emilies interiors

Last Sunday I promised you to get back with some more about the Uxua hotel in Brazil. This new hospitality concept has been decorated by its owner Wilbert Das. For each casa he created a different atmosphere.  From the words of Wilbert Das I could interpret that the formal founders were hippies and had an affection for Indian crafts. Das made a fine blend of this Indian style, the Portugese heritage and local craftsmanship and moulded the Gulab Mahal in an apartment that Ernest Hemingway would love .

All the casas have white plastered walls that create a fresh contrast with the few hardwood and rather raw featured furniture. Das’ likings for white upholstering and bed linen is to find back in every casa. The poster beds have been draped with delicate weaved cotton, that create such an luxurious impression that you’ll almost forget that the drapery function as mosquito nets. Some casas have day beds in white upholstering, accessorized with single toned cushions. Other have complete livings with comfortable white sofa’s. What I like about Das creative results is the fresh comfort, that each interiors generate.s I can imagine that guests will not bother a tropical downpour, if they have the opportunity to lay down and relax in their contemporary Bahian residence.

Fancy your Christmas in Brazil, click here and check for the availability.

This is the last blog post for today that will make you feel warm. It’s about a lovely decorated hotel concept in Brazil. Uxua Casa Hotel is a luxurious hideaway in the historic green garden of the fishing village Trancoso. This hospitality concept offers you 6 different {casas}. Each one has been decorated with care by the Dutch Wilbert Das. As a Creative Director of Diesel he visited this amazing spot several times before he bought the place. Initially his idea for this lot was to make it his second home or to use it as a design studio. During his renovation process he changed his strategies and turned the Gulab Mahal (its former name) into a community of guesthouses with the services of a hotel. Together with local craftsmen it took them 2 years to transform the Gulab Mahal into a wonderful hospitality concept where guests will enjoy the privacy of an apartment and the services of a luxurious hotel. Please have a look at the Uxua Hotel and browse through each casa.

Tomorrow more about its decoration style.

If you are a fan of the designs of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and you live nearby Sussex, this museum tip might interest you.

Until next Sunday (November, 1st) the doors of Charleston will be open to visit an exhibition of the textiles Bell and Grant designed or stored in their home. Click here for more info.

PS The designs above are from the hands of this artistic couple and are for sale at the museum shop. The second and third have been reproduced by Laura Ashley in the eighties. I remember that I upholstered one of my first rentals with those lovely linen fabrics. It gave a kind of bohemian edge to this 30 square meter one bedroom apartment that was part of an old Amsterdam warehouse.

Celia’s website is the right spot to visit on an October Sunday morning. When you enter her online domain soft twittering of birds make you feel comfortable and do encourage you to watch her fashion gallery and read about her life as the wife of Ossie Clark and the muse of David Hockney.

From an article in old Elle Decoration edition (August, 2007) I could make up, that Celia’s inspirations are from Matisse’s artworks and the Bloomsbury Group Gardens. The letter ones belonged to the house of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. This artistic couple moved in 1916 from London to Sussex and converted their house , Charleston, into an artistic home where Bell and Grant and their many gifted friends could live, love and create. Charleston was the meeting place of what later became the Bloomsbury group. Among this group of artists, intellectuals and writers are familiar names like Virginia Woolf, Maynard Keynes, Roger Fry and A.M. Forster.

Celia is an multi-disciplinary designer that is successful in fashion as well as interior decoration. On her website and in her Notting Hill shop her 4 collections in fabrics are to admire.

For this blog post I’ve picked my favourites and presented them amidst some pic’s of the Bloomsbury gardens.

Have a lovely Sunday!

This is a scan of my desk diary, that has been filled with clippings and other sorts of inspiration. The two-seat sofa  is called The Poet and  has been designed by Finn Juhl.

This Danish architect and teacher in interior design participated in ‘The Good Design’ exhibiton, that was organised in 1951 in Chicago. From then on his star as a designer  rised and through his partnerships with American and Danish manufacturers in furniture ranges his designs became accessible for everyone. For SAS he designed the ticket offices in Europe and Asia and he was responsible for the interior design of the DC8 planes.  In my opinion this aviation job for the SAS inspired him to create The Poet or the other way around.

Another chair from his hand is ‘45′, which elegant forms have been inspired from nature. It’s very hard to find a ‘45′ and if you do so, be aware that it will be a sustainable investment.

