Moss Wall Hangings

If you have ever been to a part of a forest with moss-covered floors and trees, you'll know that feeling of serenity, calm and coolness. I imagine the Garden of Eden to be like this.

The softness of moss that's like nature's carpet is so beautiful that contemporary designers have taken it as inspiration in their work. It's really a wonderful way of bringing something green into an urban space instead of growing plants or trees. I'm hoping to see some of KL's concrete walls covered in moss soon.

Moss covered walls by Norwegian design studio Pushak via Craft:

Moss Room restaurant, California via Metropolis Mag

Moss growing on volcanic rock wall, Iceland via Lushe

Letter B made of moss via Mamateur

From the Runway to Your Home

Some of my favourite fashion designers are spreading their design wings from the runway to homes of fashion followers. It's hard enough to resist a piece of their luxury ready-to-wear creations, then you see a humble looking yet exorbitantly priced homeware with the designer's magic lure, convince yourself that you need it and all will power goes down the drain. I'm a huge sucker for designer homeware and always manage to find excuses to need them and more of them.

Then, there are these fabulously chic designers who turn homeware into objects of desire and cast that same spell that draws a girl to empty her savings on a Chanel handbag.

From wrap dresses to home collections...Diane von Furstenberg

Left: DVF tableware, Right: DVF Bedding via The Fashion Wire

More DVF tableware via Midwest Home

Before debuting her own line of home collections, Diane von Furstenberg designed a range of carpets for London based The Rug Company.

Climbing Leapord rug for The Rug Company

Vivienne Westwood

Fashion with a little whimsy, Vivienne Westwood collaborates with the finest home furnishing companies to create one of the most recognisable designs of this generation. 

Vivienne Westwood wallpaper for Cole & Son via The Frisky

Left: Love Heart rug; Right: Westwood cushion; Both from The Rug Company

Alexander McQueen

Known for his edgy and feminine chic style, Lee Alexander McQueen puts his signature on the rugs and cushions designed for The Rug Company.

Cushions designed by Alexander McQueen for The Rug Company via Fashion Me Fabulous
Left to right: Hummingbird, Skull Black, Skull Gold

Rugs designed by Alexander McQueen for The Rug Company via Fashion Me Fabulous
Left to right: Feathers, Hummingbird, Military Brocade

Trina Turk

Breezy summery Trina Turk style and her signature prints are showcased in her home collection throw pillows, duvet covers, towels and candles.

Flagship Trina Turk Residential store via Simplified Bee

Vibrant colours and patterns via Simplified Bee

Kate Spade
Adding another feather to her cap, Kate Spade is launching her new home collection that will feature tabletop, bedding and bath. The home collection section of the website isn't ready yet but here's a sneak peak:

Cheerful chic bedding via Something Brue

Feast your eyes out on these gorgeous tabletop via Decor8

There's a long list of other designers who have successfully launched their home collections line, the earlier ones being Ralph Lauren, Missoni, Hermes, Kenzo and Versace. 

Union Jack

Union Jacks have been making their statement in the interior furnishing and fashion world. The colour combination and design of the British flag really adds punch in decorating. A great design like the Union Jack has every right to have a place in a chic space and I would love to own a couple of items with the Union Jack design but would it make sense in a Malaysian home? Plus, I've never been to the United Kingdom.

Here are some of my favourite Britannia items...

Chanel's interpretation of the Union Jack

Overnight bag by Anya Hindmarch via Designer Clothing

Cushion by Vivienne Westwood for The Rug Company

Lazy bench via Design Addict Mom

Love Too wallhanging by Paul Smith via The Rug Company

Kuen Stephanie

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. ~Pablo Picasso

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. ~Twyla Tharp

Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. ~Leonardo da Vinci

Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in. ~Amy Lowell

Great art picks up where nature ends. ~Marc Chagall

Art is the colors and textures of your imagination. ~Meghan, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

Art is pictures straight from the heart. ~Ben, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

To me, art is the picture that sits in a perfect pose on my wall, shelf or floor with colours that match my furniture and a gorgeous frame to finish. OK, seriously now....when I chance across a piece that strikes a chord in some personal way and it fits my three digit budget, I'd bring it home.

Sitting room of Kuen Stephanie

Kuen Stephanie’s paintings get to the heart of the matter. A nostalgic revisiting of a Malaysia that is fast-disappearing, she captures the small, seemingly inconsequential details which have suddenly become precious, by virtue of scarcity. 

Snacking on rambutans

Her paintings usually depict scenes that would be considered too banal for art in the ordinary scheme of things – but which she manages to imbue with her own peculiar sense of enchantment. 

Ladies peering out of their windows

Fullmoon

It may be the numerous cats stretched out lazily on the steps of a kampong house, the bags of grain on the floor of a typical Chinatown shophouse, the mangoes leaves adorning the lintel of an Indian household, the frangipani trees or it may be her vivid Matisse-like colour scheme. Either way, she manages to lovingly recapture the Malaysia that once was from her treasure trove of memories. 

Portrait of Love

Secret Recipe - women in a family cooking together

Kuen Stephanie can be reached at 012-2180690 or email her at kuenstephanie@yahoo.com. Visit her website at www.kuenstephanie.com.

* Images courtesy of Kuen Stephanie.