EMMAS DESIGNBLOGG

I first got introduced to Kavel Rafferty's work at the BoBo Gallery, and immediately fell for it's feminine but still kind of edgy charm. Last week I got an email from Kavel, and had a look at her website, and found so much more nice stuff I felt I had to show you! If you want to see more, please visit Kavel here.

Kavel has worked for lots of great companies including Elle Deco, Ted Baker, Bust Magazine and Penguin Books, and is a regular contributor to Swedish high-end fashion magazine Bon. If you feel like owning a piece of her art it is available as paintings or postcards at Designtorget, The BoBo Gallery and Designista.

I got an email from Swedish stylist Sasa Antic, the man behind the Trends 2008 pictures I blogged here. He told me that his site is finally finished, so now you can browse his previous projects online! This guy sure has a talent for arranging nice pics, I wish I could work with him for a day to find out what goes on in his mind and how gets it all so perfect.

The first photos here are from the apartment of his business partner Nadia Tolstoy, doesn't it look great? I love the simple base and industrial details together with the more relaxed and humorous features. The circus lights and the clever shoe storage solution are great!

Here you are, some inspirational pictures from the latest issue of Swedish magazine Sköna Hem, focusing on quick kitchen make-overs, new trends for 2008 and tips for organizing your entrance area. Enjoy!

I figured you might like these photos by Sam McAdam, because I sure do! Sam is an Australian photographer who has Notebook Magazine and Australian Interiors on his list of previous missions, but that is about all the info I can find on Sam.

I would like to take this moment to thank everyone who has helped this blog become what it is today. So thank you to all my great readers, and all of the inspiring bloggers out there!

It's time for Eye Candy again! This week I have focused on the details in your decor that makes your home feel like yours and noone elses, the features that makes you smile and other people remember your house. You don't need many of these statement pieces, and they certainly don't have to be expensive, just totally unexpected!

Dutch photographer Rene Mesman shoots gorgeous pictures, using the light in a way that reminds me of the old masters. Rene's work has previously been seen in Elle, Elle Decoration, Nike ads, AD Magazine and Residence, amongst others.

I recieved this email from Paul Hendrikx at Studio Mango the other day:
"On a visit to the European florist competition in Brussels we spoke to some of the winning flower decorating artist and told them we worked in the field of product design. Almost immediately the complaints started about the fact that all flower vases were the same, the only differences were that every season they had different prints on them. The florists challenged us to make some designs for flowers which enabled them and all other people to "play" more with flowers. This was the start of the Studio Mango vase collection which is now sold in over 60 countries in the world and ever expanded."

Take a look at their fresh and innovative vases!

If I was ever going to Majorca, the Hotel Convent de la Missió is where I would stay, located in Palma's Old Town. The hotel used to be a monestary and stands next to the church with the same name. Nowadays it has been carefully rebuilt into a luxury hotel with a fine restaurant, bar, pool, sauna, chapel, wine cellar and anything else you could wish for. It even comes with it's own art gallery!

Lisa Bengtsson, famous for her framepatterned wallpaper Familjen, has released a new pattern called Svärmor (= Mother in law), featuring black and white shoes. Wouldn't this be perfect for a walk in closet?

This is the second batch of photos from the Furniture Fair. Unfortunately I left most of my brochures and business cards at a friends house, so I will have to update with the sources for some of the products another day. Until then, enjoy!

This was one of my favourites at the fair, a shoe rack named Skorder (I believe it is a word game mixing the words sko  = shoe and order). The insides of the boxes are covered in gold leaf. I've never seen a more beautiful shoe rack! It is made by Johanna Eliason, and if you would like to know more, feel free to contact Johanna at [email protected]


Glowing lounge chair by xxx


BirdLight by Chen & Karlsson


Chairs by xxxx



Your Space My Cube, Turku University, Finland


Clip clothes hangers by xxx, another of my favorite products.


Trashcans by Dear Clou


A foldable combination of stool and high chair for babies, by xxx. A very easy to use construction fastened with strong magnets, so you just flip it the way you want it and it stays that way until you change it back.


Neon light by xxx


Origami paper necklace by Ida Wallgren, Linköpings Universitet

Ny Svensk Slöjd (= New Swedish Crafts) was founded by Tim Alpen, Erik Björk and Mattias Karlsson, all based in Stockholm, Sweden. At the Stockholm furniture fair 2008 the group displayed their first collection of everyday objects, a birch log strip light, a windsor loveseat, shelf system, chairs, a lamp, and a coat hanger all made by the concept of bringing new design out of old handicraft.

