Interior design shop review: Kokon Munich

Travel is a great way to learn and discover more. As for me, I always try to combine the passion for travel with new discoveries in the domain of cooking, fashion, lifestyle and interior design. Many of my trips should always include a short overview of interesting shops and ideas. While visiting Munich a couple of weeks ago, I discovered the very elegant and colourful Kokon Shop, situated relatively close to the main central area, on Brunhamstrasse 21.

The style is rather classic, and includes a variety of furniture and design products. The space is huge and you will need at least one hour to browse all the options. In case that you already know what you are looking for and no time, there are many representatives of the customer service ready to help. 

The main style is modern, with a touch of classic. The prices are middle to high-end, and suit a variety of spaces, especially for the home. Especially the chairs are very varied. If you have a very modern and non-conformist/creative office, you can dare to bring some of them as part of the office furniture as well. 

The materials and textile part has very often an ethnic influence, that can bring a lot of colour to grey ambiances. A colourful chair pillow can completely change the style of the room, without too much investment. 

There it is also possible to buy directly the materials and use your creativity to create your own curtains or table clothes. The materials are the strong point of the shop, as it was the first type of products distributed when the shop was created, in 1987, with products from India and Bali.

Most furniture belongs to the South-Eastern Asian style. Matched with some flowerly Asian prints, it makes you feel you are far away in sunny lands. 

My favourite category of products are the lightning solutions, very simple, but extremely interesting when was thinking to match them with various interiors and rooms.

I spent a lot of time, actually, trying to imagine various places for those lamps and still feel that I miss some precious details.

The shop has also a corner dedicated to children furniture and decorations, colourful without being loaded. In fact, children don't need a loaded room, but practical tools and a lot of space to enjoy their freedom of playing in the most creative possible ways. 

In terms of decoration and general style per se, the shop doesn't have a certain line and the big space is rather randomly crowded. I was expecting more coherence and a unified design message, but on the other hand, with so many options and products, there is almost impossible to do anything else but to offer to the buyer the best choices and guidance. 

Trending colours from Farrow & Ball

Spring is getting closer and many of us may think about changing something in their homes. As refurnishing an apartment, and even an entire house costs a lot, why not starting with something simpler and less expensive? For instance, repainting the rooms?

For Forrow and Ball the main four trending colour for 2014 are inspired by nature and the British landscape. At the first sight, they are not the usual choice you might have for your room, but in combination with the right furniture and a proper lightning system, one will not only get used with, but will definitely feel like in a completely new space.

The main trending colours are:

1. Cooking Apple Green 

Created from earth pigments, it is my favourite colour. It brings light and happiness and a light feeling of being. Its mysterious light can match any room, but I would prefer it in the living room, in combination with a light furniture. It is an adornment for any kind of habitation, from hotel rooms to cottage or loft. 

2. Stiffkey Blue

The name and texture of this unusual colour are inspired by the mud on a beach in Norfolk. It is very intense and you need a lot of open sources of natural and artificial light to bring more sweetness in the room. As a revolutionary mood, I will suggest it for a pop-art kind of furniture - red couch or yellow closet anyone ? - but also with light wooden or white furniture. A yellow or brown carpet can change completely the perspective. I will suggest it for the living room or even for the children's room. I will even dare to use it for some walls in the kitchen.

3. Purbeck Stone

What's so special with this colour, except the creative choice of the name? I asked myself too, but after a couple of minutes I realized that in fact it is about a certain creamy consistence and the feeling of being home. Remember the white walled little rooms from your aunt or if you were lucky enough to have one, of your grandparents? It is a natural milky colour, natural and matching any room or home. Hang your family pictures or some colourful landscapes on the wall, buy new white or creamy curtains and everything will look great without a huge investment. If you are unhappy with your old furniture, maybe you can try some DIY experiences and paint it anew. The more colourful, the better!

4. Mole's Breath

This is a relatively unusual colour, at least for my choices of paint and decorations, but it depends of the rest of the setting. For instance, if you bring some steel/metal/silver objects, lamps and even furniture, and light placed strategically on the corners of a room, the nuances and shades will melt in a completely different way. It suits a cottage room, filled with brown furniture, but also a yellowish or even red or white furniture for a children room. I will not use it for the sleeping room though, as I prefer the light, pistachio - light blue nuances. 

The pictures were taken from the website of Farrow & Ball.