Do you know what you're doing?

Tomorrow night, Mila will perform in the Chiswick Theatre Arts's Annual Show: Annie. As the dress I ordered for her hasn't arrived yet, I was sewing the back of her old pink Fairy dress because Lucas destroyed the tutu and now we can see her bum...
Mila (looking at me sewing) "Maman, do you know what you are doing?"
Me: "umm....yes I think so"
Mila: "OK, well that's good then"
Pffu...lucky it is then!

I like how serene this looks and which can be easily achieved at home...paint floorboards in black, source an old piece of wood, use these stone hooks on the walls et voila!

House designed by Whiting Architects

Demain soir, Mila va jouer dans le spectacle annuel du Chiswick Theatre Arts: Annie. Comme la robe que je lui ai commande n'est pas encore arrivee, hier soir, j'ai cousu le derriere de sa robe parce que Lucas a massacre le tutu et maintenant on voit les fesses de Mila.
Mila (qui me regarde coudre) "Maman, est ce que tu sais ce que tu fais?"
Me: "umm....oui je crois"
Mila: "OK, bon c'est bien alors"
Pffu...quelle chance!

J'aime beaucoup la serenite qui emmane de cette photo et qui est facile a reproduire a la maison...un plancher peint en noir, une vielle planche en bois, ces pateres en pierre naturelle et voila!

House swap anyone??

I'm embracing the concept of house swap...
Our Summer house is rented out the whole Summer until 3rd September and with the launch of the first BODIE and FOU mail order catalogue, I can really go away in September so if anyone has a nice family home in the South of France...and I mean down south where the Sun is, we will be happy to do a house swap either in our house in the Bay of Arcachon when its available (or this one for 6 people which is available in July) or with our London home (although this one is still a labour of love in the making!).
I really love this house in Nimes which belongs to designer Myriam Balaÿ Devidal. Love the joyful mix of picture frames on the wall, the walls left as they are after taking the wallpaper off, the white bedroom with the mezzanine (...a dream), the bold wallpaper, the Bookshelf wallpaper next to a real bookshelf and the sense of space, freedom and happiness....and I love Myriam's lamps!
Can I come, please please!

(C) Marie-Claire Maison

OK je me lance dans l'echange de maison...
Notre maison de vacances est louee jusqu'au Septembre et avec le lancement du premier catalogue BODIE and FOU, je ne peux pas vraiment partir en Septembre donc si quelqu'un a une jolie maison de famille dans le Sud de la France...et je veux dire plein sud ou il y a du soleil, nous serions heureux de faire un house swap avec soit notre maison sur le Bassin d'Arcachon quand elle est dispo (ou celle-ci pour 6 personnes qui est disponible en Juillet) ou avec notre maison in London.

J'adore cette maison qui appartient a la designer Myriam Balaÿ Devidal (un indice...). J'aime le joyeux mix de cadres, les murs laisses bruts apres avoir enleve le papier-peint, la chambre blanche avec la mezzanine (...un reve), les papiers-peints graphiques, le papier-peint Bookshelf a cote d'une vrai etagere pleine de livres et cet espace qui respire la liberte et la joie...et j'adore les lampes de Myriam! Quand est ce qu'on peut venir??

I love this!

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. It has been a little bit busy these last 2 weeks working on our catalogue. I need a little break here but this cheered me up...
How cute is this?? Our customer's baby daughter in Portugal climbing our white ball chair* Thanks Ana for this wonderful image!

Update:
Talking of getting cheered up...What about this lovely email I got on Tumblr! one word: WOW! Actually 4 more...Thank you very much!

(C) Ana F Louro

*back in stock this week

Glamping moodboard {By Aurora}

I don't do camping. In fact, I don't like camping!
However, sell me the whole 'glamping' concept by firing up my imagination with images of nights in a funky tepee, driving around the coast of New-Zealand in a VW van or remind me the hippie happy weekend we had on the Isle of Wight, staying in a vintage airstream (thanks Vintage vacations!) and I pack my bag right now!!
One evening....while my Swedish friend Emma was telling me about the wonderful time they had going camping with families from Brook Green, with kids playing outside all day carefree, going fishing, parents chilling out with nice wine and great food around the BBQ each evening, a farmer field opened to the public only one month during the year, I ended up convincing Steve..and myself in joining them all this year to spend 5 days on the South West Coast at the end of August.
While I'm still searching for the tepee of my dream, my Rob Ryan enamel cup and plate are already packed and ready to go. Have a wonderful weekend! I'm off to Amsterdam for the weekend!!!