Sean Scherer’s applied colour palette of black & egg reminded me of a Boston café I photographed back in 1996. As a trespasser of this café I was drawn to the yellow interiors and the black painted café façade. The paradox of the expression of the yellow painted inner wall and the restrained impression of the exteriors resulted in my curiosity and my effort to take the shot.

For the latest edition of the British Vogue the house of Jo Kornstein has been photographed. She is a Set Designer and co-owner of Howie & Belle, a vintage shop in the north west of London. In her bedroom Kornstein applied the same (attract & repel)  tricks. Have a close look at the photo with the black painted rear wall and the yellow accessories. The latter ones I retrieved at  her shop in antiques and curiosities. When I browsed through her website I found some lovely stuff. Do see the last one with the glass case stuffed with lampshades.

After 9/11 Sean Scherer and his partner Marc Mayer left New York for a 1840 farmhouse in the Catskills. The reason why my eyes caught his story in the  New York Times, was his beautiful colour palette, that he applied in their home. His combinations of aquamarine & sepia brown, or aquamarine & green and egg yolk with black and white are subtle and easy to use for all kind of styles. These palettes can be applied in lofts, farmhouses, mansions, offices and hospitality concepts.

Sean divides his life in painting, collecting and retailing. His well decorated shop in objects d’art, old school charts, vintage photography, natural history prints, extraordinary in-store finds and many more is not to be missed when you are driving through this lovely country side. Click here for his shop Kabinett & Kammer and here for his impressive work as an international acknowledged artist.

From the Cummersdale Design Collection

In Amsterdam we are enjoying a warm and beautiful autumn weather; people are still sitting outside and grasping each sun beam they can get. This is quite in contrast with the winter warm displays in the stores. In the beginning of December we celebrate the arrival of Sinterklaas (the Dutch version of Santa Claus) and with his arrival comes the merchandise in hot chocolate, Marsepein, Pepernoten and Tai Tai (there are no translations for these typical dutch sweets). Although the brave man Sinterklaas will arrive in the rather windy mid November, the sweets are already for sale. Though, until the sun is shining we will enjoy our outside summer lifestyle with Rosé, tapas, baguettes and large sunglasses.

In order to relate to this paradox I’ve been looking for a suitable styling solution and came up with a frugal idea to spice up the livings in this transitional period between sunny autumn and windy wet winter. The inspiration came from the extensive Cummersdale Design Collection in Carlisle, Cumbria, UK. With the help of John Lewis, one of the biggest retailers in the UK, an archive of more than 25.000 prints has been preserved and displayed in a room that is to visit by appointment. The designers of manufacturers like Colefax & Fowler, Nina Campbell, Liberty and Osborne & Little have access to this treasure and use the old prints for new inspiration.

When I browsed through them, I recognized some prints and those made me think to re-use old fabrics. Since I left the Fashion Academy I’ve had a soft spot for soft fabrics and spicy prints. Unfortunately I’m not the person that will dress herself in prints, so I display my likes in my interiors why I can play with them in different mix-match adventures.

If you are insecure in the mix and match of fabrics in your home, you could start applying these skills with your choice in decorative cushions. My tip is to start looking for printed or coloured fabrics in your wardrobe. Did you store an old favorite dress in satin, or do you cherish a silk scarf from your grandmother? Is a large leather tote still lingering in your walk in closet?

These items can be used to drape some cushions to live up a seat in a window sill, a wooden bench in the hall or the rather large sofa in your living. Before your tear up your precious dresses, scarves, duvet covers or throws, please fold them around some cushions and arrange them until the ultimate mix matches. Probably this idea will lead to clearing your storages and will result in a cost saving but creative restyling of your home. If you are in need of colour advice for the right mix and match venture, send me a request via e-mail and I will give you a helping hand.

From the Cummersdale Design Collection

From the Cummerdale Design Collection

Before I jump into the archives of John Lewis, I would like to start this blog post with the explanation of the change in writing from the plural form into the single form. This month we decided to stop with the interior consults so that I can fully concentrate upon my new career as an Engagement Manager. Since I started emilies in 2001 I’ve been bootstrapping my interior business with freelance jobs in Marketing & Communications. Unfortunately emilies always has been an expensive hobby and now when I have almost finalized my thesis, it’s time to focus upon my new expertise. In order to cherish my passion for interior decoration I’ll continue this blog roll and my work for a Dutch education institute (LOI).