31 March 2012

Everyday Objects : Iittala Teema Dinnerware

Iittala is a Finnish company that creates 'essential objects that are made to enrich people's everyday lives'.  They are all about design that is functional, timeless and striking.  A perfect match for the Everyday Objects series, yes?  

When my husband-who-was-not-then-my-husband and I first moved in together we were really starting from scratch.  I had enough mismatched, cheap and a little bit nasty stuff to get us going but that really wasn't going to cut it in the long term.  But we got a massive head start when my lovely parents-in-law gifted us a stack of Iittala Teema dinnerware.  

The gift meant (and still means) so much to me - it was a sign of acceptance, a welcoming. And the choice of Iitalla was so utterly perfect.  In my design naivety I hadn't yet heard of Iittala but the pared back design, clean lines, bright colours and straight up usefulness really set my heart a flutter.  

Teema was designed by Kaj Frank (another name I hadn't heard of then, but who is now a firm design favourite) in 1952 and is based around three basic shapes - circle, square and rectangle.  It comes in a range of totally awesome mix and match colours.  And it's built to last - we still have that original set of plates and even though we use them day in day out they still look fabulous.


*The keen eyed will know that those stripey little bowls are not part of the Teema collection.  They're actually from Origo, designed by Alfredo Haberli in 1999.

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Everyday Objects is all about celebrating the design in our day to day lives.  Recognising those little things that bring a bit of happiness to our day through beautiful, thoughtful design or by reminding us of happy times gone by.  See all the posts here.

15 comments:

  1. What a wonderful enduring gift!
    The colours are beautiful. I can understand why you'd love them so much.

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    1. We also have dark brown and a light olive green (we've been adding to the original set whenever we can!) - sometimes I'm surprised by how well the colours actually all go together!

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  2. I really enjoyed this post Emily - very interesting & great point about acknowledging and consciously enjoying design xx

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    1. Thank you! Appreciate your comment x

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    2. I didn't realise that I was so grey! Aging quicker than I thought ;)

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  3. What a great post. Love those bold colours - the striped bowls too!

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    1. The striped bowls are a personal favourite of mine too, they are so fun!

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  4. I love how colorful these are!! :)

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  5. Well Em I'll confess to being a complete luddite and never ever hearing of littala before - thank you for pulling me out from under my design rock.

    I've just spent some glorious time poring over their wares and there are a few tagged for future purchases.

    Happy weekend,
    x F

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  6. I warn you Felicity - once you start, it's difficult to stop! But they are timeless pieces indeed so I guess it's a low risk addiction!

    Happy weekend to you too!

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  7. Love the story behind your place setting :) Those stripy bowls are amazing & I love your camera bag from a few posts ago. A pleasure to 'meet' you :)

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  8. really beautiful colors! i like them!

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  9. Gosh they are ever so pretty.

    Nina x

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  10. Excellent timing. I've got a single egg cup and I've been wondering what brand it it was, so I can get a matching one!

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