Rustic loft interior

Loftenberg - two-level loft in Madrid, Spain

Going through my favorite blogs I ended up again in Loftenberg - ah, the beautiful lofts! Look at this one - all the elements are just right! 

 

And the bedroom:

And the other spaces:

Do I need to say more? It is just GEORGEOUS! So many interesting details - just absolutely LOVE it!

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olohuoneen sisustus, ullakon sisustus, makuuhuoneen sisustus, eläimen talja

Photo shoot - delicioso!

 I participated the photo shoot of Cottonhut fair trade felt products from Nepal - why do I want to blog about this? Just to post here the delicisious images - I don't know what it is about this color combination of blue, pink and dark grey - my eyes just LOVE it!

Formex spring 2012 Part II

Formex the second day - we were overly excited to go through the handicraft and kids sections to see what's new for the coming Spring/Fall 2012 season!! The color circus especially at the kids section was fantastic!! Rice won, of course :), but we also admired Teddy Kompaniet (the cuddlies are a MUST to our kids), Jabadabadoo and many many more. What was disappointing? Well - after the 3rd kid in the toddler age, I find it hard to get greatly enthusiastic about the wonderful things offered to the little ones the way I did before! That made me kind of sad - but then again, perhaps our little boy doesn't suffer too much even if mommy isn't getting to his room the newest cute little shelves and tents and all that...But these lovely colourful toys from Rice, which work perfectly as kids room decoration, got a smile on our faces:

Horseez...

And some dogs...

And mouse friends...

What really really made me happy was that many brands were introducing hand-made toys, fair trade products, as well as textiles made of organic cotton. I am not a very big fan of organic cotton - if I remember right, I told the reason already some time ago? Organic cotton needs to be hand-picked. It is not the nicest work, and in my mind it is just fine the cotton to be picked by machines. Fair-trade cotton? YES!!

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Lastenhuoneen sisustus, käsintehdyt lelut, sisustuksen trendit, sisustusmessut

Formex spring 2012 part I

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FORMEX is still going on in Stockholm, and we will be taking another tour today. The trends seem to be splitting a little for the spring, which is very much welcome. It seemed to be more and more ethnic, like batik above. Batik is beautiful - we may associate it mostly with the inexpensive beach wear we buy from India, Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia, but of course it is a true art form, as well. One of the very known batik artists is Dato Chuah Thean Theng, or just Teng, who is said to be the father of batik in Malaysia. When living in Malaysia, I had the great chance to visit his gallery in Penang. Unfortunately I haven't found images of his work which he had there, as it was pure fantastic!! His son was present during our visit, and was able to tell us a great deal about batik painting, as he is continuing in his fathers footsteps. If you would like to know some more, a couple of good links are

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik
http://www.joaniemitchell.com/

More trends? Some rust, well, a lot of rust :). The industry style is clearly moving to the falling-apart industry style...I love the authentic, but making new production and then banging it with hammers and having it outdoors for it to rust...hmmm. The style was extremely obvious in Tendence during the fall, and was now coming to Scandinavia, as well.

Personally I am more Tolix and Jielde kind of person, and I love the new TVs, radios, cameras and cars in an old package so to say. Olsson&Jensen had a beautiful cabinet with glass doors at their stand - romantic industry style is what you would call it, I guess. They had 20 pcs, and had sold out every single of them during the 1st hour of the fair!! I promise you will be seeing this piece in the home decor magazines during the spring.


What else caught my eye? The unbelievably beautiful home textiles by Fabric Copenhagen. I always appreciate when the owners or founders themselves participate the major fairs. We had a nice chat with Annette Egholm, the textile designer behind the brand. The textiles are produced in a family business in Northern Vietnam. Having lived 4 years in my childhood in Vietnam, they really brought a big smile to my sisters face, as well as mine. The softest soft Vietnamese silk, some velvet, and those wonderful buttons or knots which are so special for Vietnamese clothes and textiles - a perfect combination.

Here a couple of images of Vietnamese silk products

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Well - this blog was more text surprisingly - let's make part 2 only pictures then!

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sisustuksen trendit, sisustusmessut, batiikki sisustuksessa

Hmmm...

Back after the fall - a busy such. It is no secret - starting to write this blog made me so itchy about opening finally the home decor store that I just couldn't resist. And there it is now in the web - and it is called Werannas Warehouse.

The dream I had had for years - the first business plans must be from 10 years back. But the work load - heh!! Let's put it this way - someone has learned how to manage with 4-5 hrs of sleep. And you know what? Enjoyed fully every moment of those hours awake!!

Anyways - I promised myself (and the others) - once the store is open, the blog will be continued, as well. But but but - it is tricky. How do I write about home decor without promoting Werannas Warehouse? If I do, You will get tired of me IMMEDIATELY. And most importantly - how to write a blog without promoting other stores and brands, which don't exist in Werannas Warehouse?? Well.

A decision: this blog will continue as it was. It will still be a flow of mind. You will have links to Werannas, but as before - to other sites, as well. Deal?

But here and now - there will be a post of Kenana Knitter Critters. I will be meeting with them, and You will hear the story. It is wonderful. The Owl, you know. (Sorry, I cannot resist!!!!)

There will be a post of Samantha Holmes. The alpaca booties. The story is as wonderful, and deserves to be told.

There will be a post of Rice. Especially the Raffia baskets from Madagaskar.

There will be a posts of some other partners of Werannas. But it is because these stories need to be told and spread. There are good people in this world. They make their living out of helping others, even good business. And that is just wonderful.

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Reilu kauppa, käsintehdyt sisustustuotteet, käsintehdyt sisustustekstiilit, Werannan varasto