1. Rob Ryan plates, 2. Girls image 3. Rocking glasses, 4. Green pesto, 5. Tent 6. Body cream, 7. Rob Ryan enamel mug, 8. Imke Klee necklace, 9. Feathers poster, 10. Sunset image 11. Olive oil, 12. Salad image, 13. Star T-shirt, 14. Cork wine stoppers, 15. Rubber washing up bowl.

Je ne campe pas. En fait, je n'aime vraiment pas le camping!
Mais bon, vendez moi le concept du 'glamping' (glamorous camping pour les anglais) en me faisant rever de nuits dans un tipi, ou d'explorer la cote Neo-Zealandaise dans un Van VW van ou rappelez moi le hippie happy weekend que nous avions passe sur l'Isle of Wight, a dormir dans un vieil airstream (merci Vintage vacations!) et je fais mon sac de suite!!
Un soir....alors que mon amie Suedoise Emma me racontait les vacances merveilleuses qu'ils avaient passe avec plusieurs familles du coin, avec les gamins qui jouaient dehors toute la journee ou aller pecher, les parents qui se la coulaient douce en sirotant un bon vin et en degustant un petit BBQ, le champs qu'un fermier n'ouvre au public qu'un mois dans l'annee et je me suis retrouvee a convaincre Steve...et moi-meme a nous joindre a eux cette annee a la fin du mois d'Aout.
Bien que je cherche encore le tipi ou la tent de mes reves, mon tasse Rob Ryan en fer et mon assiette sont deja pretes a partir. Je vous souhaite un excellent weekend! Moi je serais a Amsterdam!!!

Huffington Post

I have been asked to blog for the prestigious Huffington Post and I'm very very excited by this. Past contributors have included Jamie Lee Curtis, Diane von Furstenberg, Christy Turlington, Donna Karan and many more. I have spent the last few week trying to work out what I could blog about. I didn't want to do something on interiors, design or my decorating adventures. I do enough of this on this blog and in this fabulous concept store :-)
I would have loved to do something around food but I don't cook and Heather from Taylor de Cordoba is doing a fabulous job there. And this morning, I got a brainwave so I'm not going to share it there right now because I have now a deadline to meet and I need to get cracking but it will be cool!

(C) Keri Smith

I want!

Once I've decided which one I want between the yellow, the leopard or the red that arrives next week, I'll get back to you!
The yellow is made of super soft leather...honestly it feels better than chocolate! The leopard would look very sexy for this winter. I'm waiting to see the red (love this picture of Jocelyn here!)

We have a new fridge!

We have a new fridge...It's huge, kiwi (i.e. New-Zealand brand), fabulous. It was delivered before Mila's birthday party yesterday morning and she was SO excited by it that I told her it was her birthday present....Mwouahahahah

Nous avons un nouveau frigo...Il est enorme, kiwi (je veux dire une marque neo-zelandaise), superbe. Il a ete livre juste avant la fete de Mila hier matin et elle etait TELLEMENT excitee que je lui ai dis que c'etait son cadeau d'anniversair....Mwouahahahah

Trop cute!

Mila's Mustache birthday party was a success...photos to follow...I'm dead. Have a great weekend

(C)Image by Anna Kaminska

La fete Moustache de Mila fut un succes...photos suivre...Je suis morte. Passez un bon weekend

Yellow moodboard {By Aurora}

It's almost the end of the week, the weather is still awful (in the UK), Mila's Birthday party is tomorrow afternoon and unlike last year when I was super organized, this year, I have absolutely nothing ready and I mean nothing....cakes, party bags...peanuts! But we have a theme!!
So that will be an early start for me tomorrow.
In the meantime, I leave you with this gorgeous and uplifting moodboard done by Aurora to wish you all a fab weekend. And if you haven't done so, don't forget to enter our Facebook competition to win the last (truly gorgeous!) Meow poster by Mini & Maximus as we will announce the winner next Friday!

