New Year Device

Why wait until after the New Year celebration to get started on your calorie counting, resolution inspired diet - http://labstoreparis.com/#&p=products&products=le-whaf has come up with Le Whaf Carafe. A device that will transform your favorite alcoholic beverage into a calorie busting vapor! Reminiscent of another well known vaporizing device - now you will have all your party time tricks covered and your health intact too. Not to mention the exquisite design and it comes with a specially designed vapor-sucking straw too.

Dinner Party Travels

My favorite things come together exquisitely: travel, art, good food, and great style in my latest discovery from my recent trip to Art Basel Miami.

The artists Natsuko Uchino and Matthew Lutz-Kilnoy have come together to create a 400 piece tableware set that travels to exclusive dinner parties across the world. All I could think about is how perfect this set would fit into my new cafe concept. Unfortunately, others have equally fallen for the ware, as several pieces have walked away in the diners pockets. More importantly, presenting art work through a dinner experience has never been so direct and practical before. It would be great to see more of these types of collaborations. This image is courtesy of Pin-Up Magazine

Leather Tuscadero

I am really into textured walls for either a retail space or restaurant space. Considering that leather is such a hot item these days in wallcoverings, I thought this was a great tweek on the materials use. Adding these graphic cutouts or patterns really plays on the light in the room. Leather adds such a warmth into a room as a wallcovering and the graphic nature of the treatment of the material adds a romance to the look.

http://www.genevievebennett.com/#/client/template.xml?aaa=home
There are many more sculpted options to browse on this talented designers site....

Knitting Factory

Wanted to highlight this amazing industrial designer I discovered - Naomi Paul. She specializes in textiles and has created these sculptural pendant lights using waxed (mercerized) cotton. Her design approach is about Sustainability by using recycled and industry surplus product. The expert craftsmanship is evident in the intricacy of the various handwoven pendant lights. I think it would be an ideal focal point for any modern dining room. Please visit her site to view more of her design ideas.

http://naomipaul.co.uk/portfolio/

Fabric Passion

Discovered a new passion with a recent visit to the local Anne Starr Fabrics - Pierre Frey.http://www.pierrefrey.com Rich textures, vibrant colours, luxurious fabrics. If you are looking for perfect colour accents to brighten up your home in this fair, grey city - look no further. I will be sure to pay a visit at my next Paris stopover.

Art Is Practical

http://www.philippemalouin.com/welcome.html I am always one to celebrate the success of a fellow Canadian making it in the International market. No exception here for Industrial Designer, Philipe Malouin. Intriguing ideas, such as this chair that converts into a hanger as a space saver for storage, are just one of many innovative ideas you can find in his repretoire. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for his latest and exciting inventions and designs. All of which have a very distinctive crossover into collector items or just stand alone as art.

Tony Chi Inspirations

I recently had the task of researching the interior design work of Tony Chi. I found his candor, and assurance about his own taste and style inspiring. His subtle palette and use of texture and natural materials are certainly a standout. To see more of his projects visit his site and browse the beautiful gallery of his work. http://www.tonychi.com/main.html

Plant Envy

City life often leaves us far removed from nature and greenery and if you are like me, a house plant is long forgotten too. But a rediscovery of the succulent plant may change all of that. Who can resist the charm of these still and architectural looking plants nesting perfectly in the most modern crockery. You can have a planting of different strains and of course come in the most delicate sizes as well. For more ideas visit Olla Urban Flower Project at http://www.ollaflowers.ca/

Shades of Orange

I never thought there could be the perfect orange until this recent project inspired me - an original 1970's steel-frame chair. This chair desperately needed a reupholster from its original grimy brown tweed fabric and to fit into its new home of a modern office environment with a calm vibe. Normally orange fabrics tends to be too hot or drab but this particular shade drew me in. Not quite a pastel but soft enough to instill calm. Needless to say, the chairs now sit in their well-loved office with their happy owners.

Innovation - Bjarke Ingels

This is a great talk from the Architect Bjarke Ingels. Really gives you an insight into how far ahead Copenhagen is in ecodesign. You can jump ahead to see a glimpse of the pavillion he created for the last World Expo.