Concrete - wood - simplicity

Concrete and wood is just a stunning combination in my eyes. I made these pictures last year during Elle inside design in Amsterdam... houses, some already lived in and some still totally unfinished , like the one used in these pictures ,were the decor for designers of all kind. I loved the work of this Belgium company called Studio Simple All their objects have a relation with simplicity. More pictures from Elle Inside design 2011 in my Pinterest album.
 

An industrial white home - Designed by Paola Navone

Ghost sofa by Paola Navone - Lamps by Mark Eden Schooley 

Hotelier Andrea Falkner Campi called in my Italian desig hero, Paola Navone, to help her create this beautiful home in a 500 square meter open space in her hometown Spello. These pictures are from Italian Elle Decor.

                                                   All pictures (C) Maz Zambelli 
 

Meanwhile on the Island of Mykonos

The other day on Pinterest... or maybe I should say the other night as I always seem to end up on Pinterest just before going to sleep... I came across the picture above. I think my longing for summer and sun makes me want to look at pictures of beautiful beaches and white houses with patio's. 

It was very small an I could only think on how beautiful this patio looked. I pinned it into the Patio and garden album I just started. Planning to do my garden some day I am {slowly} collecting images I like, hoping to find some pattern in this moodboard that helps me decide what to do with my own patio.

If you use it the right way, Pinterest is a very good way of sharing pictures and leading others back to the original source of the picture. So I ended up at The Contemporist where I found out it wasn't a patio but the entrance of Linea Piu, a little shop on the Greek Island of Mykonos. A traditional looking building on the outside with a contemporary interior designed by Kois associated architects

Ay Illuminate ... goes Italy

Lamp designed by Nelson Sepulveda - Big round cushions by Ay Lin Heinen

When I saw this picture with the Ay Illuminate lamp (Z1 in bamboo and cotton) next to the bed.... I nearly took off the lamp in my kitchen to hang it in my bedroom. But reminding a chat I recently had with Karine I didn't. Karine stayed at my place for the Meet the blogger event earlier this month and we did a photoshoot at my home... (here in Dutch)

So there was lots of moving with tables and things. When making pictures in my kitchen, we both agreed on how great my own lamp (the smaller version of this one, on the picture below) looks in my kitchen and how beautiful  the natural materials of it, the bamboo and cotton, blend with the crispy white walls and the concrete in my home.

So I am thinking on adding some more natural materials, as the round cushions, to my home as it really adds a soft element to it..... what do you think??? 
  

On the picture above - made by the very sweet and lovely Mark Eden Schooley ;) who kindly let me use these pictures - two of my favorite items off all time... the Ghost sofa by my Italian design hero Paola Navone (note the Koushi lamp made by Mark Eden Schooley in her gorgeous Parisian apartment) and yet another lamp by Nelson Sepulveda (the smaller Z4) like the one in my kitchen.
 

These pictures are all made in the Italian home of a Dutch couple who asked The team of Ay Illuminate (Ay Lin Heinen, Neslon Sepulveda and Mark Eden Schooley) to add a touch of nature to their holiday home and of course they did a great job by bringing their own designed lamps, plaids and cushions. All made by local craftsmen in different countries around the world.

Bamboo lamp Urchin, designed by Mark Eden Schooley

All pictures copyright Mark Eden Schooley

Exclusive Piet Boon Concrete wallpaper Giveaway

Voor Nederlands scroll je naar beneden

I love the rough and tough look of concrete walls and on the blog I have been talking a lot about it. Seeing the amount of mails I get with questions on how to make a concrete wall. I know there are lots of you who love the look of it and would like to have a concrete wall at their own home. Today I have an exclusive giveaway for you!   

Dutch designer Piet Boon is world famous for the incredible sophistication in his designs. The robust yet elegant classic Piet Boon style combines natural materials with subdued colour palettes for an unrivaled look that is authentic in every way. His attention to detail and esthetics can be found in private homes, beach houses, retail stores, resorts, hotels,  public spaces, the furniture label and numerous product designs all over the world.

The rough edge of concrete has always been present at his interiors. And in cooperation with NLXL.com Piet Boon created Concrete wallpaper. This fabulous wallpaper which lets one transform a space, be it a wall or ceilings easily and in a very affordable way. Another huge advantage is that minor damages don’t show. They seemingly simply disappear naturally in the ‘structure’. NLXL wallpaper is incredibly strong and lasts forever.”  We are giving 3 readers of Vosgesparis the change to win Piet Boon concrete wallpaper


Het behang is vanaf 1 juli verkrijgbaar. Piet Boon en NLXL oprichter Rick Vintges zullen op woensdag 7 juni de eerste rollen op originele wijze onthullen : meer info op de site van NLXL.com (voor een uitnodiging  - stuur je een mail naar press@nlxl.com)

Exclusieve Piet Boon Beton behang giveaway

Hier bij Vosgesparis zijn we gek op betonnen muren. En ik heb er dan ook vaak over geschreven op mijn blog. Als ik kijk naar alle mail die ik krijg met de vraag hoe een betonnen muur in huis te maken. Weet ik dat veel van jullie  ook weg zijn van de betonlook en maar al te graag een betonnen element in huis zouden willen hebben. Vandaag heb ik een exclusieve giveaway voor jullie!  zodat je thuis je eigen betonnen muur of plafond kunt maken.

