I've been a fan of Piet Hein Eek's work since I spotted his designs in Elle Decoration a couple of years ago. I really admire the fact that someone can actually create something so beautiful out of reclaimed wood (like this headboard made by House Tweaking) or this Pallet chair by Studiomama which one day I'm hoping to make for our Summer house.
Piet Hein Eek's designs are unique and merge artisan handcraft with skilled design but I also feel (and that's me believing in good karma) that this whole approach to a more eco-friendly design, his commitment to use reclaimed wood and his handcraft can only have a positive impact on our lives, our homes and the world of design in general.
So I can't tell you how happy I am to have his amazing and unique collection of Scrapwood wallpaper on BODIE and FOU.
The Scrapwood wallpaper by Piet Hein Eek has the warm, rustic feel that real wood brings to a room. Like the Bookshelf wallpaper, this is the kind of wallpaper design that is simply perfect to create a feature wall and this one has an industrial vibe that I love very much.
Think about this Dutch home and more specifically their kitchen (which is my inspiration for our kitchen in London) and how great just one wall would look with low-level kitchen units, the other walls painted in white, maybe a couple of floating shelves from Ikea to display handmade ceramics....
With just one roll, you can easily cover up to 4 sqm which should be enough to re-invent a corner of your home, an office space, kitchen, a beach house or a kids bedroom like the photo below.

Scrapwood wallpapaper at BODIE and FOU

Je suis fan du travail de Piet Hein Eek depuis que j'ai vu ses designs dans un numero de Elle Decoration il y a a peu pres deux ans. J'admire vraiment le fait que quelqu'un puisse creer quelque chose d'aussi beau a partir de bois de recup' (comme cette tete de lit realisee par House Tweaking) ou cette chaise faite a partir de bois de palettes de Studiomama que j'espere arriver a faire un jour pour notre maison de vacances.

Les designs de Piet Hein Eek sont uniques et ont ce doux melange d'artisanat et design de pointe mais j'ai aussi l'impression (et ca c'est moi qui croit au karma positif) que son approche du design, son engagement a n'utiliser que du bois de recup', son talent a creer quelque chose des ses mains ne peuvent avoir q'un impact positif sur nos vies, nos maisons et le design en general.
Du coup, vous imaginez a quel point, je suis super excitee d'avoir sa collection de papier peint Bois de recup' sur BODIE and FOU.
Le papier peint Bois de Recup de Piet Hein Eek a le meme charme rustique et chaleureux que le vrai bois apporte a une piece. Comme le Bookshelf wallpaper, c'est aussi un papier-peint qui est simplement parfait pour creer un impact visuel (feature wall...je ne sais pas comment le traduire) et celui-ci a un petit cote industriel que j'affectionne particulierement.
Prenez cette maison en Hollande et plus particulierement leur cuisine (qui est mon inspiration pour notre cuisine a Londres) et imaginez a quel point ce papier peint aurait l'air parfait juste sur un mur, avec des unites de cuisine basses, les autres murs peints en blanc, quelques etageres flotantes de chez Ikea pour mettre en valeur quelques ceramiques...
Avec juste un rouleau, vous couvrez jusqu'a 4 m2, ce qui suffisant pour refaire un bureau a la maison, un mur de cuisine, une maison de vacances ou meme une chambre d'enfant.

Psssttt: Until 05/03/2011, you can also win one roll on my friend's fabulous blog Vosges Paris

Last September, we launched the 'ridiculously fab' Bookshelf wallpaper by Y & B and you can see here how you can transform a plain room into something amazing and striking! In the US, Nema workshop also revamped an Espresso cafe in Manhattan. The launch of the Bookshelf wallpaper has been a major success and on the back of it, Y & B have now decided to launch a white version that I love! While the colour printed one gives an Old England feel to a room, the white version has a Maison Martin Margiela vibe that I love very much!
The white Bookshelf wallpaper will be available mid-January 2011 from BODIE and FOU

En Septembre dernier, nous avons lance le 'ridiculeusement fabuleux' papier-peint Bookshelf par Y & B et vous pouvez voir ici comment transformer une piece sans attrait en une piece avec plein de charactere ! Aux Etats-Unis, Nema workshop avait revampe un cafe Espresso dans Manhattan. Le lancement du papier peint Bookshelf a rencontre un grand succes et du coup Y & B font maintenant lancer ce papier-peint genial dans une version tout en blanc que j'adore! Alors que celui en couleur donnait un look 'Vieil Angleterre' a une piece, la version en blanc a un cote Maison Martin Margiela que j'aime vraiment beaucoup!
Le paper-peint Bookshelf en blanc sera disponible a partir de mi-Janvier 2011 sur BODIE and FOU

The chalkboard version or the wallpaper version?
Since seeing these gorgeous grey bedrooms, I'm tempted to vote for the chalkboard version. I love how the range of grey hues (the cupboard, the chair, the concrete floor) on this image come together...I also think, given my recent posts, that I'm going through a gray phase...
However, the practical side of me thinks that it may be quite messy to do at home compared to the wallpaper version by Lisa Bengtsson which makes a great feature wall and is slightly more flexible. What do you think?

