SPOTLIGHT ON, FORNASETTI

Although my preferences for interiors are now much more pared back and quiet, I can't help but still be drawn to drama and colour when it comes to decorative items. Fornasetti is wild, glamorous and right at home with any storyteller. My first impression of it was Versace meets the mad hatter with its surrealist but sumptuous designs and shapes. My favourites are definitely the candles which make the prettiest centrepieces for any dressing table or mantle. Having one piece in your home adds the perfect amount of whimsy and wonder, transporting you from daily monotony to a colourful fantasy escape.

All images and items can be found on Fornasetti's official website

NEW DISCOVERIES : Home Union NYC

1960's Robert Sonneman 'lollipop' table lamp here. Really unique and beautiful ornamental lighting floats my boat 

Beyond cool ' totem ' candles here. I love the colour ways and the fact they look like salt and pepper shakers 

I'm one of those people who are always hankering after something ' better '... It gives off an impression of perfectionism and not always seeing the greatness of what one does have ( guilty... ) but when I see great shops like Home union here, it really does reiterate this belief that the grass is always greener on the other side.

It's quite literally the other side too with the shop being located in Brooklyn, New York City. Founded by Meghan Lavery and Daniel King who both hail from design and fashion backgrounds, they now offer some of the best " Where did you get that!? " pieces around in their stunning shop.  I came across them on Instagram and have fell in love with their taste and vision. Some of my favourites ( which unfortunately are no longer on the website ) include lucite side tables and their past lighting pieces.

Beautiful blue velvet Mid century day bed here. The cylinder cushion really gives this piece its special touch 

1970's Vladimir Kagan Lucite ' Barrel ' Chair here 

I've absolutely fallen in love with Lucite furniture for its futuristic, modern styled apartment vibe. My dream would be to have two lucite side tables dressed up with beautiful little boxes and candles as my night stands. They're just super versatile and are gorgeous to look at.

1960's Selig Green Velvet Sofa here

Although being a piece from the 60's, this couch is actually quite modern looking as if it was made only a couple of years ago. I love green as an accent colour for interiors as well as clothing and fashion. I find it's quite suitable for a lot of different hair colours and skin tones and instantly brightens up the face ( or room for that matter! ). I'd keep things super neutral for this green gem with some beige and tonal cushions with minimal to no colour.

Vintage pink velvet waterfall benches here. Pink velvet is really having a huge moment trend wise. It all stems from the Sketch London restaurant, in my opinion. 

Mid Century Chrome Mushroom floor lamp here. Of course it wouldn't be a PFF post without some kind of metallic chrome lighting

Home Union's instagram is beautiful and you can tell they put a lot of work into their store. I suggest giving them a follow if you're into what you've seen in this post. Eclectic but also understated, two very coveted vibes to get right.

PS. My latest piece about a Modernist home with height to boot is here at Estliving, the interior design website that I write and intern for.

369 Hooper Street, Brooklyn, NY
( 347 ) 987-4899

DESIGNER DIARY : JACQUES GRANGE

Original Photo posted here : Grange's apartment is shown here with the mountains of books and magazines on his table. I love this kind of mess. It's the kind of mess that is seen in all types of creative people's homes. This photo was pulled from an article written about Grange's auctioning off of his Art collection published by the NY times. Well worth a visit for their beautiful photos 

Original Photo posted here : I love the colour scheme here. Metallics and beiges mix together to create a very elegant and graceful atmosphere

I know I say this every week but I really LOVE this weeks designer. If there's one designer that can succinctly capture what this entire blog's decorating aesthetic is about, it's got to be Grange. I've already posted his work on Instagram about four or five times unknowingly, until things lined up together and I got a name and boy am I glad I got a name. Grange is all about old world glamour. All that kind of stuff that we're afraid to do for fear of looking too bold or ostentatious.

" It's all about Instinct. The rule is that there is no rules "source

The kind of grandness that he casually conjures comes instinctively. His interiors follow no rules or conventions. They are not outcomes of a plan or of a strict check list. When rooms come together in this way, the energy is different. The intuitive, effortless thing comes into play ( which you know I love but also have things to say about here ) He is a collector and an appreciator of beauty which I guess you can generalise to all designers but for Grange, it's his choice of objects which really spell this out to us. The kinds of things he chooses to display in his home make a large part of our impression of him.

