Petit Miracle Interiors Blog

Waterfall house – Perfection

elisicia — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:04:51 +0000

I think in the past, if asked, if perfection was possible I would have said no, least not man-made things. A sunset, snowflake, that sort of thing, than yes, but certainly not something man-made. Most people can recall the moment when they first heard Elvis had died (showing my age here), or the moment they laid their eyes on their first born. For me, I remember everything about the moment when I first saw Fallingwaters. I literally drew my breath in and I knew instantly that man was capable of perfection.

Built in 1939, this house appears to float and yet snuggles seamlessly into the earths bosom like the earth produced this miracle from its inner core. Cantileverd floors enable the weightless appearance. This house embodies the term vernacular despite the large amount of reinforced concrete.

To achieve this kind of integrated beauty with the land I feel he must have convened with God himself. When I look at this house, the above picture in particular, I am completely drawn into its beauty. It’s akin to infatuation. This house has no flaws - perfection.

Interview with Stacey Sheppard

elisicia — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:15:54 +0000

It’s not every day that we get interviewed so it’s quite nice when it does happen. Especially when the request comes from a Blogger you have been following for a long time. You can read all about our chat with Stacey here:

http://staceysheppard.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/interview-petit-miracle-interiors/

I beg you, stop using contemporary and modern interchangeably they are very, very different.

elisicia — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:55:52 +0000

I have noticed people, when explaining their likes and dislikes, use modern and contemporary as if they are the same thing. To put this into perspective that is akin to saying, Micheal Jackson and Pavarotti perform similarly, clearly they do not, in fact they are polar opposites.

Modern refers to a specific period in time, a transformational period in design. It stems from the Bauhaus movement with its connections to Marxism. Bauhaus school was originally created because it was felt that there was a loss of art in design manufacturing. Fine art and craft were the cornerstone for production.

Contemporary means what is in style now, what’s on trend, exciting and innovative. That’s not to say that modern design was not innovative but when talking about contemporary design innovation is referring to todays consumer needs with a strong emphasis on sustainability and ecologically friendly production.

Right, rant over, I have collected my favourite top ten design items for Modern and Contemporary design, enjoy.

Contemporary Top Ten:

Modern Top Ten:

When sleeping rough, we were near the bottom of the totem pole

elisicia — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:24:06 +0000

I wanted to write a few things about my experience of sleeping out. I was surprised and not so surprised at what I learnt. Yes, lots of people sleeping rough were drunk and/or high. Yes, they were dirty. Yes, they wanted money or food. But that’s not surprising. What surprised me was the community that existed with the rough sleepers we met. There was almost an imperceptible sense of respect; they knew each other struggles, each persons ‘spot’ (each rough sleeper will have a spot that they sleep in, to sleep in someones elses spot is considered disrespectful) some even watched out for one another. But, it must be said that this was only for the drinkers. You see, they have a caste system. Those have been sleeping rough the longest are higher up the caste, people new to the streets are near the bottom and those who use drugs are considered the lowest. As one man put it;

they’ll do anything to you (to get drugs) at least the drunks just want to have a good time.

The people we met talked a lot about having their friends nearby, not wanting to be alone, even if those friends reminded you, in unpleasant manner, that you were raped by your father.

On Christmas eve I was reminded of some of the reasons people become homeless, what saddens and interests me is people will tell me, typically inside of 5 minutes, their deepest darkest past experiences; my husband beat me, that last time he broke my back, or, he wouldn’t stop raping me. For some, it seems, it’s their way of saying why they are homeless for others, sadly, it seems they want you to know they are damaged in some way, that you can reject them earlier rather than later. I guess it’s self-defence.

One night is nothing, I know that. But, I am angrier than ever and I hope that the experience of one night keeps me angry for a very long time.

Sleeping Rough

elisicia — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:54:01 +0000

UKTV Home’s New Reclaimer, Daniel Hill and Homeless Charity Sleep Rough Christmas Eve

Bringing awareness to rough sleeping

(Press Release) – 21 December, 2011 – On Tuesday 24 December, Elisicia Moore of Petit Miracle Interiors and Daniel Hill www.danielhill.tv, TV presenter for The New Reclaimers are sleeping rough in London to bring awareness to rough sleeping. Petit Miracle Interiors Ltd (http://www.petitmiracles.org.uk) is a registered charity supporting homeless people into training and work experience opportunities.

