Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Milan Home - Kristina Klarin of Kris's Color Stripes!

The vibrant Milan apartment of Kristina Klarin!

OH my goodness! Incredible or what?!

Gorgeous baby pink tiles in the kitchen... who would have thought these could work so perfectly in a kitchen?!

More subdued hues in the living room.

Back to vibrant green in the hallway...

Kristina's workspace and necklaces in progress!

Handmade wreathes on the wall in Kris's workspace.

This week whilst I am in Milano, I thought it would be fun to share a lovely local apartment rather than a Australian home. Milan-based fashion designer and brilliant blogger Kristina Klarin kindly agreed to share her fabulous little place - and I must say, although I knew it would be super lovely... my heart skipped a giddy beat when these incredible photos came through! OH my. Eye-candy just hit a whole new level! Such brilliant brave colour - I am in awe...!

It's no wonder that Kris is a whizz with colour... she's been in the fashion industry for 10 years here in Milan... and have you seen her amazing Color-Stripes BLOG!? It is so so brilliant - so utterly unique, full of stunning photography... and will have you seeing colour in an entirely new way. (Also on her blog, check out a few before and after pics of her colourful home - what a transformation!)

In addition to her day job in fashion-land, Kristina also makes gorgeous hand-painted wooden bead necklaces in, of course, the most delectable colour combinations. Check them out in her online shop here. Oooh la la. After these were posted on a few popular blogs recently, poor Kris is run off her feet keeping up with demand! I am not surprised!

Painted wooden necklaces by Kristina, for sale here!

I am looking forward to meeting Kris hopefully later this week! In the meantime she has kindly answered a few of my questions about her beloved home town, and has sweetly given me her top pick for the Salone this week! Spazio Rossana Orlandi is now definitely top of the list!

What do you love about living in Milano?

I like to be in the center of everything, to have all the stuff I need near, like magazines, books , I like that there are always a lot design related events, and I love Milan's position, you can be in the mountains in an hour and on the seashore in two hours.

Can you tell us a little about your local area - where do you live and what is special about your local neighborhood?

Well , near me there is street Via Savona and Via Tortona which I particularly like , that was industrial area in the 30's and now it become a very chic populated by young people, inspiring shops and lovely restaurants, this one is my favorite - Piquenique.

Which event / showroom at the Salone / Fuori Salone will you be sure to visit at the Salone del Mobile this year?

I would definitly go to Spazio Rossana Orlandi, it's situated in an ex tie factory and the owner Rossana has only the best indie designers, this year there will be presented new projects by Piet Hein Eek, the Campana brothers, the young design collective FormaFantasma and the London-based Spanish designer Tomas Alonso.

Milan's best kept secret?

Secret gardens! - Giardino di Villa Reale, it's a beautiful garden, but kept so secret that I couldn't find any photo on the Internet to share with you! - Garden of Villa Invernizzi, open to public only once a year.

Thankyou so much for your time and all the beautiful photos Kris! xx

9 comments:

  1. I think people are often frightened of colour but they shouldn't be. Neutral bases are easy to work with but sometimes it's great to take a leap and paint a whole room a bright or unusual colour. (Hallways are a great place to experiment, too.) When it works it's so much more dramatic than limiting colour to small items like cushions and vases. And hey, you can always paint over it!

    I like the way Kristina painted squares and rectangles on her walls. That detail really makes the framed pictures pop.

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  2. If you didn't tell us, we might believe that this was an Australian apartment but there's something a bit intangible that says that it's not - is it just the colours? Anyway, great idea Lucy...

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  3. I love the green and pink and also her work space. All lovely. xx

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  4. Glad you arrived safely. Looking forward to seeing more Milano madness x o x

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  5. Fantastic...a girl after my heart!

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  6. wow - what a way with colour. i admire homes like this because i could never be so daring. she must wake up smiling.

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  7. I love her blog so I'm thrilled to see inside her home. thanks for sharing this! Kris certainly has a way with colour!

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  8. A beautiful, bright, sunny home- I love the butterfly pictures, especially...and seeing one of our tea-towels in shot was the icing on the cake!

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  9. One day I'll have my interior design store and your website will be my first source of inspiration:)

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