Minimal room screens for your home

The days folding room screens were just a necessary or functional solution are way behind us! Originally found in China in the 7th century they were mainly used by royalty, very heavy and ornate, and were not moved around. In the 8th century, the Japanese began using lighter, more portable room dividers for tea ceremonies, religious events and outdoor processions.

European travellers developed their own version of Asian screen dividers using wood, leather, silk, mirrors and decoupage. Folding room dividers are still used to offer privacy but also found their way into our homes in a more decorative form. Loving Japanese minimalism the minimal screens with only a few beautiful details are what I love most, two screens that caught my eye! 

AKI Paravent

This unique object is entirely made to measure. A collectible design piece made entirely by hand and made to measure by textile designer Nathalie van der Massen and interior architect Charlotte Vlerick. The handwoven textile panels are made of an intricate linen, rubber and silk blend; while the frame is made from solid walnut, bent to exact precision. Perfect for your bedroom or living space or as a standalone eye-catcher.

In Amsterdam the screen is available upon request via The loft Every once in a while The Loft open the doors of The Loft for their Artist in Residence series were the design-duo from Antwerp showed and were interviewed about the the AKI paravent.

SL Screen by Surrounding Objects

Surrounding Objects created SL Screen, previously shown at Stockholm Furniture Fair (Greenhouse) 2020. Natural rattan screens were handwoven by master weavers in Indonesia over wooden frames produce in Surrounding Objects' workshop. 

The patterns rendered in natural fibers are a nod to the

Stockholm Exhibition of 1930 where Sigurd Lewerentz created simple geometric wallpapers to be shown in ‘single-family houses’. The screen acts as a room divider and dressing wall with simple hooks.  
More information at Surrounding Objects

Daybed by Included Middle at the home of Catrine Svellingen

Made from solid German Douglas Pine from Dinesen, the Reykjavik daybed from Skagerak Denmark is one of the latest design pieces by Included Middle. Furniture designer Chris L. Halstrøm and textile designer Margrethe Odgaard formed 'Included Middle' in 2014 and an important aspect of their working process is an interest in the interactions of form, colours and patterns. Coming from separate professional areas, it is their dogma that both areas should be present in their products. Form, function, pattern and colours affect each other mutually.

I came across the daybed while looking at My kind of Styling the new blog of Catrine Svellingen, a interior stylist and content creator based in Bergen, who works in the same range as Wen and I with our project w/ Style. Talking about w/ Style, we sadly had to postpone our shoot that was plannend last week, and will get back on track as soon as it is safe to travel again. Blog and Social Media collaborations luckily are not affected by the common 'new', and to be honest most important is we all come safe through this period in time.

Reykjavik daybed from Skagerak Denmark is inspired by the colours and distinctive architecture on Iceland. Pictures in this post are made by Catrine who is the lucky owner of one of the beautiful daybeds.

Pictures // Catrine Svellingen

Republiek Bloemendaal | Wabi Sabi style at the beach

Hard times for many of us these days, including horeca... Just openend and due the pandemic forced to close within a few weeks till allowed to open again is the beautiful new 'Republiek' located right at the beach in Bloemendaal. From the opening a few weeks ago I have seen incredible images of Republiek Beach club designed by Anne Claus Interiors 

In the Netherlands we have a long coastline and from Zandvoort to Bloemendaal you will find different Beach Clubs on the beach, all with their own and different atmosphere. They vary from chic to bohemian hippie style, and I guess this might be my new favourite for the summer. Nenad who I follow on Instagram sent me a few pictures he made with his mobile to give you an impression of the atmosphere and design.

I am particularly interested in the fireplace pictures, where a huge piece of stone is used and I am determined to add a non toxic fake fireplace to my own home before the next winter, unfortunately no options for a real fire in my home. 

Pedestal tables by Vilde Hagelund

With many people supporting small designers at the moment due the pandemic, I came across the 'Free ads with love'  Lotta Agaton posted and re-discovered the beautiful work of Vilde Hagelund, a 27-year-old Oslo based furniture designer and her work, especially the Pedestal tables caught my eye and I love to show you a few images made by Vilde and at Kollekted by in Oslo.

