It's a cover-up

Happy holidays and the best of 2012 from Bemz!

Thank you for sharing 2011 with us. As we take leave of the year that is drawing to a close and ponder all we achieved, big and small, over those 365 days, we thought it fitting to provide you with true Scandi ambiance with some Swedish holiday music. The music was recorded in 1962 by Åke Jelving along with a chorus of parents and children and comes to us thanks to blog Door Sixteen.

Follow this link and you can download the album (wait for the countdown to finish if you don't have an account). It even has the scratchy sounds of an LP. Festive, retro and vintage! Spot on. The only way to make it more Scandi chic is if you were sipping a mug of mulled wine. Skål!

We hope to see more of you in 2012!

I zinc ziss Karlanda iz happy!

Please excuse my feeble attempt at a play on words in the title - I'm suffering from turkey overdose.

Don't let my poor crack affect your feelings about this beautiful Karlanda clothed in a most splendid Zinc Grey sent to us from Steve in Canada.

It is, admittedly not the best quality of photo but I decided to share it all the same as you can see the splendid result through all that graininess.

Steve (funny man!) writes: I just wanted to say my Karlanda slipcover in zinc grey just arrived today and I love it! My original white one was several years old and had gotten so grungy I was always a little embarrassed having people over seeing all the stains, etc. Every time I'd have a date over I'd fear they were sitting on my sofa thinking 'I think this disgusting couch just gave me crabs'. It was a real mood killer. I considered getting a new sofa but my current was still in excellent condition and no one would take it in such a state and I didn't want it to end up in a land fill. Then I read about BEMZ in Style at Home magazine and found the perfect solution. Three weeks to the day of ordering my slipcover it arrived and fits perfectly. It's like a brand new sofa at a fraction of the cost. I posted a pic on your Facebook wall and have attached one here for you to see. I just wanted to let you know how great it is Thanks again

What more can I add! You are obviously a man of taste Steve (and humour) and we are grateful you shared your home with us. 

If you have a Bemz cover, share it! Send me a photo at blog[at]bemz.com or upload it onto our Facebook page.

Last shout outs for design savvy bloggers in 2011

With the announcement of our new Loose Fit - Urban slipcovers to be launched in early 2012 and highlighting the cutting edge Industrial Vintage look on the bemz.com trend alert page, we have had some wonderful coverage in the blogosphere and elsewhere. It's time to acknowledge all those lovely, design savvy people out there who have taken the time to feature Bemz and our products.

Tredenser, one of Sweden's most popular interior blogs, likened our new Loose Fit Urban covers to an affordable version of designer Paola Navones Ghost chair. This same collection was also featured on Swedish blog Purple Area. Tusen tack till er båda!

Thank you also goes to Canadian Poppytalk for enthusiastically sharing this new range. And for sharing the news about our new website launch on Family Style! Swedish Fröken Kumlin also shared our new website with her readers for which we are thankful. Tack!

Our new bedroom collection made the cut on Swedish I Veras Hus blog's list of coveted finds and inspirational pictures. Tack för det!

Canadian interior magazine House & Home featured the new Loose Fit Urban line on their blog in keen anticipation of its early 2012 launch. Thanks House & Home! French blog Regards et Maisons also gave us two thumbs up for our 100% linen covers, featuring our new Urban collection. Merci beaucoup Regards et Maisons! Nous sommes réjouis!

Germany's most read interior magazine, Schöner Wohnen, gave us a lovely write up about our fabulous new Piper Twill Dark Denim Blue fabric. Danke schön Schöner Wohnen!

The lovely Cristina of Positively Beauty, shared her room transformation where a Karlstad chaise longue in Soft White held centre stage. Thanks again Cristina!

Happy Holidays!

While we are all enjoying the festive season, we leave you with these inspiring seasonal photos to browse through, just in case you needed one last thing to get you in the Christmas mood.

Happy holidays everyone!

Credit: Bemz, Canadian House & Home, House to Home (hold mouse over picture to see source)

Design-It-Yourself: Personalising cushion covers

This comes to us straight from our French PR rep Virginie who recently got together with french site A Little Market to make personalised cushion covers at the Creation et Savoir Faire exhibition:

Bemz and A Little Market have combined their talents and creativity at Creations et Savoir Faire 2011 recently in Paris. A group of very artistic and imaginative ladies customized a selection of cushion covers from Bemz using unique accessories and a variety of techniques.

A Little Market aims to bring together creative talent looking to share their work with buyers in search of original and unique items.

Here are some pictures taken during the creative process. The end result? Bemz covers with a festive flair - ideal with Christmas on the horizon! We hope they inspire.

Cushion cover in Gustavian Flowers Dusty Rose personalised by Mirey, pop art jewelry designer. Mirey used her famous Louise beads to customise her cushions.

This cushion cover in Unbleached Belgian Linen Blend from Bemz was customised using beautiful retro vintage 
crochet flowers from Violette's tiny delights shop.

This Woven Whimsy Cloud Grey cushion cover was customised by Kom 1 using an iron-on transfer.

Textile flowers created by Bycox, designer of leather bags and fun soft toys, were used to adorn this cushion cover in Dusty Rose Hounds Tooth.

This Raffia Jet Black cushion cover in textured cotton was personalised using custom stenciled with "seamstress girlfriends," textile designer, queen of kits and all things cuddly.

Have you customised a cushon cover? Share your creativity! Send me a photo at blog[at]bemz.com.

Design-It-Yourself: Christmas gifts

I heard it said somewhere that the best gifts are either made or found and it has always stuck with me. Gift-giving is not about how much it cost but rather about how much effort and thought has gone into the process and that is exactly why Design-It-Yourself gifts are perfect! Not to mention the fact that they often are easier on the wallet...

