japanese interior design london
0 [title logo] hi everybody i'm karen lankford andtoday we're finding inspiration at the japanese cultural festival. our first stop is obi flair and designer artist and owner dana fisk williams fell in love with the fabrics of the kimono and the obi, which is the belt worn around the kimono, while she was living in japan and now she takes those beautiful fabrics and turns them into these beautiful
functional pillows to be brought into any home. as dana explains it these could be a kimono and obi that may have once been worn to pay respect at a japanese temple or serve tea to a grandmother and now it's apart the colorful design in a home. which makes me think what might we have that we could create a memory to hold on to with a beautiful accent piece in thehome. what about sending a college student away with a great throw pillow
to place in their dorm or on their bedthat might have been created from a homecoming dress that they may never wear again or what about a bridesmaid dress. your friend made you wear it maybe she needs a little throw pillow or lumbar pillow to put in her favoritechair while she reads so she can always think about you inthat dress. next i notice this beautiful large gold symbol hanging from the back of the performance stage where all theartists were performing.
now this happens to be the symbol 'matsuri" which is japanese for festival butwouldn't it be gorgeous for the back of a dining room wall tohave a large symbol painted on it maybe in gold leaf on a dark background in some symbol that would fit thefamily and the dining experience, maybe abundance or prosperity or gratitude. a great emphasis for thedining room wall. next i found the booth a full-time potter miya indo and miyapottery.
she has a beautiful collection ofstoneware and raku. and these beautiful pieces are designed specifically for ikebana, the japanese art a flower arranging. now this is a very disciplined art form and it is a practice, almost a meditation and it's very minimalist. the arrangementsusually consist of only a minimum number of bulbs and it really emphasizes the line, the shape, the stem, the leaf,
the structure. so it keeps it veryvery simple [background music] these beautiful bases are circular very shallow but right down in the center they have a little set of spikes if you would and this allows you to sent a stem directly onto the spike. it holds it up very tall and because you fill the bottom of thevase with water, the stem will just feed itself right up through the bottom and stay fresh andlovely.
so, i've raced home from the festival and i made a quick stop at the flower market because i got myself one of the most adorable little ikebanavases ok, i've got my calla lily out and this has a nice straight stem, a really interesting flower on it and iwent with one that's a little straighter because i'm gonna work in the tulips. now if i had wanted say something just to stand by itself and be really dramatic i might have gonewith something like that a little more architectural curve to it.
so, here i have my first stem in place. my beautiful calla lily as the centerpiece. next, i'm going to just add two of my tulips so i have a simple set of 3 in my vase. now, i happen to have company coming this weekend and so this beautiful little piece with it's vase is going to go on the side table in the guest bedroom andthey get to enjoy it while you're here
and then take the vase home with them. [background music] now next at the festival i met catherine of peregrine arts bindery. and japanese paper making, bookbinding is all very much part of the culture. so, i picked up this is very cute one-and-a-half inch book with the beautiful cherryblossom paper on the outside which the cherry blossoms a very much ajapanese motif
and as you can see this book folds outinto a cute little accordion. [background music] so, what i've done with our little accordion book is i'm gonna leave it for my guests so theycan create a little memory to take with them. so, i've said welcome to santa fe and their dates are traveling on eachset at pages have given them a little start because everybody sort it gets writer'sblock when they are told "here you can fill in your memories" but they never know what to say so i'vegiven them a start
and they can fill it and to take it homeand remember their trip to santa fe and here it is set with their vase to welcome them. and just incase you're wondering what i did with all the rest of the lilies and tulips... well the dining room table is ready forguest as well thanks for joining us today and don't forget to find and follow useither online at boxtobeautiful.com or ourpinterest and facebook page