Moving House

Today is a big day for the blog we are moving house to our new location at
http://www.box7design.com/irish-interior-design-blog/ follow us across to keep up to date with posts.

It's not only Rock and Roll

Lenny Kravitz is a multi talented man. Musician and interior designer. He has spent so much time and energy curating the interiors of his various houses around the world that it seemed to be a natural progression for him to open his own interior design company.  The images are of his Paris home and he calls this a mix of "Miles Davis, Yves Saint Laurent, and Helmet Newton." Perspex piano aside I love it, especially the dark moody palette and the great selection of artwork. Why work in just one creative medium ?

Interior Design photos  from The New York Times and French AD

Soho Modern

Kettners in Soho London has been around for more than one hundred years. It was opened by the chef to Napoleon III and in it's time has been frequented by Edward VII and Oscar Wilde.

It has recently been re-vitalised by Ilse Crawford and the results are fantastic. The design is lite but still conveys the history of the building. The furniture selection here is inspired with a mix of ultra modern (see the blue chaise in the second picture down) mid century modern and tassel Victorian. Wood paneling like this is not something that's easy to incorporate into contemporary designs when building and fire regulations need to be addressed and thats one reason I love it.  I plan to make visit the next time I am in London. It Reminds me of The Old White Bear.

Dutch Gold

This is the new interpretive centre in the Groninger Museum in Holland. Its the work of Jaime Hayon.

To me it is the antithesis of Flat pack, putting those legs on the desks lightens them. The colour scheme is really bright also, and the polished copper lamps, well polished copper is one of the prime finishes at the moment.

The flat table display could be a large I pad and the cowls over the screens draw you in. I love it, cool and quirky. This little job has brightened up my day.

Pictures from The Cool Hunter

" and after all, your my ................."

The Japanese connection.   Masamichi Katayama and his company Wonderwall are producing some great retail designs. Wonderwall produce some slightly surreal shops that seem like a lot of fun. These guys have a great website. It's well worth a look for its origami approach to display. This Godiva Chocoiste shop has a clean almost cartoon feel. Chocoiste what a great word. Minimal palette with a fantastic effect. The shop is in Tokyo.

Chocolate Dali

Fantastic detail, surreal raised and fielded panels.

Photos by Kozo Takayama

Karim Rashid Corian House

Taking Corian a little further.

Back to Interior Design School

I hope you had a peaceful Christmas. First blog of the new year and its China focused with Shanghai shops in particular. The luxury goods brand Hermes have centred their attention on the Chinese market and created the Shang Xia brand tailored to a newly affluent Chinese population.

As the CEO of Hermes, Patrick Thomas puts it

Instead of buying another company, we thought, ‘Why not create a brand from the ground up that shares our philosophy — outstanding quality, creativity, and strong style?

From my Interior Design point of view it is the physical shop in Shanghai that works so well.
The mainly white interior sets off the product sharply. The clean layout with a clear visual access to the quality product on display and the absence of defined wall and ceiling planes give the interior an almost cave like quality. They also have a furniture range that is simple and elegant. I love to see the mix of clothes, accessories and furniture in the one shop.

Also check out the music on their website very peaceful, as the beginning to any new year should be.