What to think of bare concrete as a flooring material? It’s raw, it’s industrial, can look, well, a bit unfinished. It’s also quite cool and very practical. It works particularly well with underfloor heating.

The floor in this example has had high gloss varnish applied to it. And doesn’t it look smashing.

Interior design is a competitive business.  You need to stand out, you need to be different, even unique in order to thrive. Finding a target market is key.

How to do this? That is the tricky part. There are companies such as Janine Stone in London that aim for the discerning client (read super rich). And then there are companies such as Stylt Trampoli in Sweden.

Their business idea is based on creating interiors based on the essence of the client’s brand. They believe they are unique in what they do, going beyond using design as a mere profiling tool. As a communication agency, they see opportunities in integrating all communication in order to give clarity to the message, resulting in the right expectations to the receiver.

I buy that business idea. Today branding is more important than ever. Branding should extend from a business’ every pore, that obviously includes the interior.

These are two chairs (out of 3, what happened to the 4th?) I came across during a visit to a vintage shop. Slightly dusty they might be, but look at that upholstery! Thai silk in the most glorious colours, the padding and overall work has been carried out to the highest standard, no doubt. How they ended up at this destination is a bit of a mystery.

Very tempting to buy, but the lack of the 4th chair held me back. And, to be honest, so did the fabric. Thai silk may be gorgeous, and so are the colours. The only problem is that this particular combination makes them a tad too difficult to mix and match. Pity.

Was out and about cycling and enoying the warm weather. Just love that feeling of a warm wind caressing the skin. Cycled past a garage, looked, and continued cycling. Then looked again, hang on, that was a bit different. Gabion walls at the bottom and kind of woven steel walls at the top. Hm, rather inspirational and different for being a multistorey car park.

Life is not easy. This might be a highly trivial predicament, but it’s bloomin not easy matching vintage lampshades with suitable lamp bases. Some times you find gorgeous of the former. Some times gorgeous of the latter. This time it was the latter. There was only looking, touching and photographing. No buying. It’s all too complicated, and I will only end of with loads of mismatches.

On Sunday I am off to Sicily for a little mini holiday. Am very much looking forward to it. Certainly hope it will be warm!

Went to Corfu last year over Easter. What a beautiful place (mostly, not everywhere, avoid Kavos!). Pity about weather though, it was not the greatest, think I went too early in the season. When going on holiday in southern Europe one wants warm weather. So am keeping my fingers crossed that Siciliy will deliver. In the meantime I reminisce about Corfu.

Bukowskis is a Swedish auction house. Yesterday they held a spring Contemporary auction. Up for bidding was this fascinating photo of two boys in Paris in 1962 taken by photographer Christer Strömholm.

Not sure why I find this photo so appealing. Is it the lady handbags they are cluthching so assertively? Or the boy on the left curiously looking into the camera lense, while the other is looking distinctly sceptical? Or the entire composition? Can’t say, but I like. And so did others. Asking price was between 70,000 – 90,000 SEK. Sale price was 125,000 SEK.

The Victorians knew how to work tiles. I love tiles. Which is one of the reasons I love Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The place is full of them. In all sorts of designs. Very inspirational. Here are some versions around the main canteen (how would the Victorians frase it?).

All these things that a girl don’t need. Such as lampshades. Haven’t even got the right lamp bases!

But there was something about the shape, the cream colour of that crushed velvet and the nougat fringe. Thankfully they weren’t all that pricey, hence I decided to buy. It pleases me to look at them …

The essence of functionalism is practicalism (is there such a word?). It’s not the designer’s mind that should rule what a building looks like. Use, material and structure are what matters.

Fine, I don’t have a problem relating to that. After all I am a practical girl. What I don’t quite comprehend is where plain comes into the picture. I think it might have something to do with history – for some time (ie hundreds of years) design was stuck in revivalism. There was nothing really new, just a different take on what had already been. At the end of the 19th century a growing movement thought it was time for REAL NEW design.

In this REAL NEW ornamental features were banned. Unless absolutely necessary. Ornaments are there for a reason – to enhance. So no ornaments, no appeal?

That is the strange thing about it. No ornaments have a massive appeal.

The buildings above are built according to principles of 1950s Swedish functionalism. They have roofs, they have walls, they have windows. But nothing much else. Not even a proper colour. And how funky they look.