Design and Architecture International Awards: Dimitris Economou

bar-5a — Paramythi Cafe Bar
Architect and Interior Designer: Dimitris Economou

Winner of 2012 design Hotel and Property Awards in the bar/ club/ lounge category, Architect and Interior Designer Dimitris Economou is award nominee for yet another year, this time for his project “Paramythi Cafe Bar”. A big fan of his design work which you can see here, I couldn’t but admire this fresh space designed in his distinct style and I have voted for him. I urge you to do the same!

Unlike any other awards, The Design and Architecture International Awards, hosted by design et al magazine (a leading interior design magazine based in the UK), are not judged by a panel. Instead, the projects are presented online and voting is open to everyone. So if you want to vote for Dimitris Economou too, all you have to do is to click on this link and choose Dimitris Economou Interiors in the bar/ club/ lounge category.

You have to cast your vote for every other category in the Hotel and Property Awards and include your name and email address for your vote to be valid. design et al also offers a complementary 3 month online subscription if you complete all your details in the online form.

“Paramythi” is the greek word for fairytale, so Dimitris Economou Interiors’ project is described as ‘a playful cafe-bar’ which follows an imaginative storytelling theme with a series of little intrigues and design elements to help generate a sense of intimacy and reignite those childhood magical moments. You can experience this playful atmosphere when you click on the photos.

Screen Shot 2013-09-05 at 11.57.02 AM — Paramythi Cafe Bar
Architect and Interior Designer: Dimitris Economou

A favourite element is the set of swings that greet customers as they enter the cafe bar. They may choose to enjoy coffee or read a book while swinging from their seats, or rest their imaginations upon the wall of vintage books suspended vertically from the ceiling. The selection of materials is a correlation between raw industrial materials with a touch of rustic warmth. Aztec, tribal patterns in fancy table printings, fill the upper level adding a splash of color and life to the space. Dimitris Economou used his cut out wood furniture in chevrons and ovals to provide both functionality and an elegant touch.

Dimitris Economou Interiors’ projects include big names of the food and entertainment industry like Hard Rock Cafe, Haagen Dazs or even the “m ultra lounge” of Grammy-winning Dj and producer David Morales. “m ultra lounge” in Mykonos island was the winning project for the Hotel and Property Awards in 2012. I so love the vibrant colors and fell in love with the idea of the red chain curtains!

bar-5a-2 — “m ultra lounge”
Architect and Interior Designer: Dimitris Economou

August 16, 2013March 25, 2014

Thank you’s that bring a smile

Online shopping has the element of surprise. And anticipation. It’s not that you don’t know what you ordered (although sometimes this might also be the case..) but if you WILL receive WHAT you ordered. Is it going to be how you expected it to be? Will it arrive on time? Will it finally fit you? How will the packaging be? It’s like a mystery gift (sort of a Farmville feature) of which you know the contents, you know you paid for it (your credit card statement is the proof) yet you feel the same level of excitement as you would feel if you’d open an actual surprise gift or if someone else had paid for it. In my opinion this is why more and more people are shopping online except for the obvious reasons (i.e. to find sold out elsewhere items, for the convenience of not having to wait in check out lines, low prices during sales).

Packaging might tell a lot about a shop and how they value their goods and your opinion as a customer, but don’t judge a shipment from its outer normal post box with all the customs papers, tape and marks. This is to protect the goods which decent online shops place in a second cute box wrapped or ribboned so to give you the joy of unwrapping.

Most online shops, in order to make up for the absence of a personal contact with their customers and to reward their courage for buying online without actually having seen the product, they offer little surprises along with the goods. Discount vouchers are always welcome and I have received many in the past from Abercrombie and Juicy Couture. Samples of perfumes or totes are great and can come of use in a fashionable way, especially if they have Victoria’s Secret logo. But my magic moment is when I open the box to check my treasure and find a thank you card. Preferably a hand-written one. I am old-fashioned and this little trick shops are using to make the online shopping experience more personal, is the one that does wonders for me. And it brings me a smile.

