Getting to know Maxime Szyf

As of last week you can buy 2 new frames at Smart Living Objects: the Luna Frame and the Touter Frame. This latter one is a creation of Belgian designer Maxime Szyf, who has previously earned his stripes working for Samsonite, Verhaert and Delvaux.

Click on the picture to enlarge

We're very happy about the cooperation with Maxime and we're very satisfied with the result. So we considered it was time for you to get to know him a bit better. Hence: an interview!  

Maxime! We all know you are a very talented and therefore busy designer. But what do you like to do in your free time?

Maxime Szyf: I'm a huge music fan. I've never been able to play a musical instrument, which kind of frustrates me, but I used to be a DJ, so that make up for it a bit. I'm constantly listening to new kinds of contemporary music. A hobby that I like to combine when traveling for work. Other hobbies include: running, squash, mountainbiking, snowboarding and surfing. And kite surfing will be my new challenge of the year.

What is your favourite restaurant and why?
Maxime Szyf: I'm a big fan of the oriental kitchen and when it comes to that Antwerp - my home town - has a lot to offer. Roji Sushi is a wonderful Japanese restaurant in the old city centre. For my wife's birthday we went to Pure C in Cadzand, which was amazing. I could see the sea, smell it, and taste it on my plate. When it comes to a fast yet healthy and tasty lunch I prefer Lunchbox near the city theatre.

What design are you most proud of?

Maxime Szyf: What child do you love most? It's impossible for me to answer that. But I prefer projects where there's a strong interaction with the people you're working for and where results speak for themselves.

And every new project is a new challenge to set your sights higher.

Which product of the XLBoom collection do you like and why?

Maxime Szyf: I really like the Cork Bowl by Alain Monnens. Very beautifully designed in cork, a lasting, warm and natural material. And the size is impressive without overdoing it.

What advice would you like to give to young designers?

Maxime Szyf: Go abroad. Learn languages. Get familiar with the environment of your users. Keep drawing with pencil and paper. Take a notebook with you, inspiration can happen everywhere. Think of everything: production, design, price, innovation, functionality, your users, fun...otherwise you're an artist. And last but not least: think positive!

Speaking of which, go enjoy the sun! Cause that's what we're going to do now too :)

See you next time!  

Eye candy @ Ambiente Messe in Frankfurt

So we visited a fair. Not just any fair, but the Ambiente Messe in Frankfurt. The world's leading trade fair for the consumer goods sector. Whatever you need to decorate your house, you will  find it there. We were of course very excited und curious about the different products, styles and trends. Below you will find some pictures of what really appealed to us.

1. The Spring collection of Danish brand Bloomingville is to die for. The pure and sober design with a little twitch is a real eyecatcher. We like!

2. Truly original objects (and almost smart even ;) ) is what njustudio likes to create and we have to say: they're pretty good at it! With this Neuer Ordner classifying documents has never been more fun :) 

3. Recreate is an initiative of Katie Thompson. She uses pieces of discarded junk and recreates beautiful home accessories, lighting and furniture. A good answer to consumerism. 
The upper picture shows the Suitcase Chair and on the picture below that you see Milk Pail Stool

4. In cities like New York, Tokio or Shanghai space has become scarce, so separate study rooms are no longer part of anyone's plan. Enter the Koloro-desk by Ichiro . It's a small private room where you can relax or work. It has tiny windows, plant hooks and hooks for bags. Very very endearing :)

We had FUN!

See you next time!

NEW NEW NEW...

Ball Chairs. Frames. Accessories. It may seem like not much has changed, until you have a look at the picture below:

Flashy summery coloured Ball Chairs. Uncommon yet stylish picture frames and accessories that help you in every day life. Meet a few of our new products:

1. Ball Chair - Breeze - € 170,00
2. Delta Frame - 12 x 12 - Coffee Bean - € 29,00
3. Keywest  - Coffee Bean - Medium - € 95,00
4. Delta Frame - 8 x 8 - White - € 24,00
5. Manhattan Frame - 13 x 18 - White - € 37,50
6. Delta Frame - 13 x 18 - Coffee Bean - € 35,00
7. Manhattan Frame (2) - 10 x 15 - White - € 63,50


Visit our online store to see them all. But don't forget, more is yet to come. We'll keep you posted :)

5 reasons why a personalised picture frame is a fantastic gift...

