Welcome Kazu

Hi Kazu,

Welcome to Cocoa Design Life, hope you can have a relaxing moment here, enjoy :)

我愛馬賽克 I love mosaic

Mosaic - 馬賽克, 誰不喜愛? 繽紛的色彩, 大大小時不同的形狀, 自由組合也可, 採用設計師悉心配襯的亦可; DIY 朋友的寵兒...不須要遠走意大利, 西班牙, 在澳門隨處可見.

還記得小時候跟家人往澳門遊玩, 最深刻的當然不是賭場或豬肉乾, 白鴿標檔排第二, 商店前面行人路地上的馬賽克 /瓷磚排第一. 我想當時店主是為了方便打理, 才各自在門前的行人路上貼上馬賽克 /瓷磚, 由於這不是"街坊會的安排", 所以大家並沒有互相配襯, 結果便漫不經意地完成了一條又一條自家製作而又獨特的"藝術街"!

現在? 以上情境不常見,卻在大街小巷發現不少上圖的馬賽克裝飾, 跟議事亭廣場的設計十分配合; 簡簡單單的圖形及色彩, 已為整個環境修飾得十分優雅; 更令又長又悶的階梯變得有趣味, 不消一會便走完. 所以, 至今, 馬賽克還是我的最愛.

Mosaic - all time favor ? so colorful, interesting shape and size, it can be created through your imagination, or by select a designer's choice...DIY lovers. What you don't need is to search them around in Spain or Italy, it's everywhere, just right next in Macau.

I used to travel with my family to Macau when I was a kid, the most remarkable memory in my mind was certainly not casino or BBQ pork. Something call 白鴿標 - first runner up (direct translate is "Pigeon Ticket" - a kind of lottery ticket, you won & get pay if you guess the correct Chinese character that are going to be randomly picked once or twice a week by the host), mosaic / ceramic tile laid in front of shops on the pedestrian is the winner. 

I think the original thought of the shop owners may just think of easy maintenance & therefore have this idea, and luckily without the master control of any committee, they created an unique street art by their own mix & match, one follow by the others. 

Today, it will be less likely to find the trace of the above, but something new like the one in my photo which can be discovered everywhere, seems they are a diversified "team member" of the major design found at Senado Square. By this simple pattern & color arrangement, it lift the whole atmosphere of the surrounding, more decorative and interesting, even shorter the length of long boring staircase, what a magic touch and that's why, mosaic is still my number one lover.

做個寧缺勿濫的設計師

無論係住宅定係商舖, 係任何設計之前都離唔開同客戶傾吓用家要求; 例如有幾多人用, 咩嘢人 ?即係一家有老有嫩定係只得兩口子; 商舖就變成幾多職員, 咩嘢目標客...等等. 最緊要嘅莫過於係儲存問題, 要擺啲咩嘢, 擺係邊, 擺幾多...?

係香港呢個地貴人多嘅地方, "愈多愈好" 就成為標準答案, 於是...問題嚟啦! 所有空間都要你填滿, 原本可以用嚟設計成一個較有味道或者優閒嘅小區都會變成係奢望. 商舖客因為基於高昂租金, 要舖盡其用, 又唔係係度瞓, 呢點仲可以理解. 但係住宅嘅話, 我哋都係希望用家可以先考慮減少自己以為"珍貴" 其實係無謂嘅收藏; 寧願果個位冇嘢擺, 都唔好搵啲"收藏"+個櫃嚟充塞.

另外一個較多發生係住宅嘅問題,尤其係新婚, 覺得入伙之前一定要咩嘢都齊晒, 就算未搵到啱心水嘅嘢, 例如吊燈, 掛畫, 餐枱...都是但買件填咗個位, 結果出嚟嘅效果, 未必係最差, 不過一定唔係最好!

事實證明, 肯聽話又認同寧缺勿濫呢個手則嘅客人, 結果係除咗可以享受由設計創造出嚟嘅舒適空間之外,等到最合心水嘅傢俱配置, 仲可以經驗到從等待, 心思熟累之後搵到一件有真正存在需要, 值得放係屋企朝夕相對嘅物件; 呢個先係我地認為最美滿嘅大團圓結局.

Sunset

Sunset by Brunhilde Reinig

Everyday sunset right outside window

it's a blessing to know

today is so peaceful

for me

to have a new tomorrow

Bronze = Romance?

 I was shopping around and discovered this set of Bronze Aged Flatware at Anthropologie . They are so neat but looks elegant, made by bronze - which will sometimes be mixed up with copper and brass. 

We used to have ironmongery or decorative metal parts appears in these three different finishes in interior design work, usually it is a bit easy to identify them by color and level of hardness. Copper is the original soft yellowish metal, when mix with zinc, it forms an alloy : brass , harder and appear in golden color; door knob, lock or railing are most common end products. 

When other metals are added, like tin, aluminium, lead or even silver; a bronze alloy is created with a bit of rose color. It is harder than brass, can withstand more polish treatment, so you can find them in coin, kitchen ware or the above nice flatware, etc.

To me, bronze is more attractive, it has a vintage, feminine and graceful appearance. In the modern world, rose gold may be an alternative for bronze to transform as a wedding ring... same lovely pink tint... with an additive of romance, too.

Our scrapbook

 

Hi ! Happy Snake Year to everyone, we are excited to share with you our Pinterest Page (upper page tab) here starting from today, you may find some familiar images or new discovery that we have selected from a lot of amazing people's pin, lets share and have fun ! Hey, don't forget to click to their original link below if you would love to know more of your favor items.

大家好! 祝願你們蛇年快樂, 身體健康. 今年我們決定加入Cocoa Design Life 的 Pinterest 網頁 (上面按頁), 希望你們可以輕鬆地分享到一些由我們篩選過認為值得與大家介紹的事物. 可能你會覺得部份似曾相識, 但亦有部份是由參與 Pinterest 的朋友們各自推介的, 希望你會喜歡 !
如果你對其中一些內容有興趣, 別忘記點擊圖片下面的來源網站, 便可探索更多.

* some new pin boards for styling are coming soon......
關於 styling 的新貼簿會在不久將來跟大家見面.......

Follow the Sun

I love to walk alone, usually between 2:30 to 6:30pm, starting from where I am, no plan, no destination, nothing in hand, as "light" as I can. 

I walk slow, just follow the sun, see if it can bring me to some place of mystery? busy? or tranquil... I feel the air, the breeze & temperature that change along my steps, in the shade? along the road? or outside a
cafe...

I open my nose, to suck in any aroma in the wind; I keep on listening, to any tiny sound or echo that may leads me to their place.  I look around, to the face of all strangers that passes by, wondering what they are having in their mind?......when the color of the sun turns into golden orange, my journey end.

I stop when I am, walk back to when I was, leaving the sun, return to reality... this, is the refreshment treat of my life, simply move on.