Original Photo posted here : Gorgeous, gorgeous! Colourful pops of colour mixed with sentimental framed photos and ( one of my favourite items to see ) cups full of pencils, pens and stationery

Photo originally posted here : Excellent colour choice again. I'll never get sick of beige interiors with good choices of colour to bring it all alive. Stacked books, a mix of items on the table - Grange understands how to do the kind of messy we 'try' so hard to attain

Original photo posted here 

Grange's career reads more like a phone book of legends. Having worked with names such as Paloma Picasso, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Sofia Coppola and The Olsen twins just to scratch the surface, it really does seem like he never began from the bottom but has been at the top since the beginning. How many other interior decorators can boast that their very first on the job experience was working on the restoration of The Petit Trianon? His career is really one that only comes once in a while and what a true legacy he has. 

Sometimes I compare French and Italian decorating and find many similarities. Grange is skirting the line between the two, in my opinion. He doesn't hold back in the colour, lush objects and flamboyancy which gives him a very Italian flair. But his allegiance to classicism and love of modern things makes him quite French too. 

Original Photo here

Original Photo here

Original photo posted here

There is so much going on in this living room and that's why I love it. But to be able to do it with balance and symmetry is important and Grange knowingly has a firm hand on all his textures and colours here. Grange gives us a show. He gives us joy and movement and excitement through his work and he makes rooms really come alive. There is novelty in his rooms and that's why they're such a joy to look at. I love the taxidermy on the shelf above the books and the big bouquet of flowers in the vase behind the velvet couch. So many things popping out of their shells in the best way possible.

Original photo posted here : A hotel room in Paris decorated by Grange. He really loves good chairs and sofas, I've noticed. Even when he's showing more restraint you can still tell that its his work 

Original Photo posted here

What I've noticed in all industries and fields is a snubbery of fun. As people get higher in their fields, they become more conservative and dismissive of people who like to experiment or to just have fun. 

However, it's interesting to note that having novelty items such as this bird bed actually shows that someone is established in their field, where the lifestyle that's needed to create fantasy and escapism is well and truly theirs. Real wealth is being able to do this. Having the resources to make daily life, sometimes so boring, grey and mundane into something vibrant, young and joyful for everyday. 

Original photo posted here

Original photo posted here

Original photo posted here

When you look at how his rooms are assembled, you feel as if all of it has come together in his mind by the inspiration of one colour or one object. By that one instigating force, an entire world spins together.

" He makes it seem easy to get things right, It isn't easy. It is a real talent " Joe Donnelly, Art Collector source 

He's intuitive in his way of working and that's really exciting to me because I understand that way of working the best. I've always tried to make 'plans' and 'strategies' but inevitably fail hard at them. I hate that restrictive way of working. You find one item and from that one item will come a slew of colours, installations, furniture shapes etc. That's really eclectic decorating, being intuitive like that and I love how Grange is proving to us that not having a plan can work to our favour if we're confident. 

Photo originally posted here 

For some designers, it's really all about the structural and dimensional elements of the room but for Grange, it's about decorating. For me, I love grand interiors like his but feel apprehension in allowing myself to be this grandiose. This is why I love Europe. You are allowed ( and almost expected to in certain countries and regions ) to be bold, colourful and proud of your choices. Where I'm from, there is a lot more emphasis on casual and laid back style and to have your home in Grange's style might incite a lot of, "Woah, that's pretty intense" reactions. 

Original photo posted here : Even when there are only a few items on display, his never ending love of colour and texture make the space his

Original photo posted here : BRILLIANT! That table and the red accents everywhere look incredible in this white room 

Original Photo posted here : I'd love to be able to be brave enough to have super luxe finishings like that painting in the gold frame as well as the chandelier here. But the modest part of me just wins every time. 

Original photo found via Pinterest here

All in all, Grange's work is the kind of style that I truly define as amazing. As always, it's almost impossible to justify why as with all things visual that captivate and move us, but it's all to do with his love of joy, colour and movement. His appreciation for what's fine and authentic gives his work an extra boost of credibility and gusto.

It's enjoyable for me to see people with his kinds of lavish taste do it in a way that isn't ostentatious or obnoxious as can be the case quite often. It's this precise point which allays me from experimenting it in my own space. As always, what comes naturally and what is natural for ourselves is what looks the best. How true is this for Grange!

Original Photo posted here : Great vase selection here. Good colours and for the amount of gold that he's using, it's not coming across as crude or obnoxious in anyway. Expert indeed! 