Top image via James Dwyer, bottom image from BODIE and FOU

Have you seen the new C60 wallpaper we added to the site on Friday?? It's one of the new designs by Mini Moderns. I love it because it features hand-drawn cassettes...yes cassettes...Do you remember when we were recording music on cassettes to listen to them on our Walkman!?
My Dad used to record radio programs on cassettes and he made some great compil's...
When I think about Mila, 5 years old who already knows how to skype her cousin in Paris, watches movies on our Mac and knew how to use the touch-pad mouse of the computer instinctively, I think I may have a bit of a difficult time to explain to her that her mum (errm...old) used to listen to music on cassettes when she was young :-)

I love, love, love this new Bookshelf wallpaper by Y&B (Young and Battaglia). It's such a great design and a fabulous way to get a vintage library look in no time. I just love how it looks so cosy and homely behind this old and beautiful Chesterfields sofa... It is such a clever idea which will make a striking feature wall...a bit of Old England at home :-)

The image above is from Lynda's house who re-vamped an horrible tiny bedroom which barely fit a single bed (in her own words not mine!). Adding real books next to Deborah Bowness wallpaper, a couple of leather chairs and a few retro bits and pieces, she created a simply superb room where we could all spend hours reading...well as long as we all fit in it!
Click here for more beautiful, striking wallpapers to create feature walls

Have a great weekend!
(c) Photo no 5 by Graham Atkins-Hughes

Beautiful shot of Anna Kern, styled by Cia Wedin...

I used the True blue wallpaper by Camilla Diedrich to create a feature wall in our house in France and it really lifted up the whole room.... Unfortunately I can't find a website for Cia Wedin but I found these beautiful and inspiring shots she styled...
Via Purple Area

Via Karin's style blog

At the beginning of March, I wrote how I didn't like pink for little girls' bedrooms but pink for grown-ups was ok.....
WELL....as I'm a very reflective person....I mean 'eventually' I'm a reflective person - because really, my first call of action is to do/write things first and then eventually think about it afterwards, rather than my other half who thinks everything first and then acts/decides upon his hours of reflection (I think his way is a bit boring if you ask me :-)

So a few weeks ago, I explained that pink in girl's bedroom was my pet hate. Well it's not exactly true!
The whole Princess/Barbie themed is my pet hate. With all the cheap, flimsy plastic things that come with Barbie and her mates, this makes me feel physically sick but pink and grey, like Bonpoint plays it beautifully in their shops is a different story.

In fact, I think if you mix soft hues of pink like this beautiful Penguin wallpaper in plum (which in fact is not really plum, more like a pale pink with a drop of blueberry), or this adorable Miss Doudou poster in hues of soft pink & yellow and add touches of grey with this Ball chair, then PINK & GREY are the definitive colours to use to create a beautiful and modern pink look for your girl's bedroom be she 4 or 14 years-old!

So here my suggestions for a cool, modern pink look version BODIE and FOU
And so you know...."Pink, pink you stink!" is something our Daughter Mila keeps saying even if it is her favourite colour !

Miss Doudou poster: £25.50
Rosie Flo's colouring books: £5.99 each
Norm 06 pendant light: £45.99
Doudou 'Poppy' violette: £19.49 and Doudou Lila
Family Tree print: £45
Pink Birds on a wire roller blind: £65
Grey ball chair: £140

Other suggestions....
Bird A to Z poster: £38
Fluoro Dandelions & Cow Parsley wall sticker: £79.99
Moo wallpaper: £38 per roll
Pink rubber vase (to be used as pencil pot holder): £20
Pink rubber washing bowl (to store kids toys):

This morning, we had a couple of customers respectively ordering 7 rolls of Penguin wallpaper in silver and two of the Penguin wallpaper in turquoise (we can feel Spring DIY coming!) which reminded me that before going on holidays, Sandra, Co-Founder and Head of Design at ISAK, kindly sent us back answers and photos to finalise the BODIE and FOU interview.

So let me introduce you to Sandra Isaksson who was brought up by a family of trolls in the heart of a Swedish forest. Her summers were spent sculpting clouds and painting rainbows. In the winters she carved with wind and whittled snowflakes from Skybears.
Her family found her pretty and plump and blueberry kissed but as she grew up she became terribly unruly. They found it necessary to send her out into the real world where she met a handsome fighter pilot prince.

Fastforward to 2010, Sandra now lives in rural England with her Prince Nick and two sons: Theo and Eden (nice name).
She is not only a successful illustrator (proof that growing up with Trolls did the world of good to her) who does freelance work for other companies but also the co-Founder with Prince Nick of ISAK, a company that manufactures and sells beautiful design-gifts and co-ordinated home accessories, all products ethically.
At B&F, we've always been huge fans of her Penguin wallpapers which of course, look perfect in a nursery but Sandra's Scandi style make them suitable for use in a hallway, kitchen or to create a feature like this French stylist did it in her home.

Here is an insight on how Sandra's started and what keeps her going...