Whether it's for a birthday, Christmas or Valentine's Day, people adore it when you give them a personalised picture frame. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. We live in an era of digital photography. People take loads and loads of pictures and save them on their computer instead of having them developed. That makes a physical photo a rather scarce - and therefore wanted -  good. We all miss the nice pictures on our non-virtual walls, so a real picture in a beautiful frame is something that makes most of us happy!

2. You can put or hang your personalised picture frame anywhere you want: in the kitchen or the living room, the bedroom or the office.

3. A picture frame doesn't have to be tacky or boring. It can be stylish, classy and even fashionable. In other words: a wonderful piece of decor that boosts your interior in a twist. Especially with the picture of that special someone on the inside ;)

4. Parents, grandparents and best friends. You have found your target group, because no one likes a personalised picture frame as much as they do. And why? Because they love you very very much and want you to be with them all the time. That's impossible, but thanks to this little surrogate they remain happy :)

5. A picture in a frame looks nicer than just the picture by itself. So yes, you can give the picture, but it's always more interesting to add a little extra, don't you think? Also, pictures of landscapes or architecture just look better in a frame. No doubt about that :)

Turn your living room into a love nest...

In less than two weeks lovers all over the world will celebrate Valentine's Day. During our search on the web we found hundreds and hundreds of pages dedicated to this special day. Poems, e-cards, the history of Saint Valentine and tons of special gifts. Let's share them with you!

1. Pillows are always a great idea to make your habitat more loveable (and more fluffy and soft). This Dot pillow from Hay is one of our favourites:

2. One cannot emphasize enough: candles candles candles. We found some beautiful candle holders on Dotmaison:

3. Enjoy some coffee together with these cute cups by guzzini:

4. Valentine is the day of love. Celebrate that by keeping each other warm under this Wool Blanket from Brookfarm:

5. If you want more options you can either browse the web or have a quick look at the picture below:

From 1st until 14th February Smart Living Objects gives you a 10% discount on all red products.  Ball Chairs, Extra Large products or picture frames, as long as it has a reddish shine, you will get it for less :)

Happy Valentine shopping!

Calling on our readers

It's been a while since you last heard from us, but at the beginning of a new year it's always a tad busier. Apart from that, I realized inspiration is not something you can automatically invoke. You have to feed it. And that is why I'm calling on you, my dear readers. If there's something you want us to write about, feel free to leave a comment. Or if you've bought something in our online store and you have remarks or questions, we're always happy to help you via our blog as well.

In our search of beautiful, original or even bizarre decor items we bumped into some very interesting products. The Festival Chair or Dutch Design Chair - which has just celebrated its Copper Jubilee - is quite the invention:

In the picture you see an example of how it can look like, as companies choose the design themselves. It's excellent for events and music festivals. Tim Várdy - who is originally a pianist - is the designer of this carton board stool. We might order it this summer:)

Something else we bumped into and really liked is the Après Lamp by François Chambard:

This lamp is part of a collection that was created by salvaged and reclaimed parts of a devastated store right after Superstorm Sandy crossed the East Coast of the USA. The result is amazing, don't you think?

That's it for now! We'll get back to you this week with some great news.

See you then!

New beginnings

2013 has kicked off and we hope it may bring you everything you wish for. Apart from new dreams, resolutions and ambitions, a new year also means new trends in basically every area. But we're gonna stick to the ones in interior design :) 

As we've mentioned earlier on our Facebook page, the colour of the year 2013 will be:

Except for this Emerald Green, other highly fashionable colours are soft pastel pink, cobalt blue, turquoise, copper and gold yellow.
According to Stijlidee you can use these colours to accentuate certain areas in a room and they go very well with basic colours such as white, grey, black and earthy shades.

This rather sleek colour trend suits the popular Scandinavian design perfectly. The minimalistic approach that has its roots in the 50's and 60's is back in a new and more modern version: 

In our last blog message you could read that we're preparing our new collection. The new products will be available soon, but we would like to show you a little preview of what you can expect in the very near future. Of course we took the 2013 trends into account ;)
So here it is:

Feel free to post a reaction with your opinion.

See you next time!