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Showing posts with label colour. Show all posts

Showing posts with label colour. Show all posts

Yellow is the new Pink.

Yellow is the new pink!

Colour of 2013?

The time has come when we begin to wonder about this question. And I have come back to think about that after reading Azkonobel’s Colour Future’s 2013 and after finding an interesting post by Laura Bielecki reporting the predictions made by the prestigious trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort in a meeting in Design Days Dubai 2012. Within a colour palette, indigo is versatile and pairs well with brightest of a similar saturation level, citrus, warmer neutrals and other blues, purples and greens. Curiously, in her seminar in Dubai, Lidewij Edelkoort presented yellow as being the new pink in Interior Design, and that makes sense with its being the complement to the purple family. According to her predictions, yellow will make for vibrant and stimulating colour palettes, fabrics and fittings. And it will come with more staying power than Tangerine Tango, it seems.

21st Century Cotswolds

Building their own home allowed the Wild family the best of both worlds – a traditional farmhouse façade and hi-tech glamour within. “Plots in the Cotswolds are like hen’s teeth,” says interiors and silverware designer J.B. Wild. “But we’d had a tip-off that this one was coming up for auction: 130 acres of fantastic land, with beautiful hedges and all well maintained. It had been in the same family for 90 years and we were lucky enough to get it,” she exclaims, still delighted at this piece of good fortune. Just a stone’s throw from Bourton-on-the Water, a village voted one of England’s prettiest, J.B., her husband, Chris, and their three children had nabbed themselves an idyllic spot – and one on which their dream to build their own home could be realised. The fact that Chris is a residential property developer was a bonus. His company, Wild Projects, specialises in new building techniques, both high-tech and eco-friendly, and he’s incorporated many of these into the build. “It’s great to be able to give new technology a go,” he says. “The house is best described as Georgian farmhouse in style, but given the levels of insulation and airtightness we’ve achieved, it’s cutting-edge in function"... view feature

A choice of colours

The first thing they did when moving into their new Oslo apartment, was to paint it all white… ‘We were in such a great hurry with our move, as we were expecting our son Otto to be born any day, and so he arrived the day after we got our keys.’ says Synne Skjulstad. As soon as they had got used to their new arrival and their ever so ‘nice’ nest to bring him up in, they got out their paints and wanted to play… They started off with a bucket of glossy signal-red oil paint and dressed the hallway with built in storage solutions and shelves. Then they moved on to a patch of bright yellow in their Amish dove grey kitchen. These two colour choices and the dominant painting in the sitting room led them to an acute stop in their process. The solution came when trying to ‘’keep up with the Jones’s’’. When at the home of their architect-neighbours Andreas Joyce Nygaard and Heidi Pettersvold they started thinking of their home as having the look of a boring council office! So they asked their neighbours for help with the rest of the colour chart... view feature

How the country got stylish

The Pop Store design team’s eclectic take on the rural idyll in the heart of Oxfordshire The address given for Sam Clapp and Brian MacShane’s south Oxfordshire home leads to a stout panelled door in the façade of a white-painted cottage, in a row where gardens are carefully tended and voile curtains neatly pleated. We check the address; this is not what we had expected. The pair are the creative force behind brand development and design agency Pop Store, known as a rebel in the retail market. Their company designed the wacky headquarters for energy drink company Red Bull, and took the temporary, pop-up shop phenomenon out of London and on the road to Birmingham, Leicester and all points north. So a picturesque 250-year-old cottage is not what one would have imagined they would call home. The only hint that something might be a little different is the irregular flashing of coloured lights through a window. As the door opens, the lights become brighter, and a large, arrow-shaped neon funfair sign with the word “Thrills” comes into view. It sits on top of a sizeable haberdasher’s cabinet. “It was bought in Hoxton and intended for the main bedroom, but was too big to go up the stairs,” says Clapp... view feature

Who said Oxford was blue?

