I have completely fallen for all the stripes and chevron patterns that are all over, well, everything these days. I'm really trying to push myself away from them, since they are so trendy, and in a year we will all be over it, but then I found these lovely ceramics.

I saw this geometric gold and white ceramic tray on Coco & Kelley earlier this week and was completely taken by it. It's by artist Susan Dwyer who sells a variety of ceramic and paper vessels through her etsy shop, up in the air somewhere.

While I love the use of gold in her patterns, the soft grey, yellow, green, and blush shades are also perfect. My heart is torn.

Beautiful painterly iPhone cases by Jenny Vorwaller.

Available at Society6.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Two!

One of my favourite suppliers, Schoolhouse Electric had some big new over the weekend. The shop has expanded their line to become Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co, featuring a great array of homewares, furniture, and utility items in addition to their fabulous light fixtures.

For me, Schoolhouse is always on the edge of design. It seems that despite the popularity of classic, utilitarian pieces over the past little while, there is still a huge gap in the market for unique, quality goods. While many retailers seem content to simply modify what is already out there, Schoolhouse continues to push the boundaries.

Higgins Mirror with Rope Hanger

I love the contrast of the smooth, cool bronze with the rustic quality of the rope hanger.

Schoolhouse Extension Cord

This piece perfectly illustrates my point. Schoolhouse effortlessly elevates the classic cloth extension cord.

Ticking Stripe Sheet Set

I love mattress ticking and cannot get enough of it. These are fabulous, although I wish they were available in grey or black.

Blackline Stoneware

One thing that we haven't seen a lot of is stoneware. These pieces are nicely modernized with bold black rims and stripes. I'd love to see these on my kitchen counter.

Factory Light No. 4 Cable Pendant

And these gorgeous enamel pendants would look stunning over my kitchen island.

Welcome to my dream house.

This modest mid-century bungalow is the current home of Bungalow Industries, a branding and identity firm out of the UK. They have outgrown their humble abode and recently put it on the market, but not before giving their real estate campaign their own spin.

In addition to the beautiful photography, Bungalow produced two brochures regarding the property. One outlines the house and neighbourhood, full of archive images and photographs from Fahrenheit 451 which was filmed in the area, plus all the details from the house itself. The other is a photographic recollection of the renovation that Bungalow did to the house.

If I was a realtor I would be taking serious notes. The design of the webpage and the two brochures blows away any home marketing material I have ever seen. Doesn't it make you want to move right in?

I discovered Good Fucking Design Advice last fall, after seeing the site featured on The Donut Project. GFDA is a collaborative project between Jason Bacher and Brian Buirge, and was founded during their grad studies, through their shared frustration with the design business.

The pair have produced a variety of products which share their credo, including posters, pins, t-shirts, and mugs. Their posters are the first thing that I noticed them for, and each new edition temps me more than the last. I think the newest black on black edition would look fabulous in my black office.

The whole site brings it back to the basics. Simple and straightforward rules to working in design, while maintaining your passion and drive to keep doing good, fullfilling work.

In celebration of their 1 year anniversary, they put together this video below, Good Fucking Design Advice; The Passion Project.

G.F.D.A. / The Passion Project from Alexander on Vimeo.

Guess what I won!?!

Thanks to Alanna Cavanagh for the print and to Emma Reddington of the Marion House Book for hosting the giveaway. Our kitchen will be next on the list for a paint job, so I can't wait to get this framed and hung in there!

I think I'll do a bigger post on Alanna this week, for those of you unfamiliar with her work.

happy, happy!

photo's by Janet Kimber

I'm a big fan of painterly abstract art, so it was no surprise that the portfolio of Michelle Armas had me swooning. The beautiful, bold colours combined with the movement of the brush strokes is a really winning combination in my books. See for yourself:

Michelle Armas' work is available in her online shop, and she is also represented by Gregg Irby Fine Art in Atlanta.

This week I headed down to Lightform to checkout their big showroom sale. The store will be relocating in a couple of weeks, and they are taking the opportunity to refresh all their showroom lighting. I thought I'd pop by to see what they had in store. And this is what I saw when I first stepped inside.

It is the Josephine pendant by Metalarte.

When I talk about delightful design, this is it for me. I just love that curvy shape. So this will go in either the office or the bedroom, depending on where it works best. I can't wait to show you when it's installed!

I miss piksi.

Image from Evie S.

For those of you who don't know, piksi was this beautiful girl from Finland who used to post images of her incredible fashion sense on Flickr. She had a stunning collection of clothes, with lots of vintage pieces that she repurposed, and some signature items from local designers.

Image from Uppercase Magazine

I first found out about her after reading an issue of Uppercase Magazine. I almost dropped the magazine to stumble to the computer and devour her entire Flickr stream.

Above 3 Images from Luphia Loves

Image from Erica Knits

This hat inspired so many knitters that someone created a pattern so you can knit the hat yourself.

Sadly, last year she stopped posting to Flickr and removed all her photo's from her stream. Tear! So now her fans are relegated to google imaging (that's totally a verb) to relive her incredible fashion sense through old blogs. On a happy note, she has started a tumbler called Heartbeats, which features the occasional photo of herself.

♥

All this talk of chocolate the past couple days has reminded me of some beautiful chocolate shops that I have come across lately. I've been wanting to share these for awhile, but now seemed an appropriate time to showcase them all together. You know, while you munch your way through a heart shaped box of confections.

100% Chocolate Cafe

Kyobashi, Tokyo

by WonderWall

From the WonderWall website:

"The theme is "Chef's Table in the Kitchen." The entire establishment is rendered as a chocolate kitchen, with a table placed within to accommodate invited guests. Covering one of the walls are 56 different types of chocolate blocks, tastefully placed in glass showcases."

Le Maison des Maitres Chocolatiers

Brussels, Belgium

Minale Design Strategy

The concept for this space evolved from the idea of chocolate as a gem, which explains the faceted appearance of the walls and ceiling. While the dark chocolate colour of the walls, floors, and ceilings suggests a cave like environment, the facets reflect the light at various angles, which opens up the space. The fine reveals also suggest the break marks in a bar of chocolate.

Godiva

Harajuku, Tokyo

by WonderWall

From the WonderWall website:

"This is Godiva’s new concept flagship store. Godiva’s idea was “treat thyself”. Wonderwall’s intention was to add a breath of fresh air to the more traditional image Godiva instill. The shop features humorous design details such as the “melting chocolate” ceiling combined with the primarily classical interior design. The boutique’s popular and fashionable location of Harajuku has also been considered in the overall design. Passers-by can view both its entrance as well as the customers enjoying their time with chocolate on the second floor cafe."