STOCKIST SPOTLIGHT: Gosto Design & Lifestyle

The shops, the people who sell my work worldwide...who are they? What are their dreams, their inspirations, what made them start their own businesses? A feature in words and images with a little surprise-coupon at the end...

Gosto Design & Lifestyle is a very special brick store as well as an online design shop, based in Blaricum, a 20 minutes by bicycle from my house. I am so happy with Gosto spicing up the rather boring retail life here in our area!

Gosto Design & Lifestyle - Brinklaan 9A 1261 ER Blaricum

Webshop - Blog - Twitter - Facebook

 

Who is behind Gosto?
Sonia van der Zwaan-Barrigas, from Lisbon, Portugal, happily living in the Netherlands for almost 10 years. 

Sonia, what made you decide to start your own shop?

Since I moved to the Netherlands (chasing my love) I was lucky enough to work as an urban designer. A nice job, but after a few years I started to ask myself if that was it.

I had been blogging since 2005, first to get in contact with other mums, but soon I discovered a new world, a world of creative people. Innovative and nice websites like Etsy and Flickr were emerging. I started to read a lot of blogs about crafts and design and found my passion in interior design, specially northern european/scandinavian design.

When last year this store, a family store - and formerly the 'milk shop' owned by my husband's grandfather - came available I made the decision to start my own business in two weeks. It was not a strange decision, I just had to downscale my way of thinking, make a serious 'business plan' and go for it.

 

What are your Gosto ‘classics’? 
That's tricky to say... we're just open since November 2010. In  my shop I would say Ferm Living and JurianneMatter do it very well, but in my webshop I notice that people make other kind of purchases  and my best seller brand is Muuto, followed by the posters from Keep Calm Gallery.

What article did you buy for the shop recently and why did you buy it?

I'm always looking for new brands. Some brands I find myself, others find me. I recently had the designers (in person... how cool is that?) from Gewoon and Snurk visiting me, they showed me their products in such a passionate way that I simply couldn't say no, besides their products are amazing. But what I am proud of most is the houseware of Alma Gemea. I'm the only shop in the Netherlands that sells this Portuguese brand, a joint-venture between a cork and ceramic company that asked young designers to come up with such a beautiful collection.

Do you have a particular way of styling in your shop? Your own ‘hand’? 

I do the styling of my shop by intuition. I have a good basis, the building is more than 100 years old, with high ceilings and lots of light, I say that the space does it almost by itself. I also try to mix high-end design with handmade products to give the shop not such a 'showroom' look. Mix and match I would say.

Are you planning to change things in your Gosto-concept in the future?

I struggle with the categorisation of my shop. I want to use my shop as a platform for interior advice to show the clients my style and taste (I just got my first assignment) and also had this idea of organizing workshops with emerging designers, which is harder than I thought. It's not easy to find creative people to hold an interesting workshop, an issue that must be seriously worked out in a near future. 
I like to think of my shop as a mini concept store, a mix with high-end design and design from young talents where you can also find books, accessories, stationary and biologic food and wine.

 

What is your ultimate dream?

My ultimate dream is to succeed with my dream: having this shop. I don't have to become rich, just enough to held the shop and be able to innovate myself and my business. 

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I would like to say that I also was a blog(ger) reader and I had this dream for years and had the luck to try it. Only time knows if I'll succeed, but people say that you only must regret what you didn't do. It has been an overwhelming experience, I miss a business partner sometimes, someone to share my decisions with. I'm also thinking in that too, to find someone to share my vision and my passion! 

Thank you Sonia, for your time, your lovely photo's and your wise answers. I hope many more people will take exit 8 on the A1 (it is only a 20 minutes drive from Amsterdam!) and visit your homely shop in beautiful old Blaricum.
And of course everyone should visit your webstore! If you do: don't forget to use the coupon below!

dutch design week 2011

Last weekend my eldest son (13) and I went to the annual Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. We took it easy, stayed in a hotel, got up early in order not to miss anything. We could have stayed for a week: we only saw half or even less of this lovely big event, I guess.

Most of the times I was so absorbed by what I saw, that I forgot to take photo's. And seeing the photo's I did take, it looks like I only saw lampshades!

Tallow candles by my friends from Ontwerpduo, who have this wonderful feeling for colours.

Rick Tegelaar's chicken wire and paper maché lamp shades. 

Beautiful blues and greens at Piet Hein Eek

Butterfly Lamps, the latest work by Paula Arntzen, one of my favorite (paper) designers.

