Finland to Japan to Canada

On the eve of the nice folks at House & Home posting a gallery of both our houses (take a look here) I thought it would be fun to share the latest addition to the interior - snazzy new pillows. We scored the vintage Finnish Fin-Helen fabric in Tokyo - of all places - at Siige in Nakemeguro, well, truth be told, David actually grabbed it and reminded me how we needed new pillows. The pillow 'need' comes from the fact that Spot the whippet likes to chew (and chew, and chew) pillows, and all the ones we had hanging out on the sofa looked like they'd been through the wars. Thankfully Spot is pretty much past this phase, and for the most part uses any and all pillows as a snoozing aid (right this sec he's asleep with his head buried in a pillow I made out of an Orla Kiely tablecloth). Smart dog.

{giving it} Sukat Makkaralla glassware

{giving it} is all about my take on what makes a good gift. Today I have kitchenware on the brain, since I've been pulling together a look book for a kitchen shoot next week. And that's when I stumbled on Marimekko's latest line of glassware - Sukat Makkaralla. What the what? Yep, the name is kind of a mouthfull, but translate it from Finnish to English and it means "socks with sausage" or - I think this probably conjures up a better visual - "socks rolled down", which is what inspired designer Anu Penttinen to give the colourful glassware its ruched design. Click here to get in touch with Marimekko Vancouver, who'll happily ship just about everywhere. 

guest blog / Samantha Pynn: The juice and the soup

PART ONE - THE JUICE

Oh how exciting, this is my first blog post for my dear sweet friend Arren Williams. I realize this is the Arren Williams' Design Lab, but my post has bubkes to do with design, excepting the good looks and sleek lines of the Breville's ikon Hemisphere Blender and Die-Cast Juice Fountain Elite.

Arren's 'Lab', however, is of the utmost relevance.

I spend a good deal of time chez Casa Arren-Williams-David-Pimentel. Naturally, food and drink play a key role in our relationship. They are both great cooks and David is a master baker. In fact, one day they plan to open a bakery in Portugal. Coincidentally, I plan to have a small juice station in a bakery in Portugal owned by two handsome men, funny that. Do I hear the voice of Arren Williams screaming "stay on topic!"? Oh yes, the lab. So my contribution to our get-togethers is alkaline experimental juices made of organic cucumber, kale, parsley, ginger, lemon and celery (sometimes I treat them by adding a beet to the mix). I used to lug my juicer to their house and yell "surprise! I'm making you healthy tonight!" But now that they have their own juicer, I will only have to bring the veggies. If you're wondering what alkalizing is -- as my mother would say "use the Google" --there's lots to research. But in short, it's about eating a whole lotta raw vegetables.

If you're interested in alkalizing yourself, I highly recommend the book on my nightstand, Alkalize or Die by Dr. Theodore A. Baroody.

 

PART TWO - THE SOUP

Last week, Arren and David participated in my alkalizing broccoli and leek soup experiment. Let's use scientific methodology.

Problem: Arren and David aren't alkaline enough. I want to make a delicious soup that they will want me to make everyday.

Observation: Arren's grimace at the sight of the two giant heads of broccoli suggests he may only want the soup weekly.

Materials and Apparatus: Every bowl, spoon and pot in Arren's rockin' kitchen and Breville's ikon Hemisphere Blender.

Procedure: Wash veg. Lightly steam veg. Put in blender with veg stock. Blend.

Data and Work: I observed that Arren was quite bossy with me in the kitchen, but he did teach me that you must cut leeks down the middle and wash them. I also observed David laughing his head off at the giant pile of dishes, the green puree in my hair, all over my sweater and on the tile (hey, that's what backsplash is for). The soup tasted slightly bland until David fixed it with cumin and some other secret spice (likely butter and sour cream). I ate three bowls. Arren and David ate one.

Analysis: I shall make the soup weekly and they will grow to love it.

Conclusion: Soup is best when shared with friends.

(Click here to check out Samantha Pynn's new web series for HGTV.ca The Switch)

{giving it} Owl table lamp

{giving it} is all about my take on what makes a good gift. I spotted this little chap in West Elm the other day while I was checking in with Alex Bates, West Elm's creative director, hearing all about what'll be in store for Spring and Summer (believe me it's lovely, keep an eye out for more on that front soon). Anyway, back to the Owl table lamp - I think it's super-duper cute and would look completely charming just about anywhere. And I don't know whether I really have to say this, but almost anyone I know would love to get a table lamp for a prezzie.