1. car image via pinterest 2. Stockholm Gardens by Paumes 3. Bianca Hall yellow tile 4. Penguin wallpaper green 5. Yellow ball chair 6. Cork Trivet 7. Green tape 8. Apple Papple poster 9. Rubber vase 10. Nail image 11. Paper towel holder 12. Clare Vivier yellow clutch 13. Yellow pigeon light 14. Ginko print 15. Vase image 16. Beastly chronicles wallpaper

C'est presque la fin de la semaine, le temps est toujours aussi horrible (en Angleterre), on fete l'anniversaire de Mila demain apres-midi et alors que l'annee derniere j'etais super organisee, cette annee, je n'ai absolument rien de pret et je veux dire rien..pas de cake, pas de party bags...rien! Mais nous avons un theme!!
Donc demain je demarrerais la journee tres tot! En attendant, je vous laisse avec ce magnifique moodboard d'Aurora et je vous souhaite un fabuleux weekend. And si vous ne l'avez pas encore fait, n'oubliez pas de participer a notre jeu-concours sur Facebook pour gagner le dernier poster Meow de Mini & Maximus. Nous annoncerons le gagnant Vendredi prochain!

De gauche...a droite {By Sophie}

From bat mama girl to bat little girl

I love what I do...

Frankly....at the moment, between finally working with her, doing more thing with them, having fun with him and preparing some cool things with them, I'm truly loving my job and it's not over because we are going to bring in some really really cool designers from all over the world for our first mail order catalogue!

Via tdc

Franchement....en ce moment, entre enfin pouvoir travailler avec elle, faire plus de trucs avec eux, m'eclater avec lui et bosser sur des trucs vraiment sympas avec eux, j'adore vraiment mon boulot et ce n'est pas fini parce que nous sommes en train de travailler avec des designers super talentueux du monde entier pour notre premier catalogue!

Wallpaper "Cahier d'ecriture"

My latest coup de coeur is this Cahier d'ecriture wallpaper. I met the designer Genevieve at the party organised by Paumes for the launch of London Family Style in which Genevieve and I both featured. As we got talking in French (she is Swiss), she was telling me about the new wallpaper she was working on and without having seen anything, I had the feeling that I would like it. That was back in September 2010...
Fast-forward 10 months later and here we go! Genevieve's wallpaper is ready! She found a supplier that could finally do it on a durable, washable material and the result is fantastic and pretty much what I had in mind! Guts feelings huh!
So, I'm very happy to add this to our collection of wallpapers which are great to create feature walls because I really like how this wallpaper creates a feature on top of the stairs, or a cupboard and makes something visually more interesting without being overpowering.
I also love the retro look of these letters. My mum has a few old school notebooks where she was practising writing like this. It's just so much nicer. I think I have been on computer since my twenties and frankly as a result, my writing is getting really awful...and I get impatient how slow I'm writing compared to how quickly I can type! Do you get that?
Anyway...the Cahier d'ecriture wallpaper comes in two widths and I hope you'll like it!

Mon dernier coup de coeur est le papier peint Cahier d'ecriture. J'ai rencontre la designer Genevieve au lancement de London Family Style organise par Edition Paumes (nos maisons sont dans le livre). Et alors que nous papotions en Francais (elle est Suisse), Genevieve me parlait de ce nouveau papier-peint sur lequel elle travaillait et sans avoir rien vu, j'ai eu le sentiment que ca me plairait. C'etait en Septembre dernier...
Fast-forward 10 mois plus tard et voila! le papier peint de Genevieve est pret! Elle a enfin pu trouve un fabricant qui pouvait fabriquer ce design sur un support durable et lavable et le resultat est fantastic et a peu pres ce que javais en tete! Guts feelings huh!
Donc je suis ravie d'ajouter ce design a notre collection de papiers peints parce que j'aime beaucoup comment le papier peint Cahier d'ecriture cree un feature wall en haut des escaliers, sur un placard et ajoute quelque chose de visuellement interessant sans en mettre plein la tete.
J'aime beaucoup aussi le look retro de ces lettres. Ma mere a des vieux cahiers d'ecole ou elle apprenait a ecrire comme cela. C'est beaucoup plus joli. Moi ca fait 20 ans que je travaille sur ordi et franchement mon ecriture devient tres moche ...et en plus ca m'agace d'ecrire parce que je tape beaucoup plus vite! Ca vous arrive aussi?
Donc en bref..le papier peint Cahier d'ecriture est dispo en 2 largeurs et j'espere qu'il vous plaira!

