Giveaway - Acoustic France CD

Bonjour, mes amis! Nous avons quelque chose speciale pour vous aujourd hui...

Zut alors, I was getting a bit carried away there, thanks to the gallic flavour of our latest CD giveaway from Putumayo World Music, called Acoustic France.

To win yourself a copy of this collection, featuring contemporary chansons and acoustic pop by established stars and up-and-coming artists from today’s thriving French music scene, just find the answer to this question:

French songstress, Francoise Hardy, has a son. What is his name? (clue: he features on the Acoustic France album)?

Click here to send us an email with the answer, as well as your name and postal address. Bon chance!

Time for a riddle

Q: What is large, round and woolly, with two arms, and goes "tick tock"?

A: Why, it's the Gomitolo Knit Clock, of course!

The knitted clock by Carlo and Benedetta Tamborini is available from the Conran shop, and you'll be glad to know that the hands of time will be kind to this designer accessory, as the cover may be removed for washing.


Via Dwell

LittleBig magazine

When Jenny Dalton, previously features editor on ELLE DECORATION UK, made her fairly recent venture into motherhood, she accompanied it with a new editorship - that of online magazine LittleBig, dedicated to "big designs for little people".

LittleBig magazine is not all about just being a stylish parent with stylish kids, but focuses on exploring what good Design is all about: good looking things that do the job right. And, as Jenny Dalton puts it, "We don't believe good design is good design unless it works. Life with kids is complicated enough."

I found some great reads and inspiration at LittleBig, like this charming story of the room belonging to the four-year-old son of stylist Emma Cassi.


A great high chair review (to suit all budgets and space constraints)

I also saw some great tips on where to find cool things for the kids, and also interviews with designers who share the LittleBig interest in finding great design for little ones.
And alongside the magazine, there's also the LittleBig shop where cool (and well-designed) stuff is to be had, such as adorable plywood Enzo Animals by Momoll, and exquisite lambswool blankets by Melin Tregwynt.

Report from NYC: Kitchen gardens

Now that he really can begin measuring for new drapes in the White House, I wonder what style Barack Obama would choose to redecorate his new home for the next four years? Federalist hip? Mid-century modern?

There might be a more realistic chance of the exterior of the White House being overhauled. Michael Pollan recently wrote an open letter to the next president in an article for the Sunday New York Times’ Magazine advising him to plant a kitchen garden on the front lawn of the White House. Roger Doiron (below), founder of Kitchen Gardeners International, has strongly advocated for this as well.

Kitchen gardens are a growing trend in gardening. As Pollan says, a presidential vegetable garden would set a wonderful example of sustainable living and help wean America off an agricultural industry that is dependent on oil. Lucky for us design freaks, a kitchen garden is also an aesthetic statement.

Photo by Richard Felber for Domino

The haute veggie patch of none other than Oscar de la Renta was featured in Domino magazine in September last year. Take a look at a beautiful slide show of this Connecticut garden here.

Photo by Richard Felber for Domino

According to Domino, de la Renta's garden applies the principles of a formal flower garden: strong structure, strict geometry and colour-blocking of plants.

Photo by Richard Felber for Domino

And it's not all about what the stars can achieve either. The magazine also offers vegetable garden designs, such as the one below, to enable you to transform your humble backyard into a patch of designer dirt, as well as a guide to planting a potted vegetable garden.

A slightly more haphazard approach is taken by artist-turned-garden historian, Leslie Rose Close, the wife of artist Chuck Close. She has a thriving kitchen garden (below) at her home in Bridgehampton, New York, where she applies an artist's eye but leaves room for happy accidents.

Photo by Gordon M. Grant for the NYTimes

There is a memorable article about her garden in the New York Times. "I can't imagine anything more wonderful to do," she says . "It's spiritual, physical, intellectual, aesthetic, sensual. I feel tied to the basic process of life."

I know what she means. Although I'm a garden-less city-dweller, I recently spent a day harvesting spinach, lettuce and carrots in the greenhouse at the Stone Barns Farm (above) in Tarrytown, NY. There was something very novel and satisfying about gently pulling a carrot out of the silty earth, dusting off the soil and eating it right away. The farm supplies the on-site restaurant, Blue Hill Stone Barns, with fresh produce for its highly crafted cuisine.

Maybe Blue Hill chef Dan Barber should start thinking about a new gig as White House chef?

Short, but so, so sweet

News just in from Three Potato Four is that they have an adorable collection of vintage kids' chairs available for sale.

Other unmissables for kids at this fantastic online store include this stitch-it-yourself Raccoon called Clauss...

And the little blue eyed bunny from Shinzi Katoh, which makes my knees feel fair weak!

Semigood Design

Seattle based design company Semigood Design makes beautiful things, and I'm particularly taken by their Rian Collection of cantilevered stools, desks and tables.

Semigood is run on ethical and environmental principals, using sustainably-grown wood source in nearby states, so that transportation costs are reduced.

Their furniture is handmade, using the best materials, and it's built to last, which is pretty unusual these days. This is what the guys at Semigood Design say about it: "Heirloom quality products with multi-generational lifespans are the best way to save resources and reduce environmental footprints."

Sounds to me like they should think of changing their name to Whollygood!

Decisions, decisions

Can't, for the life of you, decide on a colour scheme for your living room? There's only one solution: get your hands on the simply brilliant Rubitone (Rubik's + Pantone). Inspired colour mixes guaranteed!
Via: What's blogging my view

Cast & Crew

Artist Alex Hamilton's exhibition of 1000 stencil portraits of international and local icons of popular culture opens next week on Wednesday.

Read more about the Cast & Crew show at Alex Hamilton's website. We'll be there because the show includes a portrait of ELLE DECORATION's iconic editor, Karen Roos!

Report from NYC: Boo!

There is some sca-a-ry Halloween-themed décor around and if you live in the holiday-obsessed US of A, you'll know exactly what I mean. So I’ve been scouring the Web for unusually creepy décor for the Halloween party I’m not having.

My invitations would go out on this wonderful ‘Special Bites’ print, by Matt Cipov, and my guests would be greeted at the door by this bewitching wreath from Plumparty.

A creepy tone would be set by my dark and bizarre table centerpiece, which includes a black rose bouquet from Target, surrounded by a few black crows made with real feathers.

But the piece de resistance at the center of the table would be -- hold your stomach -- this alligator specimen, which I found on Etsy's Cabinet of Curiosities. (I have to say, this strange collection of items on Etsy began to creep me out for real.)

Around the table I'd intersperse some of these creepy colour-changing Dark Secret goblet candles with a skull tea light or two.

Time for a pre-dinner drink? How about a glass of merlot from a Black Diamond wine glass, or you might prefer a cocktail from the skull shaker, served in a raven acrylic tumbler (all from that emporium of high design again -- you guessed it, Target).

Dinner, of course, would be prepared and served with Tord Boontje's Witches' Kitchen set of cooking and serving utensils, recently launched by Artecnica. Creepy it may be, but it's all so very ethically right-on, having been handcrafted by artisans in South American countries, that we might even end up eating vegetarian!

And what would the mistress of the night be wearing? How about this rare Victorian mourning necklace made from vulcanite and jet, teamed with the black rose thorn earrings by Lee Hale, both from Erie Basin.




Happy Halloween, everyone!

Scaling the walls, floors, bed...

Feeling all retro chic and bold? Then get your eyeballs all a-jangle by kitting out your apartment in the full suite of Color Scales accessories - all brand new at Urban Outfitters. You can have the zingiest walls...

...the most hyperactive bedspread around......and a rug that fairly ripples with grooviness underfoot too.