HOME OF LAURENCE AND PATRICK SEGUIN.

The Paris home of design dealers Laurence and Patrick Seguin is a testament to the passion they have for 20th Century furniture. 

The husband and wife team behind Galerie Patrick Seguin chose to focus on just five modernist designers when they went into business together, Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier, and Jean Royère. The website offers biographies and a catalogue of available pieces - well worth a browse. 

What I particularly like about their home is the contrast between the 1620s architecture with 18th Century parquet floor, and their modernist furniture. It feels balanced, rather than like stepping into a time warp or museum. 

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DESIGN PROCESS: FEAST WATSON RE-LOVE.

When a designer creates something, I find it fascinating to know the process behind it. 

Ella Leoncio, author of blog pages from my moleskine and contributor to yellowtrace, contacted me about a project she participated in where she revamped a piece of furniture using Feast Watson timber finishing products to raise money for charity. What really caught my attention about this project was the way Ella shared the process she went through to get to the final piece. She shared inspiration, precedents, and explained her thoughts behind each decision. 

You can see the completed piece of furniture here (and buy it!)

You can see and read more about Ella's approach to the task here.

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PAUL HECKER INTERVIEW.

Paul Hecker, director of design studio Hecker Guthrie, has given an insightful and amusing interview on The Design Files today. 

My favourite part of the interview? When Paul explains why he prefers restaurants where service and ambience outweigh aesthetics, "nothing like a case of jealousy to make you lose you appetite". 

For more beautiful images and humorous anecdotes, you can read the interview here. 

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GRAND LOCK CABINET.

A collaboration between designer Mathieu Gustafsson and cabinet maker Niklas Karlsson resulted in a furniture collection inspired by handbags. 

The way the 'Lock' cabinet opens and closes is clearly reminiscent of a handbag clasp, yet this ingenious detail does not feel like a gimmick to me, the design is beautiful in its own right. 

The furniture initiative is named Grand, which refers to the designers' intention of creating quality pieces, irrespective of costs involved. "When creating our own brand we didn't want to compete in low pricing, we rather wanted to contribute in artistic expression and quality". 

The 'Light' cabinet, also amazing, can be seen here. 

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MERCI PARIS ONLINE STORE.

For all those times when you can't quite fit a trip to the Marais into your schedule, Merci has conveniently opened an online store.

From sofas to stationery to scarves, the Merci product range can now be ordered from your ipad and delivered to your door (they ship to almost 80 countries including Australia). While not quite the same as experiencing the real thing, the online store is an excellent substitute.

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