The cozy Home of Antik Batik designer

The designer of Antik Batik, Gabriella Cortese, does not only draw sublime tunics and scarves with ethnic inspiration.
She is also passionate about interior decoration. I had already discovered the bedroom of his son. Here is the visit of her parisian house posted on the site of French magazine Elle Deco.

Her idea for lighting? no lighting from the ceiling but "Expanding light sources. In my living room / dining room, in addition to six lamps around the room, I put a lot of small lights on all the furniture (drawers, fireplace , library ...)".
Her only concession, and we understand her, has been "a paper lamp by Noguchi, put one meter above the table in the dining room, to give a warm atmosphere."

A warm atmosphere that we also find in her bedroom. Because if she chose to leave the living room without curtains so that the light enters the maximum, she made an accumulation of curtains in her bedroom: "one in silk taffeta, another thick cotton and a third in silk tulle . This gives the character and a cozy ambience. "

But my favorite room of the house remains the stairwell and the suspensions from Tom Dixon. "We have, hanging from the ceiling, twelve suspensions at different heights." She previously made a test with balloons.

What makes the atmosphere of a place for the designer? "The personal, not necessarily beautiful, but warm stuff like a piece of furniture from my grandmother (in which she put all of her beauty products), a large photo of the ancestors of my husband raised over the bathtub in the bathroom ... The memories of family bring a soul to the house. "
I just hope one thing: that she, one day, design also products for our interiors!
A broadcast visit is also available on the French TV show Interior: http://www.interieurs.fr/video-Chez-Gabriella-Cortese-i650.php
Photo credit: Elle decoration

Some painting, waiting for Spring!

The February issue of French Maison magazine has visited some child rooms colorful... exactly what I needed before spring !
Above in a Parisian loft the parents have created a little cozy bedroom with a cute vintage crib with linens from Petit Pan, hand made animals and a little library already full of great french books.
Half of the wall is painted in red for the joy of the little owner of the room!

In the South of France, the parents of 3 did not hesitate to mix and match pink and red, grey and blue, grey and green... each bedroom has its own colors!
Another idea: don't hesitate to paint basics from the big Swedish company. It will customize then and personalize each bedroom !

To finish the wall decor, a light garland from Tse et Tse above, or a big wall decal below and you're done!
Photos credit: Maison Magazine, February 2009, Paris.

A loft In Les Tuileries

In the French Marie-Claire magazine February issue, there are great pictures of the interior of Sarah Lavoine, a famous French interior designer.
She has designed an exclusive collection of furniture for La Redoute for the spring-summer 09.
Her apartment in Paris is a big loft with a beautiful view on Le jardin des Tuileries, near le Palais-Royal and Les Champs-Elysees.
To keep the impression of space given by the view, she has kept the loft opened.
She only created a bedroom separated by the living-room by french windows to keep the view.
She also designed a big sofa to relax near the chimney. Behind, you can see the bedroom.
She has chosen a peaceful atmosphere of wooden materials and white walls. For her dining-room she wanted a big table and benches to invite as many friends that she wanted.
" My bedroom like a cottage in the heart of Paris". Sarah Lavoine wanted to reproduce for this bedroom the atmosphere of the wooden cottages in the Cap Ferret in the western south of France.
The beautiful Parisian view from her desk: le Jardin des Tuileries, Le Louvre and the Eiffel Tower... what else ?
Photos credit: Marie-Claire Magazine, february 2009, Paris.

Pop nursery

I already posted on my favorite French tv show on interior decoration: Interieurs.
Thanks to their website I was able to watch a fabulous decoration of a nursery by Isis Colombe Combréas, French editor of Milk magazine.
From a small room, she has created a great atmosphere for a little girl. Follow her guide.


Some little shelves were covered with vintage wall papers. Some hand made animals and cute wooden toys have found their place on them.

A cute dress with a light garland is a great way to recycle your Christmas ornaments !

For the reading corner, the Junior Pantone chair, a cute mushroom lamps and some little stickers on the wall are telling us a story.

An old commode is like new with a Grey painting. A mix of frames with cute postcards on the wall is a great and cheap decoration idea!
A forest of stickers protect the crib and brighten up the walls. Isis chose a red and a pink for the wall colors.
The curtains are from the French brand Robert le Héros and complete this harmonious atmosphere for a pop nursery.
A great job! Thanks to Isis for this decoration lesson !

Poetic wishes

Here is a selection of tender cards and pictures from french blogs.
A french way to wish you a happy New Year 2009 !







Let's go to work to my little boutique after the party :) I have to launch the sales and prepare the new spring arrivals.. Some great surprises to come... See you soon...
Photos credits from top to bottom : Rouge Nasham, loulou addict, lafeelafee, Les sept etoiles, Fifi Mandirac, Eliot et Cerise

Milk interiors

I was waiting to read it since I saw an update on it in French blogs. I realized this week-end that I could download it here : the French Milk Deco magazine new issue.
It was worth waiting!
For this one, journalists traveled to visit family interiors in Paris, London, New York, Amsterdam, Tokyo...
From top to bottom above : a beautiful custom bed in Amsterdam in a bright bedroom where butterflies fly on the blue walls.
To admire in the design section of the magazine, this beautiful wall decor with a birdhouse lamp from Inke in a vintage Wall paper Tree.
To find great beds, the magazine went to Soho where the girls of a design book authors enjoy a big Indonesian bed and to Tokyo where kids still sleep on traditional futons.


And to finish with, these so Parisian atmospheres with hunt soft toys for the son of French Antik Batik designer,


and lovely antique finds for kids bedrooms in the Marais area in Paris,



Good news: The Milk team is working on a collection of deco issues. So now I just have to wait for the next one.

Cute Christmas Card

I already admired her ideas for holidays cards last year on her blog.
This year she has made a beautiful card easy to print. Enjoy!
The little sentence says in French 'Close your eyes and make a wish'...

Home made ornaments

Now that your christmas is ready, it's time to get some inspiration to add some home made ornaments and have holidays workshops with your kids. Have a look at these Martha Stewart great ideas.
I really liked these ones easy to made...
First she reminds us that the basic technique for all the ornaments is to bend a pipe cleaner in half and twist once at the top for a loop.
Enjoy first above this home made mobile, crafted from cookies turned in a simple, pretty decoration.
You can buy some wooden decorations and let your kids covered them with tinsel and glitter.

Colorful stray buttons can also be used as Christmas ornaments. Time to sort your old buttons...

And what a great idea: Use inexpensive aluminum cutters and turn them in ornaments.
Happy Holidays!
Photos credit: Martha Stewart

Small from the Winter

The new winter issue of Small magazine is on line. Beautiful kids fashion pictures, great atmospheres from winter time, little tags to print for your kids books and these lovely illustrations from Black Apple... all these treasures for free !