The Circle | Objects by Elisa Ossino for Officine Saffi

"The Circle" is a collection of objects by Elisa Ossino for Officine Saffi."The Circle" takes her quest for abstraction in the living space to the next level with the creation of a suspended, lunar dimension in which the space itself becomes a habitable sculpture. Elisa Ossino: "Clays and sands handcrafted with artisan techniques and without an initial mould preserve the formal emotion of a material that seems to petrify into unique pieces: prime numbers forged outside the framework of mass production."

The artist sculpts objects whose naturalness hints at worlds beyond, worlds that we seem to be able to journey through with nothing more than a gaze. The openings in the surfaces of the chairs, table and partition posit the idea of a relationship between lines and curves that echoes the absolute categories of time, direction and light, forming a circle of natural forces encapsulated by the formal archetypes of these enigmatic and meditative creations.

pictures via Officine Saffi

Top 3 Design lamps by Danish LE KLINT | Selected by vosgesparis

With a new countertop and most of the kitchen finished, my next focal point is the lighting at my home. I think a beautiful lamp really finishes off a space, just like curtains, which will be my next project! After years it was time to replace the common hardware store lamps and a few others that I was tired of. I already have several new ones, or updated old favourites and some others are on their way. My last purchase which I showed in this post, was love at first sight at imm Cologne earlier this year.

Fairs are amazing to get to know new brands or see new products up close and I am so happy to work with imm Cologne every year. At imm I also saw the products of Danish brand Le Klint for the first time in real life and made a few images and a movie for Instagram. 

LE KLINT is synonymous with folded iconic lampshades,  their story dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when a hand pleated lamp shade was folded to fit a paraffin lamp both designed by architect and master of engineering P.V. Jensen-Klint. Le Klint has been developing lamps in cooperation with architects and designers who have great respect for craftsmanship and their traditions.

The company maintained the original concept, the hand folded iconic shades take years of learning specific techniques, completing a qualifying process and mastering many different pleating forms, before one is inducted, as part of the skilled team of Pleating Technicians. Together with metal workers and wood workers the in-house design Studio of Klint developed a range of different and trendy contemporary lamps. 

I selected a few of my favourites from the collection, for even more inspiration have a look at this Design Lighting to find beautiful lamps for your home.

Cylinder by Klint Design Team
Pictured at the beginning of the post two out of three Cylinder hang lamps. Above the 'Cylinder table lamp', minimalistic with an industrial and modern touch. In my opinion it also has a Japanese feeling I really love and makes this lamp probably my favourite from the collection designed by Klint Design Team. Made of and-pleated plastic film fitted to black stained oak with steel details. 

ARCDesign by Manér Studio
Kolding Design School graduates Nanna Neergaard and Marie Hesseldahl joined forces as Manér Studio and has created a brand new design concept in lighting. The LE KLINT ARC collection, consisting a table lamp, floor lamp, hanging lamp and wall lamp. Inspired by the shape of the high arches in the Grundtvigs Church in Copenhagen created by architect and designer P.V. Jensen-Klint and later completed by his son Kaare Klint. 

Pictured below the ARC table lamp. The elegant urban chic lamp is covered with a veneer oak edge that is optionally black-coloured or has a natural finish. The hood is on a small wooden base in the same color. The steel back of the hood is black or champagne coloured, depending on the variant.  

Pliverre by Christian Troels

The longer I look at the different collection the harder it is to choose the last in my selection of favourite lamps by LE KLINT. I chose however the Pliverre because it is made out of milk glass making it unique within the LE KLINT collection. 

What I love even more and what caught my eye is the small brass connection between the hood and the cord. A stylish cord adjuster is included as standard which allows you to easily adjust the height of the lamp. Available in different variations from a single pendent to a chandelier with several glass shades. 

In collaboration with Mister Design

Minimal design at home | Philips TV x Bowers & Wilkins

On Instagram I already gave you a sneak peek of the bench I made the other week, I guess you loved it as much as I do, because I received lots of messages asking if I would share how to make one too. What I didn't tell was that I made the bench especially for an upcoming collaboration with Philips Television. Philips TV recently launched two OLED+ models in collaboration with legendary British audio company Bowers & Wilkins, the Philips TV OLED+934 and OLED+984.

