DARK STYLING - Natural Beauties from Japan

REPOST from March 2013. 

Award winning japanese designer Katsumi Machimura started off as a jewelry designer in the 1960s, and didn't dig his hands into clay until years later. His stunning ceramic work has both elegance and roughness - proper gems in themselves! Katsumi Machimura also love gardening, and share his passion for nature in his garden blog. I borrowed these pictures of his ceramic work and natural photos from Atelier Katsumi here.  

WABI SABI interior design art photography

Why be a minimalist?

Why be a minimalist? Leo Babauta's explains at his website Zen Habits:
It’s a way to escape the excesses of the world around us — the excesses of consumerism, material possessions, clutter, having too much to do, too much debt, too many distractions, too much noise. But too little meaning. Minimalism is a way of eschewing the non-essential in order to focus on what’s truly important, what gives our lives meaning, what gives us joy and value. Read more on minimalism here.  Below: Spalted Beech Table by Howard Werner. 

DIY ORIGAMI - Beautiful Paper Ornaments for Christmas

Looking for something new to decorate your home or office this Christmas? How about these origami decorations? As window dressing? Or Christmas tree decorations? All these beauties are by GoOrigami. If you plan do fold something like these beauties, I guess you have to start practicing NOW! I know I will. 

Go here for lots and lots of inspiration. 

My Style

This is the design style I'm going for, in my personal life. All white, lots of wood and other natural materials plus the odd color accent. Simple, spacious, clean and relaxed at the same time. I doubt I'll never get there. The "problem" is that I have too much stuff. But I'm working towards this goal. My style? I wish! 

I've promised myself to get rid of at least 50% of my books and other stuff. No way I'll have this much when I move house next time! 

How do YOU deal with all all those things, large or small, that clutter your life?

This house is designed by the Japanese firm mA-style architects. More images from this project here

Living an analogue life

I found these beauties over at analoguelife.com,
an online shop that focuses on simple and functional contemporary Japanese houseware.
The items here are, from top left, by
Nobuho Miya, Toki no Kumo, TajIka Vallican, Takeshi Omura and Norikazu Oe. 

WABI SABI Lisbeth Williams @ Williams Design

Sunday's fav Christmas Paper Ornament Tutorial

Today's favorite Christmas Ornament is a stunning origami flower, made of old paper, found at foldingtrees.com. Want to make some yourself? Check out the detailed tutorial here. 

WABI SABI Lisbeth Williams @ Williams Design

Wooden tableware by Masaaki Saito

The other day I showed you a picture of some wooden spoons, made by the Japanese carpenter/designer/artist Masaaki Saito. 

Here are more examples of his beautiful, handmade tableware. His wooden plates bring me back to 17 century daily life in Sweden (and other places?) before china, metal and glassware was on every man's table. 

I found these images (which I've edited a bit to fit this format) here, 

where there are lots more images of his work and studio.  

WABI SABI Lisbeth Williams @ Williams Design
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I want scissors for Christmas

On my wish list this Christmas: beautiful, hand made copper scissors from Tajika Haruo ironworks in Japan. Each piece is hand forged and hand sharpened using traditional methods dating back to the Showa period. The copper will begin to oxidize and develop a unique patina with continued use. Sold here. 

Japanese interiors like artwork

The Japanese design studio Suppose present their designs with stunning, well-composed photos. Such elegant calmness. They remind me both of Jan Vermeer's 17 century painings and Georgio Morandi's 20 century still life.

All photos are from the Suppose website, and each pic show a different house, built by Suppose in recent years.

Shopping Japanese style

Sometimes I wish I could read Japanese. Like today, while visiting the japanese webshop (with the french name) Orne de Feuilles. So many beautiful items. Beautifully photographed. Don't you just want to have it all? 

First some examples of lamps and lanterns made of rope, iron or wood: 

Beautiful storage. Old and new.

Below: a vase made of fabric!

And other elegant details for your home. 

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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

Translation (well, sort of...)

Wabi Sabi Fashion

Thai designer Saran Yen is experimenting with natural dyed cotton for his Wabi Sabi garment project. He's taken his inspiration from Leonard Koren's book Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers. 

At his website, he writes about these stunning garments, intended for the Japanese market: the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity, simplicity, modesty, intimacy, and the suggestion of natural processes. As a result, the fabric is dyed with natural components such as yeast, coffee etc. 

Hand stitched details, holes and wrinkles is used to create a new perception of beauty - his interpretation of imperfection in fashion design.  I love it. Do you?

Mer om Saran Yens spännande designprojekt hittar du här

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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

Translation (well, sort of...)