Kawaii Kaffe!

I will admit that I was first attracted to my new favorite coffee solely because of the kawaii packaging designed by the talented Karen Greenberg. I was delightfully surprised by a wonderful, rich blend that lived up to the exteriors promise. Gevalia is a Swedish company whose products were once only available through mail-order. They have just released this new line to be sold exclusively in grocery stores.

And in case you missed the recent blurb I did on my new De Longhi coffee maker, it is both functional and super kawaii. I got the small profile, 5 cup maker, there is also a bigger 10 cup version. And they come in a wide range of colors from stainless to magenta! I love that it brews tasty coffee very fast and the top also functions as a cup warmer. This sweet, insulated mug is from iKea.

Speaking of mugs, I have to post this adorable gift I was lucky to receive from a very good friend. She found it a store I know I have to check out, Marz in South Pasadena.

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol

Cart Kawaii

My bright ideal: turn a boring metal cart into a super kawaii one with just a bit of color. After reading this Apartment Therapy post, I did a little googling and found Sundial Powder Coating in Sun Valley. They specialize in painting metal with a special baked on process.

I chose this iKea Flytta cart, I liked that it had 3 shelves and was the perfect fit for my space. The very nice folks at Sundial instructed me to just bring in the box, no need to assemble it (big bonus) and they are just a few minutes from the Burbank iKea. I picked out a soft "Fire King" green, they also have some special order options if you don't find the exact color you want. It's not cheap, prices start around $250 for a custom color job (there is a lot of labor costs in switching out the custom painting area) but the result is really worth it.

Powder coating is a much different process than spray painting, the paint is actually baked on, for a beautiful, glossy and durable finish. They hung my cart in parts, spraying each separately before wheeling it into the 400º oven. The turn around is fast, they assembled it for me (!) and I picked it up the next day.

I am very happy with the final color, it is just the right compliment to my Smeg but not an exact match. The finish is flawless and it wipes up easily.

I love how well my new DeLonghi coffee maker goes with it, extra compact, it also makes terrific coffee and I adore the cup warmer on the top. I'm also in love with these sweet little iKea coffee tumblers, just $5 a pop.

I could not leave my microwave without some kind of kawaii bling, so I added this owl decal I'd been wanting ever since I featured my pal Pam's house of Sweet Peach blog last year. Love it!

 

all photos & content © Lara Rossignol