here are some ideas:

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To prevent the room from looking too busy, one rule of thumb would be to have only one wall looking like this and something completely different with the other(s). Mirrors and stylish wallcoverings are definitely good places to start!

Posted on May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Here’s How to Turn Small Interiors Into Real Bijoux

They say small rooms can be a headache, but they can also be a blessing in disguise! If you are looking to make the most out of a tiny space – be it a living room, guest bedroom or second bathroom, here are our top tips on making the most of it.

Using a pale colour scheme can make the space look more airy and bright, and even a tiny single bedroom can look quite spacious:

To keep the room from becoming too bland though, we recommend adding some bold patters or textures, such as a feature wall, to give a point of visual interest to the room. Here’s our interpretation, using the Black Keys wallcovering:

Using a small room for multiple purposes can be quite the challenge ass well, so that’s the best time to bring the big creative guns out. For example, consider incorporating furniture that isn’t your typical ‘home office’, but rather something that will bend in with the rest of the room design. Here are two examples, first of a living-room & study area, and the second of a bedroom & home office:

And finally, we’ve looked into small bathroom as well. We really dislike than feeling of being crowded and uncomfortable in a tiny restroom. Luckily, there’s a way around it, and we find that adding a dash of personality, with an accent call, can help to create the illusion of more space, even to the tiniest bathroom:

Posted on May 7, 2015May 8, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Hats Off to Leo Burnett’s New Moscow Office!

Have you seen Leo Burnett’s new office in Moscow? We have – well, virtually a least, and we think it’s a splendid large interior design! But as with most things in life, it’s all a matter of perspective. And with this giant pair of spectacles literally overseeing Leo Burnett’s open-office plan, you can’t help but see the very creative and stunning appearance of the place:

Large-interior-design-LoeBurnett-1

Created by Nefa Architects, and with with additional credit going to Dmitry Ovcharov, Maria Yasko, Daria Turkina and Maria Boyko, the space brilliantly combines a minimalist two-colour design, with the enormous pair of thick, black-framed glasses:

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And to add yet another twist to the place, there space features a red coil of seating weaves, along other red accessories in the space; we particularly like the scaled-up red desk lamps that are placed around the large office space:

Looking at these pictures once more, we can’t help but read the underlying message the Leo Burnett is possibly passing on to their creatives: THINK BIG!

Images via Behance.com

Posted on April 23, 2015May 8, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Bringing the outside, inside: nature in interior design

With nature coming back to life, we’re continuing to look for inspiration in the lively world around us, and how creative nature elements can be used in interior designs, to add to the uniqueness of the room.

We were particularly drawn by this idea of bringing nature with into your living room. Essentially, we live surrounded by nature, so why not invite it in our interior spaces as well? This particular example gives the impression of having a tree growing out of your walls, bringing you a cup of tea! Refreshing!

furniture-the-reindeer-chair-by-baita-design

This creative 2-in-1 chair and coat hanger is both functional and aesthetically pleasing; it saves space by incorporating a hanger into a chair, and it mimics a tree with growing branches. This is a whimsical take on the fact that traditionally, chairs used to be made out of wood from trees. And even though this one in particular is made of alternative materials – moulded plastic or a type of steel or metal frame, it still keeps the connection to nature, by taking the shape of a tree.

nest-chair-inspired-by-nature

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be a bird, this chair might take you closer to finding out. Taking inspiration from the shape of a birds nest, we imagine this chair to be a very cosy space, and another whimsical incorporation of nature into the interior space.

Do you use elements of nature into your spaces? We’d love to read your ideas!

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Inspiring Designers, Part Ten

The finale post in our inspiring designers series looks at a figure whose family history is rooted in the fashion and textile industry – Dries Van Noten.

Browsing the summer 2015 collection is a real treat for the eyes – bright, bold colours, and lots of contrasting prints and patterns. This vivacity is juxtaposed by the materials used to create the garments – the use of silk and light, floaty materials softens the impact of the statement colours and patterns.

Photo: Part of the inspirations exhibition, Paris. ©Dries Van Noten 2015.

Noten’s ability to combine such busy prints and patterns whilst avoiding the trap of overkill is what we (as print enthusiasts) find most inspiring. Noten’s designs are alive with artistic flair and beauty.

Posted on March 10, 2015July 2, 2015 by Moody Monday Media

Boutique Hotels Inspiration, Part Ten

The final instalment of our hotels inspiration feature takes us to Japan and the Claska Hotel.

Being primarily concerned with design innovation, the hotel divides rooms into thematic categories: ‘Japanese Modern’, ‘Contemporary’, ‘Tatami’, and ‘Weekly Residence’. These various design concepts present guests with contrasting spaces which range from traditional Japanese, wider Asian influences, welcoming comfort, East-West fusion, and even to more conceptual artistic spaces.

Photo: one of the ‘Weekly Residence’ rooms. ©Claska 2015.

We feel most inspired by the imaginative décor which, though contemporary, still maintains the Japanese style and sensibility. The interesting exterior also makes this hotel a visually engaging space which emits a vibe of creativity. They also have a shop to spoil design fans rotten; fantastic focus on detail!

Photo: one of the Tatami rooms available at Claska. ©Claska 2015.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the hotels we’ve shared with you over the past few weeks. Check out our other blog features where you can see which designers we can’t get enough of!

Tag: inspire