Their furniture struck me as very authentic and well-made, but with a touch of the modern minimalistic style that Scandinavia has become so famous for. Modern meets traditional is a good way to describe it. Or as they say: "A collection where the plane meets the computer".

I totally fell in love with the coatrack! Uh, stupid does that sound?! Well, I trust that you are as much of design freaks as I am, so you will hopefully understand what I mean...

I discovered that I've gotten a lot of new readers in the last couple of days. Actually, my visitors count have doubled! I'm very happy to be reaching such a big audience of course, but also very curious of where you all come from, who you are and what got you to visit my blog?

I hope you are enjoying what you see, please feel free to browse the archives in the right column to find my older posts and get a feel for what I'm into. Welcome to all my new readers (and the old ones of course)! If you like, please leave a comment and tell me a little about who you are and how you found me!

I also spotted this great pendant light from House of Light at the fair. I have wanted a cluster of light bulbs for years now, but I am convinced that there has to be a way of making one yourself, I just haven't figured it out yet...

As for the bottom picture, wouldn't it be great if this was possible in real life, to put a nicely designed indoor lamp outside in the garden? For safety reasons though, I wouldn't recommend it.

Candlestick by Christian Malmdin


Trash cans by Dear Clou


Cubey lamp by Blanc


Nata Vintage chair by Anatomic Factory


Chair and lounge chair by Peter Johansen


Skin series bud vases by The Mighty Bearcats

Here are the first of my photos from the Furniture Fair! It is taking me longer than I planned to edit them, so you will get more tomorrow.

The DesignBoom Mart


Malmstens school


Pattern Swedish frogs and toads by Katarina Hamilton


Modern Swedish furniture from SB Nord


Forgot the source of this one, sorry.


Soft Walls Labyrinth, textile art by Synnöve Mork


I believe this is from Frösö Handtryck


The Craft Café exhibition by Stephen Burks

I thought I would start by doing some posts on what I saw on the fair that especially caught my interest. There will be a more extensive report later when I've gotten all my photos sorted out and edited.

But first I want to tell you that I went to listen to Ilse Crawford discussing the design process with David Carlson and Peer Eriksson from Designboost. Ilse Crawford is the woman who started British Elle Decoration in 1989, and after that went on to work as an interior designer for big projects like the Soho House Hotel in New York, and Mathias Dahlgren's luxurious restaurants at Grand Hotel in Stockholm.

As I waited for them to start, I sat down on a bench next to an older gentleman. When I looked closer I realised that I was in fact sitting next to Mr Giulio Cappellini, the fair's guest of honour who had also designed the "Magic Forest" that we were sitting in! For those of you who don't recognise his name, I can tell you that he is to the design world as Giorgio Armani is to the fashion world. A legend.

But enough of the star gazing already, what I wanted to say was that Ilse was fantastically inspiring to listen to. She told us about how she works, the stories and feelings she carefully plans when starting to work on a project or a design.
For example, she talked about a lamp that she had recently designed, and the process of how it came to look as it does; she sat down with her colleagues one night and they all started brainstorming on what kind of feelings you wanted at that moment, when the sun has set, it's getting a bit chilly and you are tired. They decided that what you are looking for is something quite sturdy to hold on to, to take you through the night, and nothing too high-tec. It has to feel cozy and comforting, and that was the starting point of the design. First after that they started thinking in terms of shape, materials and colours.
Doesn't that sound like a great approach to the design process? So human and functional!

But now I'll start with the postings!

Bunker Hill was founded in 2005 by architect MFA Daniel Franzén, one of the founders of TAF Architecture. His most famous project is the just 11 square meters small apartment he designed in 2002, with a fully functioning kitchen with seating for up to 8 persons, and a 120 cm wide bed big enough for two.

This week is going to be so great! These are some of the things I am looking forward to:

Home made semlor at my sons daycare on Tuesday.

Stockholm Furniture Fair starting on Wednesday. I am going to meet some exhibitors, like Hung-Ming Chen from Chen&Karlsson (designer of the fab Bird Light i blogged in December) and the people behind Little Red Stuga. Also there is the always fresh and interesting Greenhouse exhibit of new young designers, very excited about that!

"Mönster berättar" (= Patterns telling stories), a show by 8 students from Konstfack, at Clarion Hotel, Wednesday night.

Opening of the show Future Living at Designens Hus on Thursday.

Of course I will keep you updated on all of these things, so keep coming back here for pictures and reports!