Here are a variety of ideas from other blogs. Follow the link if you like what you see and want to give it a go.

This is great for someone who follows trends in interior design. Mounts are spot on trend and these ones are animal friendly too!

Do you know someone who is handy with the knitting needles?

These simple white ceramic pieces were transformed with a simply yet lovely botanical pattern.

A wood cutting board is ideal for foodies.

This is a great way of introducing a bit of retro style into the plethora of today's list of modern gadgets: it is a vintage book cover for an e-reader or tablet. Clever. 

And here's a really personal gift - a piece of art made specifically for the intended recipient: their astrological sign! this one comes from a blog dedicated to personalisation, P.S. I made this... Like!

These are only a few of the ideas floating around out there, the ones I liked the best. Check out the whole list at Design*Sponge for more ideas. Let us know how yours turned out! Mail us on blog[at]bemz.com or upload it to our Facebook page. 

Credit: Design*Sponge

Ciao bella daybed cover!

Our regular Friday customer features is dominated by beautifully transformed sofas and chairs from around the world. This week however, we have a daybed cover! How exciting! It wasn't that long ago that Bemz launched its bedroom series and it's always gratifying to see a Bemz product in a real home.

This one comes to us straight from Italy - a country steeped in culture, history, beautiful fashion great food and exquisite ice cream. Francesca actually ordered two daybed covers - this one in Soft White and another in grey which she is saving for the colder months. Fancesca clearly knows what she is doing. The Soft White daybed provides a subtle backdrop to the room, allowing the stunning pieces, like the timeless Eames coffee table, the vintage filing cabinet and the stunning floor tiles take centrestage brightened by the sunshine coloured wall. A few well chosen scatter cushions hold it all together. Lovely! Que bella, Francesca!

Here's what Francesca had to say (excerpt): here I am attaching a picture of the beautiful transformation of my Ikea daybed, from scantily-clad piece of furniture to beautifully dressed sofa. And perfect background for the Eames coffee table that I inherited from my grandparents, both a cherished design piece and fond memory of my childhood (I spent hours playing on it with toy cars!)

Grazie mille Francesca for sharing your home with us! You too could have you home feature here: send a photo of your Bemz cover to me at blog[at]bemz.com or upload it to our Facebook page. 

Deck the halls the Tricia Guild way

We love Designers Guild fabrics. They are vibrant. They are over-sized. They embrace colour and leave you smiling. That is one of the reasons why you will find Designers Guild fabrics in the Bemz Designer collections. 

So we were thrilled to find Tricia Guild and her London home featured in the December 2011 issue of Living etc. Here are a few photos from that article and can I just say how pleased I am to see how true the company founder and namesake remains to the Designers Guild look, even at Christmas. 

If you like what you see and would like to emulate Tricia, choose from a variety of fabrics from the Designers Guild collections at Bemz.

The Miami Collection includes Flamingo Park (left), Bayshore and Coconut Grove (right).

Espanola Way, Sagrada, Castellar and Barcelona are all a part of the Barcelona Collection at Bemz.

Creadit: Livingetc, December 2011 issue

Design-It-yourself: Billy bookcase goes gable topped

I came across this Design-It-Yourself idea in the Ikea Live magazine delivered through my door. In this house tour, home owners Isabella and Martin transformed the simple and ubiquitous Billy bookcase into a fun and colourful gable topped city in their daughter Ella's room.

After writing this up I came across the same room on Ohdeedoh, a great blog from the Apartment Therapy family focused on children and families. There, the owners gave these instructions on how to make these gable topped Billy bookcases:

They were built from IKEA Billy shelves (40x200cm and 60x200cm sizes). For the doors we had the hardware store cut MDF panels in the correct width. In our case it was 6 pieces at 40cm wide and 230cm high. For the roof tops, the shape was designed in free-hand with a pen. My husband Martin then cut with a jigsaw. For the color palette, we brought one of Ella's dresses to the hardware store and they matched the colors. The doors were painted twice using a roller. For the windows, I made a template of cardboard which I then used to cut decorative plastic in white and black. After we adhered the windows, the doors were then hung by hinges. This was a bit tricky to get right, but Martin and his dad decided it relatively painless. Only a few grey hairs later. ; )

By the way - that light shade on the ceiling is a converted fruit bowl. Clever! 

And if that weren't enough, they then went on and refurbished Isabella's old doll's house to mirror the interior of their own home.

Kudos Isabella! 

If you like this idea and would like to see more, then check out this link.

Mysinge transformed from drab to fab

Bemz customer Shirley sent in these before-and-after photos of her Mysinge sofa. I love before-and-afters! There's something so appealing about experiencing the beauty of the end product as well as knowing just how long the journey was to get there. First up: Shirley's Mysinge with the original IKEA cover.

And here is the same sofa with a cover in Graphite Grey.

Very nice choice. The Mysinge has quite a contemporary cut to it with it's angles and low seats so the sleek and classy grey suits it perfectly. But also, by choosing grey, Shirley has transformed the look of the room to one of quiet sophistication. It helps, of course, that the curtains and throw cushions match. Shirley has done a wonderful job.

Here's what she had to say: New home = new cover ! 2 pictures : 1rst, my old and damaged Mysinge sofa with the Ikea cover. 2nd, the same with Panama Graphite Cotton BEMZ slipcover... Just love it ! Thank you !!!

Thank you Shirley, for sharing your lovely home with us. For your chance to be featured here, send along a photo of your Bemz cover to me at blog[at]bemz.com or upload it to our Facebook page.