Real Life Interior: Copenhagen
Photographer: Tia Borg Smidt
COPENHAGEN-BASED DESIGNERS Tobias and Hanne Scheel Mikkelsen are parents to a graphics and interior design business, What We Do, their daughter, Silke, and a whole lot of talent.
This is put to good use in projects such as corporate identity, a brand new range of wallstickers for kids with Illux, (click on the ‘kids’ section) and their own home, featured below.
Tobias and Hanne’s home is a departure from typical ideas of Danish design. “We’re big fans of the functionality and coolness of Scandinavian design,” says Tobias, “but we also like to play with colours and patterns to avoid a too ‘cold and designed’ look. Too many Scandinavian design-classics and subtle colors are (though they look great on photos) just not our personal style. We like a tight style with colourful and eye-opening surprises! - that pretty much sums up why our apartment looks like this.” Read the rest of this article
Posted 26 July 2010 in Real Life Interiors
TOP SHOP: Custard
CUSTARD. WONDERFULLY EVOCATIVE WORD. Unbeatable dessert for kids (and adults). Iconic cartoon cat of the 1970s. Great new online clothes and accessories boutique for children.
Custard is the brainchild of Charlie Bailey and Tracey Beard, mothers to Jessica 6, Emelia, 3 (Charlie), Dexter 6, and Perdy, 2 (Tracey) who were driven by their desire to dress their children as individuals and not like every other child they spotted at their local playground.
They have succeeded. What we love about Custard is not just that it makes us feel hungry for pudding, nor the incredibly cute graphics on the opening page, nor just the clear layout of the clothing / accessories, where you can buy from Summer or Winter selections (which is great for those of us who like to Read the rest of this article
Posted 13 June 2010 in Shop Watch
REAL LIFE BARCELONA: Lola’s Room
LOLA’S ROOM in Barcelona is a reflection of her mother’s love of print, textiles and travel.
Airí Ferrer was working in women’s clothing and accessories until she had Lola, now 20 months, and started making clothes for her. After a little while she was inspired enough to launch the super-cute line Lola For Kids - full of pretty textiles but also beautiful decorative onesies.
Now Lola’s room is scattered with pillows and patchwork quilts made from Airí’s collection of Lola For Kids textiles, as well as clothes from the latest collections, the newest of which (Autumn/Winter 2010) is inspired by traditional English country looks. Add to these the result of Airí’s inspirations including the fabulous textile-covered donkeys found in Morocco, and the room is an eclectic, intimate room of meaningful details. Does Lola appreciate the Liberty-style prints and animal theme? “Well,” says Airí, of the “very very affectionate” Lola, “she loves to make animal sounds every night before sleeping!” Read the rest of this article
Posted 10 June 2010 in Real Life Interiors
Q&A: Clarissa Hulse, textile designer
SELF-CONFESSED GIRLY GIRL, textile designer Clarissa Hulse, has a problem with Barbie…
41-year-old Brit Clarissa Hulse studied fashion and textiles in Brighton before launching her own accessories and fashion company in the early 1990s. That company has now morphed into her interiors and design business - an arena she feels much more comfortable in than fashion. Here she talks design and motherhood, and why she hates Barbie.
LittleBig: Are any of your products designed with children in mind?
Clarissa: [Laughs] I have to admit, they’re really not. My business was well established before I had children, and they were definitely not designed with children in mind - they’re silks largely produced in India and so I’m sure they would pass no stringent child-safety tests! Having said that I’d love to do a collaboration with someone to design more child-friendly products. Not necessarily interiors but perhaps a book - my daughter has several with such beautiful illustrations, but sometimes the stories are so awful - they have to be fun to read when you’re doing them hundreds of times!
Posted 8 May 2010 in Designer Profiles
TOP SHOP: Shak-Shuka
SOMETHING WEIRD has happened in the world of online children’s boutiques in the last 18 months. All of a sudden there’s a lot of repetition and a whole load of same label brands.
So, it’s genuinely refreshing to come across the Netherlands-based Shak-Shuka - and not just for its eco credentials (everything in the boutique is environmentally-friendly). The e-shop is full of a whole load of brands, decor objects, genuinely covetable and useable toys and organic clothes and jewellery (for kids and mammas) you seldom see elsewhere - many we’ve never even heard of before.
Owner Joslyn Oppenheimer has searched globally to find the likes of English Muffin prints, Think Baby bottles, Read the rest of this article
Posted 3 May 2010 in Shop Watch
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