Women are beautiful in Mali ...
Despite gender inequality, illiteracy, female genital mutilation (!), early marriage and pregnancy, polygamy (becoming rarer), women have their pride, care a lot about their look and are apparently less compliant if compared with their Islamic North Africa.

I traveled Mali by bus, stopping here and there for interaction with the locals.

And always wondered how, in a place where dust goes up into Ziploc plastic bag, and the houses are made of mud, women look this flawless. Lotus flower ...
A show of colors, patterns and chins up. After a few hours I realized that carrying bucket of water on the head actually contributes to posture.

The photos below were taken in a rite of passage in the Dogon, an amazing place of cliffs and villages that haven't changed in centuries. In this ritual, the oldest of the town takes the position of spiritual leader - after the death of his predecessor - dressed in white, received donations of money and moved alone to the top of the cliff.
Inhabitants of neighboring villages also attended the ceremony on top of the cliff. Lines of visitors, like ants, were seen approaching in an explosion of colors, especially blue indigo, used in these special occasions.
Everything is very, very, mystical here. Little by little I will tell you about my day with artisans or hiking, and my nights on the roof of the houses where we slept watching the stars.

Que bonitas são as mulheres no Mali...

Apesar da desigualdade entre sexos, analfabetismo, mutilação genital (!), casamento e gravidez precoce, poligamia (tornando-se mais e mais raro), as mulheres têm seu orgulho, são altivas, cuidam-se muito e, aparentemente, são menos submissas, se comparadas às suas companheiras islâmicas do norte da África.

Percorri o Mali de ônibus, com paradas aqui e ali, e muita interação com os locais.

Perguntava-me como, num lugar onde poeira entra até em plástico Ziploc, e as casas são feitas de barro, as mulheres podem ter aparência tão impecável. Flor de lótus...
Um show de cores, estampadas e olhares ao horizonte. Depois de algumas horas entendi que carregar balde d'água na cabeça de fato colabora para a postura.

As fotos abaixo foram tiradas em um ritual de passagem no Dogon, um lugar incrível de falésias e vilarejos que pararam no tempo. Nesse ritual, o mais velho da vila assumia a posição de líder espiritual - apos a morte de seu antecessor, vestia-se em branco, recebia doações em dinheiro e passaria a viver sozinho no alto da falésia.
Habitantes dos vilarejos vizinhos também participaram da cerimônia no alto da falésia. Filas de visitantes, como formigas, eram vistas se aproximando numa explosão de cores, especialmente azul, o índigo, usado nessas ocasiões especiais.
Tudo é muito, mas muito, místico por aqui. Pouco a pouco vou contando sobre meus dias com os artesãos ou de caminhadas, e minhas noites no teto das casinhas, onde dormíamos olhando as estrelas.

Marché aux Puces in Europe

I am a junkie... I admit.

This one was last sunday, yesterday, here in Geneva. On friday I was already happy :)
Waking up, coffee & croissant at St Honore patisserie, Le Monde newspaper, and off to the market. A glass of wine here and there between talks and shots (have you realized how cheerful meals are in these markets? Behind the products there is always a table with cheeses, wine, salami, bread, olive oil shared by neighbors... I love this savoir-vivre).
Could have bought (oh well, let's say potentially) several items... This market was specially appealing for industrial design lovers. Buying or not, it's soooo ,uch fun to go and see and talk that was enough... for now (already planning my next weekend).

Oh, downloaded this iphone app to add an effect to the images :) It just highlights le cotè vintage of the pics.

More soon :)


Estou viciada... Admito.

