The House Whisperer

Archive for the ‘Decoration’ Category

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COLLECTIONS

In Decoration, I like, Objects, Collecting on 21/05/2012 at 17:47

I would like to show you our favourite collections that we composed the last months. A variety of collected items. To create a collection, we start from an idea or just from one particular piece and then chasing around to find more of them. It will often take a long time before we consider that a collection is ready.

Our top ten.

Collection of African Headrests.

Collection of Damascus Trays.

Collection of Sea Shells in zinc tub.

Part of our extensive collection of Beswick Copperware.

Collection of four Hat forms with plaster sculpture by Henry Sausse.

 A beautiful collection of globes from the 1930s made by Chad Valley.

Part of our collection of Faux Wood Painted Beswick Vases from the 1950s.

Collection of Fulham Pottery in Pale Grey. 1930s.

Part of our collection of decorative hand mirrors.

Those Carpet Beaters would look fabulous in a small hallway or in a pantry or even in a small dining room. Funny and unexpected.

Please have a look at our site. www.collectionsof.com

Thanks for reading my post.

BENOIT.

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BEFORE AND AFTER.

In Decoration, Housewhispering on 12/05/2012 at 11:30

A living and dining room needed a make over and my client wanted a more minimal approach of her interior.The only new item that we bought are the 3 chauffeuses that we put together to make a large sofa. All the other furniture comes from other rooms or from their house at the seaside. As for example the Pierre Paulin chairs and the danish inspired coffee table.

LIVING ROOM.

DINING ROOM.

I had the walls painted in a light grey colour that is constantly changing with the different sources of light.

The Venitian blinds were removed and the Oriental carpets were rolled up and put in the attic together with the furniture we didn’t use anymore.

The antique parquet de Versailles is now visible in all his splendor  and the room breaths a contemporary air.

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DECOR CHANGE.

In Collecting, Decoration, I like, Objects on 09/05/2012 at 06:48

The same wall, but a different display of objects. The first display is our collections of vintage bamboo mirrors, Most of them came from England and were made in the 1950.s

The second display is a collections of north African Tea Trays in copper. Some were meant to put on foldable legs and be used as tables, but definitely all were used to put the little coloured glasses filled with mint tea.

 

Have a nice day and to keep you warm, nothing as good as a wonderful hot tea or a delicious strong coffee.

Greetings from cold and rainy Belgium.

Benoit.

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CHANGING MOOD, ROOM.

In Decoration, Furniture, Uncategorized on 19/04/2012 at 09:53

Not such a good image from the apartment before furbishing.

I like to change my apartment following my moods and creativity. Seasons and light play also a definite role in remodelling. As doing House Whispering for clients I begin with my own surroundings.

Often with the same things and sometimes with the left overs and the wrong buys from the business. I will show you pictures of different settings.

I hope that you will enjoy this post.

The chicest and cheapest sofa: Ektorp from IKEA.

I am a fan of cushions.

Winter setting.

Mezannine.

Spring.

 

The wall is still not painted. Artistic or lazy.

Coloured.

Mezzanine.

Latest addition. Chair in carved wood effect by Kreiss Collection from California, upholstered with an old Kelim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STAIR.

In Architects, Cities, Decorateurs, Decoration on 21/03/2012 at 15:07

Giorgio Armani is one of the great fashion designers of the past 50 years. I think his creations are a bit repetitive but still very stylish.

I am not a huge fan of his decoration and designers skills but when I saw this picture in a magazine of the newly opened Armani hotel in Milan I immediately felt grandeur and the views of a master.

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Cushions

In Colours, Decoration, Housewhispering on 21/03/2012 at 00:18

Whilst in Ibiza last week, I was doing some shopping for the new bedroom in my friends house.

In a beautiful shop in Ibiza town I discovered these patterned and quite bold cushions and I wanted some for the house.

It is a change from the kelim pillows that are thrown to your head in every decoration shop.

And some went home on the new bed cover in the brand-new bedroom

Over this bedroom I show pics before and after in a later post.

Thanks for reading my post

Benoit.

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VACATION HOME IN IBIZA.

In Colours, Decoration, Housewhispering, I like on 20/03/2012 at 18:58

Since some years I spent a lot of holidays in this very pretty vacation home in the hills of Ibiza.My friends Miriam and Jan are perfect hosts and we are always on the run in antiques shops and markets to find objects that are Morrocan inspired and from ethnic origine.

I show here a selection of pictures that show the atmosphere of the house.

Morrocan pottery in the kitchen

Moroccan pottery in the kitchen.

Still life on the kitchen counter.

Entrance hall.

One of the bathrooms.