Piet Boon is in 1983 opgericht door de internationaal gerenommeerde Nederlandse ontwerper en ambachtsman met dezelfde naam. Het werk van Piet Boon wordt al sinds de oprichting van zijn bedrijf gekenmerkt door een groot technisch inzicht, een scherp oog voor detail en gevoel voor esthetiek. Tegenwoordig is Piet Boon een van de meest spraakmakende design studio's ter wereld die zich internationaal onderscheidt in ontwerpen voor exterieur en interieur en productdesign voor prive huizen en corporate en commerciele klanten wereldwijd. Piet Boon ontwerpt niet alleen villa's maar ook resorts, hotels, restaurants en kantoren.

Het ruige karakter van beton is altijd aanwezig geweest in zijn interieurs en in samen werking met NLXL.com heeft Piet Boon Beton behang ontworpen. Dit geweldige behang waarmee je heel eenvoudig een ruimte kan omtoveren. Of het nu een muur of een plafond betreft, behangen blijft een eenvoudige en zeer betaalbare methode. Een ander groot voordeel is dat kleine beschadigingen niet te zien zijn. Ze verdwijnen vanzelf in de 'structuur'. NLXL behang is van de allerhoogste kwaliteit."  Wij geven 3 lezers van Vosgesparis de kans Piet Boon Beton behang te winnen.


Het behang is vanaf 1 juli verkrijgbaar. Piet Boon en NLXL oprichter Rick Vintges zullen op woensdag 7 juni de eerste rollen op originele wijze onthullen : meer info op de site van NLXL.com (uitnodiging? stuur een mail naar press@nlxl.com)

Win Piet Boon Concrete wallpaper

We are giving 3 readers of Vosgsparis the change to win 2 rolls of Piet Boon Concrete wallpaper of your choice! Now here is what you should do to enter the competition.  

1. Surf to NLXL.COM/piet-boon/ and have a look at the different types of concrete wallpaper in the images gallery. Or go directly to the images gallery through this link: Piet Boon compositions
2. Make a choice which one you would like most (e.g. PB CON-01 or PB CON -02) 
3. Leave a comment in this post with your choice and be sure to leave some contact information where we can reach you if you do not have a blog/site. 

Blog about this post and you will win an extra entry! For this you leave an extra comment with all information! 

Win Piet Boon Beton behang

Wij geven 3 lezers van Vosgsparis de kans om ieder 2 rollen Piet Boon Beton behang naar keuze te winnen! Dit is wat je moet doen om mee te doen. 

1. Surf naar NLXL.COM/piet-boon/ om - onder images - de verschillende soorten te bekijken. Of ga direct naar de verschillende soorten Piet Boon Beton behang via deze link: Piet Boon compositions 
2. Kies je favoriete behang (Bijvoorbeeld: PB CON-01 of PB CON -02) 3. Laat een bericht achter in deze post met je keuze.


Blog over deze post voor een extra entry! Laat hierover een extra bericht achter met alle informatie! 

Congratulations to Anke, Igor and Linda on winning Piet Boon concrete wallpaper and Thank you NLXL.com for this great giveaway!

A new lamp + a kitchen update {The masterplan}

Last autumn when my new kitchen was just the size it is now and before I was so lucky to win the VT Wonen competition and getting a new floor for my apartment. I was still painting black walls and playin around with  paper and tape to see how the Bamboo lamp from Ay Illuminate I love so much would look in the kitchen. It remained some time and I took it off when it was getting colder and I wanted to burn some candles on the kitchen table....

I kept thinking about it and though it would not really fit, because my apartment has really low ceilings. Even though I changed it into a cute city loft with bare concrete walls and all ... I can't change the height of the rooms. But then I discovered there is a smaller version and it would perfectly fit my apartment.

So today I am so glad to be able to show you my little kitchen update... after dreaming about it for a long time.. it finally is there.... in my kitchen above the table being all pretty and different from any other lamp I ever saw... I love the light bamboo and the thin hand woven cotton from Ethiopia. It is so simple and therefor I love it !

In case you are wondering It is the Z4/Cotton cover (65 cm high) by the Ay Illuminate design team, being, Ay Lin, Mark Eden Schooley en Nelson Sepulveda. You can find stores and/or request a digital catalogue  on the Site of Ay Illuminate

Over Size & Co {salone 2012 Brera district}

Very pleased to meet up with the team from Arcade in Via Palermo 1 at their Over Size&Co presentation in the  Brera design district and so pleased to finally see their work in real life. And of course I loved to finally meet Stefano and the team in person... Thanks for the great afternoon, the chats and the wine xxx 

In the pictures work from Stefano Gaggero here above in the picture and about who I wrote before in a previous post here: Stefano Gaggero {Italian designer and stylist} and Ivan Baj (below) and in the last picture also from Paola Navone for Arcade. 

 

Meanwhile outside it was raining really bad {I think I got offered to buy a few thousand umbrellas during my stay in Milan} So me and my friend took every opportunity to get out of the rain as much as possible and ended up at some party's where we did not know anyone. A camera around your neck does wonders sometimes ;) I also spotted the lamps from Dutch company Ay Iluminate in one of the kitchen showrooms.

I thought the Brera district is a really cosy area to be reached from Corso Como ... more about that later... They also call it little Paris and maybe because of that we loved it also a bit more then other area's, although I guess I have not even seen half of Milan at all... I hope you are still enjoying my Milan Design week diaries and I guess you will love the posts I still want to make about my highlights of Milano.. think Corso Como... Paola Navone for Merci and Rosanna Orlandi... so many pictures and so little time ;)