Whatever your fancy or fantasy
FOR Marie Leblon, home decorating is synonymous with never-ending childhood dreams. She first became well-known in Europe after she created a series of statuettes of Tintin -- the popular comic book reporter with pointy hair who travels with his little white fox terrier -- and several other licensed comic book characters.
Since then, she has created a new line of home accessories and furniture for her design firm here Leblon-Delienne. The style is contemporary, the colors are the hues of comic book characters -- and the shapes are voluptuous. Her B.A-Ba table, on display at the giant biannual Maison & Objet design show here, has curves that make one want to touch it. Kids romped all over Leblon’s carpets and cushions featuring Baboom, a round, ghostly shaped cartoon character of her own creation.
Whimsical, rustic, futuristic were among the many styles offered by hundreds of European designers, who put creations on display at the five-day, international design show, which ended Tuesday. About 70,000 international exhibitors, buyers, design professionals, editors and journalists previewed home furnishings that included kitchen tools, storage ideas, garden equipment and decorating accessories.
Designers aimed not only for glitzy and chic but also for comfort and green. Leblon said her curvy B.A.-Ba table, “is love, an object which, while inviting our caress, caresses us as well.”
Letting a tree take root in a house is the goal for Lys Import, a 10-year-old family business based in the north of France that fashions tables, chairs and benches out of dead roots of trees such as balite and ebony.
“We work with Philippine foresters who help us find dead tree roots that have interesting shapes we can work from,” says Nicolas Cayet, a cabinet maker at the company.
Each piece of furniture is one of a kind. When the wood pieces arrive in France, they require only slight work because the shapes determine the products.
“There is not much finishing off to do, mainly sanding down, and we stock the pieces outdoors so they take a nice sheen,” says Cayet.
Cedri/Martini gets far away from nature into high-tech design. The Italian design firm put an extraterrestrial touch on its exhibition with a space alien-looking armchair with speakers coming from behind the headrest like antennas.
The avant-garde Sheer kitchen is a small sphere intended to sit in the middle of a living room. This concept is for those who want a small, stylish kitchen but do not want to devote a separate room to one.
Imagine a bubble horizontally split in two. On the top, the lights and a ventilated hood, on the lower half, three infrared burners, a lava stone cooking top, sinks, a hole to refrigerate a bottle and a chopping board. The sphere can be opened or closed by pushing a button. When it’s closed it looks like a sculpture. But originality has its price: $35,000.
Not quite ready for the kitchen of the future? For a conversational piece in a traditional kitchen, there’s a little red plastic doll called Voodoo to hold knives. Bad taste or dark humor?