From Place To Space: Totokaelo In Seattle

As an avid traveler I have lots of things on my itineraries when visiting new countries and cities. One of the must-visits are local design shops with inspiring and unique home accessories and design pieces. During my last trip to Seattle one of those design stores on my itinerary was 'Totokaelo'. This cool store with its peculiar name holds a fantastic range of special and unique homewares and an extended range of fashion. 

Japanese textiles, locally made ceramics, vintage rugs, design books - the range of products is very inspiring and makes it very difficult to leave the store empty-handed. If you like to pair your interior decor shopping with some fashion shopping, you just have to enter the rear part or the basement of the store - various design labels and cool pieces will satisfy your fashion loving heart too.

Even though I was in a bit of a rush while visiting 'Totokaelo' (I was on my way to Mount Rainier), I couldn't help but snap a few pictures for you my dear readers. And if you ever happen to visit the fantastic emerald city of Seattle, don't miss a stop over at 'Totokaelo' - you will not regret it!

Totokaelo, 1523 10th Avenue, Seattle

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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From Place To Space: Elemento In Jaffa, Israel

Here's a typical Monday situation: I am posting about a cool discovery during my last trip to Israel and in the meantime I am right now in Portugal! But I will share more Portugal impressions with you over the next weeks, so let's go back to Israel for a short moment, shall we? Luckily enough I have wonderful local friends in Israel who know the best places, so that's how I ended up in a fantastic interior design shop in the old town of Jaffa: Elemento.

Finding such a cool, contemporary interior design store in the old town of Jaffa is a real visual refreshment. The old town carries its own flavor with ancient stone buildings, a colorful flea market, vintage objects and kilim rugs everywhere. And then you enter one of those old stone buildings and you find yourself amidst contemporary, cool and very urban design with a light Middle Eastern note. 

Walking through the shop was like experiencing a fantastic eclectic concoction of Scandinavian, British and Israeli design, all mixed together to visually appealing and pleasing settings. If you add the fact that the staff is super friendly, you know that it's well worth visiting Elemento if you ever find yourself in that corner of the world.

I hope you enjoyed today's little getaway to Tel Aviv-Jaffa. If you need more travel inspiration, come to Instagram where I am sharing right now my moments from Portugal. See you there!

Elemento, 15 Hazorfim Street, Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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From Place To Space: Design Hunting in Jaffa

After last week's first introduction of the hotspot Tel Aviv in Israel, today I want to take you just a few kilometers south of the coastal city of Tel Aviv - to the old town of Jaffa. During my Israel trip I was happy enough to catch up with all my Israeli friends and one of them, my dear friend and fellow design blogger Chedva took me on a design hunting trip to Jaffa.

Our first stop was the famous flea market in Jaffa which is actually a mix of classic flea market and shops with vintage furniture, textiles and home accessories. No need to mention that I was particularly drawn to the plethora of kilim rugs in Jaffa - the mixture of patterns, colours and designs was astonishing. I felt the inner need to buy at least three of them, but fortunately I had my smart and resonated second half with me who reminded me of 32 square meters at home and five rugs that I already own. So I sticked to photo snapping. 

Chedva is an expert and a real local so she guided me pretty successfully through the winding alleys of Jaffa despite her self-proclaimed lack of orientation. We visited some nice shops like Uma, Asufa, the fragrance store Zielinski & Rozen, a shop of several local ceramicists and the famous Hangar 1 building in the port of Jaffa with cool shops, restaurants and cafés. We have also visited another very special interiors store, but I will blog about that one separately! After all the design hunting it was time for a little break - and thanks to Chedva we were able to enjoy a real tea time at the exclusive and private ladies club 'Nine Rooms' - and yes, I was allowed to enter even though I am not a lady but I have lady-like manners for that matter:-)

We also got lost in the winding alleys of old Jaffa - it truly feels like a trip back in time. And all the streets in that part of the town have creative names: They are named after the various signs of the Zodiac. We couldn't skip the landmark art piece 'Floating Orange Tree' by the Israeli artist Ran Morin. And just next to it a brand new design hotel is about to open: the new W Hotel in Jaffa.

When you descend all the narrow streets of Jaffa you will inevitably arrive at the seafront and the towns old port - the most magnificent views of the old town and of Tel Aviv can be enjoyed here while sipping on your iced coffee or freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. Sheer bliss!

Another indispensable stop in Jaffa is a food place called 'Abu Hassan'. It is supposed to be the place with the best hummus in all Israel (if not the world) and it is a loud, crazy place that feels a bit more like Cairo or Marrakech than Jaffa. But the hummus is to die for - it will set your hummus bar to unreachable heights for the future! If you want more food recommendations in Tel Aviv/Jaffa and Jerusalem, make sure to check out my friend Lindsey's blog post.

So, I feel like there's a big batch of inspiration for a Monday, don't you agree? I guess it's time to let you go and wish you a very happy and successful start into the new week! Stay tuned for more Israel travel tips over the coming weeks!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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