First Day of Spring

Spring is my favourite season, it comes after (sometimes too long and too cold) winter when you already crave for some warm sun rays and intoxicating floral aroma. And it precedes summer, the warmest (sometimes too warm) season of the year when holidays and making love is our only concern. 
First day of spring, also called Vernal Equinox, is symbolism of increasing daylight, warmer temperature and of rebirth and regrow of flora and fauna. Today, the day is equally long as the night, so I hope your day will be sunny calm and beautiful. 

Funny Fact: According to folklore, only today you are able to stand an egg on its end. Lets try it and let me know your outcomes (:

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Jar je mojím najobľúbenejším ročným obdobím. Jedným z dôvodov je, že prichádza hneď po zime (ktorá je niekedy až príliš dlhá a až príliš studená), vtedy už zvyčajne bažíme po nejakom tom teplom lúči slnka a omamujúcej vôni kvetov. Druhým dôvodom, prečo lúbim jar, je, že po nej nasleduje leto, najteplejšie obdobie roka, keď nastáva čas dovoleniek a ľúbenia sa.
Prvý deň jari, inak nazývaný aj Vernal Equinox, symbolizuje dlhšie dni, teplejšie počasie a obnovu rastlín a zelene. Dnes je deň a noc rovnako dlhé a teda dúfam, že váš dnešný deň bude slnečný, kľudný a krásny.

Zaujímavý fakt: Podľa ľudových zvestí je známe, že iba v dnešný deň je možné postaviť vajíčko na jeho koniec. Skúste to a dajte mi vedieť, či sa vám to podarilo (:

Ideal Home Show 2014

Thanks to complimentary ticket for the opening weekend of Ideal Home Show 2014, on Friday around lunch time, we were sitting in the train feeling excited and heading to the biggest home show located in Earls Court in London, where we were absorbing the atmosphere and visual information till sun went down. And now I can bring you fresh design news from my favourite two categories: interiors and garden. 

Let's start with the first stand we were attracted by:

Loftcat Home is furniture and home accessory boutique offering not only dining, bedroom and living room furniture but also rustic garden furniture and garden accessories. 

We were wowed by Singer coffee table and beautiful massive dining table, where the touch of polished surface and variety of wood patterns impressed us.

We also enjoyed stands of recreated room designs with a keen eye for detail. It's amazing how much thought designers have put into decoration of individual stands: the placement of small things like slippers under the bed, soap on the sink or kitchen towel hanged from stove handle. 

There were lots of suppliers presenting their products of different range and variety, from modern and luxurious sofas from Oliver Matthews, through amazing outdoor garden buildings from Breeze House (who attended also last year Ideal Home Show), to retro homeware or vintage interior accessories from East2Eden (which we loved the most. It was probably the most popular stand, its business didn't allow us to take any usable or presentable photos). 

From so many suppliers to chose from, we decided to lure you with Woolmark Interiors furniture design. The combination of leather and wool upholstery to recreated vintage style with breath of originality takes you back to old times when men were sitting in armchairs, drinking scotch on rocks and smoking large cigars. Beautiful!

When we finally found our way around and got familiarised with our surrounding full of stands, sellers and buyers, we found a minute to sit down, take a breath, absorb the atmosphere and to realise how huge the place actually is. It's amazing that organisers have had built several real houses in to showcase very different designs appealing to home owners of all age and taste categories. There was a main 'neighbourhood' The Prince's Crescent, which was showcasing three houses with 3 different interior schemes. 
The First house we visited carried name The Baillie-Scott Home. The aim of the design was to turn average family house into a unique space without compromising on practicality and needs of a family. If I can be honest, this house was least appealing to my eyes. There were too many colours, patterns, wallpapers, too much of everything and surprisingly, the overall design seemed to be boring. In conclusion, I wasn't well-impressed by the interior but I was actually able to find some uplifting points, such as some pieces of furniture (cupboard in dining room and one of the bedrooms), table lamps (not the pink shade) and the study room, my favourite room in the house and the only room with some continuity, colour balance and attractive simple design with only one eccentric accessory.

The second house on our list was The Family Home, four-bedroom house with high ceilings, big windows, with inviting interior created by using natural materials. The design was definitely more attractive since there weren't too colourful wallpapers screaming at you from the walls. Designers invested into natural, down-to-earth colours, such as duck egg blue, warm grey, beige or just a spoon of red to make it alive. It felt really homey and cozy and I could imagine a family actually living there; therefore, I'm definitely saving the supplier list of this one for one of my designs. 

One of my favourite houses was the last one of The Prince's Crescent, The Cottage. It really gave you the feeling that you're somewhere in the woods, relaxing by a crackling fire and drinking red wine. Unfortunately, the light inside was too dim and there were too many people, so I couldn't take as many picture as I'd wish. I can only recommend to go to see it yourself.

The last house on our list was the Multi-Generation Home styled by HouseBeautiful. The house was proof of well-balanced cooperation of traditional and modern design under one roof. You could see the hard work and the thorough thought behind the design. I loved almost everything about it. There was also variety of colours but it was rather concentrated on the rule '3 is enough for one room' and those 3 were well chosen and they played together wonderfully. 