This post is brought to you by Allianz.com.au – Home Insurance in Australia

Dads are the original hipsters...

Sophie showed us the very cool Dads are the original hipsters on Tumblr which I LUVV!
You can basically submit pictures of your Dad when he was a super Dude and if your photo is accepted, it will get published in the Dads are the original hipsters book.
Love the concept, love the retro photos, love seeing Dads in the 60s and 70s which, let's face it, are the funniest ones!
I have a few photos of my Dad with a mustache in the 70s that would meet the brief! I may dig them out when I'm off to France in July to shoot our catalogue ;-)
And..errm it's Father's Day in the UK on Sunday....so if you haven't got anything YET for your Super Dude Dad, go here or call us, we/I may stay a bit later on Friday if you want to collect your orders from our Chiswick offices.

Sophie nous a montre le tres cool Dads are the original hipsters sur Tumblr et j'A-DO-RE !

Vous pouvez soumettre des photos de votre pere quand il etait super cool et si la photo est selectionnee, elle sera publiee dans le livre Dads are the original hipsters.

J'adore le concept, j'adore les photos retro, j'adore voir tous ces papas dans les annees 60 et 70 qui franchement, etaient les annees les plus fun!

J'ai quelques photos de mon pere avec une moustache dans les annees 70 qui seraient parfaites! J'essaierais de les trouver quand je descend en France pour shooter notre catalogue ;-)

Et bon..errm c'est la Fete des Peres Dimanche....et si vous n'avez toujours rien trouve pour votre super cool papa, allez ici ou appelez-nous, peut-etre que Je/On restera un peu plus tard Vendredi si vous souhaitez recuperer votre commande a nos bureaux de Chiswick.

Mollie makes magazine....

Have you heard of Mollie Makes magazine? It's a new magazine for People who love the crafty life... I'm not sure about the strapline, it's a bit too cheesy for my taste but the content of the mag is great..what am I saying..it's wonderful!!
They have been kind enough to feature lots of products from here but that's not the reason why I'm writing about them. When Sophie showed me their issue 2, I was happily surprised how nice, modern, creative and inviting their layout and the contents were.
Mollie Makes is almost a print version of everything we/I like to read on blogs: beautiful things we're coveting, creative places to hang out like The Papered Parlour around the UK, cool home accessories, new books to read, creative people around the world, vintage treasures, little crafty projects, things to do for/with kids and I think you will really like it.
It costs £4.99 per issue which may be a bit pricey but I think it's worth a try and it seems to me that's the kind of magazine that one keeps. If you get a copy this week, please do let me know what you think of it. In the meantime, we will see if they are interested in doing something with us as giveways because I think you will enjoy this!

Featured in Mollie Makes: Paris canvas bag by Famille Summerbelle, Paris Creative Couple by Edition Paumes,
the Morse Lillia Ollie tape and the Apple Papple poster by Fine Little Day

Pink wrapping...

I'm loving these shots...Have a great week and if you haven't entered our Facebook competition, go here

(C) Oliver Schwarzwald via Bluepoolroad

I love this...

The concrete floor, the pile of books, the picture frame on the floor...peaceful somehow

via Bluepoolroad

Facebook competition: WIN THE GORGEOUS MEOW art print

We've just organized a fantastic competition on Facebook to win the last ever MEOW art print by Mini & Maximus (which I have at home)... and no I'm not giving mine away!! We thought they were all sold out and we found one last at the bottom of the Batgirl art print when we did our stock take.

Given how popular the MEOW art print was before Mini & Maximus stopped producing them because they are limited edition, we thought we would make one lucky person happy.

