Global Inspiration - Malta

I begin another series: mood board inspired by different countries' interiors. Let's see Malta first. 

Well, I don't know about Malta interior design, but I quite admire its architecture. Yes, I know. Other people, like my best friend, travel there for honeymoon, for sand and beach, and yet the only thing that captured me about the island is the architecture.... By the way, have you seen those old photos of Edwardian buildings in Tower Road, Sliema? I am so sorry that many of them were destroyed in favour of modern high-rise apartments.

Yet, this moodboard is for younger generations. Inspired by beach, sand, sea, it is a mixture of old and new, using some funny items as well some rustic ones. 

I can imagine this home for a young girl in her twenties, who has some creative free-lance job, drives a moped and wanders about the streets of Malta a lot. She is outgoing and loves nature just as well she enjoys big parties, yet she lives alone - and does not mind it. She is determined and is not willing to compromise on what matters to her. 

So this was an interior from Malta. Next month I will take you somewhere else. 

Eclectic Bathroom

Victorian houses and English townhouses always fascinate me. There are so many opportunitues to design something exciting, using the original features - it does not matter if you want to incorporate them into a more modern interior, or restore them to their full glory. For some reason I had the image of a townhouse like this on my mind when I created this collage. 

I have not written about bathrooms yet, so here it is, the first bathroom mood board. I was inspired by the photo on the left - the whiteness of the tiles, the dramatic brick wall further enhanced by the powerful blackness of the heater. You normally would not chose brick to the bathroom - I only advise it if your bathroom is big enough and the brick does not get wet.

The strenghten the eclectic feeling I added a freestanding bath with clawfeet, and some modern and funny accessories. Enjoy!

How to make a black and white interior alive?

Today's big question: how to style the black and white interior to make it alive? 

There are boring black and white interiors and there are exciting black and white interiors. At first sight monochormatic color palette is such a jolly joker - timeless, classic, stylish. 

And at the same time, can be boring as hell. 

What can you do against it? The answer is simple. Just add:

- texture

- pattern

- form

- accent color

You will find that most black-and-white interiors are not strictly black-and-white. All the hues between can be found in these, just white and black are dominant because used on big surfaces. 

Don't let the artistic photos cheat you. There are other colours as well, just subtle. You can pick wooden floor in greyish tone (just like above), or even a nice light oak can look well. Check out this beautiful rug - it looks so well in this interior, yet has blue hues in it - but it is still the black and white that rules here! Some wooden items can add warmth - the cool goatskin cushion and the rocker chair does this trick. (I hope you read my post about the designer behind this chair - the Eameses - there was a period when only pregnant employees at the Eames Office could buy this version!)

I would suggest incorporating metal or glass into a black and white setting. Unusual forms can create interest in a room. You can mix shapes, patterns, materials, and mat and glossy surfaces. 

The interior is already alive. 

Designer of the Month - Charles and Ray Eames

The first mood board in the new series - let me tell you about my favourite designer couple: Charles and Ray Eames. They worked together in a very exciting era what we call now Mid Century Modern. 

Charles, the St. Louis born architect met Ray, the abstract painter at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where they became collegaues. They married in 1941 (by then Charles had divorced his first wife, the mother of his daughter) and moved to California. They had a busy and exciting life, but produced no children. and managed to maintain the marriage that survived Charles' numerous affairs. 'Anything I can do, Ray can do better.' - he said, whose proposal had been a line written to her on a notepaper. Notably Ray died ten years to the day after Charles. 

Their life at Eames Office was dominated by design - let it be architecture, furniture, films, art, or even the way breakfast was served. They complemented and completed each other. The couple wanted to create "the best for the most for the least", and could boast with clients like IBM and Boeing. Their co-workers were also big names, like Harry Bertoia and John Neuhart. They even made Nikita Khrushchev cry in 1959, at the Moscow National Exhibition.
The moodboard above consists of their most famous creations. You can see the famous and extra comfortable Lounge Chair from 1956, originally designed for the Hermann Miller furniture company and named 670 and 671 together with the ottoman. Here you can see it in white leather with molded plywood, and in the left upper corner in red leather, with its back to us. The couple usually designed furniture that could be mass-produced and therefore were affordable, but this chair was and still is a luxurious piece. But quality comes at price.
The red molded plastic armchair is represented with a rocker base here, but is available with wooden and metal base. Originally it was intended to offer solution to the need of low-cost furniture in small spaces in the post-war era. 'We don't make art, we solve problems' - said Charles. The original material of the seat was polyester reinforced with fiberglass, and a year after the release it was introduced as an upholstered version, too.
You can see the Lounge Chair in black above (I love it in red, too!), and also the metal version in black. Its dining chair version can be seen in walnut. Ray loved experimenting with molded plywood designs, so no wonder he enthusiasm resulted in tables and folding screens (on the left) made using this technique.
Other famous designs are the Hang-It-All hooks (here in black), the molded plywood elephant, walnut stools, management chairs, desks and bookcases, sofas.
Their home and studio is one of the Case Study Houses, No. 8. Built in 1949 in LA, it was practically untouched after their deaths, and carries on their legacy.

Beachside Café

I drew the inspiration for this mood board partly from this menu I found on the Internet, and partly from this wonderfully designed delicate inscription on the wall. I thought they complement each other, and in front of my eyes I could already see a small café on the sandy beach...

If the café is situated on the beach, I reckoned that blue sky and the sand itself provides a colourful backdrop for interior, so there is no need for further colours. I imagined huge glass windows, whitewashed porch, red and white striped umbrellas and white furniture. Maybe you can add some very light brown, or ash grey if you think white is too sterile, but with red accents the whole setting is very delightful. You could say it has a bit of retro touch, but I belive it is rather timeless. Somehow people tend to remember back their childhood with nostalgia, and it was my goal with this moodboard - to create an athmosphere that brings you back to old times, long gone summers, when you were a child, and spent the days on the beach making sand castles, playing with your siblings, learning to swim, and the highlight of the day was the ice cream time before your parents brought you back home...  

Shabby Chic Kitchen

Today let's see a shabby chic kitchen moodboard! Here it is:

Surprisingly enough shabby chic is a new style - the term first popped up in the 1980s and the look spread accross the United States like wildfire in the 1990s. 

This mood board has all the elements of shabby chic: distressed and whitewashed wood on the bench, some vintage items from different eras, a bit of pastel lighting up all the ecrus and whites, metal on the delicate ornate lamp, and a mixture of older and newer pieces. Shabby chic loves non-shiny materials like cotton and linen, but you can add a bit of lace, too. If you collect antiques, shabby chic welcomes them all. If you are into recycling, this style also may be perfect for you. 

The look is feminine and rustic, perfect if you are a romantic person. It suits countryside cottages, but can find its way to old town buildings - like Victorian, if you are lucky enough to possess one.  

There is only one question left to the end: how do men put up with the utterly feminine shabby chic style?

Formal Dining Room

Today's mood: formal dining room in shades of blue, dark brown, gold and - for a little twist - bright sparkling red. Enjoy!