The three houses brought to us by The Prince's Crescent were not the only built-in installations at the show, the originality of large installations was emphasised by an extraordinary tree home, designed by multi-awarded world leading luxury tree house and eco-home builders, Blue Forest Luxury Treehouses, in collaboration with John Lewis and Quiet Mark. 
The fully sound-proof tree house is made of Acoustiblock, which is made from 80% organic and recycled materials and offers sound insulation, and the interior is furnished with latest pieces from John Lewis. If you would like to see it/hear it in person, go to Ideal Home show that runs till 30th of March because then the installation will be donated and transported to the Chestnut Tree House Children's Hospice.

As I mentioned on the beginning of the post, I promised you news not only from interiors but also about garden design. And the show again fulfilled our expectations in this category and hasn't disappointed us at all. This year was follow-up of annual competition between young green talents of 6 leading colleges. Each college had to follow guidelines based on organic and sustainable principles set by the Prince's Foundation. Every visitor received a token to participate in voting for favourite and the most original garden design. 
We gave our votes to Capel Manor College because of their simple but impressive design with an inner oasis representation in background.

The design is based on geometric shapes and has been created to provide a stimulating and revitalizing retreat away from the demands of urban life.

The garden is based on the rejuvenation of the neglected ruins of Victorian pub, therefore the usage of recycled materials such as old bar or piano.

The theme of the garden is 'opposite attracts', therefore they've split the garden in two shapes: one side is predominately squares and the other is circles.

That's all from my contribution to this year Ideal Home Show. There is still much more to see; therefore, I highly recommend to invest your money into buying tickets and to attend this excellent show which has a lot to offer. 

Happy Women's Day!

Why Valentine's Day?

It's 14th of February and once again we celebrate or hate today's holiday, worldwide known as Saint Valentine's Day. Have you ever thought about reason why we celebrate it and where this holiday originated from? Stories vary but all of them follows brave and romantic actions of martyr Saint Valentine. 

In 3rd century, Roman Emperor Claudius II decided that single men are better soldiers than those who are married, so he prohibited young men from marriages. Despite of this law, Saint Valentine performed marriages for young lovers in secret for love sake. Unfortunately he was discovered, imprisoned and sentenced to death for his actions. During his imprisonment he fell in love with jailor's blind daughter (here the story varies) whom he according to some legends healed and right before his death he sent her a note with "Your Valentine" written on it. 

If you want to surprise your chosen Valentine, try to create something yourselves. Don't buy merchandised products, rather be original and use your head to find out what would really make your love happy. 

And don't forget, LOVE EVERYDAY!

Original gift: Clean, paint and decoupage lids of some jars and fill the jars with jam of your favourite flavour, with some sweets and custard powder of your choice (I love the chocolate one). Put together the recipe and original gift is created. Enjoy <3

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy New Year Everybody!

First Day of Winter

Saint Nicholas Day Celebration

In our country, we celebrate Saint Nicholas (alias Santa) day on 6th of December. The evening before, we would as children clean our shoes or prepare some stockings and leave them in front of the door or outside the window. Next morning, on Saint Nicholas day, we would find our shoes/stockings full of treats, which St Nicholas left there for us.

Christmas is more about celebrating the birth of Jesus. We still exchange gifts between each other and have huge dinner and christmas tree but our presents are brought to us by baby Jesus not by St. Nicholas. 

Saint Nicholas day is based on legends of real man, Bishop of Myra, Nicholas. Through the centuries there have been many stories told of St. Nicholas' life and deeds. However, our custom is based on the particular one, the story of St. Nicholas giving dowry gold. 

The story tells of a poor man with 3 daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of a value - a dowry. This poor man's daughters, without any dowries, were destined to be sold into slavery or become prostitues. When St. Nicholas heard of it, he decided to help them, but being too modest to do so openly (because of the chance of family's humiliation), he went to the house secretly and left 3 bags of gold in stockings hanged on window. (the end of the story varies)

And so every year on the 6th of December, the day when St. Nicholas died, children clean their shoes and leave them outside in hope, they would get some symbolic gifts.

The gifts are usually oranges (as representation of gold pouch), chocolate money, chocolate St. Nicholas figures or some practical gifts.

Emily

This year almost "every" lady of my surrounding was blessed with a baby and I've had an opportunity to prepare something personal and really special for them.

But at first, I would like to present you my joy and pride, my beautiful niece:

 

All photographs are my own and are subjected to copyright matter.

Bold Owl Design

Bold Owl Design has been established almost a year ago by my persona and since then we've been through a rough patch and also through some great victories. Now it's time to give us a last chance and I hope we'll make it work this time.

The first thing I've scratched from my To-Do-List: 

To create a great logo, which can represent what Bold Owl Design means.

It was really loooong process to come up with the right name for my company, therefore I couldn't be reckless about the visual representation of it neither. 

Here is the final version:

Let me know how you like it (:


The design is my own and is subjected to copyright matter.