MAISON ET OBJET TRADE SHOW

LE SALON MAISON ET OBJET

There is a trend booth as you enter the the Ethnic Chic hall at the show and this year the "créatifs" outdid themselves:

Bread. Yes BREAD.

Wall treatments were varied, quirky, and how shall I put it? well basically French... as in a wall of baguettes?

I also noticed a trend in booth design that I thought very new: screening. A  number of them were enclosed by fine netting-like material. The result was a soft veil which delineated the space without totally enclosing it visually. 

This was a vignette in one of the trend areas and to convey fog and snow and cold, the designer had covered the front in a very fine voile, giving the effect of a frosty morning. 

Some booths were just spectacular, as in spectacle: this one was super tall, almost empty but for a few pieces of "organically shaped" molded poufs and a HUGE lion's head surrounded by a dramatic circle of light bulbs. I have seen, in a number of restaurants and shops and in fact in a booth at the show, a light fixture like this (but somewhat smaller...) and I admit I love the effect. So, let's see where to put one? on the mantle might be perfect.

There was a lot of linen in warm spicy shades and, in this instance, some very elegant acid dip dyed effects.

In the Czech Design area I spotted these pendants. So light and delicate! they seemed hand shaped and most probably were.

But I admit that my favorite "design" was that of Japanese pastries. (Trust the Japanese to "design" their food to perfection!) This lucite box -complete with a small glass of water so as to humidify its content- displayed 6 exact "golf balls" of something resembling marzipan -confectioned, it explained- from soy powder and sugar and other typically Japanese ingredients you and I don't necessarily rush to when baking...; the balls were precisely striated like japanese garden gravel, and what I assume was a presentation tray, was scored in the same way. Mind-blowing attention to detail, wouldn't you say?

There is my report from M&O.

My choice of subject for today?

"Yes, I can still be stunned, surprised and, yes, charmed after all these years..."

au revoir.