George Spencer Design Trimmings

February 7, 2013 Fabrics, Suppliers, Trimmings

I attended yesterday the Belgian trade fair Intirio in Ghent. It is a small fair but all the major fabric companies show their collections there nonetheless. It is much nicer to spend a few hours looking at the latest collections there than to pack it in the marathon that is Maison & Objet. I had a couple of very nice surprises, one of them being an English brand I did not know: George Spencer Design. The brand produces fabrics, trimmings and wallpapers. Aside from a small but very nice selection of fabrics, they offer a beautiful range of classic trimmings. The shapes were exquisitely subtle and refined and the trimmings have a mat finish which gives them a timeless quality. Every trimming collection has simple straight braids, also known as grosgrain ribbon, but finding the right colors can sometimes be difficult. Theirs were slightly toned down and just beautiful. This is certainly a resource I’ll be using on future projects:

Did you notice the amazing ombré effect on the bullion trimmings knots? Lovely isn’t it?

Share your Thoughts with us !

Color Inspiration – Navy & Hot Pink

February 4, 2013 Color advice, Color Scheme, Color Theory

To start this week which is very rainy looking here in Belgium, I decided to share a fun and bold color scheme with you. The spring might not be there yet, but it’s getting closer and I won’t let a little bit of rain ruin this feeling. On the left is a fabulous picture taken in London by Nicole, the author of the fabulous SoHaute blog. Seriously where else but in the UK would you find two house doors like those? The Brits are certainly not afraid of color in high gloss finishes and this picture is a wonderful example of it.

The living room on the right could have been designed right after seeing those two doors. I don’t know if Mary McDonald ever saw this picture but the Los Angeles based interior designer has a definite flair for color. Consistently ranked one of House Beautiful “Top 100 Designers” she creates colorful interiors with strong lines and geometric patterns.

When you look closely you realize that this living room features rather classic elements: Navy upholstered guilt sofa, daybed and coffee table, white curtains, navy walls with white trimming, and a white mantel piece with Carara marble. What makes this room pop is the very large navy and white geometric rug and the hot pink accents. A few cushions in a floral and geometric print, a solid cushion roll trimmed with a black and white Greek key ribbon, a large almost solid print above the mantelpiece and a few pink books are all it takes to go from a classic navy and white scheme to a revisited navy and hot pink one. Or how to go from classic to preppy. The element to keep in mind when working with those two strong colors is that you need to keep lots of white which allows the entire scheme to remain fresh and modern instead of more classic.

What do you think of today’s color scheme? Do you love it or hate it? Share it if you like it!

Share your Thoughts with us !
Sarah {Lacquer and Linen}

This color combo is so intriguing! It’s definitely something I probably wouldn’t have thought of but they look surprisingly great together! It’s nice too that the hot pink in the picture on the right is all art, pillows and accessories so it could easily been switched out when the homeowner tires of it.

Emerald Green Interiors is social!

February 3, 2013 About me, Blogging

I was recently asked by a reader where he could find inspirational pictures of colorful interiors. I thought for a moment about all the available online resources and then it dawned on me that I had a pretty good answer. You may or may not have noticed that on the right side of my blog there are links to the social networks that I can be found on. One of them is Pinterest. For those who don’t know it, Pinterest is a virtual pin board that allows you to grab images from the web and to arrange them on boards however you wish to have them organized. Gone are the days of painstakingly bookmarking every page you liked on the web!

I have been on Pinterest for almost a year now and love how easy it is to use to catalog pictures of interiors, fabrics, lighting of colorful flower bouquets that inspire me. If you enjoy reading this colorful blog and my love of color, chances are you might also like the 3000 images sorted over 35 different boards I have collected so far. My boards actually got me mentioned by the Huffington Post as one of the “5 Pinners to follow now” column back in April 2012, along with Holly Becker of the world acclaimed Decor8 blog.

My boards are not sorted by color. Indeed sorting by color implies making a judgment on a color. I don’t want to judge color but rather share its beauty in all its variety and show my followers that color can be bright, subtle, bold and elegant. So head over there and let me know what you think of them.

While we are talking about social media, I’d love you have you as a follower to my Facebook Page and to my Twitter account where I share on a daily basis, inspiring pictures, great articles from other bloggers, or little snippets of upcoming posts as well as a few more personal things.

Have a wonderful Sunday wherever you are reading this from!

Share your Thoughts with us !

Maison et Objet Inspiration – Gong

February 1, 2013 Furniture, Lighting, Suppliers

The last brand seen at Maison et Objet I wanted to show you was established by a French-Belgian couple living in London. Gong offers a large selection of home accessories, lighting and furniture. If the style of Gong is mainly ethnic mixing far eastern, European and African styles, I was really drawn to their booth by their 50′s inspired collection of lighting and furniture. The collection is kept relatively small but is well curated: a buffet, two consoles, a chest of drawers and a night stand are offered in elm with lacquered doors in white or red. The tapered conical legs and the understated hardware are typical of the mid-century silhouette.

The same thing goes for the lighting collection which is carried out in antique brass with mat enamel shades that come in black, white or red. The inside of the shades which are visible are golden which guaranties a beautiful light. I love the fact that some shades come with holes. It’s such a retro detail. I am a thrift store lover but honestly, who needs to run around thrift stores when such great lamps and sconces are available. I’d love one of those table lamps on our Danish teak desk.

Are you a vintage design fan like I am or do you prefer more contemporary lighting like CTO‘s ? Let me know! And if you like it, pin it, tweet it and share it on Facebook.

Have a lovely weekend!

Share your Thoughts with us !
Emi

awesome!!

Maison et Objet Inspiration – Chhatwal & Jonsson

January 30, 2013 Accessories, Fabrics, Inspiration, Rugs, Suppliers

I wasn’t really looking for home textiles or cushion covers at the Maison et Objet fair. I work with a great seamstress who knows the in and outs of creating beautiful cushions with fabrics and trimmings. And even though the January edition of the fair is the one where fabric suppliers exhibit I usually don’t spend a lot of time looking at them. The first reason is that I find it pointless to browse thousands of fabrics as for me fabrics are really project related. I don’t use the same fabrics for different projects as every project has it’s own personality. The second reason is that shortly after Maison et Objet I usually attend Intirio in February, a small trade fair held in Belgium that showcases nonetheless most of the big fabric houses and where I take the time to browse through the new collections to stay up to date.

So as I said I wasn’t really looking. Yet from a distant alley my attention was grabbed by this booth that showcased beautiful handmade home textiles and carpets. And instantly I remembered how smitten I had been about their booth the last time I had come to Maison et Objet. Chhatwal & Jonsson is a Swedish company co-owned by Stig Jonsson and his Indian wife who aimed at combining the Swedish aesthetic and sense of color with the handmade heritage of Indian textiles, discovered while traveling the country. The result is beautiful, ethnic yet restrained and therefore modern. The beauty lies in the handwoven quality of its products which is not only the basis of their work but also the company’s philosophy.

“It’s not perfect, it’s unique” claims their website. I couldn’t agree more.

Do you feel inspired by those? Have a lovely day!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Share your Thoughts with us !
Ilze

Inspired for sure ! Love the rugs and exactly the cushions I was looking for this past weekend !!

Corinne Kowal

Hi Ilze, did you find what you were looking for? I believe those cushions are available through a Swedish website. Let me know and I’ll be happy to send you the info.

Louise - 30s Magazine

Like I already told you on twitter, I LOVE this brand. I’m a big ikat fan and I also like ethnic patterns. CJ combines this with a scandanavian feel and look whick make it so unique. The blue is timeless and elegant. Thanks for sharing.