So here are my top 3 thank you cards from online shops. I would include one thank you note I received from HEX who make cases for MacBooks, iPhones, iPods and iPads but unfortunately after I moved to my new house I can’t find it. The reason why I was pleasantly surprised from this thank you note was that HEX is more of a gadget shop where you’d expect a “cold” transaction, yet not only did they send a handwritten thank you, they also send a small gift to show their appreciation for our business. It didn’t matter to them that my order was less than 15 USD! That means generosity and that every customer matters to them. Check out their amazing cases by clicking here.

No. 3

Juicy Couture prefers to keep it simple and straight with a printed Thank You in gold background.

No. 2

Tessabit sent me a beautiful postcard from Lago di Como of the past… I enjoyed my purchase which came in a black signature box beautifully wrapped in the shop’s ribbon as much as this little surprise thank you which I kept. 🙂 So romantic! I like especially this one as it brings me memories of my high-school pen-pals.

No. 1

Last but not least the surprise of this card from Département Féminin was amazing for it tricked me since the first minute I opened my box: A beautiful rosy-musky perfume filled the air. I couldn’t figure out where it came from until I saw an envelope which I brought close to my nose… This eureka moment made me open the envelope first and then check for the box’s contents! Needless to say I kept the card in my scarves’ drawer… As for my shopping experience… incroyable! Will tell you all about Département Féminin on my next post.. In the meantime MERCI BEAUCOUP!

Have you ever received a special Thank You Card that brought a smile on your face? Feel free to share it with us.

June 16, 2013June 22, 2013

“I love you dad because you make me into a sausage”?

Yes, that was the card my five year old prepared at school and gave her father, my husband that is, for father’s day. Let me explain. She enjoys being rolled up with the bed covers jumping around, pretending she’s a sausage roll, her father helps her roll her blanket firmly around her tiny body. Then the sausage (meaning my daughter) is trying to slip out of the roll to avoid being eaten by the monster (my husband then takes the role of the monster chasing her around the house). So my daughter loves her father cause he’s making her into a sausage roll.

Simple. One of the simplest reasons to love your father. Don’t laugh. I mean it. Just think about it.

Isn’t it your father who tries to armor you for the difficult situations you are going to face in life? He’s the family figure who holds a distance, yet he’s always there to cover you with his protection blanket, in fact squeeze you in sometimes to the point that you won’t have room to breath. Just go as a teenager and ask him straight forward to let you come back from the party at 3 a.m. Tell him that your friend is driving you back. NO WAY. You know in such cases you have to use the “medium” to get things done and that’s your mother. That’s how you escape out of his protection roll. You know fathers are always over-protective and mothers are always over-reacting. What to do. Nature.

Doesn’t your mum from time to time call your father a monster? OK, you know she really doesn’t mean it and probably he did something and has pushed her angry buttons as most men do to their wives. But you have seen him showing his “ugly” face to some ex-boyfriend of yours at some point. Or he might have chased you around the coffee table threatening that he’s going to razor cut your hair cause you have been rude or disrespectful. The monster game in action.

Isn’t your father who tries his best to give you ways to slip out of your cocoon? How many times in your life have you heard the phrase: “Go get a work and earn a living”. Enough said.

I surely love my father for many reasons. Above all, I love him cause he has made me into a sausage but a slippery one, no-one is ever going to catch 🙂

To all dads I hope you had a great father’s day. I miss my dad, he’s now miles away. But I am sure he is in good hands, my brother’s and my sister’s ones. (and mum’s too but the post is about fathers! Mum you will have to wait for your turn in mother’s day!)

And if you enjoy reading about a dad’s world then I would suggest you follow dorkdaddy. Go check his list of simple things he asked for father’s day!

April 17, 2013June 14, 2013

Lightning Show

Last night I spent an hour watching the lightning storm that hit Bahrain unexpectedly. I managed to capture some nice photos with my Iphone 4 which I share with you. Isn’t nature the greatest performer of all?