INTERIORS CRUSH | OFF THE GRID IN EXTREMADURA

13 September 2014

off the grid, extremadura, spain, abaton architects, green, environmentally friendly, energy, self sufficient, material mix, old and new, restoration, stables, this is paper, photovoltaic, hydro power, pool, pure water, streams, fountain, interior design, style, trend, family home

Happy Saturday folks! I had an entirely different post planned for this weekend but when I came across the Off Grid Home in Extremadura via This Is Paper I was smitten and everything else went into drafts.

It’s a stunning house! I mean seriously st-un-nig and I hope you’ll enjoy this feature as it’s an amazing achievement by Ábaton Architecture who transformed this off the grid abandoned stable, high on a hill and far from city water or electricity into a family home respecting nature and the history of the building.

After careful consideration they decided to build from scratch as the stable was in a terrible state in the Spanish province of Cáceres which borders Portugal. I’m in awe at how expertly Abaton blended old and new materials like concrete and steel with recycled stone, limestone floors and oak. The interior connects everywhere with the surrounding countryside with large picture frame windows making the most of the view and bathrooms facing the interior courtyard and the stone water fountain. Idyllic, charming, modern, stylish, cool, clever… I’m seriously running out of superlatives.

To top it all off it is completely self-sufficient producing green energy through photovoltaic and hydro power for electricity and capturing the pure water from two streams for drinking and bathing with the swimming pool as a holding tank for irrigation.

The building’s southern orientation makes the most of the views and my only problem with living there would be the remote location – though I think I’d be able to overcome that. Ah… gorge yourself on the photos and make sure to give Stylejuicer a thumbs up on Facebook.

Happy weekend!

 

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off the grid, extremadura, spain, abaton architects, green, environmentally friendly, energy, self sufficient, material mix, old and new, restoration, stables, this is paper, photovoltaic, hydro power, pool, pure water, streams, fountain, interior design, style, trend, family home

 
 
ARCHITECTS | Ábaton Architecture
PHOTOGRAPHY | Ábaton Architecture and Belen Imaz
 
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DESIGN INSPIRATION | VOYAGEUR DU TEMPS BRANDING

11 September 2014

design, inspiration, branding, voyageur du temps, san francisco, studio character, artisan bakery, cafe, time traveler, contemporary, classic, identity, rustic, refined, graphic design, packaging

I’ve been on the look out for some Design Inspiration to share with you for a while and was thrilled when I came across the branding for Voyageur Du Temps. I think if I owned a café the branding would probably look something like VDT, an artisan bakery and café serving world-class bread, pastries and coffee that opened in March this year.

Voyageur Du Temps is located in Los Altos San Francisco and is the vision of owner and local resident, Rie Rubin who tasked design and branding studio Character to bring his vision to life. As the name means time traveller in French the brief was to transport people back in time, a place that moved between tradition and modernity drawing on the classic values of cooking and baking, but with a contemporary twist.

This tension between the classic and the contemporary, the rustic and the refined led Character to the selected ‘V’ logo which was inspired by a Roman numeral five, found on an old clock in a French train station. A perfect symbol for the café’s theme of time travel and also its location – an old Los Altos train station.

I love the clean typography with the sumptuous ‘V’ and the beautiful production values of the stationery range with thick colorplan grey card and silver and black lettering for the business cards. The black fabric carrier bags with the large white V are super stylish and something I’d love to get my hands on! What a great idea to spread the word about this refined local haunt.

The photography by Todd Tankersley is natural and real referring to the care and craftsmanship that goes into the baking process and I adore the art direction which is simple and contemporary with lots of overhead shots featuring top-notch ingredients and essential baking utensils.

A wonderful cohesive branding project by Character from brand identity to stationery, packaging, signage, livery and website. Make sure you pop in for a coffee and a delicious pastry and make sure to get one of those gorgeous black bags. *swoon*

 
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design, inspiration, branding, voyageur du temps, san francisco, studio character, artisan bakery, cafe, time traveler, contemporary, classic, identity, rustic, refined, graphic design, packaging

 

 
DESIGN STUDIO | Character
MORE INFORMATION | Voyageur Du Temps
PHOTOGRAPHY | Todd Tankersley
 
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AIAYU | AN INNOVATIVE, ETHICAL AND GREEN BRAND

8 September 2014

aiayu, fashion, home, brand, danish, eco friendly, environment, llama, wool, knitwear, classic, design, style, trend, unique, long lasting, ethical, simplicity, value chain, cultural heritage, tradition

AIAYU is one of those brands I’ve been admiring from afar for a while now. Their philosophy of ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’ resonates deeply with me and their eco-friendly and ethical credentials are
exemplary for the fashion industry.

Back in 2004 Maria and Marie, the two Danish founders, came up with the idea to introduce sustainable knitwear of a superior quality in classic designs rather than fast moving trends. They found a previously unknown llama wool quality in Bolivia which is unique in its softness and less prone to pill due to the long fibres of the llama and became the first brand to introduce this kind of processed llama wool to the fashion industry in 2006. Maria says:

‘Concentrating on exploring one material with one producer has given us a very unique understanding and knowledge of the beautiful potential of the llama wool. It gives us the best of the best, and keeps our concept strong and transparent. Instead of being distracted by the billions of possibilities within fashion, all inspiration and energy is put into making each product unique, beautiful and long lasting.’