So all you have to go is tell us on Facebook if you prefer Mima Le Chat (option A) or Le Chat (option B).
Personally I prefer Mima Le Chat because it would go anywhere around my home. Le Chat is gorgeous too but a bit more kiddie...Ok I'm not trying to influence you :-) It's up to you. Have a fabulous (rainy in the UK) weekend!

Nous venons juste de lancer un super jeu concours sur Facebook pour gagner l'illustration MEOW de Mini & Maximus (que j'ai a la maison)... et non je ne donne pas la mienne!! Nous pensions les avoir toutes vendues et nous en avons trouve une petite derniere sous la pile des illustrations Batgirl lorsque nous avons compte nos stocks.
Etant donne le succes que l'illustration MEOW a eu avant que Mini & Maximus arrete de les produire parce que ce sont des limited runs, on s'est dit que nous allions faire plaisir au moins a une personne.
Donc tout ce que vous avez a faire, c'est aller sur Facebook et nous dire si vous preferez Mima Le Chat (option A) ou Le Chat (option B).
Personellement je prefer Mima Le Chat parce que cette illustration irait tres bien sur n'importe quel mur de ma maison mais Le Chat est tres jolie, un peu plus pour les enfants...mais bon je n'essaie pas de vous influencer :-) C'est a vous de choisir.
Je vous souhaite un excellent weekend (pluvieux sur Londres)!

Stripe mania

You know that I'm a big fan of Imke Klee's photography, especially this one which will soon grace the walls of my home in London. So when I saw these beautiful, handmade necklaces that Imke made especially for us in her studio in Paris, it was love at first sight. They embody what Elodie and I feel, BODIE and FOU is about...style, simplicity, creativity. You can just picture how great these chunky necklaces will look with this grey tunique and La Tropezienne tote bag by Clare Vivier or this white Star t-shirt for a more casual look. And if you wish to achieve a really bold fashion look, you can team these necklaces with more stripes and bold patterns!
The necklace comes in two patterns. The first named Paris is a classic blue and white stripe and the second Biarritz is a more southern-inspired blue fabric with white diamond shape line pattern. All you need now is a yacht on the French Riviera to complete the look...oh and an ice cold cocktail!

Vous savez que je suis une fan des photos de Imke Klee, surtout celle-ci qui va bientot etre sur un des murs de ma maison a London. Alors quand j'ai vu ces beaux colliers que Imke a fait specialement pour nous dans son studio a Paris, ce fut le coup de foudre. Ils represent tout ce Elodie et moi essayont d'apporter comme style a BODIE and FOU....style, simplicite, creativite. J'imagine tres bien comment ces gros colliers vont etre canon sur cette tunique gris pale et avec le La Trop' de Clare Vivier ou ce STAR t-shirt pour un look un peu plus casual. Et si vous souhaitez le total look fashion look, vous pouvez les marrier avec d'autres rayures et gros motifs!
Le collier est disponible en deux modeles. Le premier, Paris, est un imprime raye bleu et blanc classique et chic. Le second, Biarritz, respire l'air du Sud et de la Cote Atlantique. Tout ce dont vous avez besoin maintenant, c'est un Yatch sur la French Riviera pour completer le look.... oh et un cocktail!

Casting: Carolina Herrera's new perfume VIP 212

Elisabeth is working on a series of 1 minute web adverts for the new Carolina Herrera's perfume VIP 212.The campaign is based on a few one minute web films following glamorous people on a night out in the world's coolest cities. For this glamourous ad, Elizabeth is looking for 4 couples in London (friends, partners, straight/gay, doesn't matter). Each film will follow each of them on a night out, going to 3 places they really like, seeing them interacting with the staff, looking cool.
Here is an example of a couple of friends filmed in London: http://client.nightshift.fr/media/preview/id/3009
The sort of people the client is looking for are: natural, elegant, comfortable, creative, charismatic, cosmopolitan, not too serious etc...
Elizabeth is currently doing the casting and will be presenting portraits of 12 London couples to the client on the 15th June. They will then choose their favourite 4 and the shoot will then take place in August/ September. Although the participants won't be paid, the filming will be very light (one evening in their favourite places in London) and this will be a great and fun opportunity to be part of a very cool advertizing campaign, shot in a stylish way.If you're interested or know people who might be, please get in touch ASAP: elisabethblanchet@hotmail.com Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir. or call 07815731165

Ballo by Normann Copenhagen

OK I never thought I would write about a toilet brush but I love the shape of the Ballo toilet brush by Normann-Copenhagen and like the rocking glasses, it rocks!
The Ballo toilet brush is larger than your average toilet brush but it has some real cool curves that will suit the type of bathrooms I'm dreaming about here beside this super cool photo of Johnny Depp
You can see the video here

At home...

