Holidays snaps from the Bay of Arcachon

We had a lovely time in our holidays home in France near the Bay of Arcachon. We went to the beach...

Had some ice-creams and new strippy t-shirts...

Stayed on the boat for a week...

Climbed trees...

Picked up trees...

Climbed walls...and then admired the sunset...

Had a laugh...and more ice-creams....

Played in tree house....and painted the walls inside in white....

And I even managed to do some DIY here (more of this later), caught up with some friends and made some new ones who stayed in this house

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Morabito...because I love her

I'm in France for a week so I thought I would treat you (visually) with some images of interiors & products designed by my 'interior' hero Jacqueline Morabito...

The last two are photos I styled for Morabito's collection which is currently in our Summer sale and which also includes this beautiful, handmade plaster candleholder. 

1. Morabito | 2, 3, 4 & 5 (C) Martin Morell | 6 & 7 Vogue Living Sept/Oct 2010 | 8 & 9  François Kong

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BODIE and FOU Christmas Guide {Chic French gifts with a 'je ne sais quoi!"

We just received gorgeous scented candles and bodycare beautifully packaged from Cote Bastide. Sadly, due to the high volume of orders the linen apron is now sold out but will be back in 2012. In the meantime, you can indulge in some beautiful, chic and stylish gifts we sourced in France like this leather shopper bag (high on my wishlist to go to New-Zealand!)

 

From top left: Linen apron: £48 | ceramic soap dish: £24 | ceramic decorations: £20 each (gorgeous!) | Leather shopper bag: £180 | Linen bag: £60 | Tomatoes jar by Jacqueline Morabito: £12.50 | Handmade ceramic hearts (set of 3): £80 by Jacqueline Morabito | Rose scented candle: £34 | Salt form Guerande: £8.99 | Silver plated beaker: £30.50

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Moodboard inspired by Paris...

In about 30min, I will head off to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar and go back to London. I had such a cool time. The weather was fab, I caught up with lots of friends at the weekend and still managed to run 3 times with Elodie early in the morning which makes me very happy but usually, I can't be bothered doing anything when I'm travelling. 

M&O was tiring, it's a massive show and you spent a lot of time walking but I have found some really gems, some beautiful things for kids that give me butterflies, a gorgeous bag for men and lots of ideas. Until I see you on the other side of the Channel, here is a little mood board inspired by Paris...

 

1. Paris map print 2. Decorative hearts 3. Industrial clip on light 4. Birds clothes pegs used as paper clips

Dans 30min, je vais aller a la Gare du Nord pour prendre mon train direction London. J'ai passé 4 jours géniaux. Il a fait super beau, j'ai vu mes cops' pendant le WE et Elodie et moi avons réussi a bouger nos fesses 3 fois pour aller courir, ce qui me rend tres contente de moi. Le salon était fatiguant, c'est tellement grand et on passe beaucoup de temps a marcher mais j'ai trouvé pleins de petits trésors, des choses magnifiques pour les enfants, un sac absolument canon pour nos hommes et plein d'idées. En attendant de vous retrouver de l'autre coté, voici un petit moodboard inspiré by Paris...

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Un Samedi a Paris...

Of course, we went to MERCI on Saturday and we found the concept store celebrating Japan with gorgeous packaging, calligraphy like the Japanese know how, celebrating simple, utilitarian objects, beautiful to look at. 

I kept graviting around their corner for the men, soft, industrial...how I like them, with cashmere jumpers, beautiful leather bags that will last a lifetime and of course the linen corner upstairs that keeps me dreaming and where little by little I'm building my linen collection for our home in London...

To finish our inspiring shopping trip, Elodie and I had a drink at MERCI's cafe, watching people coming in and out of the shop, then a quick visit to Bonton and we ended up running to Zadig & Voltaire's outlet in Le Marais before closing time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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France: Inspired by...

This is a piece of the moodboard I did last time I was in France shooting our mail order catalogue which my mum left on her wall.
Having spent a week on our boat, I've already read a lot of French decoration magazines but I'm constantly drawn into the relax vibes of these two images. The left image is from a house that belongs to Jacqueline Morabito and I can not remember who was the photographer of the right one but it is strongly becoming my main source of inspiration for our kitchen in London.
I love the soft industrial touch from the Tolix chairs which could easily be replaced by these industrial stools in white, the big, comfy French armchair, the linen table runner on the wooden table, the walls half painted in soft grey and the mix of wooden utensils and white crockery....
An simple, relax look easy to achieve...
Right! We're off to the food market in La Teste near Arcachon. Have a great Sunday!

