Richard - A lovely shop indeed

As I had rented a wide-angle Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM last week-end and had my tripod with me, it was the perfect occasion to do something I have been wanting to so for a long time: a photo session at one of my favorite shops for interior design in Hamburg: RICHARD, in the Neustadt in Hamburg.I went there also with my Canon EF –  50 mm f/1.8. So some of the pictures are taken with the wide-angle lens and the close-ups with the 50 mm lens. It is obviously easier to do a couple of pics with the smartphone, but Mr. Love was kind enough to come with me and help me carry the material. Thank you Mr. Love!

It is the second blogpost I write about this district of Hamburg, the first one was about the lovely Japanese shop Akiko. They are both situated in the very cool Wexstrasse in this very creative part of the city. Richard is a shop with a  fantastic atmosphere and a wonderful mix of old and new. I am particularly in love with the beautiful vintage globe collection. The dark walls and the candles, give the shop an extremely cozy and inviting atmosphere and the prices are very affordable.

I have updated my LOVEly map of Hamburg, if you want to have an overview of my shop reviews in the blog so far. I am still working on a PDF version of the map.

RICHARD Wexstr.32a 20355 Hamburg

Monday   : closed Tu. – Fr.  : 11:00 – 19:00 Sat.            : 11:00 – 16:00

my living room or I'm not a minimalist

So here are some more photos from this week-end photo shooting with the wide-angle lens. I hope you like them: The lovely cat sitting in front of the lovely bookshelf Our bookshelf comes from the Scandinavian shop bolia. We have been researching a lot, before buying this one. For me it was very important, to have a bookshelf that can fit books, magazines and records. I also love the colour of the wood. The only problem is its weight, when you need to move...

The lovely grey wall We thought a lot about the right shade of grey for the wall. I think dark walls give a very intimate atmosphere to rooms and give you a very good background for displaying art and playing with light. The fabulous Tiger print on the wall is from the fantastic design shop in Hamburg Human Empire.

The lovely home cinema I really love not having a TV in the living room. I think that they just look pretty ugly, even the wide-screen, expensive ones. The beamer is still in the middle of the room, next to the sofa, but I think that you can much easily forget it than a big television.  If you have the possibility to hang your beamer in a corner of your room opposite to the screen, you want to project to, it is even better. It really transform the DVD nights in a cinema experience.

What do you think? Do you like grey in general and grey walls in particular too? Do you also hate televisions? What do you think about my wide-angle lens? the room looks huge doesn't it? I am sure that estate agent use that type of lens when they do pictures of a flat to make it bigger!

Speak to you soon!

Elodie

Oh the lovely living room - The wide-angle experience

As I told you on Sunday, I rented a wide-angle lens this week-end: a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM  from Calumet Photographic in Hamburg. It was really easy and cheap - 23 € for the week-end instead of 722 € if you buy it.I would recommend anyone interested in photography to rent a lens from time to time. It  is such a great option for trying out different type of photos, like portraits, still life or interior photos. I wanted to try a good lens for interior design photography. My living room is very narrow and long, and it is pretty tricky to take good pictures of it with a standard lens.  The result is quite good, but it was not a revelation like the first time I used a  Canon EF -  50 mm f/1.8. So there you go, here is a picture of my grey living room with Mr. Cheds right in the middle sitting on his throne as usual!

and another one from another perspective:

madame love loves: La cerise sur le gateau

La cerise sur le gâteau (Cherry on the cake) is a beautiful French brand from the talented designer Anne Hubert. Anne is pretty famous in France, and her house has been featured in various interior design magazines. Her screen printed creations such as cushions, tea towels and pretty bed linen are very fresh. She uses a lot of neon colours and animal prints.

You can find some of her stuff at my perfect sunday in Hamburg (I got a gorgeous tea towel) or via her e-shop (in English and in French)

The very talented photographer Coco Amardeil has produced this very cute video for the launch of her new autumn/winter collection: NORMAL IS BORING - and I just love it. What about you?

Normal is boring by La cerise sur le gâteau collection automne hiver 2012 from La cerise sur le gâteau on Vimeo.

My street: metallic flowers and a friendly dino

Did I already mention, that I live in paradise? And what do you have in paradise?

• a lot of flowers
• a lot of trees and
• some friendly animals.

I have all of that in my street, but some of the flowers are metallic and last all year long and the biggest animal in the street is a dinosaur called "Spekulantenfresser" - which means that he is there to protect a building and its inhabitants from the evil property investors, and is ready to devour them.

