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Merry Christmas from Scandinavia - to our Scandinavian, German and middle-European readers. The Eve of the 24th is the traditional Christmas celebration time for many people around the world and, being Finnish myself, this is when we celebrate.

William Holland are a British manufacturer of mainly copper or brass baths and wash basins. They offer a great range of products but as you can imagine, these incredible free standing baths are better suited for big bathrooms and traditional styles. This is not a style that we often go for (and I have to say quite often these bath tubs wouldn't even fit inside an average London bathroom) but what drew our attention was the fantastic display by William Holland at Decorex.

The display at Decorex was a fantastic full wall of miniature 'bathtubs' - I suppose they could have been read as basins but with the juxtaposition of these doll size replica baths next to a full sized copper bath created the feeling that these were mini baths, the purpose of which was to display the full range of finishes.

This really got us interested and we have been looking into some copper baths and how they could be used in our designs. Although they do look their best freestanding and therefore really should go into a sizeable bathroom, we feel that there is something quite contemporary about copper when used in the right way. I especially love the second image with the modern tile, atmospheric downlights and modern sink on one side... contrasted strongly with the traditional, aged brick wall and copper tub on the right. Definitely one to keep in mind!

The William Holland Website

Read about the process of making a copper bath

Darono is a Portuguese company that exhibited for the first time this year at Maison et Objet. We love the natural feel of the products and the way they stay true to their real, tactile sense of texture without feeling too traditional. The bold colours and modern shapes are what really make the Darono brand. Overall they have a great selection of products, which, although they come from humble handmade, traditional techniques, are executed with a true contemporary feel.


From their Press Release:

We've been talking a lot lately about the changing of the modern kitchen - what does this mean anymore? Our preconception of a modern kitchen today is gloss white, minimal and sleek. However, there has been a recent shift towards a 'modern traditional' style - rustic finishes, matt cabinet fronts, texture and natural materials... but with modern shapes and sleek geometry.

Another thing we have noticed has started to trend in the kitchen department is the use of marble or large scale stone slabs as back splashes, and the return of the shaker style kitchen.

In today's culture, the modern kitchen is whatever you want it to be. In fact, if you went really retro with your kitchen and finished it in a 50's style, as long as you kept the geometry simple and straight, you'd get away with calling it a modern kitchen. The new kitchen trend is towards simplifying form and function but being fun and playing with texture, material finishes and showing your personality! We love it.

We had a very successful year at Maison et Objet this year with three interior designers attending the show and collecting a huge amount of brochures, catalogues, business cards and samples from tons of new suppliers. It's going to take some time to sort through everything and to organise it all in a way that is easily accessible but it was definitely a trip worth while!

I feel that this years Salon was even better than last year in terms of the number of suppliers who we can work with as interior designers and maybe even in terms of a new online shop, which we are currently developing.

For the next ten days we will be sharing our favourite finds from Paris with you. There were a lot of big brand suppliers that we have known of and used before but I always find the most interesting brands are the smaller, individual designers with something handmade and unique to share. That's why we are starting our Maison et Objet supplier review with Finnish design company Verso Design.


Verso Design is a family run company that designs traditionally styled products, such as wooden candle holders and woven birch baskets, but in a modern way that brings these well-known Finnish designs to the world market. We particularly loved the birch baskets with the sweet felt handles and the felted wool baskets that come in a lovely array of colours. Being from Finland myself, I am well exposed to traditional products such as these but it's great to see them being constantly updated and modernised in order to keep the Finnish culture and tradition alive!

From their website:

Verso Design - Functional Beauty Inspired by Life

Kirsikka Savonen, Tuttu Sillanpää and Tuuli Burman, as well as all other designers working with Verso Design often draw inspiration from nature. Natural materials are always preferred and functional and beautiful products are the result of merging traditional Finnish design with contemporary shapes.