Rough sleeping is a worsening problem as people face redundancies and government funding is cut. The latest research from Homeless Link,* reveals:

The autumn 2010 total of rough sleeping counts and estimates inEngland was 1,768. This is a 42% increase of the 2009 figure of 1,247, breaking a long trend of declining numbers.
Londonhas the highest number of rough sleepers, with a total of 415.

“We are particularly interested in supporting people into permanent accommodation. Having a home, especially if you’ve slept rough can mean the difference between life and death, literally” says Elisicia Moore of Petit Miracle Interiors. ”We just want to bring some needed attention to those of us who do not have a home or family this Christmas, getting a warm, dry place to sleep for an hour or two is going to be their Christmas gift this year, if they are lucky.”

Daniel said “At this time of year there are so many people who won’t be lucky enough to open expensive presents and enjoy a nice Christmas dinner. I have always been supportive to charities that work to reduce homelessness. When I was asked by Petit Miracles to join them on Christmas day on this homeless challenge I was happy to get involved and show my support.”

By sleeping rough Elisicia and Daniel hope to bring attention to those of us who do not have a home or family this Christmas, to re-think the way we give at Christmas and to give our time and resources to charities helping vulnerable people in our cities.

References:

*http://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/Rough%20Sleeping%20Mar%202011.pdf, Accessed 21 December 2011.

For further information:

Daniel Hill, The New Reclaimers

Learn more about Daniel, The New Reclaimers as well as his philanthropic work at: www.danielhill.tv

email: dan@reuseitdontloseit.co.uk

What are you doing Christmas eve? Fancy sleeping rough?

elisicia — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:52:31 +0000

You got to admit it’s not an offer you get everyday, right??!!! Well that is the question we posed to Daniel Hill, the TV presenter for the New Reclaimers, and surprisingly he was up for the challenge. However, we learnt that it’s not the first time Daniel has slept rough in our city, a few years ago he slept rough with no money for 4 days and 3 nights.

We’ve wanted to raise awareness of sleeping rough for quite sometime and feel that Christmas eve is a particularly poignant time to do so. With so many of us surrounded by friends, family, mince pies and presents it is deeply sad to think that anyone would have to sleep on the streets during this time. It’s a small sacrifice and we know that just one night is not going to end rough sleeping however, if we can make just one person change their attitude or perception than we will be very happy.

On a personal note, I want to say that my reasons for wanting to do this goes beyond awareness. I really want to feel a small part of the discomfort of sleeping rough. I know it’s only one night, I know that it’s not earth shattering this decision but I’m not trying to create an earthquake I just want to understand a bit better.

A few of our favourite upcycled items..

elisicia — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:50:42 +0000

Much less painful for the animal…

image from: http://www.outsapop.com/

I really want to make one of these!

image from: http://blog.malmaison.com/?p=505

I spent an embarrasing amount of time trying to find a used air hostess trolley….no joy But this is what I would like to do with it if ever my luck changes:

image from: http://inhabitat.com/lost-and-found-and-made/

Leftovers can really be the very best part indeed!

image from:Design by Leftovers upholsters used furniture with vintage fabrics, like this green settee. Photo: Katarina Hansson, Design by Leftovers

Who funds??? WeFund!!!!!

elisicia — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:18:53 +0000

We have uploaded our Design Bank pop-up shop project for crowd-funding on WeFund. Please feel free to donate large sums of money so that we can share our passion for design with people from all walks of life.

http://www.wefund.com/project/project-no18908

Chinoiserie

elisicia — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:29:07 +0000

From a very distant memory I have been fascinated by Chinoiserie. An odd fascination for a young girl but hey, I used to pretend to be sick from school so I could go to work with my mom (she was an interior designer) so not that odd I suppose. So I wanted to share some of my favourite chinoiserie images, some old some not so old, I hope you enjoy.

High Street Hijack, bronze is better than no medal at all!!!

elisicia — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:45:47 +0000

Petit Miracle Interiors were proud to be shortlisted for 3Space.org competition, we fought a tough battle and came 3rd in the competition. Thank you to all of the people who voted and shared the link with so many of your friends and family, we really felt the love!

THERE’S GOOD NEWS, the lovely folks at 3Space have offered to give us the free use of a shop in a nearby Shepherds Bush shopping centre. We are currently working to raise the funds to hold a 4 week pop-up shop. We are pretty excited to say the least, we have big plans and will be recruiting for volunteers soon.

We are planning an installation within the space, a house made of polystyrene sheets where all the upcylced items we produce will be showcased. With a little luck and the right volunteers we are hoping we can create something like the picture below. So, if you are anyone you know who is a qualified builder and/or architect please get in touch. We want to get started on this fabulous installation asap!