Mercado de antiguidades do último domingo, ontem, aqui em Genebra. Na sexta-feira eu já estava feliz:)
Acordar cedo, café e croissant na patisserie St Honoré, ler o Le Monde, e ganhas as calcadas em direcao ao mercado. Um copo de vinho aqui outro ali, entre conversas e fotos (você já percebeu como as refeições são alegres nesses mercados? por trás dos produtos há sempre uma mesa com queijos, vinho, salame, pão e azeite, compartilhada pelos vizinhos ... adoro esse savoir-vivre).
Poderia ter comprado (oh, bem, digamos que potencialmente poderia) vários itens ... Este mercado foi especialmente atraente para os amantes de design industrial. Comprar ou não, estar ali ja é tao divertido que no final estou sempre satisfeita... por enquanto (já planejo o meu próximo fim de semana).

Oh, baixei u no meu iPhone que adiciona efeitos às imagens:) Para destacar o lado vintage das fotos.

Ate o proximo mercado :)

La vie en bleu... the color of the sky, of the sea, of the night...
Let's dig a bit about the story of west-african indigo, where our pieces come from.

Pays Dogon – Mali

Archaelogical evidence found at Bandiagara indicates that Dogon people have being using indigofera plant for dyeing cloth for at least a thousand years. Locally and organically grown, hand-harvested and dried in the sun, balls of crushed leaves are left to soaking, fermentation with traditional potassium, oxidation in a vat. following the dogon tradition, hand-woven stripes of organic cloth are stitched together and hand-knotted to create the pattern (resist dyeing process). To archieve the desire hue of blue, clothes are dipped repeateadly in the vat, exposed to the air then immersed again, in a process that take days or weeks. the process is then finished by removing the knots, washing and punding the fabric.

In Pays Dogon, indigo dyeing is an exclusive female affair performed by a few families only.

Revered for its beauty, indigo is associated with dignity, intuition, spirituality; specially worn in ceremonies and rituals.

Here a few pictures of indigo from west-africa and other parts of the world (1 - Paul Grootes, 2 and 3 - Pia Ulin, 4 and 5 - so sorry, can't find it. Please let me know if you know). How do you like it?

Peaceful white

The last edition of Côté Sud is a dream come true. Not only for the immaculate white punctuated with colors but mainly for the ethnic chic flavor that products added to this house. Recycled blown glasses (the green one on image three), bright handwoven pompom blankets (images 6 and 8) and the wooden stool as a bedside table (image 8) are all made by moroccan artisans. The last image shows two rugs called boucherouite in berber, recycled and also moroccan. We've spoken about boucherouite rugs here and here.
Fresh concrete floor, touch of wood here and there... simple living.

images Henri del Uomo
via French by Design

A última edição da Côté Sud é um sonho. Não só pelo branco imaculado pontuado com cores, mas principalmente pelo toque étnico chic que os produtos deram a esta casa. Copos soprados em vidro reciclado (verde sobre a pia na imagem três), cobertores 'pompom' tecidos a mao (imagens 6 e 8) e o banquinho de madeira usado como mesa de cabeceira (imagem 8) são todos feitos por artesãos marroquinos. A última imagem mostra dois tapetes 'boucherouite', reciclados e também vindos das tribos berberes do Marrocos. Falamos sobre esses tapetes aqui e aqui.
Piso de concreto que traz frescor, toque organico da madeira aqui e ali ... jeito simples de viver!

Just loving this...

When you mix Philip Karlberg's images, Nanna Lagerman styling, Elle Decor Sweden, DIY projects, vintage, clean&bright settings, transparency, this is what you get.
Hardly not to imagine oneself contemplating the rain, the stars or the snow fall through the glass ceiling. On your own or at two, certainly a bliss.
If your floor is too beautiful to be covered by a rug, borrow the idea of drawing one :-)
Can't find an original coffee table? A vintage wooden door, kept the original paint and placed on a pile of books or magazines can do the work.
And how about the sink over a sort of industrial-look console? Love the creativity of the setting.

