Loyal Loot

I've been doing a bit of detective work. Remember this pic from my recent post on stylist Scott Horne?

Well, thanks to Canadian online shop, Good Egg, I managed to track down more info about the gorgeous and rather special wood vessels in the photo.

They're made by the all-girl Canadian design collective, Loyal Loot. Each one is made from wood collected in Alberta, and after it's been dried for 4 - 6 months, it gets lathed, then coloured and finished by the Loyal Loot gals.


The Log bowls are available to buy at Good Egg, and each one is made to order, so allow 2-3 weeks for construction.

Giveaway - Café Cubano

Putumayo World Music's Café Cubano features a selection of exceptional performers who have incorporated Cuba’s diverse musical traditions and distinctive styles into their music. Expect romantic boleros and traditional songs, a la the Buena Vista Social Club recordings.

Win yourself a copy of this album by dropping us an email, telling us the name of the artist featuring in the Café Cubano video clip at the Putumayo World Music website. Remember to include your name and address in your mail. Good luck!

Hummm

Is it just me, or does everyone feel, at the start of another crazy week, that it would be a great idea to add to the To Do list something like: "Gaze mindlessly at sand sifting through gorgeous colourful hourglass from Anthropologie"?

And perhaps we could ask Anthropologie to add to their To Do list something like: "Include South Africa to our list of international shipping destinations".

Normann Copenhagen

Today, Deco's contributing editor and stylist, Doreen de Waal, tells us about one of her hot favourites.

If you like to really think out of the box, you’ll love the Normann Copenhagen brand as much as I do. In 1999, Jan Andersen and Paul Madsen teamed up to create the brand with a vision to make a difference in the design industry. Their success soon saw them opening a massive design showroom in an old cinema in Copenhagen.

What I love about products sold by Normann Copenhagen is that they're strong on design, as well as being playful and practical. They don’t shy away from interesting use of colour, form, or material. They are endlessly enthusiastic about new design, and put their money where their mouth is by inviting designers from all over the world to submit designs, then giving critical, honest opinion and advice. And then you can actually buy the designs in their super cool shop.

Here is my pick of a really fabulous bunch:

The Washing-up bowl by Ole Jensen can double up as storage, a wine-cooler, to store toys or to hold plants. It is made of rubber and comes in the brightest of fabulously bright colours.

Butterfly is a new take on the old-fashioned, cheap can openers of the kind usually found in beach houses (where all the household junk is relegated).

This is as simple and functional as a design can be... but it is made super gorgeous by looking like a butterfly! It was designed by Marianne & Rikke and is available in a variety of beautiful butterfly-colours.

I absolutely love the Cognac glass and would so love to try it out.

Designer Rikke Hagen says that she wanted to give the user the feeling of being in a gentleman’s study, as well as the sense of calmness you get when holding a smooth beach stone. And with ordinary cognac glasses, the stem gets in the way, doesn't it!

I'm always irritated by the thick lip of a dustpan, and it seems Ole Jensen felt the same way! One day he bent down to sweep the floor, holding a folded newspaper in one hand and sweeping the dust into the newspaper with the other – and so the Dustpan and Broom was born. It is functional and beautiful, easy to store and comes in black and dark and light grey.


Boje Estermann’s collapsible Funnel is available in green, yellow, black and red and is made of a special material that was developed after collaboration with Normann Copenhagen and engineers. It is practical, amusing, and doesn’t take up a lot of space.

After Odoardo Fioravanti realized that with the new trend towards fusion food, people mix different food cultures, he gave three traditional kitchen utensils were given a revamp, aptly naming his new range Fusion Kitchen.

Check out the Norman Copenhagen website for loads more fabulous designs, and read their blog for a dose of wackiness. And if you think that you’ve designed something super-sexy – submit it to them! They're interested in new design, and you never know what might come of it.

The bad news is that Normann Copenhagen is not available in South Africa. But if there is anyone out there who’d like to bring this incredible range to South Africa, please make contact with them – they are eager to set up shop here!

Cultural recognition

This should be a no-brainer. Take a guess which country the designer of these chairs comes from?

You got it! Jetske de Groot is a Dutch designer - who else would do something like this?

de Groot takes elements of used chairs and epoxys them together to make new chairs.

This is part of his Multiple Family series, and includes a reconstructed table or two.

via Realnormal

Report from NYC: Florence Broadhurst

Today, I'd like to share with you about a talented designer I've been reading about in Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret and Ordinary Lives by Helen O'Neill, which I bought at Abitare, down the street from where I live in Brooklyn Heights.

Florence Broadhurst was a savvy Australian who reinvented herself at different stages of her life, from stage performer to boutique owner to painter. In 1959, at the age of 60, she began to engineer the identity for which she became most famous: wallpaper designer.

Broadhurst built her design company into an internationally successful business, working right up until her mysterious death at the age of 77. A chic and colourful character, she captured the zeitgeist of her times so well that her designs have become iconic.

Over the breadth of her career, she embraced a wide range of styles.

An Australian company called Signature Prints very cleverly preserved Florence's legacy when it bought the rights to her design library, and now Broadhurst's designs are enjoying a revival worldwide.

The book I'm reading about Broadhurst is a treasure, with lavish images of her designs interspersed throughout the narrative of her life, and is a fascinating read about a complex woman. I haven't got to the end yet, but I really hope that some of her secrets are unravelled!

Frances Pelzman Liscio

Originally a photographer of punk and country musicians, Frances Pelzman Liscio has turned her lens towards no less romantic (but much more pretty) subjects, photographing carefully-arranged and brilliantly-coloured botanical collages.

See more of these jewel-like florals on her website, and also take the time to look at her darkly lush Reliquaries too, under the Portfolio tab.

Via Design*Sponge

Clarissa Hulse

Clarissa Hulse has become one of the UK's best-known textiles designer, with her distinctive botanical prints and distinctive use of colour. Her designs are available on cushions, throws, curtains, wallpaper, and you can also buy her fabric by the metre.

I've picked out a couple of my favourites from the Clarissa Hulse Home 2008 range to share weth you:

Clarissa Hulse stocks more than 100 shops all over the world, but seeing as you're at your computer right now, why not strike now and check out the Clarissa Hulse online store.

Eggs on tour

I've been seeing these patchworked Arne Jacobson Egg chairs all over the place lately, so thought I'd find out a bit more about them.

The Fritz Hansen website tells me that it's all about celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Arne Jacobsen Egg chair. Danish artist Tal R was commissioned to make 50 patched Eggs, which are now on a world tour that started at the Milan furniture fair.

This is what Tal R says about the concept:

"The idea of combining this representative symbol of Danish Design which qualifies as high culture with patchwork which qualifies as popular culture, intrigued me. Patchwork is like a bubble and squeak of blankets. It's the leftovers from the workroom, and traditionally something people have made together. It's associated with collectivity. For example, people used to send patches by chain letters, and then one day you'd have enough to make an entire quilt."

I chose some of my favourites, but there are lots more, which you can flip through in the book of Eggs, published as part of the celebrations.

DIY Dardik

Pattern designer extraordinaire, Helen Dardik, decided to give one of her wallpaper patterns a whirl in a couple of imaginary rooms. I adore the results, and am planning to move in soon!

Check out a daily dose of Helen's prolific output on her blog, and take a while to sift through her impressive and charming portfolio.