Hair meets tech

Hmmm, I saw this in the UK at the Conran Shop and was intrigued. It's one of Dyson's latest gizmos, a self-cleaning dog grooming attachment for your vacuum that can tackle long and medium-haired dogs. The Groom Tool is now available online in Canada, so if you've got a 4-legged shedder in the house - though it won't work on our pup Spot since he's short haired - it might be something worth grabbing. Oh, and the video? It's a cute/gross look at why you might need one...

 

{giving it} Breville Dual Disc Juicer Processor

{giving it} is all about my take on what makes a good gift. I have a very good friend (hello SP) who is an absolute health nut and is constantly cajoling me into drinking 'healthy' freshly juiced concoctions involving wheat grass and kale. Yep, I know they might be good for me - oh, all those antioxidants. let alone getting more alkaline - but the taste, well, just lets say it's an acquired thing. So, I was uber-happy to hear that Breville's handsome new Dual Disc juicer can handle all the wheat grass and kale that SP can throw at it, plus it can also do soft fruits like berries and such to create fresh smoothies. Now that's more my cup of tea. Click here for more info.

Tacky gold modern white sparkly graffiti

Hello! Where has the last week gone? Well I finally got back to Toronto from London, and then a couple of days later my suitcase arrived (it was enjoying an extended vacation in Amsterdam). And now I'm back at work, trying not to get too snowed under by shopping for prezzies and writing Christmas cards.

London was definitely fun, and it's always inspiring to check out all the Holiday windows in all the stores. This year they were all over the taste scale, from good lawd that's awful to how fantastic! Here are my faves - First up like start with purposefully tacky and over-the-top at Harvey Nichols. Their windows were awash with tinsel in every colour possible, and this tree, standing outside of the front entrance look crazy/cool and bedraggled all at the same time. Thoughts? At fashion-forward Dover Street Market the windows had a graphic doodled/graffiti vibe, and yep, that's a giant white plaster elephant in the window. Next let's go cool, modern and white at The Conran Shop, who created a white-painted pathway and forest of trees out of wood, and then threw in zillions of mini white ceramic mushrooms to finish it off. At Selfridges (where I worked in my - ahem - younger days), part of the store was filled with massive mirror balls that delicately rose and fell, shooting sparkles everywhere. And finally, just for the sheer fun and wit of it, Mulberry filled one of their Bond Street windows with gold handbag helium balloons and topped it off with a humungous gold bag in the other. It looked fun and fantastic and was literally stopping shoppers in their tracks. [Image #6: Blink London]

 

       

{giving it} Cromwell & Cruthers shave oil

{giving it} is all about my take on what makes a good gift. Since I've been travelling so much we're starting off with an absolute essential - and great little stocking stuffer - Cromwell & Cruthers shave oil. Made of essential oils this little bottle will replace a can of shaving foam in your luggage (always an unwieldy thing to shove in a suitcase) or sit pretty in your medicine cabinet, and it only takes a dime size of oil for a perfectly close shave. Click here to find out where you can get your hands on it.

Stepping out in Tokyo #2

Funnily enough I'm writing this in London right now, stuck here due to weather (oh well, there's way worse places to be stuck!). But let's get back to Tokyo...

Another of the neighbourhoods we totally loved was Shimokitazawa. It seemed worlds away from the buzzy shopping districts like Shibuya, and had a lovely lo-fi charm all its own with - again - tons of fantastic vintage shops, clothing stores and little places selling Japanese crafts and loads of great neighbourhood cafes. I made friends with a local who was hanging outside of a hair salon, and we hit the vintage motherload in a store called Haight & Ashbury which carried a beautifully curated collection and included that completely wacky and craft-tastic huge tree entirely knitted/crocheted of wool in the middle of the store. For more in Shimokitazawa check out BlinkLondon.

Finally, back on the design side of things and back in Shibuya we totally enjoyed a run through a department store called Loft which included a 60 Vision section, a cool collection of re-issued Japanese 1960's designed furniture (that's the Lobby sofa by Karimoku below), accessories and even some rather tasty looking cookies.

 

All on the table

Now December is off and running it's definitely time to start getting into the Holiday spirit, so I thought I'd share a project I recently worked on with one of my fave photographers (and good friend) Angus Fergusson. It's three Holiday tabletops, each with an entirely different feel, and all sourced from the shelves at HomeSense.