C'est une partie du moodboard que j'ai fait la derniere fois que j'etais en France pour photographier notre catalogue et que ma mere a laisse sur son mur

Ayant passe une semaine sur le bateau, j'ai deja lu beaucoup de magazines de decoration mais je suis constamment attiree par l'atmosphere relaxante de ces deux images. L'image de gauche est celle d'une maison qui appartient a Jacqueline Morabito et je n'arrive pas a savoir qui est le photographe de celle de droite mais elle devient ma source d'inspiration principale pour notre cuisine a Londres.

J'aime les petites touches industrielles qu'apportent les chaises Tolix qui peuvent etre facilement remplacees par ces tabourets blancs, le gros fauteuil au style bien francais , les chemins de table en lin sur une vieille table en bois, les murs peints d'un blanc et d'un gris tout doux et le melange d'ustensils en bois et d'assiettes en ceramique blanche....Un look simple, relax et facile a realiser....
Bon, on part au marche de La Teste pres Arcachon. Je vous souhaite un bon Dimanche!

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Mes tresors d'Arcachon

Each time, I go home, my mum and I scour street markets, junk shops in search for new treasures. Last time we went down there was for Easter while Kate and Will were getting married in London. Steve spent a few days adding windows and a door to our tree house and I changed the hobb in our other home but that was about it because I couldn't really bothered with heavy DIY
Traditionally, there is a little place next to Arcachon that always organizes a vide-grenier (kind of car boot sales) where you can also enjoy l'omelette pascale (Easter omelette) with a little glass of wine. It's a very simple event. Often the weather is just glorious and spending the morning browsing for vintage treasures while ending with a nice little meal with family is simply perfect and just what you need on holidays.

(C) photo: Karine Candice Kong - je m'essaie au stylisme de photo....

1. vintage till 2. little chopping board to add to my collection in London 3. a little cross
4. a white tajine dish (I never cooked Tajines but I've always wanted a white Tajine dish to add to my collection of ceramic dishes and I found this one in the most unexpected place...in a DIY shop)
5. A little cream jug for 1 euro 6. vintage sunglasses for 1 euro. The pretty postcards on the walls are by Studio Violet

Chaque fois que l'on part chez nous, ma mere et moi faisons le tour des brocantes et vide-greniers pour trouver de nouveaux tresors. La derniere fois que nous sommes descendus c'etait pour le weekend de Paques alors que Kate et Will se marriaient a Londres. Steve a passe quelques jours a equiper notre cabane dans l'arbre de fenetres et d'une porte et j'ai juste change la gaziniere dans cette autre maison parce que franchement je n'etais pas tres motive pour faire du bricolage.
Il y a un petit coin juste a cote d'Arcachon (le port de l'Aiguillon) qui organises toujours un vide-grenier ou l'on peut egalement manger l'omelette pascale accompagne d'un petit verre de vin. C'est tout simple. Souvent, le temps est magnifique et passer la matinee a chercher des tresors et finir cela par un petit repas familial est tout simplement parfait et tout ce dont on a besoin en vacances.

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White stairs....

Half-term is coming to an end...Two more days left in France until our next get-together in April and some great memories of our few days skiing in Andorra with Mila (5 1/2 years old) and Lily (7 years old) before heading back to London (I strongly recommend Andorra to any families who want to go skiing with young children...).
And to top it up, Steve has finally agreed to try white stairs at home so now I can't wait to get back and get rid of our old carpet to get something like this!
I'm also thinking that I may even revamp one of the top bedrooms using Piet Hein Eek's scrapwood wallpaper on one wall...I'm still hesitating between PHE-1, PHE-2 and PHE-3 but I think it would look great against white floorboards. What do you think?

Stairs from Paul Massey's house

Les vacances de Fevrier arrivent a leur fin...Encore deux jours en France avant de tous nous retrouver en Avril et de super souvenirs de nos quelques jours au ski en Andorre avec Mila et Lily (je recommende l'Andorre a tous ceux qui ont de jeunes enfants et veulent aller skier...)
Et la cerise sur le gateau, c'est que Steve a enfin accepte qu'on passe notre escalier a Londres en blanc, du coup il me tarde de rentrer et de nous debarrasser de la vieille moquette pour arriver a un truc canon comme ca!
Je me disais, je pourrais meme refaire une des chambres du 2eme etage en mettant le

papier peint Bois de recup' de Piet Hein Eek sur un mur...J'hesite encore entre PHE-1, PHE-2 et PHE-3 mais je pense que ca aurait l'air super beau contre le plancher peint en blanc. Qu'est ce que vous en pensez?

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