The custom made bench perfectly fit the new Philips TV OLED+934 and its beautiful minimal design. Minimal design really is a must for me, and although I love a few shiny details, I prefer my electronics to be stylish and preferably black. The Philips TV OLED+934 is a high end, thin model that offers best picture quality and Dolby Atmos sound through a separate Bowers & Wilkins speaker enclosure and finished with Kvadrat fabric, that combines with a minimalist metal angled arm to act as the set’s table top stand.

For me, minimal living and the house I create for myself is mainly an uncluttered home. Items I never use or think I may need one day are mostly sold or given away. I treasure the few accessories, my memories and the necessary furniture pieces. I've been writing for years, and long before Marie Kondo became really popular, to only surround yourself with the things you really love and this certainly doesn't mean living without any luxury or a television.

I really love having a television at home next to the devices I daily use. In my eyes nothing can beat a real television during an evening of binge watching. With this Philips television that features the latest technical specifications in picture quality performance, bringing better sharpness, more accurate colours and skin tones and better contrast to all sources ánd the great sound, I am all ready for a holiday at home this year.

Writing this blog for almost 13 years and absorbing everything that has to do with interior and design on a daily base, I still love watching interior design programs on television. Travel and cooking documentaries are a favourite too, and the colours are fantastic on this new television.

Philips Ambilight brings extra atmosphere. Below some examples where I switched on both red and blue. Changing the color with the video is also an option, you can see an example of this in my Instagram stories. Already winner of the EISA Best Home Theatre TV 2019 award, both OLED+ models are available from last September 2019. More specifications and all the new features can be found here

Written in collaboration with Philips Television

Architectural basin solutions by antoniolupi design

Before continuing to discover the world of antoniolupi, I would like to show some more architectural basin solutions made available to architects and designers, where the sink disappears into space, leaving the role of protagonist to water and other natural elements.

antoniolupi’s research on the theme of solutions integrated into the surfaces that define an environment began many years ago and can now count on a complete range of products made available to architects and designers, to interpret the formal needs of contemporary and functional minimalism.

In my previous post I already wrote about the different built in shower-head solutions: Beautiful metal finishes and built-in shower-head design. antonilupi not only uses the ceiling in his design, also the wall becomes an element of design, where sinks are integrated and only show the part you really need.

Invisible Sinks
No wonder architects and designers love the different solutions antoniolupi offer to integrate sinks in their design projects. Walls no longer are a structural element only but became part of the actual bathroom design. 

Today I love to highlight, four sinks that are beautiful integrated to the wall and designed in collaboration with well known designer Domenico De Palo. ‘Strappo’ (2011), ‘Silenzio’(2012), Soffio (2013), and ‘Calice’ (2017) together with Mario Ferrarini. More images and detailed information about all sinks can also be found at the website of antoniolupi: Sinks 

STRAPPO designed by Domenico de Palo
'Strappo' washbasin is the result of the production capacity of the brand antoniolupi with the creativity of Domenico de Palo. Domenico de Palo’s designer label is unmistakable in this creation, a washbasin that is able to merge with the surface where installed. As De Palo says: “I wanted to design a washbasin that seems to tear a strip of the wall, to give life to a new concept of living in the bathroom”.

Silenzio

A year after ‘Strappo’ Domenico de Palo and antoniolupi developed ‘Silenzio’, a washbasin with an even greater design-content than before. The unmistakable signature of Domenico de Palo is even more evident in this washbasin which is able to blend into the surface onto which it is installed.

Realized in Corin the washbasin appears to come out of the wall, giving it a life and shape. It can be painted just like the rest of the wall, making it disappear into the wall. Silenzio can be described as a “nude” washbasin to be dressed in clothing that can be changed and updated with different finishes. 

Soffio
The voice of ‘Silenzio’ (Silence) plus the sound of a ‘Strappo’ (Tear) gives inspiration to ‘Soffio’ (Breath) It’s as if a gust of wind, caressing the wall, had taken away a piece of the wall itself, integrated perfectly into the wall to display only the part you really need.