One of the colourful bedrooms.

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LUIS BUSTAMANTE.

In Decorateurs, Decoration on 13/02/2012 at 15:27

I want to share with you some pictures of a house in the very fashionable district of ”El Distrito Federme”in Mexico City.  This house is decorated by Madrid based decorateur Luis Bustamante.

At last I see in a European quality magazine an interior that is not minimalistic or vintage, put together with forgotten furniture from the attic that is whitewashed and boring.

This house has chic and is easy to live in, surrounded by objects of exceptional quality and contemporary art and above all a home feeling.

Grand living room.

 

another living room

 

library

 

A perfect and chic combination of contemporary art and various French antiques on a subtle coloured background.

Who would't dream of such a beautiful dressing room.

 

The Master bedroom.

 

The upstairs hallway.

Thanks for reading.

Benoit.

photo credits. Habitania magazine and Google.

 

 

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BOLD COLOURS.

In Decoration, I like on 31/01/2012 at 11:25

A while ago I was visiting some of my younger friends who reshaped a beautiful house, where I did the interiors about 25 years ago. So I did know the house very well. It had a good structure and a warm soul. Well, I was surprised when I saw the house, that they where able to keep that atmosphere and warmth, but made it ready for a young family of this century. White walls in most of the rooms or a very dark grey or almost black aubergine for the evening rooms makes it a house that feels young and of this time.

They asked me some advice for colour and I suggested to use a bold palette of strong colours  as they have a beautiful carpet in the evening room from www.lignepure.com .

All the soft furnishing that we choose till now are in harmony with the carpet, even if the carpet is in a different room.

Family room.

View from the dining space / family room to the evening room.

 

Detail of the carpet.

 

Let colour be part of enjoying daily life.

Thank you for reading.

Benoit

 

 

 

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Fabrics I like

In Decoration on 21/01/2012 at 17:14

When I  was working as a full time interior designer I would always work with  fabrics from famous companies.

My favourite fabric designer in the eighties was Manuel Canovas, well known for his bold designs of flowers in the most elegant colour combinations assorted with an astonishing variety of plain fabrics as chintz, silk velours and satin cottons and this in the most marvellous colours. This was in the pre beige,greige, grey linen period we live in at the moment.

Manuel canovas

Another master of fabric creation was Jack Lenor Larsen. I worked with a travel case that contained little square samples of all the fabrics. Rich embroidered silks with little plasticised mirrors to the most dazzling handwoven wool fabrics to make cushions and upholster chairs.

Jack Lenor Larsen fabric for a chair designed by Pierre Paulin for Artifort.

For the more traditional interiors I worked a lot with a Swiss company called Zumsteg and the very old French house of Comoglio that was bought by Pierre Frey in the 1990s.To upholster chairs , my favourite material was horsehair by Le Crin. I also liked very much Rubelli and Colefax and Fowler. In the eighties working with Designers Guild and Souleiado was very fashionable. It was the period when the Indian cotton Dhurries were in fashion. An overload of soft colours and a base for many an interior. The most beautiful came from Shyam Ahuya, whom I visited in New Delhi.

Indian handwoven cotton dhurrie

It was in a period when going to Paris and London to do the fabric fairs was quite a posh. It was in a pre internet world. A smaller world where you could express yourself very individually.

Now things have changed. I think that people take less time for their house and go in the malström of mass ideas. In magazines and books, it is very often the same kind of interior that is showed, often without personality. Anyway the influential magazines of the 80′s and 90′s have disappeared and  what is left is of no comparison with what I was used to read.

Well, everything changes. Nothing stays the same and so did I. I had this wonderfull time being surrounded in my office with all those colours and fabrics and now I see decoration in a new way and with another kind of fabrics and inspirations

Fabrics that are soooo beautiful, but comes from Market places wherever I travel. I buy old French bedsheets to make slipcovers. I go to Zara Home for pillows and throws ,Ian Mankin has wonderful striped cottons and I like a lot of  cushions at Ikea and Hema. I buy wool fabrics in clothes fabric shops to cover seats and I like pinstripe fabric for suits to make curtains. With some luck and patience I find the most amazing linens for normal prices and of course I let my imagination work in another way. Fun and versatility, changing moods, evolutional moods. Creativity, Low budget thinking and a lot of wandering around open my mind to constant innovative ideas.

Colours ins clothes fabric shop.

Silk velours in a London market.

Ian Mankin - London.

So chic.

 When it is possible to use fabrics made in the region where I work, I do it. I use Mallorquina fabric in a house in Ibiza and I use linen in Belgium.

Typical Mallorquina.

Belgian Linen.

photo credits: Pinterest.

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