Photographer's palette : Inspiration : Anu Khandelwal

I have see a lot of photos of feet against some kind of a backdrop---mostly a beach !! but this one is the most unusual one I have seen. It made me wiggle my toes in glee :)  I have started this series on photographs that will inspire the post. The pic is by Anu Khandelwal and posted in the Delhi Photographers group on facebook. I love the pattern and texture in the blue, the silhouette just serving to accentuate the detail in a dramatic manner.

I have noticed, that there is a resistance to blue in interiors, with the exception of bathrooms when suddenly the scales seem to tilt in its favour. I have often wondered why that is so. The lighter brighter blues are frequently used in fabrics and furnishings, but the deeper tones are rare to find.

What I am trying to understand is why they should be so popular in bathrooms and not be acceptable in other rooms ? In the darker tones I mean. I mean, if you find blue depressing, I am assuming it would be so anywhere--in an interior.

Personally, I think if there is sufficient light in a room , even the darkest blue can look appealing if it is all put together well. C'est pas ?

Personally, I love the ivory indigo pallette. I think it is restrained and yet adds a lot of drama.

                                                                                     Slipper Chair by Urban Outfitters

Although the classic blue and white has been around for centuries, it was made popular by the Dutch in the 17th C for the classic Delftware that we all know of. A century of so later the French took a liking for the same colour combination and used it to great effect in their toile collections.

Carolyne Roehm wrote an interesting coffee table book on her passion for blue and white :)


ICI's colour trend pick for 2010 is ICY BLUE so more on that in my next post. For now, I would like to indulge the indigo amd white colour theme.






Indigo collection by Donghia

xJavier's photostream

Domino Mag via Callie Grayson

Nautical November : Blue-eyed Bedroom

Opalescent October : Interior photography pick

Continuing with my explore Swedish design theme this month I decided to profile the work of photographer Jonas Lindstrom.You can check out his website or blog to get a better perspective of the range of his portfolio.

His hometown Kalmar, in southern Sweden, perhaps explains his exceptional work featuring glass. Kalmar is known for its handmade crystal. This town and its surroundings have been a continuing source of inspiration for this Swedish photographer

I particularly like the work he has done for Kosta Boda. This is a Swedish glassworks compnay founded in 1742. Kosta is not far from Jonas Lindstrom's hometown of Kalmar, and this region is generally referred to as the Kingdom of Crystal. They are now leading manufacturers of art glass and tableware in the world with a cutting edge design team

Opalascent October : Interesting design

Did you ever think of the bed as a ceiling ? Or even a mezzanine ? BedUp bring you the bed that can be put way in the ceiling !!! while making space for you to use that area during the day.

You can decide the height at which you want the bed to be positioned at night so you don't need to move the furnisture around all the time.

Great idea for studio spaces.

Brought to you be Decadrages , this is designed and manufactured in France. You can watch the film here

Loved the background score :)

Lounge Makeover : Traditional/Classical to Contemporary

This was the lounge/bar room at the entrance. The bar cabinet is in the left corner . The furniture was all in the classical/ethnic style and the art on the walls was inappropriate in terms of size, colour and theme. The brief was to give it a whole new look and being in a lot of vibrancy and colour without any major interior work. On a tight budget, as always :) I will get to the bar design later, but right now I shall just talk about the seating are and the general layout and look of the room.

The first thing I did was decide on the paintings.Normally, I find that it works best when the art gives definition to the

space. The paintings are by Purva and I love her use of colours.

The walls were painted in mushroom beige and on the large wall I did a crackle finish in mushroom and silver. The niche where the sofa forms an L is supposed to have a full height mirror, which is yet to be installed :)

The sectional sofa was made to size with lots of throw pillows as this is used as a lounge and bar where comfort seating was a requirement. The large wing chair was placed to bring in drama as this is what you see when you enter the room and as the only piece on that side of the room as the entrance to the formal living is also on the same wall.

The console cabinet was made for the hundred odd coffee table books that the client had collected over the years.

 
The coffee table in teak was given a dark walnut stain and the oreintal rug replaced with a contemporary two tone shag rug. The bar is in the niche formed by the round window that extends out of the room. A couple of bar stools were added to complete the picture.

Small spaces : Compact furniture

This is a small living dining lounge room and the client needed cabinetry that would be all purpose. The crockery cabinet also serves as a bar unit and the extendable dining table was made to suit their space limitations

The apartment is a rented one so there was not much they could do about the walls and the flooring. The entire cabinet is in 4 pieces so as to allow for a different configuration when they move to another place.

To maintain an element of homogeneity, all the furniture was teak stained in a wenge lacquer finish. The two consoles are for additional serving space and this was done in two different faux finishes to bring in some colour

The art is by Anjolie Ela Menon (in the centre) and the others by Ravi Varma.The fabric used was all white leather and the drapes are in a beige texture with choco borders as highlights

Opalescent October : Swedish Story Koncept-ualised

I would never have imagined anything Swedish to be this 'bollywood' :) Somehow, I always associated Scandanavian design with minimalism, monochromatic tones and stark contrasts. So, when I came across the design of Story Hotel in Stockholm I was quite surprised. Designed by Koncept a Swedish architectural and design firm, this hotel breaks many rules. Or at least redefines them.

The check-in procedure itself is quite novel. All done online and your room key is a password that is emailed to you :)

The hotel design combines the old---almost down to the raw shell ---with contemporary design and luxurious styling. But this isn't a luxury hotel. It's fairly inexpensive and bang smack in downtown Stockholm.

Gold is used extensively in the interiors from ceiling fixtures, bathroom walls to counter tops. Mirrors have also been used a lot and the interiors have an interesting play of light and shadows. This in combined with a lof look on the ceilings and walls.

Interestingly, the design has a global appeal because it could be just about anywhere and transcends the boundaries of space and time.

Innovate use has been made of the old, and interesting features have been added or accentuated to make this hotel unique in its definition, if it can subscribe to one. This gives me one more reason to head to Stockholm. At least, now I know where I will stay !!!

And of course, the interesting news is that Story Hotel got nominated in two categories at the European Hotel Design Awards 2009---Best conversion of an existing building to hotel use and Best restaurant design.

All pics via Dezeen