Nicky Haslam Design

HEAR YE HEAR YE…

Colette Van Den Thillart — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:03:22 +0000

Get thee on down to Rochester, Kent for the spring sweeps festival!!

Nicky and I did…..and it was a TON of fun.

OK SO EEEVER SO SLIGHTLY BRAGGING…

Colette Van Den Thillart — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:39:43 +0000

When Nicky takes me to the premier of the new Burton movie ‘Dark Shadows’…

And though I’m not carrying a camera, I DO manage to get as close as I probably ever will to my beloved….. (yes I’m talking Johnny)

Not sure WHY we look so grumpy – perhaps its the rain…cuz there’s nothing I love more than Tim Burton, aaaaand Johnny Depp.

NOT to mention Mr Richard Zanuck who I finally meet with a thrill….legendary director in his own right BUT, shining son of that uber inspirer Darryl Zanuck whose film’s I still watch ipad in hand ready to capture long forgotten footage of decorative arts genius.

Not a ton of interior inspiration to be had in this particular film though Nicky and I were inspired by the very spectacular castle floor which Burton assured us does exist ‘in the real’ (as opposed to reel). Never mind – really I’m just posting this cuz its got Johnny Depp in it.

MONDAY BANK HOLIDAY…

Colette Van Den Thillart — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:10:32 +0000

I finally make it to Fenton House, a really charming 17^th century Hampsted merchant house. One of John Fowlers last works for the National Trust. Many Fowler moments, archetypal and otherwise but my personal highlight are these sitting room curtains.

‘So charming!’ I exclaimed, to which the very grand room steward replied ‘…well IIIIII think they’re dreadful and all those little frilly bits keep falling off….’

Grrrrrrrrrr.

Well, Fowler’s ‘ladies panty’ curtains are not for everyone but I thought it was the sweetest thing in the world that he punched holes in the ruffled edges for a sort of homemade broderie anglaise effect. Times were hard, budgets were tight but Fowler always found ways and means with charm and whit to boot.

Rather an au courant approach don’t you think?

OH OH…IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN

Colette Van Den Thillart — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:51:44 +0000

Spring has hit early…and my penchant for stripes is in overdrive…worse than usual.

It’s cropping up in spades already…with a bit of restraint on the runway…

and of course all I can think about is how I can get MORE into my life…

and that’s STILL not enough, and I’m thinking about those charming houses in Costa Nova Portugal….I want an entirely stripped house!

And then I receive a mailer in the post from Loch Gallery and their Barry McCarthy exhibition featuring this painting of a lighthouse and I think ‘BINGO’! That’s the one…two massive red stripes. Wouldn’t it just be divine…

Our fabric…NH Design’s ‘After All’ in Pomogranate Red.

Launching next week at ‘Legends of La Cienega’ in Claremont Furnishing Fabrics Co Inc in Los Angeles next week!! More details to follow.

TAXI TAXI…

Colette Van Den Thillart — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:00:07 +0000

Let’s get the party started. Should you find yourself in Toronto needing a taxi…do call Beck Taxi…and ask for this driver!! The one with the built in disco ball!! Justin Bieber’s got nothing on him with his chromed Fisker Karma.

LITERALLY LITERALLY OBSESSED…

Colette Van Den Thillart — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:00:56 +0000

I have a ‘katillion’ (that’s a new one courtesy of my ten year old) photo’s of words. Seems that having a katillion books in every room is still not enough…

I mean fair enough. We all love a catchy little quote now and then, and hopefully some more.

Jean Charles de Castelbajac (yes we know, another bit of an obsession but here you begin to see why…) not only frequently includes text on his fashion, he packages his work with additional addictive thoughts.

My dresses are wrapped in this tissue which I can’t bring myself to throw away….. (and note to my friend Jen, wielder of that coveted 80′s JCDC coat covered in quotes from Proust – ‘I will have it one day Jen, I will‘.

I’m even more pleased when it’s obscured…..and on the streets.

Probably I secretly long to be Nagiko and just have them all over me.

all around me…in Twombly’s….

Braque’s…

and Puckette’s (and you may say this is not a word so to speak…but to me it is)

WHY DON’T YOU???

Colette Van Den Thillart — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:48:52 +0000

Make a dress from woven wine labels….I would also wear this!!

SUN SALUTATIONS…

Colette Van Den Thillart — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:56:32 +0000

Mmmm…adore mother nature don’t you? Why don’t you channel your inner pagan?

I see her influence everywhere…from the grandest of expressions

Soane certainly channeled her magic…..frequently.

and in the humblest of expressions she charms…

I found her in plaster in the palaces of the Czech Republic…

…you can buy her off the shelf in concrete.

I photograph her whenever I can.

OH JUST STUBLED ACROSS THIS IN THE ARCHIVE…

Colette Van Den Thillart — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:20:23 +0000

Chicest concrete ceiling imaginable taken deep among the crypts of Vienna…beyond the geometrical undulation, its the plank imprint really isn’t it?

AND WHILE WE’RE AT IT…(PAGAN MUSINGS THAT IS)

Colette Van Den Thillart — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:00:41 +0000

Well, I’m always at it……lusting after the minutiae of nature that is.

I stumble on this pic of some ‘dusty miller’….oh how I adore it. Tomentose…like frozen coral dusted in velvet….and that whispery ashen colour…

Somehow it reminds me of this little pantry Nicky and I found on an estate we are working on…it’s a little gem of its own (you can see him peeking through the door). It has that genuine magic of pipes strewn all over the place that set it apart from the strangling perfection of copycat attempts. (Note to self – perfection really can be a bore.)

I make a little dreamscape for a client….