I had a beautiful week end. I rented a wide angle lens for my camera, and took a lot of pictures of the flat during the week end. I am excited to show them to you soon on the blog. I wish you a wonderful week. Speak to you soon.

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Magic mushrooms

I am sorry I have been away for a little while, but I had a nasty tooth operation and was so down that I even lost interest in blogging! It was so bad that I couldn't even taste the cake that Clara baked on Saturday for the Blogst Workshop. But I am back now.Look at what I found during our little walk on Sunday afternoon. I discovered a little mushroom family with red and white spots, well hidden under loads of autumn leaves. Red is one of my favorite colours for decorating - and I love the red and white combination: very Swedish! My kitchen is completely red and white.

 I have alway been a fan of polka dots, and those mushrooms, are just perfect. You just have the impression that they come out of the kitchen of a famous French chef patissier, even if they are most probably very poisonous.

Minibibo - mini white sculptures from Hamburg

Tonight I writing a post, I have been wanting to write for ages. Do you remember the white dinner in Hamburg?  I discovered the Minibibo during the white dinner as they were decorating the big table just next to mine. The "Minibibo Miniaturen" are a creation of Sylke Fischöder alias dekofysch. These white sculptures are kept under a cloche and illuminated with LED and the light intensity can be controlled by a remote control. This one is calles "Scene to eat"  This one is called "Speisenaufzug" (Food Elevator)

and this one is my favorite one: It is called the "Hamburger Kessel" (Hamburg Kettel). It just looks cute and poetic with all the animals, but it is based on a true story. Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations. It involves the formation of large  cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely prevented from leaving. During a demonstration by anti-nuclear protestors in Hamburg on 8 May 1986, Hamburg Police cordoned approximately 800 people into a "kettle" for several hours. The sculpture is a poetic reference to this political event.

If you like this sculpture, you can get in touch with Sylke, through her Facebook Fanpage: Minibibo on Facebook

Last September bouquet - a musical post

Dear friends and readers, I wanted to share a song with you from this new band, we discovered lately with Mr. Love. This Australian singing duo is called "The Jane Austen argument" and the song is called under the rainbow: [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/20678398" iframe="true" /]

So I suggest, you listen to this beautiful song while having a look at my new flower composition. I wish you all a great week-end! PS: the lovely little vase with the stars is not vintage, it is from the lovely Danish label Miss étoile .

toc-toc-toc! or why curiosity is wonderful sometimes.

Do you know the French magazine toc-toc-toc! ? toc-toc-toc! is the French way of saying knock knock and it also a new French magazine from Sophie Denux, exploring the interior of creative people.I received lately the 6th issue of the magazine from the online shop Line+Liv, the only retailer in Germany. Don't worry if you can't speak French: The magazine comes with a little booklet with the translated interviews in English. I love the size of the magazine (17 x 24 cm) and the beautiful photos inside. The idea is not new, I have been a fan for a long from the publications of the Japanese editor Paumes, showing the interior of creative people or family in different countries of the world. Online I also love The Selby and the German FvF. But let's have a look at toc-toc-toc! tonight!

In this issue, there is a portrait of

• the French stylist Aurélie Lécuyer and her home in the countryside next to Nantes.

• Valérie Gentil from the French online grocery shop beau et bon
• Charlotte Desmullier & Elise Durand Wallon from the French label Rockmafia
• The dutch label TAS-KA

Photography: Sophie Denux

The best way to prepare a trip: Wallpaper City Guides

We are currently preparing a trip to Benelux at the end of October. Actually, we will not do the Lux part of it and will go and explore the Netherlands and Belgium.We will start in Antwerp, then go to Brussels and visit friends and then visit some other friends in Amsterdam. For me a city trip is always a good reason for buying a new Wallpaper City Guide from the fantastic "Phaidon Verlag". For me they are the best companion for visiting a new City. They take you to hidden and cool places and show you the favorite bars and restaurants from people actually living in the city. This is not the guide you need if you want a description of the Cathedral and other typical landmarks of a city - but thank to a Wallpaper guide, we discovered straight away the designer district of Kyoto and a fabulous boutique hotel in Barcelona.  The guides are very affordable, as they cost 7,80 € on amazon and are usually available in English and German. The format is ideal and fits in any bag. Last but not least, they look fantastic on your shelf and just make you want to have them all! The photos are very minimalistic and very stylish. Here are a couple of photos from the Amsterdam and the Antwerp guides. The one from Brussels is arriving next week. Yeah!