Maison & Objet - it's the lights that made Paris famous!

Good evening!
I promised you some blogs about the Maison&Objet trade fair, and this is the first installment. And it is about: LIGHTS.
Paris is famous for it, and there were numerous design firms selling light fixtures at M&O. I've taken photos of the ones I liked best. See if you can spot your favourite designers!

Adore this one. What a simple idea, but how effective! Using only 3 basic colours, the designer combines them to make lots of colours. The only drawback, as I see it, is that glass is only lovely when it is spotless. As soon as it gets dusty, it loses its dazzle. So...buy this and dust until you drop!

This appears to be paper, but is actually fiber glass. Lovely!

Cute, eh? My daughter loved this.

I liked these tremendously. They are made from wood, and very light.

For music lovers. Cool!

And this was simply gorgeous. But not so practical for your home, perhaps... So, if you are aiming to light the atrium of your multi-storied millions-earning business, this is the light for you.

Personally, I would have liked to take these lights home with me...

See you again soon!

Wish List

Once in a while I stumble across a shop which immediately makes me wish I had a lot of money.

I don't. So usually I stick to browsing and wishfully think. A few days ago I came across such a shop in Rotterdam, in the Karel Doormanstraat.

It is called Zenza, and it's a chain... I hate chains, as they have taken over our shopping streets and have turned every city into one more pea in a pod. Everywhere you go you see the same shops. Boring!

But for this chain I will make an exception. For it is simply beautiful.

I wouldn't recommend it to those of you with a taste for stark industrial design. Neither to those of you of the chintzy traditional English persuasion.

But if you love Eastern, romantic, fairy-talish handcrafted furniture, light fixtures, jewelry, table wear and even slippers, Zenza definitely is the shop for you!

I've done some photo stealing, so you can judge for yourself. Hope they won't mind. (Hi, Zenza people, I adore your shops! Don't be annoyed with me, please?)

This is one of my favourites. I'd love to have this one in my bedroom! It's made of metal, with tiny holes punched out. Isn't it gorgeous?

And below is another example of the atmosphere of this shop.

They do have a website, so have a look for yourself: www.zenza.nl  Meanwhile, I've put half of their stock on my wish list!