Some nice neon paper lamp shades designed by Buro JET

 

cottage town

These cute little plant-cottages called Cottage Town are the latest product from Ontwerpduo. They play with your sense of 'large' and 'small' and they invite you to enter a fab fairy miniature world, where ordinairy houseplants suddenly turn into huge seqoia's....

I am big fan of Ontwerpduo and this new paper product is special to me: my own printers Luc and Bram from Drukkerij Drukkracht have taken care of the printwork and my die-cut-company did the complicated cutting. So actually I feel rather proud...

The cottages are made of 'waterproof paper', so they can resist rain from a watering can. The cottages are pre-fab (pre-folded and cut), you'll have to do a little constructing yourself. My cup of tea!

Tineke and Nathan from Ontwerpduo will present their cottage town on the Elle Inside Design show that will be held in Amsterdam (IJburg) next week. In the Annie Boshof number 3.
From of that moment it will be available online as well at: BijzonderMOOI* .

If you ever dreamed of buying your own house constructed by the famous Ontwerpduo architects - for less than 10 euro's!!! - this is your chance, go get one (or the whole town of course...)!

DIY rope swirl tapestry

This morning my heart started beating faster when I visited Handmade Charlotte's blog and discovered this amazing rope swirl tapestry. It is handmade by the display team from the Free People store in Philadelphia US. Untill the 5th of July you could list for the give away of this piece of art. How could I have missed this?
Hooray: Free People has written a clear tutorial for making this tapestry. And I think it is even more fun to make one (in your own style) than to win one!

STOCKIST SPOTLIGHT: winter's moon

The shops, the people who sell my work worldwide...who are they? What are their dreams, their inspirations, what made them start their own businesses? A feature in words and images with a little surprise-coupon at the end...

This month the stockist spotlight is on an extraordinary webshop/studio, that was actually one of my very first retailers in the UK. When I met Julia and Becky in London last week it felt like catching up with old friends, although we had never met before.

Winter's Moon: webshop - blog - twitter - facebook

owners Julia Grant (left) and Becky Joy (right)

What kind of shop is it?
We sell mainly online but also through occasional sales at events and from our studio.

What do you sell?
We sell furniture, ceramics, textiles, and items for children. Mostly vintage but some handmade pieces too, and our range is quite random – but that is partly what appeals to our customers as they never quite know what they will find.


Our studio is in a builder’s yard built in the 1950’s in our home city of Chichester (we had always loved the original typeface above the entrance). It functions as a storage, photography and workshop space. We moved in last year and it has liberated the way we are able to work, and we haven’t managed to fill it up yet - but have come close a couple of times.


What made you decide to start your own business?
Winter’s Moon started out very much as a hobby shared by two friends. There was nowhere selling vintage furniture in our small city of Chichester, we loved scouting fairs and auctions and friends often asked us to find pieces for them, so we decided to take it a stage further. It has grown very slowly and has to fit around other commitments and family. The business is named after Becky’s house as that is were we started holding open-house sales.

What are your Winter’s Moon ‘classics’?
Our stock changes all the time and most pieces are pretty one-off. However we love getting chairs reupholstered as they are completely transformed and usually go from a sad saggy chair to a very lovely piece of furniture. We really like the work of Annabel Grey and use her fabrics whenever possible.


What are your favourite items?
Other favourite items are vintage toys…They were so well made, have stood the test of time and just are so much more appealing than their modern plastic counterparts.


Do you take your own webshop photographs?
We do our own photography and styling and have learnt through trial and error what works and what doesn’t. For small items we often use a vintage fabric as a backdrop and sometimes add quirky elements to add some humour…we like laughing!


For larger items the focus is using daylight to show the piece at it’s best, plus we add a few extra props usually, but not so many that it overshadows the product.


Can you describe your style?
We do have a strong sense of what our style is, which is due to the fact that we have VERY similar taste. Over the past four years there have probably only been three items that we have not both loved, and this is what has helped us develop our style….it’s tricky to put into words what that style is though!
We definitely have a particular colour palette, greys, yellows, plums and teals often feature.

What articles did you buy for the shop recently?
We recently stocked up on more lovely paper lanterns by Jurianne Matter as they work so well for summer parties, and contrastingly we recently bought several vintage Parker Knoll chairs….they have a strong shape and small footprint so make really useful good-looking chairs that don’t take up too much room.


