aker collective inspires consumers to create...

Don't you just love that image - I'm inspired by it without even knowing what I am looking at, I love the combination of the colours and the natural timber and even the cardboard. I just want to get in there and do something with it all. Well, lucky for me that's exactly what Aker Collective want - for you to complete the creative vision that is their Take 'n' Make series of lights.

Aker Collective believe that the future of sustainable design will rely on involving the user - "The value of design will be it's ability to inspire people to engage". With this in mind Take 'n' Make was created, a furniture series that comes together with the consumers creative input.

The first part of the series was launched at the Stockholm Furniture Fair. Consumers can choose elements of the lamps such as shades, coloured cords and tripods, as a result different sizes and styles can be created. I love the look of the slightly unpolished finished product and can imagine that's what they had in mind, to emphasise rather than downplay the consumer construction part of the design. Keeping a close i spy eye on Aker Collective for what they do next...

lets jump right back in...

OK, Im just going to jump right back into it and hope you never even realised I was gone [actually that wouldn't be good, I would prefer it if you had noticed a little]! Lately Ive been busy planning my business - well trying to work out how to write a business plan anyway - have you ever had to do it? It's really quite daunting but it does make you focus on questions you probably hadn't had to answer before like what exactly do you want from your business and where do you want it to be in 12mths? Etc., etc. And - the 'hows' - How am I going to get there? Im not really that good at planning, I am a bit of a doer and tend to jump steps due to impatience so I guess this is a good [and probably necessary] exercise for me.

So I have been trawling the web for help on all of the above and have found, as I usually do [good ol' internet], some great resources. The most exciting stuff was the other entrepreneurs out there offering advice on how to conduct business online. My favourites being Laura Roeder from Laura Roeder.com & April Bowles from Blacksburg Belle. Check them out for yourself they are a bit of an inspiration!

On to the next post - some cool design stuff - I know you just lurvvve that stuff don't you?

Getting there and other things...

Have you missed me? Well, it's already been a monster of a year and I know I have been neglecting you but there have been other priorities - noisy ones that demand a lot of attention and messy ones that require a lot of cleaning - suffice to say other than a rather large project [which I will share with you in this post] its been all babies and toddlers at this end [well one of each anyway].

I have an inbox overflowing with design news that I haven't had a real moment to even look at and I do miss it all, so over the next week - I'm getting there. There being creating some organisation in my week so I make sure I have time for catching up on design news and passing the best of it on to you, there being blogging about best of Decoration + Design that was held in Melbourne this month and there being getting in some much needed exercise to crack those last baby kilos [walking around the trade show counts doesn't it?] - do you think it will be too much for one week? We shall see - in the meantime what about that project I wanted to share with you?

The big project I was very fortunate enough to work on in the first half of this year was for Godfrey Hirst Carpets producing their Wall 2 Wall magazine which I am happy to say I have been a part of since its inception back in 2006 [you can see back issues of the magazine here]. This issue is bigger and better and I just love the way it's all come together. The styling was a huge effort [and only one of the hats I wore in this job] but well worth it as I'm sure you will agree when you see the amazing photography done by Chris Daile of CI studios.

So here is a small sample of the work we did - head to Godfrey Hirst Carpets and order your free copy of the magazine, I assure you it will be worth the click.
[image at top of post - close up of table setting in 'floral fantasy' trend for Godfrey hirst Carpets]

This is one of the four trends highlighted in the magazine - 'Urban Rural' a combination of modern elements & decor and colour inspired by rural life. I love the use of branches in the amazing Chandelier and side table.

A gorgeous coloured carpet from the 'Floral Fantasy' trend.

Double page spread showing one of the bright coloured trends - 'Optimism'. Note that the blonde boy is our number 2 child - he loves to see this part of the magazine - often!!

Make sure you order your free copy and check out Wall 2 Wall Issue 4 for full details on the carpet and the decor in these images. OK off to get organised, lets not make it so long between catch up's again OK?

white on white

Some of you may have realised that I do have a bit of a thing for layering white on white [my very basic attempt shown here from my last homes dining room - not quite anywhere near what I would really love to do...]. I also predicted it in trends for 2009-10 and have since seen lots of lovely examples but these images were spot on. I happened upon this collection from Jotun on Emmas designblogg and just had to post them here as a gorgeous example. Above and below are the 2010 collection images for Jotun's Lady Farger 2010...

[PS- in case you were wondering our new baby boy was born on Friday the 19th Feb and is doing brilliantly! Actaully I cant belive the time has gone that fast - Im still trying to get organised amidst also having to work on a project that was moved forward, safe to say my hands are very full but we should be back in full blogging mode very soon!!]

Textile Inspiration - Rie Elise Larsen

By Guest Blogger Daniella Kilov...

This European genius (based in Denmark) has taken paper and textile and created some gorgeous designs for the home. I love the hand made quality of the work and the uniqueness of each piece of paper work… this is definitely one for the books!

Not only are the products gorgeous but the styling is just as inspirational….please excuse the inundation of images in this post but I hope you are as inspired as I am…

The paper product line is just delicious and with the amazing colours available there is no doubt one could find a use for these for absolutely anything…

From boxes, to paper sheets, to paper drawers and mobiles feast your eyes on these eye candy must haves..

The interior pieces range from metal pendants, textile cables, table lamps, cushions and paper lampshades, which are just beautiful.

These are my favourite and with the textile cables you can mix and match to create your very own look.

Just one of the many ideas you can use these shades for… even more beautiful to create a cluster of these in varying sizes in a little girl’s room.

The great idea about this clever designer is that you can buy all these pieces separately and create your own very unique piece of work.

What a great way to create character and personal touches to any part of your home and to create something special for others…

[all images via Rie Elise Larsen]