In September I went on holiday to Menorca an incredible Unesco heritage site. It’s a bewitching island with its unique landscape, amazing colours and magnificent light.
Read More3 Perfect Palettes for your Wedding with Pantone 2024
Being January I always like to start the year with Pantone’s chosen colour. Peach fuzz’ is this year’s choice. Three colours schemes that Iike most
Read MoreThe Manhattan Flower market in New York
As soon as I found out that there was a Flower market in New York, I immediately decided to put it on my bucket list!So I organized my expedition to leave bright and early 6.30 am. I was so excited as I approached West 28th, I had butterflies in my stomach!
Read MoreIconic New York
In October I was lucky enough to visit iconic New York and its incredible vibe amazed me in a thousand ways!
Read More4 colour palettes for my Design week in Milan
This year I show you my Design week in Milan with 4 colour palettes: lively, earth, pink and light blue.
Read More14 perfect flowers for the 2023 pantone!
Being January I always like to start the year with Pantone’s chosen colour. ‘Viva Magenta’ is this year’s choice and I absolutely love it!
Read More3 ideas to create a flower bar for your event
In this post I would like to explain my creative approach in creating 3 themes for a unique flower bar. For the different themed creations I gathered images to make mood-boards and then carefully chose each colour palette. The first step was to gather images to create some moodboards and then I chose the colour palette. Only after these two steps I developed the three different themes.
Read More7 flowers for a unique autumnal bouquet
Early in October I organized a one-day floral master-class in a former industrial space. In this first post I’ll talk to you about the autumnal bouquet we created.For this floral arrangement I was inspired by the image of ‘a young barefoot woman in a small garden picking flowers for her bouquet!’. The style and mood was bohemian but with my own personal twist.
Read More10 perfect wedding flowers with Pantone 2021 colours
Pantone 2021 for weddings palette. What do you think about this colour combination for your wedding? You could choose just one of the two tones, or add a third colour such as lilac, very trendy this year, or even a touch of delicate light pink.
Read MoreJungle mood in Lanzarote
Lanzarote, jungle mood. An island with an incredible nature and an amazing artist Cesar Manrique
Read More6 floral installations at the Milan design week
Every April Milan opens its doors to the design week and events of “Fuorisalone”. For me the Fuorisalone has became an absolute must. In this edition two elements that immediately caught my attention were: flowers and the combination between modern and antique.
Read Morethe magical world of pictures meets the magical world of flowers
Floral illustrations and floral moodboard for wedding
Read MoreYOUR ITALIAN COUNTRY CHIC PICNIC WEDDING
A unique picnic wedding with an unforgettable magical atmosphere in a stylish setting in Northern Italy near Lake Garda and Verona. Natural and loose mood for the floral table decorations. The main flower was the peony and rustic flower
Read MoreAn autumn wedding with an essential flower
An autumn wedding in the countryside amidst vinyeard. The swedish-english couple had a very clear idea of the style, the hues and the atmosphere that she wanted for their wedding. For the bride being passionate about flowers herself it was important that they played an important role on their special day. Going back to Paula’s wedding she chose a palette made up of different shades of bordeaux, burgundy, green and cream. A touch of light peach was added to give light and to create and edgy contrast. The chocolate hue of her moodboard conveyed elegance, smoothness and consistency.
Read MoreHYGGE AND FLOWERS
The Danish untranslatable word “Hygge” is the latest trend at the moment. What does it mean exactly? The meaning is more or less: “how to create a cosy and pleasant atmosphere, enjoying life with our loved ones.” Recently we were in Copenaghen and we felt this way of living everywhere. Upon our arrival we were impressed by the lack of noise and this calmness stayed with us all day long. A very relaxing and liveable city with an intense light and nature was very strongly present everywhere.
It was so inspiring for me. I could dedicate myself to the discovery of the Danish design (which I’ll be seeing again next week during the Milan design week).
What impressed me most? The constant presence of flowers and plants. Flowers and plants everywhere: in vases, hanging from the ceiling, on tables and even decorating the plates. Everywhere you go from the small bar to the design store the attention to details is amazing.
A beautiful historic palace was the setting for the Danish design company of Hay House. We stepped into a world of hygge design and from the tall impressive windows we had an incredible view over the busy square.
Next stop was the Royal Copenaghen store, one of the world’s oldest companies, established in 1775. Easter was the main theme with moss, trees, flowers, bulbs and fine china eggs in every corner.
Moving on we arrived in a quaint, little street home of the romantic and eclectic shop Stillleben.
From there we headed for lunch to a nice restaurant with an incredible inner greenhouse.
