At first sight I assumed these pictures must be somewhere in the American Southwest – what a surprise to find that these advertising shots are for Himla of Sweden, and were actually taken on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Anyway, I’m a sucker for a shiny Airstream in isolated surroundings, so they make a perfect escape fantasy for this weekend:
Outdoor dining in Gotland
I wonder how cold it is there? Now I know it’s the Baltic, it even looks cold, hot colors not withstanding …
Colorful Camping
White linen and fresh breezes in Gotland
And just because I like it, an Airstream lit-up by beautiful sunset at the Joshua Tree National Park in California, from the portfolio of Richard Powers. Happy Saturday!
I’m sure I’ve told you too many times that I’ve been lucky enough to meet design hero Johnny Grey recently, and to attend his lecture on the “Post-Culinary Kitchen”. The lecture contained such a wealth of ideas, it could keep me busy with blog-posts (and design inspiration) for months to come. One of the most fundamental things the lecture and discussion touched on was the difficulty most of us experience in getting our clients (and ourselves) beyond the details of appliances, cabinet styles, materials, and colors, to arrive at the essence of what we really want from a kitchen. Johnny had a really valuable suggestion, that we should look right back to childhood, to where our images of comfort originate – probably not in kitchens themselves, but in the interior landscapes of the pictures and stories that were important to us then. One obvious inspiration is the rounded shape and earthy comfort of a hobbit dwelling:
The stuff of childhood dreams - a hobbit house
For me, I think it would be a Romany caravan – as small children, my sister and I used to use pillows and bedspreads to transform our big chest of drawers into one on a regular basis:
A Gipsy Caravan
Comfort and adventure in a single package
Perhaps a little thatched cottage – so long as it is not occupied by a wicked, child-eating witch:
Thatched cottage at Merthyr Mawr
Or even the Captain’s cabin of a sailing ship:
The Captain's Quarters
It’s not hard to see just how far from this deeply rooted sense of comfort most hard-edged, shiny-surfaced, modern kitchens really are – and how the “soft geometries” and rich materials of Johnny Grey’s designs relate directly to that sense. What child, or adult, for that matter, could resist this window seat? It is close to the action, but separate enough to make the perfect reading or day-dreaming retreat:
Rounded shapes, and a window seat to retreat to (Image Johnny Grey Studios)
The playful colors and shapes here are a child’s fantasy grown-up and made real – and of course, the fact that this is actually on a boat doesn’t hurt, either:
Playful colors and shapes - soft geometry (Image Johnny Grey Studios)
What do you think – have we gone too much in the direction of streamlined efficiency in most of our kitchens today, pushing playfulness and comfort right out? What would be the inspiration behind the kitchen of your childhood dreams?
Aah, touring caravans – those boxy behemoths, the bane of British bank holidays. But I do have such a soft spot for a daintily decorated one, (for example) – just as long as I’m not behind it on a B road on a Saturday morning. So behold, this bonanza of beauties brought to my attention by the bounteous Bedlam of Beefy blog. Lovelane Caravans in Cornwall have a carefully curated collection of caravans each adorned with appropriate accoutrements. And you don’t have to tangle with the tedious towing – your hip holiday hang-out will be set up for you on the site you select, all you need is your towel, your togs and your toothbrush, and your retreat will be ready and waiting.
Tea under the awning
Tea inside
A sophisticated vibe
Location, location. location
For traditionalists too
Just don’t do what those crazy Top Gear kids did on their caravan holiday – these beauties do not deserve this fate!
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Happy Friday (and please accept my abject apologies for all the asinine alliteration – I’ll try not to do it again)
You’re probably well aware that there’s a bit of a “taxidermy” trend going on in interiors – I’ve being seeing heads of deer and other animals in all sorts of rooms. But I haven’t seen one of these until now:
Just right?
Now that’s got to beat any dead animal decoration there is, right? This hungry visitor attempted to drop in on a group of scientists visiting Svalbard – they were preparing cauliflower soup, perhaps the bear is a vegan?
I won't go until I've got some ...
The photos of the bear, by Andy Rouse, are awesome. What with the disappearing sea-ice and the tough time the bears are having as climate warming changes the world around them, you can see that this fellow is really hungry.
Please?
But, come on guys, I really wanted to see more of that ship’s kitchen! (from The Daily Mail)
I don’t care if it’s crazy, this Blob by architects dmvA makes me want to walk right up and stroke it
The Blob
the way it opens up is totally space-age
Blob Open
and inside, all those little compartments – can you see the shower up in the nose cone, and the kitchen tucked in on the right?
Inside the Blob
One reason I have a soft spot for this blob is that it is like something my Dad could have invented. I have many happy memories of summers in the ’70s when we traveled through Europe in the home-made camper van that he built by hand on a Ford Transit chassis. It was unpainted, and had a distinct organic feel to it. And inside? Lots of secret compartments, each specially sized and constructed to contain a particular item – one for his tool-kit, one for the tent, one for the outboard engine for the boat that was strapped to the van’s roof, others for the food, the pots and pans, the dishes. The best one of all was for the camping stove and its gas bottle, specially located so that we could light it up and boil the kettle for tea while driving along. (And unless you’ve brewed tea, never forgetting to warm the pot, while driving down the autobahns or negotiating the hairpin bends of the Yugoslavian coast road, you haven’t really brewed tea at all).
Which brings ne to one question with this Blob – it looks like a great weekend camper, but how do you get it to where you want it? Perhaps you parachute it in from above? I could imagine enormous trebuchets on the edge of the city, tossing blobs in every direction on Friday afternoons as people escape to the country …
I don’t know if this is really clever, funny, or just sad – clothing that can be transformed into makeshift shelter. I’m pretty sure the people who really need it won’t be able to afford it.
A galley kitchen to dream of. This is the galley of Fat Boy Slim’s yacht (sailboat if you prefer) Barracuda. Isn’t the styling gorgeous? They must have to arrange things rather differently when they are actually at sea. (All pictures via style-files.com)
Galley Kitchen
And here’s the dining area – with views forever.
Dining on Deck
One of the bathrooms – so sweet!
Compact and Charming
And just to complete the picture, Barracuda at sea …
The cutest little kitchen ever
Paint and Imagination