Guest post: Istanbul was Constantinopel

If you have been following my blog you know that I like visiting Turkey from time to time. I fell in love with  Turkish design duo Autoban when I first discovered them in Wallpaper magazine in 2004.  So today on sfgirlbybay my guest post is going to feature the flat of Seyhan Özdemir and Sefer Çağlar, the two designers behind Autoban, and one of the cafes they designed in Istanbul.

I love hanging out in Istanbul and I am sure you will, too. Enjoy the sneak peek here and see the full post over on sfgirlbybay!

 The über-cool cafe in Istanbul

All images: AT Casa Italia

The devil is in the details

Photo: Living etc.

 Photo: Cote Maison France

Sometimes I bookmark a flat or house where I love one detail but not the whole thing so today I compiled some of my favourite details, for the first time in one place.

Photo: Mixr Magazine Sweden

Photo: Living etc.

(I want these punk vases badly- they are so Vivienne Westwood, a favourite designer of mine)

Photo: Living etc.

 Photo: Cote Maison France

Photo: Freunde von Freunden

Photo: Living etc.

French Impressions IV

 Now this is how I love the winter season. A crisp cold day with a beautiful blue sky, a visit to the Château de Vincennes in the Bois de Vincennes east of Paris where we are practically the only people around (go on a weekday if you can!) and a quick trip to the Parc Florale next door.

 Parc Florale

All photos: European Chic

(Please ask for permission before copying my photos & link back)

Guest post: How do Europeans perceive American style in 6 brief observations

Brigitte of the blog Covet Chicago and myself have been blogger friends for a while now. I first contacted Brigitte when I visited her beloved Chicago in September 2010 and asked her for some advice about where to find cool design stuff in Chicago. Her advice invalueable and I am now officially in love with Chicago. We stayed in touch and the other day we got talking about American vs. European style and she kindly offered that I may share my thoughts on American style in six brief observations on her blog. With globalisation style and interior design has become increasingly uniform across countries - for better or for worse - but there are things that are very different (in my humble opinion). I share some photos below but if you want to read the post you have to hop over to Covet Chicago.

 Photos: Living etc.

Photo: Veranda magazine

Photo: Lonny Magazine

Photo: Rue Magazine

Photo: Veranda magazine

 Photo: House Beautiful

 Photo: House Beautiful

Photo: House Beautiful

Photo: boatmangeller.com

Photo: Style at Home

The perfect sofa

Photo: Bolig Magazine DK

Good morning everyone! Don't you wish you could curl up on this darling sofa, too, reading your favourite book? The clock pillows leaning against the wall are quite genius, don't you think?

Talking about reading on the sofa: What are you reading? I always like to read several books at the same time and at the moment I read three books set in very different parts of the world:
Il gattopardo by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa (Italy)
Le lièvre de Vatanen by Arto Paasilinna (Finnland)
Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (Thailand)
Check them out. They are all worth reading.

Stealing beauty

Do you remember Bernardo Bertolucci's film 'Stealing Beauty'? It was the film that established Liv Tyler as a movie star. The film was set among bohemian expats in Tuscany. Well, this Tuscan villa reminds me somehow of this film. The villa is perfect, simple and rustic yet cosy. If I was to live there I would change nothing at all (rare, usually there are always small things I would change).

 

All photos: Marie Claire Maison France