Jeu de Paume

Jeu de Paume is a small group of family-run Japanese publishers that work closely with artists and designers in Europe and explores their creative work and living spaces. The end result is a series of creative publications overflowing with inspiration. I particularly like their documentation of children's rooms in London, Paris and Stockholm. Absolute inspiration!

There is even a Jeu de Paumes flickr pool! (via This is love forever)

(above) Female artists' studio. Who would imagine that lychee tin cans would make such beautiful stationary holders!
(above) Children's rooms "Stockholm"
(above) Children's rooms "London"

You can get Jeu de Paumes books at Japanese bookstores such as Kinokuniya or directly from the Paumes website.

Concetta Gallo

I have seeing a lot of horses lately, like on these wonderful patterns from Habitat by Concetta Gallo. Aren't they gorgeous! Really think that the graphic mix of motifs and real life pictures of horses gives it a whimsical/fantasy feel. (via nebo peklo)

Klein Dytham Architecture

Japanese architecture has always intriqued me, especially the simplicity of their forms, their masterful use of modern materials and the creative ways they use to fit a building into a small footprint.

This is is a project by Klein Dytham Architecture. It is a home cum salon for a couple of young hairdressers in Jingumae, a hip area in Tokyo. I really love the powerful graphic images that seem to engulf the entire building. Like a large wall decal but for a building exterior...wonder if anyone makes these?

(via)

Baroque radiator

There is no need to disguise the bulky radiator any more with this clever design by Joris Laarman. "Designed with both form and function in mind, the baroque-like twists and turns of this piece are full of hidden details just waiting to be discovered with a close inspection! The design is not however just a pretty face; the form itself has more surface area than the usual radiator, hence more radiated heat! " Available here for a hefty US$11,119.00!!

Makes me wish someone would come up with an equally clever design for an air-conditioning unit. I am frankly quite tired of the ubiquitous white box.

Jamie Hayon's Camper stores

This new Camper store in Milan is the fifth one designed by Spanish designer Jaime Hayon. I just love the oversized shades and matching kitchen-like floor tiles. The dining table with various mismatched legs also appeals to me. What we need is a fridge of shoes to complete the whole domestic dining scene. To see more of Jaime Hayon's designs for the other Camper stores, click the links below.

Jaime Hayon in Barcelona

Jaime Hayon in London

Campana Brothers in Berlin

Campana Brothers in London

Uta Barth

I love these deceptively simple yet powerful photographs by Uta Barth. By photographing in ordinary, mundane and anonymous places, Barth's work questions the traditional role of pictures and our expectations of them. (via Hoping for Happy Accidents)

“My primary project has always been in finding ways to make the viewer aware of their own activity of looking at something.”

Uta Barth

RESULTS - Top 10 New Design Blogs to Watch

Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for... The results of the "Top 10 New Design Blogs to Watch"!!

My big CONGRATULATIONS to the following blogs that have been nominated and have made it to our "Top 10 NEW Design Blogs to Watch" list! Before announcing the results, I have to say that (perhaps due to the sheer number of new design blogs) the nominations were quite varied and many came close to each other in terms of number of votes received. On the other hand, some really "watchable" blogs didn't receive many votes probably because not many of their readers knew about this poll. As the primary objective of this exercise is to discover the "NEW" design blogs to "WATCH", I thought it would be fair that I calculated the final score not by simply counting the number of votes but also take into account other factors such as the actual length of time the blogs have been in existence and the quality of content (from a design point of view). This is to avoid this ending up as another popularity contest.

Ok, without further ado, druuuuummmroooll please! The top 10 are.............

That's it! Hope you agree that these are wonderful blogs worth watching. Some of these blogs such as "Desire to Inspire" and "Swissmiss" are not exactly new as many of us have been watching them already. Can you believe that these blogs are less than a year old and even made it to The Home Rejuvenation's "Top 10 most Influential Bloggers"? That is no mean feat and their passion for what they do is definitely an inspiration to other newer design bloggers like myself.

Having announced the top 10 by laissezfaire, I have to say that there were so many other wonderful new blogs that were nominated during this process that are each unique and inspirational in their own way. As it would be a pity not to share them with the world, I have decided to reserve a spot at the top-most right corner of this blog to introduce a new blog that was nominated each week. So do visit these new blogs when it is up!

Now that you know the "Top 10 NEW Design Blogs to Watch", wouldn't you like to find out who the current movers and shakers of design blogland are? If so, hop on to The Home Rejuvenation to find out the results of the "Top 10 Most Influential Bloggers"!

Martha Stewart

A big thank you to Martha Stewart for being Laissezfaire's first proud sponsor! I am such a fan of Martha Stewart and her blog. You cannot imagine how excited I am to have her as our first sponsor! Thanks Martha!