Pedestal consist of geometric solid wood parts made by machine. A hand-carved texture is added on the surface, for a tactile experience, enhancing the material agency and the value of craft. In a way, they can be seen as a representation of how machine and hand can coexist to make rare products in a world with overconsumption and mass production.

Remissus tray
Remissus is inspired by the water drop and its unpredictability in the contour. The various shapes leave traces of the asymmetrical shape and movements of the hand. The organic design language represents a sensitivity to the wood (birch) and the aesthetic function of the hands. 

By using unknown contours, proportions that the hand can relate to and a smooth surface, the goal is to invite the user to interact and touch the products. Carved from a single piece of wood, the trays have the potential for longevity and possibly an attractive surface patina made over time.

Pictures Vilde Hagelund // First 3 pictures by Helene Bye

Hakudo cork diffuser | Aoiro Design X Studio Corkinho

On my Instagram I showed you the wonderful gift I got from Aoiro some time ago, I treasure little gifts like these and burn the candle the slowest possible to let it last longer. In my opinion a nice home perfume can have a healing effect for the soul and mind and especially these days when we all stay at home a lot and feel a bit insecure I love to use beautiful scents.

It is always beautiful to see new brands I have on my radar like Studio Corkhino with who I was talking about visiting them and how to collaborate, connect with long time favourites of mine. For me a confirmation we are a match and have the same aesthetics. Aoiro now, together with Studio Corkinho, introduce a contemporary purifying ritual.

Hakudo cork diffuser
Aioro: "Inspired by the atmosphere of a spirited Japanese island after rainfall Aoiro's Hakudo rain scent enables us to experience the sensation of air being charged with the spirit of rain. Smooth earthiness and dark, powerful greens are highlighting the quality of humidity as a main profile. Combined with airy notes of leafy and resinous essences, the scent slowly draws a vivid scenery with three - dimensional depth and creates a captivating air that rejuvenates the mind and spirit"


Stillness and Mindfulness
Studio Corkinho completes the ceremony set with nine cubic cork sculptures. Exploring the unique and raw, organic surfaces of burnt cork, each object offers a diffusion ground, on which the Hakudo rain botanical essence can be dripped, spread around the space or kept together to intensify the energy of the scent. The set brings a personal ritual into our private spaces. sensory experience that stimulates and harmonises our presence, offering Stillness and Mindfulness. // txt Aoiro

Pictures via Aoiri design // © Piet-Albert Goethals

New colours and accessories for the String shelving system

With the Salone del Mobile postponed to June and skipping Stockholm Designweek, I am really happy I had the opportunity to spent a few days at imm Cologne. Imm is an international fair and many of my favourite Scandinavian brands are always present in Cologne to show their new collections. The stand by Swedish brand String is always a must see for the beautiful styled shelving and products. Despite Lotta Agaton's recognizable styling for String, she always surprises the public with her outstanding styling tricks making the stand of String shelving and furniture one of the best in their niche.

I think a lot about different storage solutions lately, finalising my kitchen I can finally add everything back in and rearrange some things! The actual countertop is not really big and even though I love to keep things out of sight, I do love to expose a few of my most treasured ceramics. No wonder I payed more attention to all the new features and colours String added to their collection that would fit my own kitchen. I especially loved the 30cm deep wall panel, offering lots of storage space but still airy.  

This year’s Furniture Fair in Cologne was all about refining existing products according to String Furniture. Sometimes a design principle is so good that the options to expand the existing series are endless, and if you already own a String Shelving or see yourself as a future buyer you will love the new colours and additions to the existing shelving. Let me show you some of the novelties! 