What do you expect to become a real trend in your business?
Obviously we all are instinctively aware of trends and are influenced by them, but our judgments are based more on just what seems aesthetically right to us.

Any future plans?
We are developing some fabric designs to use on our vintage furniture and also have a couple of new furniture designs up our sleeve…so I suppose we don’t want to be entirely about offering vintage pieces, but more about offering ‘Winter’s Moon’ pieces.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
YES! We are holding our first sale in our new studio and hope you are able to come and say hello. On Saturday 25th June & Sunday 26th June, from 10am – 5pm. Check our blog for location details.


Thanks so much ladies, for this little studio tour!
If you are near Chichester, do visit these remarkable women, they not only have a beautiful style, they are great fun to meet as well! Blogreaders who stay at home: don't forget to use their coupon code when you go online shopping at Winter's Moon!

London treasury

My friend Linda and I came home late yesterday night. We had a wonderful business and pleasure stay in London!
I opened my suitcase...so happy with my small treasures!

Of course we went to Orla Kiely in Covent Garden and yes, I did buy some notebooks. Can't have enough of them, because they keep my dreams, plans and ideas, of which I have a lot! So, this was a very necessary purchase, hi, hi!
The white gift tags (1,59 pounds for 10) come from ordinary stationery supplier: Ryman. I bought enough for all of my gifts in the next 5 years, I think. Love that place: even missed my flight two years ago filling my suitcase there!

The vintage german cloth pegs, the cotton thread and the white blackboard pencils (for tiny messages!) are all from Labour and Wait on Redchurch Street.
And these stunning retro looking glass tiles come from Anthropologie on Kings Road. The store was literally breathtaking. We just walked around with our mouths open, we could hardly speak...The building, the collection, the assortment...wow!

Shine in London

This was a couple of weeks ago... working on my new project. Based on a color palette and a moodboard (with lots of inspiring pictures of the Slow Wood Mun collection) I started working on the shape, style and prints of a new series of lanterns.
The lanterns on the table are all handmade prototypes and I have chosen 3 of them to be produced for my wholesale company. The lanterns have been produced (just got them in one hour ago!), the header card with instructions and the compostable bags still have to be designed and produced.

I'll show you the final product of course once it is ready.

Next Saturday I am going to take the lanterns with me, to launch them at the stand of my distributors Saskia and Sofie on Pulse LONDON on stand B1!
I'll be there myself on Sunday and Monday from (11.00 - 14.00) and I would love to meet you there!

Oh, I almost forgot the...

SPECIFICS!

Name: SHINE
Size: larger than the first series, any glass or tea light holder will fit!
Style: pure and nordic
Use: in a summer garden party or a scandinavian winter house
Extra: they are reversible!

To be continued.

STOCKIST SPOTLIGHT: sid en liv

The shops, the people who sell my work worldwide...who are they? What are their dreams, their inspirations, what made them start their own businesses? A feature in words and images with a little surprise-coupon at the end...

This month the stockist spotlight is on Sid en Liv , located in the beautiful city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands.


Owners Bob Tönissen en Mirjam van Rijt in their ‘living room’

What is Sid en Liv?
Sid en Liv is a lunch and lifestyle store. A kind of living room where you can have breakfast, lunch or high tea and have a good time. All the food is traditionally prepared and comes from our own open kitchen.

During your lunch or coffee you can sit back, look around and get inspired to buy a present or get some lovely decoration ideas for your home. Everything you see, even the chair you are sitting on, the cutlery you eat from - and the lights, the vases, the tea-caddy, the glasses, the chairs, the paintings and accessories - is for sale at Sid en Liv!!

On sunny days you can sit in the lovely courtyard. You will find benches and chairs from Fermob, the sustainable furniture coming from park Luxembourg in Paris…
The café is child friendly and our little customers will love the yummie menu as well!
What made you decide to start your own shop?
This ‘living room’ concept - a combination of good food, lifestyle and home decoration - was our dream for years! Two years ago we sold our house in Utrecht and we found a building in Nijmegen where we saw the living room of our dreams.
Summer 2010 we opened Sid en Liv.

What are your Sid en Liv ‘classics’?
Some of the classics are already the wall stickers of Ferm Living , the ‘Blommen’ of Jurianne Matter and the handmade aprons of our friend Marie. The one-of-a-kind baroque flower paintings are unique falsuries from old masters, painted in China, with love!



