Sweet Inspiration :: Handmade Style Interior

Since latching on to this addiction that is Japanese craft books, I've been quite intrigued at the Japanese's fascination with all things French. There's a whole vintage French aesthetic going on behind lots of these books...fabrics, trimmings, furnishings...the kinds of things you'd see in a Parisian flea market. Being a bit of a Francophile myself, I completely appreciate it! Plus...when you see that the only outposts of top Parisian patisseries are in Japan, you gotta think there's something going on there! (Tiff, I hope you're having a Pierre Herme millefeuille for me!)

Recently I picked up this lovely book called Handmade Style Interior (ISBN 4072500569) full of inspiring images of the living and working spaces of some very creative Japanese. There's little profiles on them (if only I could read it!) and it's full of handy hints you can recreate at home/work too. It's so nice seeing their personalities come through in the decoration of their places and creative ways in which they make use of small spaces. And they still manage to keep that Japanese sense of kitschy quirkiness and ingenuity they're so known for. Here's a sampling:

That French thing I was talking about comes through here...

I love this little workspace...and the tatami mats keep it quintessentially Japanese...

Some more lovely images...

A nice little corner...

There's also a mail order section, with pictures and prices of selected goodies...

Finally, in the back are a big list of stores in east and west Japan where you can pick up lots of crafty and homeware treats. I photocopied practically this whole section for Tiff before she left for Tokyo! There's quirkily-named places like Socks Ciao!...full to the brim with fabrics, trimmings and the like. Oh, I'd love to have a rummage in there!

Meanwhile, we're both still fantasising about our dream studio...at least there's no shortage of inspiration! N