Cacharel Spring 2010.

Ever since I was a kid, I loved Cacharel. My dad would buy me Cacharel kid's clothes and I swear by them. They are the most beautiful. I love their prints and fun style. Now as an adult, I still do adore their looks, more so their recent years than before. The Spring /Summer collection that is in stores are really rather dreamy and have a great silhouette. These are some of my favourites. Enjoy.

Marble Hexagon Mosaic Tiles.

These are lovely. Imagine your kitchen will all white carrara marble hexagon tiles. It would be so luxurious and slightly vintage. Must remember that this is not advisable for a wet kitchen though. As marble is notorious for staining, I would recommend this for a dry, show kitchen that would not require washing of the floor, just light mopping. Remember that these would also have grout in between them, so moulding might occur. However, if you don't mind the flooring not being all white, I would recommend a grey grouting. It would make the tiles stand out and you wouldn't have to worry so much about the white grout turning grey. Despite all that, I still think that they look absolutely beautiful (if up kept well.) Remember this is not for those who aren't into housekeeping.

The Old Cinema.

The Old Cinema is a great website to find those vintage and one off pieces. I love their grain sack covered armchair and the vintage lamp. They would make fantastic accent pieces in any room. It's sure to get anyone's notice.

Colonial Soldier.

Personally, the hardest part of furnishing a house is finding the small curios. You'll never find them from day one but it's an ongoing effort taken to add new things to your collection. Colonial Soldier is a great resource for little bits of this and that for a boy's or gentleman's room. They sell old union jacks which are great for framing up to hang above beds, old soda stream bottles, antler lamps, a screen made up of matchboxes, and the list goes on. They even sell wooden toy soldiers. My favourite bits and pieces are the old bus stop sign and the radio.

Missoni Home.

I walked into a Missoni Home store today and I was bowled away by the colours, prints and expression. Absolutely gorgeous.

Hillside Su, Antalya, Turkey.

If one had to describe Hillside Su, the words crisp white and myriad of colours would definitely pop up. The hotel is white washed but bathed with colours. There are mirror balls in the lobby to reflect its fun persona. Then it all changes the minute you step in your room. It is calm. I love the beautifully generous swimming pool with the deck chairs. Definitely somewhere I'd laze all day till the sun sets.

Niche Modern.

I love these hand blown coloured glass pendant lamps by Niche Modern. They started by making glassware for themselves and before they knew it, people were asking them to be made and they were in business. I love the use of tube bulbs instead of the ordinary ones.

Sustainability.

I would never call myself a green activist because truth be told, technology and caring for the environment do not make the best company. David Owen, an author advocates living smaller, living closer and driving less are the keys to sustainability. For the last three decades at least, the world's take on lifestyle has changed drastically. No more are we fond believers going local, we have gone regional and global. As much as I love traveling and I believe that it has an outstanding impact on culture and the economy, but air travel is definitely not good for the environment. One of the biggest joke about being green is Paul McCartney's Lexus Hybrid LS600H which was flown in from Japan instead of being shipped. If they had shipped it, the carbon footprint would have been 100 times smaller. Who cares anymore if the car is energy efficient? It would have to write off these losses before even being able to be green. Then the truth of any nature would be that as long as parts of the car had to be imported rather than locally produced, the car in itself would also be not as green as it should be.

I've been pondering about the green thing for quite a while now. I know that globalisation makes production cost lower. I think it also increases carbon footprint, and it also puts the local skilled workers out of a job. It's a tough call which is more important to an organisation. I would naturally think that profit margins are what gives people a bigger pay or bonus. It increases their spending expenditure and in that oxymoronic kind of way, stimulates the economy. However, we are also very slowly killing ourselves. Is there really a balance in life? If life were a balance sheet or we were doing the T bar accounting of our lives, we will realise that there is no such thing as an "all gain" sort of scenario. So many things we gain in terms of quantity, we have already made our losses in terms of quality. So maybe the good, cheap and fast/efficient triangle does stand. You can have something good and cheap but not fast/efficient, or fast/efficient and cheap but not good but what is good and fast/efficient is definitely not cheap. Question is whether are we able to live without some things we now consider a luxury or necessity (like air-conditioning) and take a few steps backwards to save the environment? Earth day is coming up. I reckon that instead of just turning off your lights for an hour, why not turn off your air-conditioning for the night? And please do not light a candle during the blackout. It pollutes our environment as well.

Thonet 214K Chairs.

This is one of the most iconic chairs that is so easily recognised. It is known by so many names; the Vienna, "consumer chair", "coffee shop chair", "chair of chairs" or just plainly No. 14. From 1859 to 1930, up to 50 million of these chairs were reproduced. Last year, a new twist was added. They have decided to knot (that's what the K stands for) one of the legs. I think it would be fun to have a couple of pieces of the classic pieces and have one or two of the knotted pieces mixed among them. Then your guest might just discover the knot in their chair and have something to rave and rant about or feel special.

By the way, there is also a kid's version of the classic piece. Adorable.

Thonet

Classical Baby Grand, Athens.

I am going to first set this straight. I am not featuring the hotel. It's too popsy for my liking. However, I will highlight their reception counters which are actually classic minis. It's terribly fun, very mini.

Amangiri, Utah.

Amangiri must be what dreams are made of. Imagine being the guest that is taking in the beauty of the room with a huge window looking out to a harsh but captivating landscape. It definitely has a sense of peace and purity to it. I love the Bauhaus inspired architecture. It is so simple in form but it retains its mystery. There are 34 suites and I hear that 28 villas will be built which can be bought as private residences or an escape from the maddening shroud, we call the city.