display design-anthropologie, london and simon doonan at barneys ny

this morning i woke to find this lovely picture on decor8, of the new anthropologie store in london. susannah conway a photographer based in london shot the pic. i love (as we all do) the display at anthro. they have some of the most creative and imaginative people working for them. i only wish i was closer to one of the stores so i could see them on a weekly basis. when barneys was downtown on 17th street in nyc i lived nearby, and my weekly ritual was to take an evening walk and stare at the windows forever. chelsea was not the design hood it is now (barneys was about it), and simon doonan did not have the recognition he now has, but had already developed his totally over the top style.

how about these anthro display's i saw on breakfast at anthroplogie

and always fab barneys........

peace.................................!

monika jarg- wood and felt rugs

monika jarg of tekstiil ruumis is a textile designer living and working in estonia. she designs fabrics as well as rugs. most of her rugs are from wool which she weaves, tuft's or felts. a few years ago she designed this "carpet of wood" for a gallery exhibition, drilling all the holes and then embroidering the piece herself. since then she has expanded on the idea as well as finding a carpenter to do all of the woodworking. her thought was to test how little textile material there could be, yet still have the pieces be a carpet. unfortunately she only shows her work in estonia but it is possible to order pieces directly form monika.

istanbul- stylish and delicious retaurants

we had some of the most delicious meals in istanbul and found some of the best style in these restaurants.

my absolute fav was muzedechanga. it is located in the sakip sabanci museum. the museum is a bit out of the way, and not everyone has heard about it -but definitely worth the trip. they have the most amazing collection of ottoman calligraphy. it is located along the bosphorus with an incredible view of the asian side. the restaurant is designed by autoban, a turkish design team that seems to have designed all of the latest best restaurants in istanbul these days. the restaurant is designed with a scandanavian touch and a great place to while away the afternoon. i dream about the crispy baklava with quince puree, kaymak and clotted cream- and i don't normally like baklava! i immediately came home and tried to make the zucchini flowers stuffed with lor cheese and basil. be sure to try the chickpea soup and the marsh samphire with fava bean puree.

the chef is peter gordon and is also behind the restaurant changa, we didn't get a chance to go there but based on muzedechanga- i would heartily recommend it. if anyone has been let me know what you ate.

i love the screen!!

to finish off the perfect day leave the museum and stroll along the bosphorus.

decor8

Tulu {Istanbul}

check out today's decor8 for the full story! holly wrote a great post about tulu and me.

Wow. I just read all about Tulu, a gorgeous shop in Istanbul owned by a American antique textile dealer, Elizabeth Hewitt, who moved there since she married a Turkish man. Ah, love — it takes us to so many places sometimes, doesn’t it? It’s not always a state of the heart, but can change your entire life — including your country! Elizabeth’s taste is gorgeous and I owe a big thanks to interiors stylust Raina Kattelson for telling me about it because Turkey has been on my mind a lot lately. Tomorrow I’ll show you why. :)

As I was saying, Raina visited this exotic city recently and her photos really inspired me. Istanbul is 2 hours by plane so I’m thinking of visiting because the idea of seeing Turkey when I lived back in New Hampshire felt a bit far off to me. But 2 hours is nothing so why not visit. Plus friends tell me I’ll love it and now Raina is blogging about how great it is there. I love Turkish people, I’m making friends here who are Turkish, and have you ever had their cooking? Yum. Yet I know so little about Istanbul outside of the history – I know nothing about modern day living there.

This shop inspires me because I love the ethnic prints and patterns and the gorgeous colors – they’re so vivid and positive, I imagine any of these pillows brightening up a home. I’m seeing a lot of bedding that I’d like to own too, don’t you? It was interesting, as I did some more digging online, to find more information about the owner of Tulu, you can read all about Elizabeth here.

istanbul style guide

first let me say that just being in istanbul and walking around is an amazing feast for the eye! beautiful colors and textures everywhere. the people are so friendly and warm and we had perfect weather and delicious food the whole time, what more could we ask for.

one of my favorite finds just happened to be right around the corner from our charming hotel.

tulu is owned by american designer elizabeth hewitt who now is married to a turk and living in istanbul. the store is an wonderful combination of design based on antique textiles with a modern sensibility. spend some time here as there are 3 floors of textiles, rugs, furniture and accessories. elizabeth stared by designing fabrics for other company's before opening her own shop. the fabrics elizabeth designs are hand silk screened and hand blocked on silk, linen and heavier weight upholstery fabric. she offers her designs on pillows, curtains, bedding, scarves a variety of chairs upholstered in her fabrics.

for those of you not lucky enough to be in istanbul elizabeth has a website as well.

some of the treats i brought back are.....

and some pics of the store.....

where the wild things are

where the wild things is finally here! i have been waiting patiently for the movie for the last couple of years, sometimes nervously as there have been so many reports while it was being made of problems with it. but wait no longer it is out, and by all reports fantastic. spike jonze has taken maurice sendack's perfect little book and expanded it, adding some of his own experience while keeping the heart of the book. there is a debate by some people who feel it is to scary for kids- hello! - have they seen what is made for kids these day's that is truly scary.

if you are feeling the need for some wild things of your own check these out-

urban outfitters

opening ceremony

sweet n sour tees

istanbul-color

i just wanted to share with you some of the colors i saw throughout istanbul, from tourist trinkets, to the spices in the spice bazaar, to some amazing tiles. i love how they mix the

random tile patterns together. we would never think to do that, to disorganized and messy. in turkey we saw it time and time again in some of the most exquisite mosques.