All photography rights belong to that of the original publishers. Photography credit is always provided if known

FRIDAY BOOK STACK : The Decorating Book, New Paris Style, Defining Luxury, The World Of Interiors and Apartamento

I love those old school Mick Jagger by Andy Warhol prints and the sparkle of the glasses here

This room can translate easily into the modern day. I love the Persian poufs in the corner and also the slight touch of colour that's offered by the table book 

Greenery has the power to make ANY room more lively and fresh. The brightness of this room just serves to make the plants pop even more as well as providing a good environment for the plants to flourish too 

This area is ideal for relaxing and chilling out

I checked out my uni library which has the biggest selection of Art and Design books ever. I was pleased to have found The Decorating book and New Paris Style there

The second week of uni is officially over and I can genuinely say that learning about Marketing has changed the entire way I see the world. Like everybody, I interact and consume many media brands but have never paused to think about the depth of those brands and the way they work. Magazines are just as branded as Vegemite or Spam ham. After all, both generate profit and spend profit to make profit. Learning about marketing is also helping me run P.F.F and seeing it through a marketing lens. I know I'm delivering a product in a way and I know that that product has to be marketed too. 

I bought two new magazines this week. The World Of Interiors, which is now my number one favourite interiors magazine and Apartamento, which comes close to being number one. I really adore Apartamento because they manage to find such obscure homes that are decorated in such unique and unforgettable ways. I have no idea how they manage to find some of the places that they feature and that's one of the reasons why it's so successful, in my opinion. 

Sometimes I look at these old 70's  interiors and wonder if they were real. Did people actually use this space as a bona fide office? Or was this something more or less staged simply to be photographed and used as an example of good decor? 

Shelfie! 

This dining table set is amazing. Loving the acrylic, white vibes and the Panton-esque pendant light. It's Space age barbie home to a tee

The decorating book was like an expandable dossier of decorating and homewares. The number of different colours, textures, shapes, sizes and periods of different furniture and furnishings in each section was huge. The kitchen and living room section was particularly impressive with cupboards, beds and wall texture designs in the dozens. Their patterns and textiles section was incredible. Think there's only one weave of carpet? Think again... The spaces in which we inhabit are our arena to play god and when offered so much, there really is no excuse to not tailor it all to exact tastes.

I love the eclecticism here. There's an allegiance to classic furnishings such as flowers and a muted couch, but then there's the unabashed lashing of personality and character in the art, materials and choice of shapes. 5/5 in Eclecticism  

Parisian apartment layouts are up high on my list of interior favourites. The ornate, old world detailing, the fire places that come with every apartment ( or so it seems ), the floor boards and panelings on the wall... On top of that, I also feel like lots of Parisian decorators are naturally eclectic. In the array of movies, documentaries and photographs I've seen of French apartments, the decor has been a true mish mash of old and new, high and low. Another reason why I am so drawn to that city, their vibes really match my own.

These interiors in New Paris Style were my picks of the best. 

I absolutely love this steel table and chairs set. It gives such a casual and practical vibe to this kitchen. Nothing fancy or precious, up and go done and dusted. I love that. I recall my last air bnb in paris having the exact same set and it looked terrific

Why did I choose this? Yep, that's right for the silver globe lighting

Stunning example of easy and unfussy living. Height, White and Light - my three favourite elements 

The dimensions is what gives this room its flair and personality. My favourite? The silver stairs that are both ornamental yet functional ( OK almost functional, the steps look pretty small ) 

A shot from another persepctive of the apartment above

Flamboyant, proud and bold. This is a textural lovers dream! Every corner shows off something new 

What is it about plaid that is so American? 

I like lamps because they give designers a lot of leeway in being out there with their ideas. The wide, bulbous shape of this lamp is what gives it its edge 

The London Sketch Club as featured in The World Of Interiors Sept, 2017 

Well organised and to the point : The shop, studio and home of Frank Leder

I don't know about you, but the idea of using a table as a place to display things is new to me. I always associate tables as a place to sit down and write so using it as a display tool was different for me. I like how the owner is mixing Child like art with museum like objects in this room

Retro rooms in Apartamento 

I've always loved Apartamento for never shying away from colour, they know how to use it and to choose what things to take photos of. Plus their covers are stellar! 

The room of Queer Icon " Flawless Sabrina " 

Design legend Alessandro Mendini - A key contributor to the Memphis Design movement 

Antoni Miralda's Colour Supernova

Antoni Miralda's kitchen 

The discreet and elegant kitchen of Christopher Nying, co-founder of ' Our Legacy ' one of Europe's most successful menswear labels 

This weekend is a weekend of work. I've got notes and readings to do for my marketing course and also I have a shop visit planned for P.F.F. On top of that, I really need to catch up on my journalling because that's been severely neglected ever since my life became hectically busy. Thanks for visiting and please come back again next week for more. Thanks to those who've reached out and talked to me on Instagram too. Your support is so amazing.


Publications Featured :

The Decorating Book here
New Paris style here
Defining luxury here 
The World of Interiors here
Apartamento here