Up first is probably the most trad of the lot, it's kind of a twist on candy canes and red and green, though the olive - instead of a boring old Christmas-y green - makes it feel much fresher. Oh, and isn't there something about the chairs that reminds you of wooden sleds? The next one is all about collecting, with a scatter of pitchers, a tea pot and cake plate, and loads of mercury ball decorations in a lovely robin's egg blue. And yes, that's an embroidered blanket on the table, rather than a tablecloth... Finally I thought some glam was in order for a New Year's table, so I grabbed a pair of hi-gloss black foo dogs (whish were too gorgeous to ignore), added in more black and white, then threw in that hit of colour in the picture frames that work perfectly as place markers. Time to pop the champagne!

guest blog / Jenn Hannotte: What's behind door #1?

Arren has been Christmas-ized since July when the magazines do their holiday shoots. Thankfully for the rest of us we don't have to worry about the holidays until about...well...NOW. I've rounded up some out of the ordinary advent calendars to keep the countdown looking cool. 

This trendy pennant look finds its way into the holidays and on to the mantel doing double duty as an advent calendar and taking care of dressing the fireplace. You fill each number with your own treats and can re-use it each year. The second one here is more traditional, but I love it for its patchwork look and shot of turquoise. And for a little irony - if you love these last two you better hurry since they are limited to 50 and the seller says they go quick. For good reason, these gorgeous Amsterdam or Brooklyn streetscapes with a little holiday image behind each door or window will bring a little grin to even the grinchiest of us!

Stepping out in Tokyo #1

A few weeks back I found myself in Tokyo, meeting up with my world travelling other half (you can check out his kid-friendly travel blog here) and my little sister (aka Blink London). Well, it was BRILLIANT, and what an absolute culture shock too. We hit all the sights, shopped ours socks off, and generally wandered around checking out as much as possible. One of the neighbourhoods that we thoroughly enjoyed was Nakameguro, a jumble of streets and alleys filled with a boho mix of fashion and interiors shops, much of them vintage.

Oooh vintage, such a magic word... Anyway, of course we spent the whole day just in this one 'hood and found a slew of cool stuff. Those first three shots are from Hiige which was all about vintage Scandi gear (we scored some great fabric which'll be sewn into cushions soon). Pics 4 and 5 show Hatago International, next door to Hiige, an ultra cool mini shop jammed to the gills with vintage airline paraphenalia. Jantique is next in the pics, and was like hitting a French or Belgian flea market, and then finally Acme Furniture, which was a great mix of vintage industrial gear (lots of it from the US) as well as new pieces. For more, read my sister's fashion-y take on Nakameguro here.

Rainbow rabbits, and other stuff

I have been so behind the 8 ball this week. You know how it is, you come back from vacation and there's a traffic jam of work to wade through. Well, that went out the window yesterday morning as I took time out to check in on the just-opened One of A Kind show.

There was scads of great stuff to see, so here are just a few faves from me. First up, the incredibly sweet felt creatures from Cristina Larsen of Textile Platypus, who makes the felt, hand-dyes it, then stitches each little fellow by hand. Next, Lost Nation had fun with their Humane Antlers as well as these cool carved moustaches. I totally heart all of the hemp and organic linen tea towels from Freshly Printed, their snow-shoe design was a standout for me. Menswear brand Identity stepped out of t-shirts and into these screenprinted wool blanket pillows. More great tea towels, of course from the lovely Avril Loreti (whose calendar tea towel is a certified blog hit!). And finally, an '&' pillow craftily made from vintage clothing by Hilary Cosgrove.

Bug love

I don't think I've actually stepped on a skateboard in more than 30 years - and when I did I promptly fell off - so I can't claim to have shredded anything or ever succesfully pulled off an Ollie. But, all that being said, it doesn't mean I don't love the design on these Reese Forbes boards for Los Angeles skate brand Stacks. Just in case you aren't in need of a board, The Beetle series artwork (I'm digging the techy re-working of the bugs) is also available as a poster, though all three boards hung on the wall would look super sweet. Oh, and in case you needed an extra incentive, Stacks has just announced a 35% off Black Friday sale, so get shopping!

