Little Big Bell

20 Jun

Small space living with MINI Living’s Urban Cabin at LA Design festival.

Small space living with MINI Living’s Urban Cabin at LA Design festival.

I’ve just returned from an amazing trip to sunny Los Angeles with MINI LIVING, to see their latest Urban Cabin.

The last MINI LIVING Urban Cabin I saw was in London, and you can read all about it here.

MINI LIVING is a long term project by MINI that explores the different concepts of shared and small space living.

In an era of increased urbanisation and housing shortage, small space living solutions like these are becoming important.

The project explores a ‘conscious’ way of living, by reducing our carbon footprint whilst staying true to design. This time round, MINI LIVING worked with local LA based architect firm Freeland Buck, to showcase their Urban Cabin at LA Design Festival. The Urban Cabin is a mere 15 square metres and was constructed on top of the roof of an industrial building in ROW DTLA, the hub for LA design festival. I couldn’t get over this stunning far reaching view of Down Town LA, from the Cabin. There were 3 sections to the Urban Cabin.

Corrina Natter of MINI Living, designed the end sections of the cabin with a kitchen, shower room and bedroom. The frames were Aluminium with a plywood inner.

The cabin sat on a turquoise panel, reminiscent of a pool, with a ladder that led to a roof terrace. Here is the central section of the Urban Cabin, made of colourful graphic panels, and designed by Freeland Buck. I was in awe at how the panels filtered light, creating kaleidoscopic colours and patterns that looked different throughout the day. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw this bright and happy orange kitchen inside the Cabin. The rooms are multifunctional with perforated plywood walls that act like a pegboard with pegs holding up shelves. I love how you can move the shelves around to customise your space. The light coming through the wall create such a lovely dappled effect on the furniture.

You can sleep under the stars by rolling the bed out. Doesn’t that sound so wonderful? It’s so cool that the Urban Cabin connects with its environment.The wall panels can open out like windows. Here it opens up to become a dining table. How wonderful it must be to see the sky when you shower. I was amazed how much could be packed into what seemed like a very small area. I’ve enjoyed following all of MINI LIVING’s innovative concepts so far.

Finally, the first inhabitable co-living space will open in Shanghai next year and I can’t wait to see it.

( All photography are by myself, Geraldine Tan, editor of Little big Bell. This is a paid partnership with MINI Living but all views are my own).

06 Jun

How to stay organised and tidy with home storage solutions from Curver.

How to stay organised and tidy with home storage solutions from Curver.

You may have recently seen this, my newly decorated work studio.

If you look close enough, you will notice that I don’t have much storage.

The messy piles of papers and props that usually crowd this room, has just relocated to the hallway. In other words, the problematic mess is still there.

Now that this room has been redecorated, I can now focus on home storage. I needed something that was accessible, stylish, but mobile.

Why mobile you may ask? Well, I use my studio often as a styling space, so I need to be able to move things around easily. Some of you may have seen me using Curver home storage for my wardrobe, kitchen and fridge makeovers in the past. I really do love the functional simplicity and minimalist aesthetic of Curver products.

So it’s probably no surprise, that I’ve decided to use their Curver storage again for my work studio. I usually have a lot of paperwork. This could be invoices, bills, contracts, expenses and tax related documents.

I used to keep everything in a folder, but that folder was soon bursting at the seams. I’ve now organised all my paperwork into separate Curver Infinity drawers, each with special labels created for me by Nutmeg Wall Art. It’s really made my life easier, especially when doing my tax returns.There’s no more last minute searching for documents and receipts. Here’s a closer peek inside one of the drawers. I’ve also used curver dividers to organise my stationery. As I do a lot of styling work, I have a huge collection of props. They normally look quite messy on the shelves.

I decided to categorise and group them into large Curver Infinity boxes. Again thanks to Nutmeg wall art for creating these beautiful labels for my storage. Now I have boxes for art supplies, tester paint pots, china props, metal props and the list goes on. Here’s what it looks like inside one of the storage boxes. Doesn’t it just look so neat? So easy to move around too. Here’s what the boxes look like without labels. The larger Curver Infinity boxes on the floor are used to house my art prints and frames.

I’m so happy with my Curver storage boxes. It really has helped my home feel less cluttered.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Stay tuned as I’ll be back with some exciting travel posts soon. Have a lovely day.

( All photography and styling are by myself, this home storage is a paid partnership with Curver.)

04 Jun

My work studio makeover with Valspar colour match service at B&Q.

My work studio makeover with Valspar colour match service at B&Q.

I’ve been wanting to paint my upstairs studio for a while now, but have been putting it off.

I blame the procrastination on not being able to find the right shade of pastel for my walls, that is, until now.

I was so happy to discover that Valspar does a colour matching service at B&Q stores.

Last Bank holiday Monday, I decided to bite the bullet and try out the service.

I looked around at home to see if I could find the colours that I wanted for my walls. I knew I wanted a light shade of pink and mint. After some searching, I found 2 objects at home with the perfect shades.

Do you find that paint colours never seem to look the same on the walls as the paint sample cards from the shops?

I wanted to see if Valspar colour match would give me the exact colour as my chosen object. I’m pleased to report that it didn’t disappoint. Take a look at my work studio now.

The whole paint matching service was so fast and easy, it literally took minutes.

They scan your colour in store and then a computer analyses the pigments needed for the custom colour. I’ve always wanted to make a feature of my gallery wall above my desk, so I’ve decided to paint a pink rectangular block to highlight my prints.

I also wanted a pin board effect , so instead of using art frames, I have used removable Command brand spring clips to hold my prints up. My new desk was specially made by Hello Retro Design to go in my newly painted room. The desk is birch plywood with a coloured laminate on the top and bottom. I chose turquoise hairpin legs as a contrast to my pink wall.

At either end of my desk are little alcove shelves. I’ve painted the rear walls of the shelves a minty tone. I’ve named my Valspar custom colours ‘Marshmallow pink’ and ‘Fresh mint’.

Not very original I know, but they were what I thought of when I saw the colours freshly painted on the walls. Here’s a closer view of the colours. Behind my desk, is my newly painted candy stripe wall, inspired by Christmas candy canes.

Again, the colours are my Valspar Marshmallow pink and Fresh mint. I’ve set my green velvet sofa against the wall.

The table in front of my sofa was a white Ikea bench, which I have painted in my Valspar Fresh mint. To draw out the pink from the wall, I’ve placed my new House of Merino throw on the sofa. Isn’t that throw just the cutest? It’s super soft and hypoallergenic too. So there you have it, my newly painted Valspar work studio, with the help of a few new pieces of furniture and decor.

How do you like it? I would love to hear what you think.

My Valspar colour match colours will be available to purchase in B&Q soon, just say Marshmallow Pink and Fresh Mint.

Wishing you a wonderful week x

( All photography and styling are by me, Geraldine Tan, editor of Little Big Bell. This is a paid partnership post with Valspar UK).

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