I've added this gorgeous White Rabbit lamp by Egmont. Initially I took it home for Mila's bedroom but then I tried it in our lounge and it just looks at home. I love the litte quirky touch it adds to the room so for the time being, that's where it will stay.
PS: If you're a fan of Vanessa Paradis like me, she is on the cover of Vogue UK!

A la maison..j'ai ajoute cette adorable lampe Lapin Blanc de Egmont. Je l'avais ramene a la maison pour la chambre de Mila et puis finalement je l'ai essaye dans le salon et maintenant elle est tres bien ou elle est. J'aime beaucoup la petite touche fun qu'elle ajoute au salon

PS: Si vous etes une fan de Vanessa Paradis comme moi, elle est en couverture de Vogue UK!

Black kitchen in the making...

I think it's going to look good! Once dry, the paint has a really nice matt finish that looks very very stylish. We are on a winner people! Enjoy your weekend! I'm going back to my brushes... Bises

I like this...

The grey wall, the black floorboards, the rather inviting bed...
But not for me! At least not this weekend. We have a BBQ with some kiwi friends tonight and another one on Saturday night with my German friend Christian and his wife (we're SOO cosmopolite!). Christian runs Ruta 40, a company that imports Argentinean boutique wines and is coming over with some goodies so providing, I don't enjoy too much wine, I shall finish my kitchen :-)

On this side of my life, we have a Special Father's Day offer on.
If you spend £95, you will receive a FREE UK Type map duck egg blue worth £43.
All you need to do is to enter the special code FREE PRINT at the check out and of course spend £95 but that's quickly done...two prints from here and a box of Bird Clothes pegs or a STAR t-shirt and BOUM! You get a free print!

De gauche...a droite {By Sophie}

Wouldn't it be nice to hang out in Helena's flat next to the bird cage she used as a side bed lamp or simply adorn our walls with this pretty Birds wall stickers from Ferm Living.

My next DIY challenge is....

Pimping up our kitchen units by Sunday evening!
You can see how it currently looks there. In fact, nothing has changed since it was photographed by Edition Paumes for their London Family Style book last year but to be honest they shot the nice part of the kitchen (high glass ceilings, natural light, French door leading onto the garden). On the right hand side, things aren't so good....Kitchen units are really old and Steve & I really can't stand the ugly stone tiles on the floor.
We had our hearts on a polished concrete floor to replace the tiles but we've been told that we will need to dig down quite deep for the company to pour enough concrete and achieve a lasting, hard-wearing look. So, I think we are going to settle for painted white floorboards a la Story Deli a few years back to achieve something between the kitchen of Li Edelkoort (below)

this one by the owners of Balthazar's Keuken, that has rocked my boat for some time

and ultimately this one (shot by Frederic Vasseur), which summarizes everything I like.... concrete and white

But we have the deck in the garden to do first so the total revamp of the kitchen will be for later. In the meantime, I thought, shall I give the units a white coat of paint and then paint the beams in white to emphasize the sense of space or be bolder and paint everything (and I mean everything as in the units!) in black like this kitchen which I really really love!

So as I was not fussed by either the white or black option, the kiwi (Steve) decided for black and I think that with a few "Have a seat" stools in white from House Doctor, a few industrial lights, a new fridge and our French doors opening onto our forthcoming deck, we won't be too far off this look. At the end of the day, if it turns out a complete disaster, we will just have to wait for the total revamp.
PS:
Photos of my DIY pallet table are coming up. I spent 2 hours this am to style the room and ended up with 90% of my shots out of focus because I didn't know how to use the new lense that my brother made me bought. Now that I have had his instructions, I will try again tomorrow.