Bev Hisey dhuri and cushions {giveaway}

Happy Monday! So listen up, people - My talented good friend Bev Hisey is up for a bit of fun and has decided to offer up her new gear in a couple of different giveaways. With Grace over on Design*Sponge she's giving away one of her brand spanking new wool Dhuri rugs, the blue and green one shown below, so click here to get in on that action. And up for grabs with me are two of Bev's latest wool cushions - called Numbers - that have a sweet and modern punky/preppy vibe.

Here are the deets:

>>> The winner will receive the two cushions shown below.

>>> Contest is open to continental US and Canadian readers only.

>>> To be eligible just leave a comment below explaining why your sofa needs these pillows.

>>> Comments will be open until tomorrow night, November 23rd at 12pm EST.

>>> The winner will be announced by email and as an update this to this post on Wednesday morning, November 24th.

Good luck!

     

        

Quick and red and white

Here's a quickie for you since I'm in transit today (more on that later). Okay, the Holidays are a comin', so how about we just try to get through it with a sense of calm and grace, huh? Wobblies and meltdowns will not be tolerated. So, with that in mind, just take a deep breath and remember that decorating in a chic/simple style needs restraint. Take a look at this lovely shot from Ikea - You've got the clean workaday lines of the Sockerart enamel pitcher that's been wound with Snovita sisal twine and then filled with Amaryllis. Glorious and just Christmas-y enough if you ask me. [Image from Livet Hemma, discovered via Tiger Hellström's great Tumblr blog From Scandinavia With Love]

 

Socks, hives and dolls

Oh happy day. The folks at CB2 have just launched a new international website that now lets you shop your socks off whether you're in Canada, the UK or India, and a few more places besides. Now, if you fancy a larger piece of furniture you'll still have to give them a call and arrange delivery, which is easy-peasy (I've ordered gear by phone with CB2 on more than one occasion).

Anyways, I thought it would be fun to pick out 3 faves from their current collection. Up first, the award winning Hive stackable storage system. Love 'em and majorly ogled them when I last wandered through a CB2 store. Then, the Matryoshka doll craze continues with these hand painted patterntastic Russian Nesting Dolls. Finally, the Contact stool has such a lovely industrial heft, I'd love to see it as an occasional table as well as for a smart bit of seating. Oh, there's way more, like the Acrylic Tripod Easel which I'm currently trying to convince my other half would be a great addition to the house, but that's another story entirely.

 

Oh, Bitossi...

While on one hand I'm seriously considering a clean sweep and tossing out every last bit of clutterbug collectibles I have hanging around the house, on the other hand I'm jonesing for these Bitossi vases from DWR. Yes, they're limited edition, hand-thrown, embossed and painted by hand (click here to watch a clip of all that in action). Yes, they're by the masterful Italian artist and ceramist Aldo Londi and yes, they were first produced back in the '50s and '60s. So basically it's a win, win, win, except perhaps for the price, which puts them into the realm of serious collector, rather than where I'm at, which is more on the vintage store rummager end of things. Shucks.

Crushing on Binic

Yep, I'm a card-carrying lampaholic, so when confronted with the quirky cuteness of Foscarini's new table lamp called Binic it was lamp-love at first sight. Ionna Vautrin, the designer behind the diminutive light, was inspired by both a particular kind of small lighthouse found on the coast of Brittany and 'wind socks', those doohickeys used for ventilation on ships. Check out the pics below, and then watch the super little video to follow Ionna's design process and see how Binic went from an idea to reality. Hmmm, I think I want one in every colour...

guest blog / Julia Black: Personally cute

Every once and a while, well maybe more often then I like to admit, I tap into my inner child and look for fun ways to impress my three gorgeous little nieces. If I’m not on top of what's playing on Treehouse channel or covered in sparkles then I’m just another boring adult, so when I came across Em Tanner Designs and her super cute work I knew it could make me the best auntie ever! Em has created a magnificent little world that delivers a crazy, bright and lighthearted sense of style, whether it be colorful plates, lunchboxes, aprons, beach towels, iPhone cases (love those polka dots!!!) or even laundry bags you can shop her designs then completely personalize whatever you pick to make them your own and - yay - they will ship anywhere in the world! If that isn't enough, Em's fun-filled website offers family-tested recipes, downloadable wallpapers, and coupons and giveaways galore. So whether you’re trying to make a lasting impression on the little ones in your life or are searching for a special holiday gift, Ms. Tanner has definitely has got you covered.