If you would like to join Martha Stewart in sponsoring Laissezfaire, please contact me! Thanks!

Ferm Living Wallpaper Contest at CasaSugar!

After posting about Ferm Living below, I got an email from the editor of CasaSugar telling me that they are currently running a contest and will be giving away a wall's worth of wallpaper from Ferm to one lucky reader! Click here to find out what you need to do to enter this exciting contest!

Liberty of London Swatch Portraits

A reader pointed me to this wonderful link at The Purl Bee. This gallery display was made by filling a handful of simple wooden embroidery hoops with swatches of fabric from Liberty of London. If you're interested in making a similar display of your own Liberty of London collection, do visit their Swatch Portraits Project Journal. Thanks for sharing, Celine and Viv!

Ferm Living

I just adore these gorgeous wallpaper and stickers from Ferm Living, a small design company in Denmark run by a very talented Trine Anderson. Love the bold graphic prints and colours, especially the powerpole and peacock wallpaper. Click here to view more of the collection!

Maki Squarepatch

The 2 beautiful sisters, Xin and Enqi, of Maki Squarepatch just told me that they are doing a callout for old and unwanted toys to be recycled for an upcoming exhibition in Nov.

What they need are toys that are stuffed with fibre foam or cotton. They don't have to be in perfect condition just as long as they’re not too dusty. For every medium-sized toy donated, Maki Squarepatch will donate 10 cents to charity.

Collection ends: 9 Nov 2007. Here’s are the details if you would like to contribute to this exciting project with a worthy cause:

Maki Squarepatch is also having a sale at their beautiful new outlet at 111 Emerald Hill. From 12-31 October, you get to enjoy up to 20% off vintage apparel, belts and Maki Squarepatch’s older stock. And for those not in Singapore and would like to own somthing from Maki Squarepatch, you will be happy to know that they are knocking 10% off most items in their online shop.

I love this house!

I am so inspired by the colours and objects in this house. What a wonderful sense of style! The patchwork wall made up of vintage wallpaper is probably my favourite! This would be a wonderful way to jazz up a wall if you have stashes of odd-sized pretty paper and fabric at home. You can even try gluing the pieces on the wall like what they did in this project. (via Happy Cavalier)

Search for "Top 10 NEW Design Blogs to Watch"now officially.......CLOSED

The call for nominations for the Top 10 NEW Design Blogs to Watch is now officially.......CLOSED! Thanks again to all who nominated your favourite new blogs that have been around for less than a year! I cannot tell you how super excited I am to uncover so many new blogs I never knew existed and to share them with everyone!!

I will be doing a final count of the votes and unveiling the results together with The Home Rejuvenation's poll soon! Meanwhile, I will return to my regular posts at Laissezfaire.

Stay tuned, stay inspired!

Top 10 NEW Design Blogs to Watch

Thanks to all who have taken the time to vote for the "Top 10 NEW Design Blogs to Watch" and for the lovely people who have helped publicised this poll on their blogs so far!

If you are reading this and haven't voted, please vote now by emailing the new blogs that you think deserve to be watched to toptentowatch@gmail.com! The deadline is Oct 15th! Remember, the blogs have to be less than 1 year old!

For more details of this poll, click here!

Energy Bucket

Now this is one bright idea! Stefano Merlo is the brilliant Italian designer behind this cool illuminated bucket. It collects light via photovoltaic panels during the day and gives back at sundown in the form of a radioactive-looking bucket. It is not clear whether Merlo has any intention to create more of these light buckets but I really hope they do! Will be perfect to jazz up a garden or outdoor party, don't you think?

Deborah Bowness

I really like these wallpaper designs by Deborah Bowness. Think they are really unique, beautiful and inspiring. For more, click here.

Laure Kasiers

Unique and beautifully textured rugs by Belgian textile designer Laure Kasiers. Do check out more of Laura's beautiful designs here. (via siagrafica).

Annechovie

I love the work by artist Anne of Annechovie, especially this painting above. It is a drawing of a beautiful conservatory room in a Georgian estate created by interior designer Richard Keith Langham. I just love the floral and pink upholstery set against the romantic black and white tented ceiling and black and white tile floor. What a wonderful place to have tea with a bunch of girlfriends!

There are more beautiful drawings at Anne's etsy store. Do check it out!

Beautiful things for a desk

ohhh...I would love to have this Crosley desk phone sitting on my desk at home. Even though I don't have a land line, I could always pretend. It is available at amazon.com. The equally handsome carbon copy note pads are from Paper+Cup. (via The Scoop)

Socks for your chairs?

What a wonderful idea to inject some quirky colour and patterns to your chairs while preventing them from scratching your floor or making those terrible noises! By German design company taschide - tan und schiebe design.