January Newsletter

Welcome to a brand new year that's rife with exciting design possibilities.   January sees the first of this year's trade shows in the interiors world.  I'll be off to Birmingham to Interiors 2010, a vast trade show with more than 570 exhibitors.  Also in January I'll be off to the London Art Fair, it's open to everyone and runs from 13-17 January at the Business Design Fair in Islington. Over 60 galleries will be showing so if you're interested in art and photography it should certainly have a place on your calendar.  I'll report on those visits in the next newsletter but let's start with what's caught my eye in the past month.

The Decorative Fair

If you read my November newsletter and were interested in Drummonds Architectural Salvage you should make a note to visit The Decorative Fair held in Battersea Park from 19 - 24 January. It will be choc full of gorgeous antiques and textiles and I believe if you buy a copy of January's issue of The World of Interiors you'll find a free ticket that admits two to the fair.  If you like antiques and curiosities it's a lovely way to spend a few hours.  The url for the Fair is www.decorativefair.com.

Coffee Makers

As I write this newsletter/blog it's the 1st January 2010 and after welcoming in the New Year last night I've needed a few coffees to get me going.  Thinking about the not-so-humble coffee maker there have been some exciting developments in it's design recently.  Nespresso leads the way and since 2005 has hosted a design competition for it's coffee makers.  2009's winner by Brice Genre and Hanika Perez from France can truly be described as a work of art, it's thermostatic and changes appearance as the water heats up.

And here's the runner up called “Pearl” by Andreas Diefenbach from Germany

Here's  the link to view videos of these stylish innovations and to see the runners up.

http://www1.nespresso.com/events/#/en/design-contest/the-event/the-contest

I also like this coffee brewer and kettle from Behzad Hormoz that's inspired by the structure of a shellfish.  The bionic shape encases a kettle made of Pyrex as well as the power cord and rechargeable batteries meaning it's totally portable.

Lighting

Lighting is a favourite subject of mine and I love the Cache Cache lamp by Victor Baeda which ingeniously uses a zipper to control the amount and direction of light rather than a standard dimmer switch.   How cool are these?

Light Emitting Wallpaper

The next few years will see the launch of the first lighting emitting wallpaper.  Just imagine, a wallpaper that glows with an even light to give a sunlight-like colour rendition and consumes a fraction of the energy of an overhead lamp.  The UK government has awarded grants to research and develop OLED (organic light emitting diode) lighting technology so expect to see this revolution in home lighting soon.  Here's what it will look like.

Swarovski Crystal Palace

For exquisite, and much more extravagant lighting, check out the latest commission from Swarovski Crystals.  Every year Swarovski commission the world's best and hottest designers to create light pieces that are shown in Milan in April and Design Miami in December.  Last month's show saw the inaugural display of three giant sail-like structures from Gregg Lynn.

To find out more visit the Swarovski Crystal Palace site at: www.swarovskicrystalpalace.com and to whet your appetite here are images of just some of the beautiful and stunning commissions from past years.

Colour Trends for 2010

Global Colour Research is a world-renowned company that creates important colour trend predictions two years ahead of each season that are relevant to all industries. Colour is influential at every level of the marketplace and affects everything from brand logos, signage, packaging and of course the product itself.  Here is the colour palate predicted by Global Colour Research for Winter 2009/Spring 2010 with Verdigris and Opal slated as the dominant colours. 

And below are palettes from other professional colour predictors.  As you can see no one set of colours dominates but all are earthy and muted, perhaps a reflection of global consciousness of the fragility of planet Earth?

Home Decorating

Here's an idea for home decorating that ignores all those colour predictions and uses them all - and more! Take inspiration from this bedroom and use paint colour swatch strips from your local DIY store to create a great feature wall.

The Belly Love Sofa by Florence Jaffrain

This is a prototype of a gorgeous sofa being shown in a Paris gallery at the moment.  The furniture is made of foam covered in photo luminescent fabric, which also contains capsules that release fragrance into the air.   It looks really inviting and I really hope it goes into production.

And finally

Apropos of nothing I was really amused by this bus design advertising the Copenhagen zoo.

Well, that's a quick round up for now.  Have a great January and I'll be back next month with further updates on what's new in the world of interiors.

Don't forget you can follow Poised to Move on Twitter, I'm listed as PoisedtoMove or Jane Ringe.

December Newsletter

Welcome to the December Newsletter from Poised to Move.  As Christmas is only weeks away I've concentrated on highlighting some of my favourite sites and companies where you can pick up unique and gorgeous gifts for the home.  So with no apologies for my self indulgence this month I hope the following suggestions will give you inspiration for those difficult to please people, you're sure to find something and I bet there'll be loads of things you'll want to treat yourself to as well.

Jonny's Sister

www.jonnyssister.co.uk

We all like to receive personalised gifts and Jonny's Sister has all sorts of gifts in the form of letters of the alphabet.  My favourites have to be these huge letter cushions and there are small and medium versions too and they come in a choice of fabrics.

And for a stocking filler how about these letter soaps.   Buy some to spell out the name of a loved one and then wrap them with love.

Rockett St George

www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk

 The problem I have with Rockett St George is what to highlight on their site, there are so many lovely things to buy for others or as a treat for yourself.   These wall stickers spice up any room and do check out their site for loads more designs.

   

I also love these graceful shelves from Susan Bradley, she does coffee tables too.

    

Funky storage solutions include these magnet hands, ribbon coat hook and this Gherkin book end, there are other London landmark bookends too.

     

Suck UK

www.suck.uk.com

A great site for really quirky and unique gifts guaranteed to score a hit with everyone.  How about this colour changing umbrella?

Or the 'Who tall are you?' mirror

For the traveller in your life .... TimeFlies Clocks

Not a new idea, but I'm still utterly charmed by these Sun Jars

Stuff Your Doodle

www.stuffyourdoodle.com

The clever people at Stuff Your Doodle take a child's drawing and turn it into a cuddly stuffed figure.

  

        

Bags of Love

www.bagsoflove.co.uk

More personalised gifts.  I admit there's a really fine line between unique and tacky with this sort of thing and it's unfortunate that most photo-montage gifts tip that balance, but if you're careful about your image selection you could end up creating a family heirloom.

At Bags of Love your images can be put onto blankets, bean bag chairs, duvets and cushions to name just a few.  I do like the idea of this photo-montage deck chair and you could create your own version of that famous Louis Vuiton Graffiti tote from a few years ago.

Magazine Subscriptions

http://www.magazinesubscription.co.uk/category/Home-Magazines/1.html

A welcome gift that lasts all year I'm always happy to receive a subscription to an interiors magazine.   As you know there's a huge choice of titles out there and to help make choosing a little easier click on the link above and it will take you to the Home and Garden category on www.magazinesubscription.co.uk.  

Hmmmmmmm...... so which one to choose?

W2 Products

www.w2products.com

If you've got an artist in the family they're bound to appreciate one of these gifts celebrating classic Pantone colours.  Choose from satchels, book bags, mugs, purses and card holders.  And there's even cool bottles for the baby and something for Kitty and Fido.

 

 

Christmas by Colour

www.christmasbycolour.co.uk

More Pantone stuff.......

Last year Colour by Christmas asked designers and image makers to identify a colour that signifies Christmas.  You can get packs of greetings cards that include Quality Street purple, Buck's Fizz orange, Sprout and After Eight greens and Bank Balance Red to name just a few of the amusing colour options.

Well that's just a taster of what's out there in the world of home and design-based gifts and I hope you've found some inspiration here.

I wish you and yours a fabulous Christmas and I hope the New Year brings you everything you wish for yourself - and much, much more!

Jane 

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