Contemporary Interior Design

• Posted on 20th December 2009 by Nicola Holden

I’m sure many of you have thought that my move from engineering into interior design was a bit of a strange move. However, it has always made perfect sense to me. My job as a process engineer involved installing production lines that worked for the people that worked them, and the principles of this are the same as the principles of laying out a living space, considering space relations, ergonomics and tasks. My job was also one big project to manage, which is a large part of delivering an interior project on time and to budget. The rest is the artistic side to designing interiors, and I am lucky enough to have this by the bucket-full in my family!

My father, Phil Holden, has been in the picture framing business for the past 31 years, first in Zimbabwe and now in Maleny, Australia where he owns the fabulous Holden’s Gallery, selling some wonderful Australian works of art, ceramics and jewellery. All my life I was brought up surrounded by beautifully framed pictures, and the art of drawing the viewer’s attention to the picture and not to the frame. The last time I visited Australia I fell in love with a fabulous Gary Myers painting, which now adorns the wall in my living room, and I am wearing one of Rene Blackwell’s beautiful necklaces in my profile photograph. Both were from Holden’s Gallery.

Also on my father’s side of the family, my grandfather was an avid producer of palette knife paintings of flowers, and carved this sculpture on one of his holidays to visit my family in Zimbabwe.

On my mother’s side of the family, my grandmother was a famous ikebana potter in Zimbabwe. Then, there is my lovely aunt in South Africa who has produced the most beautiful paintings and pottery pieces in the past. Below is one of her paintings.

And, not to be forgotten are my cousin Keith Norval and his wife Anna Podris in Raleigh, America, who are both full time artists and produce wonderful works. A lot of Keith’s work is inspired by his childhood in Africa – being in the bush and surrounded by animals, and he produces wonderfully vibrant oil paintings on canvas. Anna’s work is completely different with an enchanting and magical quality to them. I have one of each of their works in my hallway.

• Posted in Art | 2 Comments

• Posted on 09th December 2009 by Nicola Holden

I recently attended a breakfast seminar for interior designers at Surface Tiles in Islington.  Surface, leading retailer of tiles, mosaic and stone, is renowned for having their finger on the pulse when it comes to the latest trends for tiles and 2010 looks to be no exception.  Here are their latest findings in design, materials and manufacturing innovations from the world’s leading tile producers – as seen at Cersaie,  the recent international ceramic tile exhibition in Italy:

Theme No. 1 – Style

The overriding theme is a return to softer, more classic styling.  Think faux polished marble and faux dark wood combining to create contemporary style that feels rooted in the past. The overall effect is chic and timeless style to provide interiors offering high levels of luxury and comfort.

I Bianchi Calacatta Lucido with Le Essenze Ebano Lucido

Crema Marfil Select with Crema Marfil Mosaico 3D

Theme No.2 – Technology

The use of inkjet technology can now be used to produce tile designs that faithfully simulate natural materials and textures to perfectly suit the softer, classic theme. This allows ‘natural’ stone effects to be achieved without the environmental impact that mining stone has.

Class

Theme No.3 – Function

New ultra-slim technology allows porcelain to be pressed into large format sheets of only 3-4 mm in thickness.  The result is tiles that are less than half the weight of current tiles, making them easier to handle, simpler to cut, and since twice as much can be transported using the same amount of fuel, one of the greenest tiling options around.

Slim Abisko

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