Boucherouite makes its way to home decor II

Right, not quality pictures but still inspiring. Loving this one. It makes this living room so arty. Wish I had this sofa to...































via design sponge




A less elaborate sample but that works great to separate ambiances with charm.























image via vedum

Is it an impression or leather rag rugs are back? Have seen some reeeeally soft ones from artisans in north Africa. Haven't included them in my portfolio yet but kind of reconsidering... Usually a piece has, let's say, three or four shades of the same color, which makes it so rich. Maybe a surprise for this autumn :)




















via bodie and fou

Such a great, great, great idea to harmonize that little corner where we place the chairs. The disposition of the objects is perfect and the rug sort of unified the purple and yellow ambiance.
Guess I have a crush on white floors as well. Oh, well, there is not much one can do with a rented apartment in Geneva. If I paint a wall I might get in trouble, let alone the floor :-)






























via gitteandersen

Beni Ouarain, silver tray in a gorgeous flat in Lyon

Didn't know exactly what my dream house would look like until I saw pictures of this apartment in neighbor Lyon designed by Hand, a French interior design firm run by Pierre Emmanuel Martin and Stéphane Garotin.

Two beautiful Beni Ouarain rugs displayed with modern/iconic chairs and wall art in the living and dinning room. In the dark kitchen, moroccan vintage tray and bucket side by side with Fornasetti plates. A flawless marriage between contemporary and ethnic. The best of two worlds...

Linen, linho!

Yaaay, winter is almost over. With the sun and warm temperatures, handmade vintage linen makes its come back to flea markets in Europe. Being directly exposed to humidity can harm linen, a rustic natural material, so sellers keep them well protected during the rainy months.
As linen softens with time and use, I tend to search for vintage ones, that have been hand-loomed and hand-embroidered in french farms about 100 years ago. Raw, unbleached and undyed are my favorite ones. Completely organic.
Usually they are sewn together in the middle due to looms' limited width. I am really fond of its casual, laid-back look. Wrinkles? Charming!
We've seen the term "linen" in upholstering projects, pillows, bed linen, tablecloth, napkins etc but what is the true linen made of? Flax plant, mostly grown in Western Europe, especially Belgium, Ireland and Italy. France and Switzerland are also producers. People have used the fibers of the plant to weave textiles for thousand of years.
Resistant, durable, absorbent and soft to the touch. Also more eco-friendly since flax plant requires less water and pesticides compared to cotton.
Here are some cool images, some undyed and some dyed in a sort of "no-colour" palette. Easygoing and elegant.

1 and 2 - by Tricia Rose via Apartment Therapy
3 via Heather Bullard
4 by Finish designer Tuuni via Apartment Therapy
via Skonahen

Eba, o inverno está quase acabando. Com o sol e temperatura elevada, o linho vintage faz a sua volta aos mercados de pulga na Europa. Exposicao direta à umidade pode danificar o linho, um material rústico natural, por isso os vendedores o mantem bem protegido durante os meses chuvosos.
O linho amacia com tempo e uso, com sucessivas lavagens, portanto tendo a buscar os antigos, que foram tecidos e bordados à mão nas fazendas francesas ha cerca de 100 anos. Natural, sem clareamento ou tintura são meus favoritos. Orgânico.
Geralmente as pecas antigas são costuradas ao meio devido aos teares de largura limitada. Adoro esse toque casual e descontraído do linho. Amassado? Sem problemas!
Recentemente temos visto o "linho"em projectos de moveis, travesseiros, roupas de cama, toalha de mesa, guardanapos, etc, mas de que eh feito o verdadeiro linho? Da fibra da planta "flax", cultivada principalmente na Europa Ocidental, especialmente na Bélgica, Irlanda e Itália. Franca e Suica tambem o produzem. Essa planta tem sido usada por milhares de anos na fabricacao textil.
Resistente, durável, absorventes e macios ao toque, o linho eh também mais eco-friendly, pois requer menos água e pesticidas que o algodão.
Abaixo algumas imagens de linho virgem e tingido em cores pasteis, o que chamo de "não-cor", pois nao interfere na decoracao mas "adoca" a rusticidade da cor natural.
Descontraído e elegante!