New Vs. Old: The Things I Brought Back from Munich

I'll be writing a proper post about my time in Munich soon, but today I want to show you a few things I bought back from my travels over there. Munich has a good mix of old and new in terms of shops and markets, reflecting the city and it's history, so was a bit of a dream location for me. There are plenty of regular car boots and flea markets where you can find vintage treasures (if you are English-speaking and Munich-based try out toytowngermany.com for lists and dates) as well as contemporary homeware and stationery stores for more recent products. Below are some of the bits and pieces I picked up on the high street.

I bought lots of washi tape for a few craft projects I have in mind, some good quality bakers twine, some pegs (also for a craft project), some coloured pens and some notebooks from a shop called Semicolon. The postcard is a picture of my new favourite drink - Augustiner's Edelstoff - mainly because that's all the beer gardens sold! The heart? Well, I couldn't leave Munich without one really!

Now for the older things.

The photos aren't great, sorry! I've included a few close up shots so you can see the details in some of the pieces. The embroidered hankies are so sweet, they show a typically dressed Bavarian couple - the man in lederhosen and the woman in dirndl. The tear-out floral sheets are from a book I was given for free, the Bavarian soldiers were a bargain at €1, though I did notice later that the red one is missing arms - ooops! Finally, the vintage hanger is my favourite find, I love the typography and the cream clippers, I think it's so chic. Another bargain at €1. The rest of the items are, from the top left: a set of hand-crotchet hangers, a hand-made tapestry, knitted pan-holders, a prettily illustrated children's music book, a vintage Munich postcard, some doilies, a few meters of lace trim, seven vintage gold-coloured buttons and a mint green vintage jumper. Phew.

I hope you've enjoyed having a peek at all my new things! Hope you all have a great weekend.

{Images: Laura Blanksby}

Ingo Maurer

Last Friday I had the pleasure of visiting the Munich showroom of German lighting designer Ingo Maurer and I wanted to share a few images of my day with you. If you are unaware of Maurer then read on as his work is not only beautiful and inspiring, but also functional and used by design lovers all over the world. Maurer began his career by studying graphic design in Munich. In 1960 he moved to America and worked as a freelance graphic designer in both New York and San Francisco. Eventually Maurer returned to Munich and in 1963 founded the company 'Design M', which would later become 'Ingo Maurer GmbH', which developed and manufactured lamps. His career took off when one of his first designs, 'Bulb' (1966), was included in the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The 'Bulb' design is still very iconic today and many lights have been produced since that emulate Maurer's original design - largely due to a renewed popularity of the exposed bulb in interior design. As well as creating lighting products for us to buy, Maurer also creates light installations for both public and private spaces and also takes commissions. If you've been to Munich before then you've probably been to Münchner Freiheit tube station and have seen the blue illuminated columns - this was one of Maurer's projects in 2009.

Maurer has two showrooms worldwide, one in Munich and one in New York. His showroom in Munich holds his entire lighting collection. There are over 100 products on show including prototypes and one-offs. It's set in a pretty ivy-covered building just off the busy street of Kaiserstrasse and is well worth a visit if you are planning a trip to the area. While I was there I took a few snaps of some of my favourite pieces, I hope you like them too!

If you are interested in any of these designs they are, from top to bottom: Johnny B. Butterfly, L'Eclat Joyeux, Seven Off The Wall, Bang Boom Zettel'z, Canned Light, Exit, the hologram light Wo Bist Du, Edison...?, Ingo Maurer's signature Zettel'z chandelier, two close-ups of the Zettel'z chandelier. To find out more about Maurer's work and designs, head over to his website where all his designs are catalogued.

{Images: Laura Blanksby}

Flea Markets in Munich

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I've moved to Munich for the summer. Even though it's only for a few months, while the OH works on an important project, I'm still excited to embrace German life and get to know the city.

Of course, the first thing I did when I found out I was temporarily moving out here was to google local car boots and flea markets. The first one I found was Auer Dult, a flea market held three times a year, selling everything from local food produce to antique educational wall charts. It was with great delight that I discovered the market was on during my stay so I wasted no time in getting there and headed down straight away.

The market had a good mix of everything vintage and new, though, disappointingly, there was a large amount of JML-style stalls too. We promptly avoided these and focused on the antique and vintage sellers nestled in the heart of the market. 

There were lots of lovely designer-makers at the fair selling their wares. This bright stall was one of my favourites with the cute fishy bowls, plates and cups. However, due to lack of space, I had to leave empty-handed.

There was lots of vintage furniture up for grabs, including this super cute wicker chair. I was quite smitten with that wicker basket too. I've wanted one since watching Moonrise Kingdom (if you've seen it you'll know what I mean!).

There were lots of crafty stalls around too which was great for me, though less great for the OH as he waited while I rummaged through box after box of ribbon and material.

To top all this flea market-y goodness off, there was a mini fairground complete with ferris wheel and carousal. And I even made a new friend.

I'd definitely recommend a browse around this market if you are planning a trip here. There was a great vibe to the place with the fairground rides, traditional Bavarian food stalls and lots of vintage goods. It's only on three times a year though so make sure you check the dates!

{Images: Laura Blanksby}