You have to know how to play your way with table placemats – they could either be a total miss or spot on. With these gorgeous Faux Bois table placemat, from Chilewich, you can be assured you’re spot on!

These place mats bring a naturalistic driftwood effect to your table setting, hence the name faux bois (literally translates to “fake wood”); they are available in three digitally printed, simulated wood grains: Birch, Driftwood, and Walnut. As soon as you touch the material, you know that it’s easy to care for: durable, washable, and usable indoors and out. It’s like you’re eating right off the table. Continue reading →

With this “second chance” orange peel hanger your apartment will smell like a stroll through the orange groves of southern Italy. I was really impressed when I read about the “Second Chance” initiative by TourDeFork. Apart from the unspeakable fact that in the Western world, a large percent of the food we buy is simply thrown out uneaten, we also produce a lot of organic waste.

Traditionally in Italy and rural areas in other countries, people make creative use of all parts of the food they grow, not just the edible parts. Inspired by these customs, TourDeFork designed a collection of objects aimed to help us city folk reuse our kitchen waste, not just to make compost but actually giving it a ”Second Chance”. Continue reading →

When we speak about design it basically means thinking outside the box, bringing shapes and spontaneous associations into life. The Finn Salt & Pepper Shakers are an original combination of an inspirational idea that is designed to tell us a story or use shapes that we know in a completely different context. Made of glazed slip cast ceramic, the shark fin shaped salt and pepper shakers will definitely spice up your table setting – a duo that will bring to your table a fishy concept, one that will make you shake… Continue reading →

The Click n Cook unit is a very useful system for organizing and using your kitchen utensils. In general my kitchen is not cluttered, and when I cook I like to keep my work area clean and organized. Because I cook a lot, I prefer not to keep my cooking utensils in a drawer. My experience is that this drawer very quickly becomes a mess, I usually can’t find the tool I’m looking for and then I either empty the drawer onto the counter (by this time I’m really frustrated) or improvise with whichever tool I manage to have on hand.

Of course the tool-drawer saga doesn’t end here because then I go out and buy a new utensil and the next time I empty the drawer I find out I have six of it. Great… So I have devised a system where I keep my spatulas organized in jars on my counter, divided by their use and near at hand. It solves the problem of easily finding the right one but it means that I have to compromise my work space. Continue reading →

Hot+Fresh is a vibrant, cheerful and happy range of cups – perfect for serving both hot and cold. Inside it is white, outside is any color you want. Designed for both uses, you can mix it up as you please – whether it’s pink or blue, yellow or green. It could serve as the perfect setting for serving ice cream in the summer, or setting up a sweet chocolate souffle finale at the end of a dinner party. Inside it’s white, but outside it’s stylishly hot! Continue reading →

If you looked at my desk you would see that I have a soft spot for collectible art toys, and I’m not talking about the lame ones, no, I’m talking about style mixed with loads of character that will kickoff my imagination and creativity!

Check out the amazing Dunny series from the great guys at Kidrobot. Dunny is a stylish designer toy, three inches high, that is simply so darn cute! A curved bunny with a smooth face, serving as a blank canvas designed to be repainted and reinterpreted by artists from many different backgrounds. Everything is laid down for you to start playing; all you have to do now is use your imagination. Continue reading →

There is one cup of coffee that should never be messed up – the first one every morning. The Nespresso CitiZ c110 Espresso Maker will bring your cup of coffee to perfection. It has 1 liter water tank, 19 bars of pressure, a folding drip tray for latte Macchiato glass, a container for 10 used capsules and an energy power save mode.

Summing it all up, you have everything you need to start your day, the right way and with an added bonus – the coffee maker looks great in the kitchen, standing there with all its glory and power, providing you with the kick start you need before rushing to the office, while filling your home with rich aromas and flavors. Continue reading →

This wonderful tea strainer is the ingenious design of Hong Kong designer Alan Chan, and was inspired by a Chinese tradition. After spending five years in England, I have grown to love the custom of afternoon tea. This means that around five o’clock I take a break from whatever I’m doing and treat myself to half an hour of relaxing tea and biscuits, this is especially fun on weekends when my friends can join me. It came as a surprise to me when I learned that this British ritual only started in the late 1700’s but that tea drinking originated in China about 5000 years ago. Continue reading →

It’s always sweet to find a new way to look at everyday things, and the Zucch Sugar Dispenser from Alessi is certainly original. Alessi have once again managed to turn an ordinary everyday item into a fine beautiful object. This dispenser is both fun and elegant and fits perfectly into any tea (or coffee) ceremony, whether I use my everyday porcelain mugs or my grandmothers’ fine china teacups decorated with gold and roses. Continue reading →

These four shiny stars connected by an elegant chain is actually a trivet, intended to guard your table from hot dishes. Whenever I want to serve hot food in boiling saucepans or hot oven trays I just grab the chain of stars, which I keep hanging from a hook alongside my other kitchen utensils, and throw it on the table.

It’s fun to see how every time the stars fall in a different shape and I can easily adjust them to accommodate different sized pans. Once the stars are arranged to my liking they form the perfect base on which to place the dish. The stars are each 3.2 cm X 3.2 cm and are made of Chrome plated Zamac. The chain connecting them is 60cm long and they actually look like “table jewelry”. Continue reading →