To keep the value chain transparent and nimble they have decided to use just one supplier from the manual sorting of the raw fibres to spinning, dying, knitting, packing and shipping – it’s all in-house. Therefore cultural heritage and the tradition of knitting is preserved and job opportunities created with fair contracts and working conditions in the remote highlands of Bolivia.

Their eco-friendly approach is holistic taking every aspect of the production into account including a water treatment plant to clean the waste water as well as biodegradable packaging and recycled paper for all their printed marketing materials.

At the upmarket end of the fashion spectrum it’s little touches that make all the difference and for me it’s in form of two initials beautifully stitched into the garment – a greeting from the knitter to you and a sign how every piece is hand-finished with great love and care. No wonder they’re calling their hand knitted items a ‘piece of art’.

In case you wondered, AIAYU means soul in the native tongue of the indigenous people in Bolivia, and was a name carefully picked by the workers.

A wonderful concept and I’m proud to share some of their AW home and knitwear range with you today.
 

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aiayu, fashion, home, brand, danish, eco friendly, environment, llama, wool, knitwear, classic, design, style, trend, unique, long lasting, ethical, simplicity, value chain, cultural heritage, tradition

 

 
MORE INFORMATION & PHOTOGRAPHY | AIAYU
 
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IN THE MIX | DANISH VIBES

5 September 2014

in the mix, danish, copenhagen, menu, design, cycling, bag, typography, poster, exhibition, style, trend, tea pot, saddle, weekend, fun, pinterest
 
Some stylish picks for the weekend with some underlying Danish vibes – all courtsey of my Pinterest feed. Happy almost weekend!
 
TEA /// I desperately want to get my hands on this gorgeous Menu teapot or maybe I just want my desk to look like the photo.
CYCLING /// This cycling shot is making me itch to get back in the saddle and it might just be the final push to dust off my bike this weekend… well, depending on the weather of course.
BAG /// Originally a bag for Dewar’s whiskey I think it would look just as stylish with some wine and a baguette.
TYPO /// Beautiful typography for a past exhibition of Danish designers.

 

 
PHOTOGRAPHY | N/K [If you know who took the shot please email me at annie {at} stylejuicer.com so I can add a credit]

 
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HARVEST EDITORIAL BY WICHMANN AND BENDTSEN

3 September 2014

wichmann, bendtsen, style, denmark, photography, autumn, harvest, fruit, jam, strawberry jam, sugar free, felicity cloake, perfect, how to make perfect, recipe, classic dishes, the guardian

I found this beautiful editorial by photographers Wichmann and Bendtsen when researching the Danish house by the sea back in August and I think it’s a perfect fit for the current season. Summer is coming to an end and fruit is ripe to be picked and made to jam, pies, cakes, tarts and other delicious treats.

Their romantic Danish setting is a beautiful backdrop for the harvest season and I love the contrast of the green backdrop and rustic weathered wood – just the perfect shade of silver grey for me.

To compliment their photography I searched high and low for some sugar-free jam recipes and sort of failed. It seems a bit tricky to cut out the sugar altogether as the lovely Felicity Cloake found out when writing her ‘How To Make Perfect’ strawberry jam column for the Guardian.

If you’re a food fanatic I highly recommend her book ‘Perfect’ for which she tried and tested endless recipes by famous chefs and authors to create the perfect version of 66 classic dishes from Spaghetti Bolognese to poached eggs. Below is her perfect recipe for Strawberry Jam but in the meantime enjoy these lovely shots by Wichmann and Bendtsen.

 

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wichmann, bendtsen, style, denmark, photography, autumn, harvest, fruit, jam, strawberry jam, sugar free, felicity cloake, perfect, how to make perfect, recipe, classic dishes, the guardian

 

STRAWBERRY JAM

Makes 4 x 200ml jars

INGREDIENTS:

2kg small ripe strawberries
1.7kg jam sugar
Juice of 2 lemons

DIRECTIONS:

1. Hull the strawberries and discard any rotten ones. Set aside about 10 of the smallest berries, and then mash the rest up into a rough pulp. Put into a wide, thick-bottomed pan, add the sugar and the lemon juice, and bring to the boil. Add the remaining strawberries to the pan, and put a saucer in the freezer.

2. Boil the jam for about 15 minutes, stirring regularly checking the setting point every minute or so during the last 5 minutes. To do this, take the cold saucer out of the freezer, put a little jam on it, and put it back in to cool for a minute. If it wrinkles when you push it with your finger, then it’s done. Strawberry jam is unlikely to set very solid though, so don’t expect the same results as you would with a marmalade.

3. Take off the heat and skim off the pink scum. Pour into sterilised jars and cover with a disc of waxed paper, seal and store.

 
PHOTOGRAPHY | Wichmann and Bendtsen with thanks
RECIPE | Felicity Cloake with thanks
 
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