Jessica Sainsbury runs hotels that are famed for being cool – and her Edwardian villa is a mix of colour, pattern and texture, too Jessica Sainsbury’s hall wallpaper is not best seen after a heavy night. Great gloops of acid green and fuchsia weave up the stairs of the Oxford house where she lives with her husband, a don at Worcester College, and their four children. The lurid colours would come as no surprise to guests of the grocery heiress’s hotels – the funky Gloucestershire spa Cowley Manor, the Michelin-starred L’Hotel in Paris, with its baroque jewel-box bar, and the latest addition to her Curious Hotels chain, the Canal House, which opened last year in Amsterdam. “We asked fabric designers Sharmil Govindia and Sally Hemphill, whom we used for Cowley, to make the wallpaper, because there wasn’t anything out there with bright enough colours,” laughs Sainsbury, the daughter of the former Conservative minister Sir Tim Sainsbury. “And then I thought, what the hell, let them do the curtains as well”... view feature

The Baileys

Everything in their16th century hillside vicarage near Ross-on-Wye is reclaimed from something – an old factory, a church, a junk shop, an atelier, a fruit farm. Wooden boxes nailed to walls work as bookshelves. School lockers are remade into kitchen cabinets. Bottles become lampstands. And nothing is too polished. Floorboards reclaimed from old houses are roughly painted in off-white. Paint and wallpaper has been steamed off to expose gorgeous shades of sand- and peach-shaded plaster which they have left bare. Decorations consist of old shop signs, giant scissors that once advertised a barber’s, shelf after shelf of garden tools, shoe lasts with antique clothing hanging from it, mannequins with Sally’s collection of ethnic jewellery round their necks. Everything is warm, used, and oozing character... view feature

Burst into Life

An elegant pale grey palette combines with traditional features to create a stylish backdrop, which is emboldened with colorful cabinetry, furnishings and artwork. The house itself was rather dilapidated but this was ideal for Andrew who wanted something he could redesign to suit his taste and style. Before long the small boxy rooms on the lower ground floor were given over to one big open-plan space and the property expanded with a loft conversion and rear extension... view feature

Tangerine Tango

Then again maybe 2013 will be A year with Tangerine Tango... we don’t do you?….big thanks to for Isabel de Yzaguirre for her help in putting this month’s newsletter together. Her blogs are well worth checking out Isabel de Yzaguirre.

Split Clarity

Less is more or so says this trend, it’s Split Clarity: functional, minimal, simple, essential; these are their elements. Clean, high tech, sustainable, new materials, clear-cut modern in its vision. The clarity is introduced by way of the colour palette, which given its name, comes as no surprise takes its inspiration from nature. Versatility in materials in this trend is crucial, reflective and metallic surfaces, transparent and semi-plain patterns are used as are animated yet restrained surfaces. Severity in graphics with high contrasts and linear designs will create the depth giving the illusion of light and shadow by using them with different materials and surfaces. http://texturefabrics.wordpress.com/

Delicious Autumn

I really do love autumn! The scrunching of crispy autumn leaves under foot, the crisp freshness in the morning and the glorious light and warmth of the sun during the day. I also love autumnal colours: beautiful honeys, ambers, reds and chocolate; they make you feel warm even though the weather has started to cool. These rich colour palettes translate to the interior, where modern design characteristics place an emphasis on creating an atmosphere that is both spacious and yet warm. Interiors are fresh-looking and uncluttered yet reflect a plush, comfortable ambience. Clean, crisp lines complemented with rich textures and patterns are at the forefront of current design trends. Any dining or living space featuring the golden tones of autumn can make any family gathering seem like a special event.

Single Images

This month's single image ideas focus on warmth and Autumn pallet.

