A LILLE bit of chic !!!

I spent Easter in Lille and ‘Oh my gosh!!!! I have fallen in love with its cute, old town
(Vielle Ville) with its’s 17^th-century narrow, winding and cobbled streets; historic buildings - ruins and all.


Rue de la Monniae is filled with the cutest small cafes, chic boutiques, tiny sidewalks, flash cars and fashionably-dressed inhabitants. Aux Merveilleux is a must - their pastries and cakes are out of this world.

Fact: Lille is proud for having the first automatic, i.e. driverless, metro line in the world

Rue de la Grande Chaussée (one of the oldest streets) is lined with luxury and fashion boutiques like Bernardaud, Louis Vuitton, Faconnable, Swarovski to name a few of my favourite ones.

A quick hop on the Eurostar from St Pancras International Train Station and you are there.


Oh where, o where should I begin. Is it the fashionistas, the trend-setters, the cafes or the interior design shops that I discovered along my travels.

I visited a few interior design stores in Lille. They were a must on my to-do-list. Below is a photo stream of my favourite memories.

JEAN MANIGLIER 

This store is cramped with wonderful gems like furniture, art objects, lighting, rugs and even the odd stuffed animal head. Downstairs (formerly vaulted cellars) even has an old water well or two. It's an Aladdin's Cave in it's own right.

                                        

 

They are stockists of Hugues Chevalier, Kenzo, Toulemonde Bochart, Limited Edition, Blue nature, Pierre Frey – to name a few.

                                       

 

 

 

ELLEN DESFORGES

                                       

                          

 

LOFT INTERIOR DESIGNERS

                                     

PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS DE LILLE

I just couldn’t resist this ceiling light feature which you couldn’t miss. Even if you tried. Its bang right in the main Hall as you come in through the entrance. Talk about Oversize focal points (I can feel another topic to blog about coming up soon).

                                     

}My take on Lille  - I have found many, many, many reasons to go back there. It's so right up my street!!!~

The West Indies - British colonial style

Today marks the 30^th anniversary of Nesta Robert Marley a.k.a “Bob Marley” death. He was a Jamaican singer, songwriter - in effect an "all-round" musician. 

Bob Marley has thus inspired me to do this piece on an interior design theme in the West Indies. 

               

A lot of West Indian interiors are influenced by the British Colonial Era. This style came about when the British colonized the West Indies. The British took with them their "interiors" effectively blending them with the warm island tropical and animal prints, dark woods (floors, ceiling fans, shutters etc) of the West Indies. It's like a mixture of Traditional British infused with Carribean Plantation Style.

Here are some West Indian influences in interior design. I find them quite captivating as well as stunning!!!

The images below are courtesy of the “Island Estate” Collection from Tommy Bahama Home.

} With a rich blending of natural materials, textures and exciting new finish colours, Island Estate celebrates an eclectic mix of British Plantation and refined Carribean styling with a playful dose of exotic island fun ~

 And I so totally agree with Tommy Bahama Home.

For more information please visit their website at www.lexington.com

}My takes

 on Bob Marley - I think he’s the greatest Reggae artist of all time. That makes him a legend in my books!!!!


on British Colonial Style - I am digging it already !!!!~  

Happy Mothers Day

Dezine Konnections wishes you all a very happy and joyous Mothering Sunday.


Mothering Sunday is a worldwide celebrated christian festival to mark motherhood. It always falls on the 4th Sunday of Lent.It is a time for children to pay respect to their mothers which is usually shown by way of cards & gifts (or treats).


Here'a a moodboard I created for an online moodboard competition (mydeco.com). I didn't win :-(  but I thought I'd still share it with you all the same. I promise to try harder next time.


It was for "Win a Mummy Rules Framed Print" Competition.

Mum's My World

I just thought this is nice for Mothers Day anyway.


If you are looking for new ideas for a room or space design, choosing new colours, fabrics or soft furnishing, purchasing furniture or even a full design service is needed (which includes samples, moodboards etc), please visit our website (www.dezinekonnections.com) or simply call tola on 07956 582 249.Thanks.

Multi-use living spaces

The word on the block is that the balancing of life with other different aspects such as work, relaxing and entertaining is becoming easier by the day. It is now fully recognised that this is a very important deciding factor in interior design.

Image courtesy of TuoManDuo.com

It is designing for the future. Adapting for the future. Easy living for the future.

It is the new way of living. It is about making lifestyles easier.

Living spaces, work spaces, eat spaces etc The list goes on & on ..................

Forever changing lifestyles now need to accommodate flexible living. Instead of single purpose traditional rooms – we are now seeing large multi-purpose family spaces. One space can now be adapted to suit a variety of uses and also at different times of the day with minimal change to the original style.

image courtesy of www.formaonline.com

Relaxing, working, dining and entertaining are all the basic zoning elements. Most spaces kind of do-it-all nowadays.

image courtsey of charlesandhudson.com

A lot of living rooms now have a space or corner for a mini “home-office”. Or work area. As the trend of working from home becomes more and more the in-thing to do, interior designers have to take into account this growing need.

Image courtesy of tuman duo.com

Studio apartments are quite on-ball when it comes to multi-functional living spaces since the “one-room” is the cum living room cum bedroom cum kitchenette. Very, very practical!!!

Image courtesy of www.tuamanduo.com

}My Take on Multi Use Living - I think Multi-Use (Hub) Living Spaces are dead cool !!!! ~  

© Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved. Dezine Konnections 

Oriental influences ....2011 Chinese New Year of the Rabbit

wallpapers.dgreetings.com

The Year of the Rabbit (4^th animal in the Chinese Zodiac – there are 12 in total). The Rabbit is believed to be calm, sensitive, compassionate, affectionate, a peacemaker and family-oriented. The Rabbit for 2011 is the metal rabbit aka the “White Rabbit”. Celebrations take the form of traditional dragon or lion dances and is also known as the Spring Festival. Children carry red lanterns during the parade. The New Year is seen as a time for family, thanksgiving and reunions.

We all experience Oriental influences in our lives, one way or the other! Every major city in the world has a “Chinatown” in it’s city centre or downtown. Chinese restaurants and takeaways dot every corner of the world.

 www.freedigitalphotos.net

The Chinese introduced Oriental themes to interior design with the most popular being the use of the “fiery” red colour which stands for “Goodluck” in Chinese culture.  Let’s not forget the ancient art of Feng Shui and fabulous wooden furniture with fantastic hand-painted details and lacquer.

There’s also Chinoiserie - a French term which translates to "Chinese-esque". Or simply when broken down loosely means Chinese art and design interpreted by Europeans - Westernised Chinese styles and design. It dates back to the 17^th and 18^th Century.

Below is my very own lovely piece of Chinoiserie – Mother of Pearl Chinese Mirror (minus the elephant of course !!!). See the beautiful Chinese detail and Mother of Pearl Chinese women. And let's not forget the all-too-familiar "Black Lacquer" background. I think it's awesome!!!!

 

“ The Oxford Dictionary defines Chinoiserie noun (plural chinoiseries)

1) a decorative style in Western art, furniture, and architecture, especially in the 18th century, characterized by the use of Chinese motifs and techniques:[as modifier] :hand-painted chinoiserie wallpaper

 2) chinoiserie objects or decorations: his apartment was filled with chinoiserie ”

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone all over the world.

Tola Laseinde

© Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved. Dezine Konnections