‘Soffio’ is made of Corian, after its installation it is plastered and whitewashed then finished with paint like the rest of the wall and disappears within it. The bowl and the light elements are suggestive. The LED lighting is internally integrated with a blue and white light, the frame has a total width of 72 cm. In my Pinterest album you can see some more colours... I couldn't stop myself though from showing the pink version here!

Calice - between organic and architectural design
After Strappo, Silenzio and Soffio research continues for antoniolupi on the theme of integration between sink and wall, on the ability to give continuity to the vertical surface in order to describe a basin that welcomes water in a fluid and enveloping space.

With Calice, the traditional sink is developed with elegance and formal cleansing for another exciting collection. An explicit reference to a classical image reinterpreted through a contemporary material to give absolute continuity to the surface. Designed by Mario Ferrarini and Domenico De Palo. 

More images can be found in my antoniolupi guestboard on Pinterest

Other posts about antoniolupi design on the blog:

Antoniolupi design | Cristalmood bringing colour and character to the bathroom

Beautiful metal finishes and built-in shower-head design

Written in collaboration with antoniolupi

A new kitchen with Dekton by Cosentino and Reform Copenhagen | w/ Style shoot

Some time ago I wrote about my kitchen remake and visiting Cosentino, and you might remember how after looking into the many options, I choose a beautiful countertop from the Dekton 'Natural series' I wrote a long blog about it here: A kitchen remake with Cosentino. Countertop 'Keyla' which I chose has an industrial and chic look with elegant white veins. 

It has been finished some months now and I am fully enjoying my new kitchen. For Cosentino we made a few images with w/ Style. I styled the countertop using props from our friends at Serax and Wen came to my home to make the pictures. It's so great to be able to work together again after all the delay and restrictions. 

Working with a Dekton countertop on a daily base is a pleasure I can tell! Previously I could worry about scratches or accidentally placing a hot pan on my countertop... with Dekton I now have a professional countertop that has an excellent resistance to high temperatures and a highly scratch-resistant surface. I love the look of it and how it is only 1,2 cm thick which gives it an elegant appearance. The smooth edges the stoneworker made are almost brown and perfectly fit the wooden kitchen fronts by Reform Copenhagen. 

A new kitchen  
The first kitchen I replaced the original with around ten years ago was an all white kitchen with RVS details, and a imitation wooden countertop. This one is different and of higher quality! A kitchen designed by Norm Architects for Reform which was on my wish list ever since I first saw it in Copenhagen, and I love how it matches with the Cosentino countertop. The brass handles fit so beautiful too. The kitchen is build with Ikea cabinets and Reform offer many different options to customize your kitchen to your own needs and taste.

One of the best appliances is the new Bora Pure, a cooker with built-in extractor hood, I bought at Werkbladafzuiging.nl, a site specialized in cooker solutions with built in extractor hoods. The wall is painted with colour 'Amsterdam' from the new paint collection by Studio AnoukB, to be launched very soon! 

So what's next... A new lamp for the backsplash is coming soon and a new lamp will also be hung above the table. I have a few more ideas for after Summer I will discuss with Anouk of Studio AnoukB, so glad she helped me making some major decisions for the kitchen design so far. In case you would like to read more technical specifications on Dekton by Cosentino, I added those at the end of the post. 

Keyla countertop - Dekton by Cosentino 
Dekton’s Industrial series, were created to pay tribute to the beautiful imperfections of the metals and stone in all their different stages of ageing. Organic processes that are reflected in the richness and complexity of oxidation and the authentic beauty of maturing stone

Dekton can be used both inside as outside and is offered in large-format slabs of varying thicknesses that open up all new kinds of possibilities that you can imagine and had previously been unthinkable. A real plus for the kitchen also is that Dekton has an excellent resistance to high temperatures and a highly scratch-resistant surface. In my previous post there's a video also that explains the concept behind Dekton industrial.

This post is written in collaboration with Cosentino. 

Concept w/ Style, Photography by Wen van Woudenberg, styling Desiree Groenendal, 

Kitchen design Studio AnoukB