How To Order from Amazon Japan + Jeu de Paume Books
I thoroughly enjoy reading Netherlands-based blog Yvestown, written by the creative Yvonne Eijkenduijn. Her wit is refreshing and her blog is informative and altogether beautiful. I appreciate the care that she puts into her posts, especially these that spotlight some of her favorite books. I read through all of them last night and ordered several of her picks from Amazon, including Cheap Chic by Emily Chalmers (my idol from Caravan Style in London, also author of one of my top ten decorating books of all time, Flea Market Style.), and In Bloom by Alice Whately.
But there is beauty in having patience and combing through the archives of your favorite blogs. It was during this treasure hunt that I discovered a small Japanese book publisher that comes highly recommended by Yvonne for having the best design books called Jeu de Paume, also known as Paumes for short. "Jeu de Paume explores the environments of those who stimulate the creative industries, and in doing so has produced a set of creative bibles that overflow with inspiration," says Paumes. Browsing their books online, I'm sold!
After their first visit to Paris, Paumes was so inspired by what they saw that they went on to visit other European design meccas like Stockholm and London. This began their series of books documenting their favorite stores, creative workspaces, and homes. If you'd like to order any of their books, contact them directly via email: info AT paumes.com. You can also order them directly from Amazon Japan. But seeing a website that looks like this (below) can be a bit intimidating if you don't understand the language, right? Wrong.
No worries friends. We have Yvestown to thank for this amazingly simple tutorial on how to order from Amazon.jp. I just walked through it to order a few of the Paumes books myself and it was a breeze using her guide (great job, Yvonne!). Just think: You can go broke shopping in websites that are not only in your native language, but also on websites that you don't even understand! Yay! The beauty of the internet and pretty pictures! :)
(images from paume and yvestown)