In the afternoon although the elements were against us, we popped over to The little mermaid on the sea. We stopped off at a coffee shop along the way to warm ourselves and to try a delicious Danish pastry.
Don’t miss my post next week about the Design Week in Milan.
A special thanks to Pauline of PetitePassaport for her very useful guide of Copenaghen.
Flowers and Fuorisalone in Milan #2
I spent the evening in the iconic district of the Fuorisalone: Tortona. Everybody, youngs and old alike were enjoying the spring air strolling between the Mudec (Modern art museum) and the nearby area with galleries, showrooms and open spaces.
My last day was spent wandering around the area of Brera where all the most famous design showrooms are situated. As well as my planned itinerary I also enjoyed exploring . Suddenly I across a deconsecrated church which hosted Bulthaup's amazing work. The furniture was in perfect unison with the simplicity of the church. Vases full of white ranunculus stood out on a dramatic wooden table.
My next stop was the Botanical garden at the University of Milan. A small restful oasis in the middle of the city. The Botanical garden was created in 1774 by the Austrian Empresses Maria Teresa. Outdoor furniture was scattered around the garden. Fully blossomed white peonies, light blue orchids and a opulent old wisteria caught my eye. On the first floor of the University there were 50 reproductions of iconic design objects. A perfect match between modern and antique.
And then off to visit designers like Hay and Marimekko in via Palermo. Marimekko had decorated and furnished an entire apartment. Each room had a feminine, seventies feel about it with a splash of colour. In Via Palermo n. 1 a kinetic vegetable garden had been created on a rooftop. A colourful and earthy corner mixing flowers and vegetables.
And I must tell you about the Day-time Hotel, a magical place which had been opened especially for the Fuorisalone, beautifully restored by FAI. This place which was designed by architect Piero Portaluppi between 1923 and 1925, can be found at the Porta Venezia stop of underground. As you enter, you step back in time and see where there used to be public bathrooms, barbershop and hairdresser.
A particularly fascinating apartment is that of Piero Portaluppi whose nephew currently lives there. Just next to it lies the Museum of the Attenali, home of Leonardo’s vineyard.
On the whole a very enjoyable experience and I would strongly recommend it to everyone.
Flowers and Fuorisalone in Milan #1
Each year in Milan in April there is Design week wich includes the international fair of furniture design “Salone Internazionale del Mobile” and the events of the “Fuorisalone”. The international furniture fair started in 1961 to improve the export of Italian furniture. Nowadays is a very important appointment for Italian and European design. This year there are 1258 spread all over the city. During this week Milan opens up its doors and treasures to everybody. The most important areas are: Triennale, 5 Vie, Brera, the citycentre, Tortona and Lambrate.
This year I decided to dedicate two days for the events at the Fuorisalone. Thinking about the itinerary I focused my attention on the interaction between design and historical spaces. It was a hard task to choose between all the events since they were all very interesting.
My first stop was at the space of Rossanda Orlandi, must for the design. A fascinating space with a courtyard surrounded by lush plants. A long white wooden table with a line of glass vases and colourful flowers stood in the middle. The nearby restaurant Marta boasted its eclectic and flamboyant floral decorations.
Moving on I visited two historical palaces. Palazzo Litta hosted an African village 2.0 created by Francis Kerè in the courtyard. On the first floor a project to furnish little flats in Singapore captured my attention. All the ceiling was covered whith colourful ballons… 125 Dutch designers set up home at Palazzo Turing for the week. Walking through the courtyard each visitor was welcomed by 15.000 tulip bulbs given by the Dutch consulate.
Then I explored the area of 5 Vie just behind Piazza Affari. A maze of small streets and allies where every corner held small craft workshops, unusual little shops and design or artistic installations.
A very peculiar installation was in the Sarnremo carpark, half carpark and half art gallery. I found the mixture between unconventional spaces and design very interesting and stimulating. Following this mood many installations were created in old and unkempt apartments but each of them had its own distinctive soul. One example was the “Ladies&Gentlemen” open apartment with its long and dark hallway covered with black wood panels, the doors with coloured glass and a dramatic terrace overlooking a closed courtyard.
The last stop was at the Sardinian fashion stylist Marras with the “Accumuli” installation. Walking through the lobby and opening the front gate I was embraced by the inebriating fragrance of the wisteria and then overwhelmed by its flowers. A flower corner inside a palace. A space where the inside and the outside were speaking to each other. Floral bouquets outside, dresses with floral patterns inside, floral wallpaper, vintage pieces of furniture. Everything to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Going down the “Accumuli” installation was very minimalist with ropes, terracotta and water. Finally a glimpse at a magical room filled with photos of old people and tables decorated with fine bone-china and flowers.
The fil rouge of this day: flowers and design
End of the first part!