Beach Hut Deluxe

This new build holiday home on the Isle of Wight was designed by an architect using a simple grid plan so that standard panels of ply wood could be quickly and efficiently slotted into a frame to form the base of the structure. The house was specifically designed to cope with a family who enjoy water sports and sailing so the main bathroom is beside a side door and is fully waterproofed so that wet suits can be stripped off without the restrictions of a curtain or enclosure. The colour scheme chosen by the client is bright, because she is a passionate fan of colour... view feature

Kitchen Update

Magazines – and the popular belief – will tell you that design is all about beautiful things; beauty lies in great design and beauty lies in form and function. Whether designing for a new home or updating your current kitchen, this thinking is especially true, as the form needs to be functional.

Generally considered the heart of a home, it’s a place for us to catch up with friends, cook the evening meal, hold parties and enjoy family time. Innovative ideas, great attention to detail or bespoke design solutions can transform your kitchen and it’s the details that make the difference. Colourful splashbacks, painted walls, customised cabinets or colourful accessories are all ways to bring the heart of the home back to life.

Work surface

The worktop surface is a big part of your kitchen design and with so many choices available these days, different materials can create different looks in your kitchen. Using a solid surface as your worktop enables any scratches to be sanded out, can create a seamless look in your kitchen, is stain resistant and can be made to your specifications. While these are some of the main materials used for kitchen worktops, please take a look at our selection... view search

Children in the kitchen

Our children absolutely love to role play, we do all we can to encourage them. Children love to step in and out of different worlds and situations. Role play with play kitchens also teaches basic maths and numeracy skills and as they use the different food, utensils and gadgets, they’ll even learn new words, shapes and colours. Play kitchens and food toys are also great tools to start young children thinking about healthy eating and nutrition…and it’s something that the whole family can enjoy together... view search

21st Century Cotswolds

Building their own home allowed the Wild family the best of both worlds – a traditional farmhouse façade and hi-tech glamour within. “Plots in the Cotswolds are like hen’s teeth,” says interiors and silverware designer J.B. Wild. “But we’d had a tip-off that this one was coming up for auction: 130 acres of fantastic land, with beautiful hedges and all well maintained. It had been in the same family for 90 years and we were lucky enough to get it,” she exclaims, still delighted at this piece of good fortune. Just a stone’s throw from Bourton-on-the Water, a village voted one of England’s prettiest, J.B., her husband, Chris, and their three children had nabbed themselves an idyllic spot – and one on which their dream to build their own home could be realised... view feature

Parisienne Loft

The owners of this loft are both architects who work well together as well as separately. A year of renovation work enabled them to transform this former workshop: the vast basement became their offices and they kept the ground floor for their living space. They retained the original outside structure, a long street facade with full height windows, so typical of industrial premises. "This work is more interesting because it required more thought from us!" “From these 80 m2, we feel we tried to get the best solution.... a smaller space forces you to find creative storage tricks.” They also wanted to keep a certain purity of lines, and cleverly incorporated large cupboards into walls, as well as in the metal staircase. The kitchen is also finely worked and to save space, the architects decided to create a mezzanine level. With distinct areas for night and day, it is an easy-to-live in Parisienne loft.. view feature

A House Full of Life

At the grand old 1800-century farmhouse in Espergærde, Cornelia lives with her husband Donald and their five children. The property has been renovated from floor to beam, but despite its brightened interior and new fittings, it still holds onto its historical charm through its original frame work. This clean and bright approach is even true of the bathroom, which has been decorated in a crisp monochromatic style. Not only does the home offer ample space for the large family; it even hosts both parents' businesses. Cornelia runs Casa Cornelia, a residential interiors shop from one of the wings, whilst Donald runs his business AB Horizon from his office on the second floor... view feature

Chocolate Orange

Stunning cocoa and tangerine cabinetry in a smart glossy finish ensures the Clarke’s large kitchen-diner is a truly delicious design. For most people, the process of finding a home is nothing short of a quest for perfection. But then Viki Clarke, a graphic designer with a keen eye for style, isn’t like most people. ‘I wanted a project I could get my teeth into,’ she says. So when a neglected period terrace came up for sale in south-west London Viki couldn’t wait to take her husband Mike along for a look... view feature

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