Warm Browns and Beige

Last year the colour 'beige' was introduced to the shelving system. This year String will offer all parts of the shelving system in last year's introduced colour. Other exciting news, the classic String System will also welcome a new colour to its panels; a warm brown tone that complements the existing shelf colours. Now this is something I loved to see myself as the brown colour harmonized perfectly with shelves in oak and walnut – a particularly exclusive combination with a chic and warm touch. I can't get enough of all the different brown tones as the all perfectly match my new kitchen.

Accessories
New accessories offer smart solutions for customizing your String System I can easily see the magazine holder in the kitchen with my favourite cookbook!

Galvanized steel hooks are an addition to the outdoor assortment, that was introduced last year, and they can easily be attached to the perforated galvanized shelves for more storing space. Another new addition to the accessories assortment and especially for the kitchen is the knife holder, made from solid untreated oak it is easily attached to one of the panels of your String.

 

New String Pocket in metal
Originally designed by Nisse Strinning the Swedish designer duo Anna von Schewen and Björn Dahlström designed a new version in entirely metal. It comes in three colours and despite being Dutch, a bright neon orange is one of the new options! my favourite would be the subtile taupe and classic white.  

Pictures © String // In collaboration with Mister Design 

A wooden kitchen for my home and a new Reform Showroom

I only once or maybe twice visited the huge Reform showroom in Copenhagen, enough though to fall in love with the brand and their IKEA hacks! When Cosentino recently asked me to collaborate with them, I knew the time had come to change it all and finally get my self the fronts I dreamed of ever since I saw the kitchen at the showroom and later at the Kinfolk gallery in Copenhagen. I therefor worked with Ikea cabinets and Werkbladafzuiging and brought everything together with my friend at Studio AnoukB

Some time ago I wrote a shopping guide for a minimalistic and multifunctional home and explained how we choose more consciously what stays and what goes and how with the boundaries between living room, kitchen and bedroom fading away, multifunctional pieces fits in perfectly! With a more flexible way of using the spaces in our home, the kitchen is becoming more and more an extension off our living and therefore looking maybe a bit less as the kitchen we used to know.

As my own kitchen is quite big I use the space a lot, I got a nice table and often work from there and when I have people coming over we are always in the kitchen. Wooden fronts are a great way to give your kitchen a more cozy and homey feeling and for my own home it certainly helped. Of course there are many homes with a smaller kitchen space where a white kitchen looks awesome, but speaking for myself I am glad I have decided to choose the 'Surface' by Norm Architects for Reform. I hope to show you some images soon of my own kitchen, the image above is from a previous blogpost, see here Brutalist Silence

Reform also has different showrooms located in New York, Berlin, Aarhus, and Cologne and if you are ever near one of them I would recommend you to visit and see all possibilities with your own eyes. The newly renovated Copenhagen showroom is housed in an old industrial building, and recently expanded and now measures 500 square meters. 

With a roomy interior with a particular emphasis on using space to create an uncluttered, calm, and inspirational atmosphere, Reform wants you to explore the kitchen designs without distractions. Supported by carefully curated sound, the right atmosphere is created to let you explore the different designs. 

With sizeable windows that fill the room with Scandinavian light, the showroom is equipped with a moderate amount of artificial lighting. Large, tactile Kvadrat curtains in white plunge from the ceiling and provide the possibility of sectioning off certain areas for shows and events. Placed in selected unimposing locations throughout the space, big trees and plants play an important role in inviting nature into the showroom. 

pictures Reform // first and last picture Surface kitchen by Ana Santi 

Beautiful carpets by Cappelen Dimyr

Cappelen Dimyr is a creative collective based in Copenhagen and Stockholm. Passionate about creating contemporary artisanal rugs in the finest natural wool they designed two different rugs that recently were presented during Stockholm Designweek. Another great collective I discovered through Instagram

The Cappelen Dimyr rugs are designed in Scandinavia and made by hand through traditional techniques by artisans in India. Only unbleached wool that has a minimal harmful impact on the environment is used and factories are certified by Good Weave Certification and The certification of Care & Fair. Visit their website for more information about these rugs. 

Pictures Mike karlsson Lundgren // Cappelen Dimyr website