What articles did you buy for the shop recently and why did you buy it?
The paper balloon from Petra Boase, makes a nice letterbox present and cheers up every childrens room.
“Cookie in a Jar” by Merei de Ruiter. It is a glass jar filled with all the ingredients needed (including a how-to) for baking and decorating your own cookies. A great looking and pure DIY-present, which suits our Sid en Liv concept!

The egg warmers designed by - again - Marie, she does have such an eye for detail and makes beautiful combinations of materials. And also the cards from Who’s Loes?! All the people pictured on her cards are her relatives!


I choose products that make people walk out happy…

Do you have a particular way of styling in your shop? Your own ‘hand’?
I (Mirjam) decorated and styled the food section and the shop myself. After years of interior styling experience I can use it on my own store, love it! Inspiration I get from Scandinavia and places like Haarlem, Antwerp and Copenhagen. Ideally I would change the wallpaper in the shop every week ;) ! But it will always be fresh, light and creative. A space that makes you smile...


Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
We are happy to announce that we opened a Sid en Liv WEBstore on the 1st of April!

And I would love to share some other links with you:
Bolig Liv - A Danish magazine someone showed me once when she visited Sid en Liv. I am a big fan since that moment! Such a nice magazine!
De wereld van Jansje - You must visit the store when you are in Haarlem. A great lifestyle and design store also combined with catering during daytime.
Bloesem Blogs - I visit this blog often, it inspires me big time.

Coupon
To celebrate the fact that we opened our Sid en Liv webstore we offer you a discount in our webstore!


Thank you so much Bob and Mirjam! It was a pleasure having a peek in your lovely store. Can’t wait to visit Sid en Liv in Nijmegen. In the mean time I’ll keep checking out your webstore…

Sid en Liv Van Welderenstraat 95 - 6511 ME Nijmegen - The Netherlands - NEW! Sid en Liv webstore - Twitter: @sidenliv

STOCKIST SPOTLIGHT: my red poppy

Initially I started this series just to satisfy my own curiousity. The shops, the people who sell my work worldwide...who are they? What are their dreams, their inspirations, what made them start their own businesses? A feature in words and images with a little surprise-coupon at the end...

Number 1: My Red Poppy - 18Rue Gambetta - 49300 Cholet - France


Owners: happy Caroline on the left, fashionable Benoît on the right

What made you decide to start your own business?
Benoît wanted to start a business of his own already for a couple of years. He loves retro design from the fifties and sixties and interior design objects in general. I was in for a carreer switch and I was looking for activities in the kids world. So we decided to combine our skills and open an interior shop with decoration, accessories and vintage furniture for children.


Is there any article that you sell - or maybe more - that you are simply in love with?
We adore these origami designs made by a young designer from Nantes, called Erwan (see below). His flowers, buntings, mirors…simply wonderful. His paper designs are very elegant and combine with whatever atmosphere, whatever space in the house. Of course, Jurianne Matter, we love your creations a lot. Your designs are small objects that adorn your house and your daily life. Furthermore: the bed linen from Pipoca, the Acapulco chair and we are completely taken by all things designed by Herzensart. And of course many other things!

Erwan's origami

Pipoca

Acapulco-chair and JM-wishboats

Another Acapulco-chair and Herzensart stamps

Do you have a particular way of styling in your shop? Your own ‘hand’?
Our personal touch is Benoîts’ sister! She has helped us a lot with the shop interior; she has the gift of knowing how to create a real special feeling by composing different elements. The most personal touch in our store is the crocheted bag (see below) by ‘Mémère Brossard’, the grandmother of Benoît. We try to create a warm ambiance, that makes you feel at home.


What article did you buy for the shop recently and why did you buy it?
We have chosen the cushion covers by Clare Nicolson, because they really depict what My Red Poppy is about. The prints are retro, tender and very creative.

What do you expect to become a real future trend in your business?
We are focused on a nordic feel, mixed with vintage as well as contemporary elements (like you can see in the Edition Paumes – books). And on printed designs that have inexpected colours. We try to show this inspiration in our assortment.
What will you be doing in five years? What is your dream?
We are thinking of a range of products of our own brand. We are grouping together with some very talented graphic- and product designers in order to develop an assortment of textile accessories, interior objects, printware and – why not – furniture…

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
It is through our work that we meet very nice people with whom we share a passion for creating, doing business and for the distribution of beautiful objects…and that is simply fantastic!

Are you living or travelling near Cholet? Visit My Red Poppy and don't forget to take this coupon with you!

It was a pleasure meeting you, Caroline et Benoît, merci beaucoup!