It hasn’t yet felt very springlike in Paris but it seems France is not an exception. In Helsinki, the capital my home country, it snowed a few days ago, and no, snow doesn’t cover streets all year around over there! I bet many Europeans are at the moment eagerly waiting to see some more green color, flowers blossoming, birds singing… not forgetting the sun! If you have no time or money to buy a ticket to the Caribbean, I suggest you get a feeling of the approaching summer in the Conran Shop in the 7th arrondissement (http://www.conranshop.fr). They organized une soirée privée last Thursday that we could not attend (busy eating tajine instead…) so we took the opportunity to visit the shop last Sunday.

Some of my personal highlights are presented below.

I come from Finland so I adore this table, and even if I didn’t originate from Finland, I still would! Surely many of you recognize it, but if not, check it out on internet (google Tulip Table Saarinen). Eero Saarinen, the architect born in Finland, designed this table in the mid-fifties for Knoll and today, almost 60 years later, it is as modern as ever.FYI: Those stylish bull heads on the wall are called Trophée Taureau and sell for 135€/head.

My next stop in the Conran Shop was related to animals too: I found canned fish in super-cute packaging:

José Gourmet (http://www.josegourmet.com) is a Portuguese brand that produces jam, wine, olive oil, vinegar, canned goods, etc. with elegant and fun design. Their canned fish selection resembles more a Japanese restaurant than a traditional tin: Sardines roe in olive oil, Chub mackerel fillets in olive oil, Trout fillets in Escabeche, Ventrusca tuna fish, etc. (but where is the famous Portuguese morue?). I absolutely love the graphic design and I wish I could draw like that! Each fish seems to have his distinct personality.

As soon as I got home I started googling their website. The words mentioned are fair trade, handmade, added value, and the raison d’être of the company seems to be how to capitalize on the Portuguese traditional products, while dressing them according to our century. Sounds inspiring, and makes me want to travel to Portugal to have the entire José Gourmet selection in front of me!

Third object that I found interesting comes from Alife Design (http://www.alifedesign.com), headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Their concept was born out of hidden needs in everyday life and implementing something sophisticated to satisfy the needs. Today their industrial design items are found in nearly 30 countries, mainly in Europe. These travel organizers (picture on the right) come in almost all the rainbow colors and help you keep your travel documents in order. In fact there is a full range of products that promise to make traveling easier: luggage belts, luggage tags, luggage identifiers; you name it. The company website shows that travel accessories are not Alife Design’s only product line, but this is what the Conran Shop had chosen to their collection.

PS The Conran Shop offers 15% discount on selected items until (including) April 15.