Hopscotch

I’m obsessed with scented candles. Candles that smell like the holidays to be exact. Unique scents, nothing too sweet or cloying in beautiful albeit it minimalist style packaging. Sorry, no pumpkin spice and no red. 

I have several different brands that I intend to burn through this holiday season (pun intended). Starting with Hopscotch in the scents cedar + pine and spiced apple. These make even rainy November days the perfect time to sit before the fire and enjoy!

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Sip, Chug, Gulp!

No clue how that happened but the thing that is never far from hand is water. I have a specific container for nighttime sips, working-out gulps and now office chugs. I've long had my eye on the memobottle but couldn't find it in NL till recently at Decovry.

The bottle fits perfectly in the portfolio I use for my work paraphernalia, looks the shizzle on my desk and still manages to hold almost a litre. This is my favourite bit of work kit. Keeping hydrating never looked so good..

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New corners

Honestly, It's daunting finding place for our current things in a new space, much less combining it with the back breaking pieces we couldn't lift. Seriously, I', taking near hernia grunts and side eye everything I ask for something to be shifted. But anywho, the upside is when it works and I find new little corners to love...

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Hero training camp

Originally I planned to has this room ready for Christmas! How unrealistic was that. Can you say lacking in planning skills. I seem to totally underestimate the amount of time DIY-ing actually takes. Now I'm happy that we managed to get the first half of the update done.

The vintage climbing rack was completely disassembled and sanded down my hand, lacquered in a matte varnish and reassembled with new hardware. Luckily my guy did the metal because goggles and sparks were a bridge too far.

The super cool swing is from Rafa Kids and purchased here. The shelves are the replacement for the changing table and were so much more work than envisioned. I cut every piece of wood myself and sanded every cm 5 times! And then out came the trusty tub of matte lacquer. The cubes are random sizes and are haphazardly stacked but are fastened to the wall and each other for any bright climbing ideas.

The room is filled with the coolest little accessories, with a ton more in storage since last year, but here are a few of the goodies; spider poster, milk light, cookie light, little monster print, polaroid on wood, lantern and batman mask.

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Toybox

There have been quite a few changes to our home but this is the one I'm most proud of. An actual DIY! My partner has more tools than I can imagine necessary, I asked for a sander and he came back with a selection of three! And so making something seemed like the logical answer to the question "where to store the toys?".

We made this giant storage box slash bench from plywood. The design changed with the built ans it is felt-lined and there are no finger holes to take away from the clean lines, instead there is slight overhang, that you don't see but allows you to open it perfectly. I also love the kickback because stubbed toes are never cool.

Even with the insane amount of toys we gave the gave  the kids for Saint Nicholas and Christmas, nothing overflows and after bedtime the living is once again a tidy, non-toyzone area. Add to that the fact it is extra sturdy and a perfect spot to sit or as my daughter prefers to lie, it is a great addition to the space.

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The plywood and concrete update

You can often see my media cupboard in pictures. What you didn’t see (I hope) is the wonky. The three individual cupboards varied slightly in height. Time to fix that and while we’re at it, let’s get it finished. Since the cupboards are repurposed there were a few holes in the tops, which is why I always planned on adding a top. As well as moving the media off and into the cupboard and do some permanent cable fixing.

I’d call this a DIY but really I just said "to the left, to the right, a wee bit higher".. A sheet of birch plywood, varnished in matte lacquer, nows sits as a top. I love the effect so much, I ending up using the material as a backboard as well.The white concrete knobs from Inoowdesign are the finishing touch to my updated media consule.

I didn’t want to add to much to my fresh new cupboard so I swapped out the darker posters and ceramics for green, glass and white. The inside collection print  is from Kristina Dam Studio and the invisible love print is from Fine Home.

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Closet details

I end up wearing a few fave things in my closet more than the rest combined. On the repeat even. How do I keep from looking and feeling like I’m back in my high school uniform? The accessories of course. My closet details make everything so much more fun. Here are the details making me happy right now..

Double ball ring from Minimum, a single edgy crystal stud ear spike, pink cat’s eyes glasses breezy Judy box scarf from Numph and a whim purchase from a fashion blogger; a white leather chain bag from Neri Karra. Paired up with an old favourite getting some renewed love; the walkable ankle boot. Mine current go-to is the minimally edgy Wood Wood Quiteria.

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Petit four planters

Three little beauties from Lenneke Wispelwey have been sitting empty on my windowsill for a year. I love urban green but with six orchids in my master I wanted something non-flowering and with little to no care. The choice? Cacti of course! Delicate porcelain and hardy cactus; a match made in heaven..

P.S. I highly recommend using gloves when (re)potting cactus..

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Broken & bloomed

I had two vases sitting on my kitchen windowsill. Both vacation souvenirs and so not just aesthetic but happy memories. Imagine my horror when I knocked one over and it split right down the middle. What to do..?

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Monday inspiration

I must admit that my favourite past time of scouring the Internet for inspiration has been cut dramatically the last months so when I find a gem I quickly earmark it. These are just such an image..

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Art against the wall

When I got an email from VT Wonen saying I’d won a years worth of art rental I was over the moon. Very much a Dutch institution art rental. I did my first art rental way back in 2004. An oxblood red painting to go with my then interior love of red (yikes!). I switched it up every couple of months because renting allows you do try different things and change according to mood, season, space or plain ole whim. 

The next go after moving home, was a piece from Christiaan Lieverse that I ended up purchasing because a good portion of the rental amount is for building a buy-it reserve. That piece still hangs center stage in my living space.

Anyhoo, I immediately went online and fell for three different pieces. Here are the first two. A contrast to all the spring sunshine streaming through the windows but I fell in love with the darker autumnal colours. An ode to fall in the spring but the moody feel  fits well with my bedroom space. ‘Fallen Leaves’ by Matthijs Reppel and ‘Autumn in the Garden’ by Ebelina Brethouwer. Grouped with some favourite accessories that match the bill with their velvety burgundy, dark, gold and copper tones. 

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Pretty little things

I usually like things a little bit funky, cheeky, edgy, however you wish to call it. But sometimes I just want it pretty. Soft and feminine, muted colours, no hard lines or edges, just girly. These are my pretty little things..

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Bottled quotes

I mentioned my love for this fun jar from Make History a little while back. All the while still saving fun little quotes in my phone. One day, I decided ‘heck, my memories are worth it’!

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Dutch Skies @ Textiel museum

To be honest when the Textile Museum ended up being the work-outing activity I got slotted into I was a bit bummed. Fuddy duddy and boring came to mind despite the knitting hype.

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Hats off; bedroom storage vignette

Love my space, love my gear, so what do you do when your gear is squished in your space? You make the storage better of course! 

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Park & Chaste; bedroom vignette

This spot was originally occupied by my runners and subsequently by some art and a Hay J77 chair with one of my growing Wang bag collection but since my son’s third birthday the chair is now his dinner tushee spot. Leaving me a blank spot to start over and while my inspiration was an art collection, this is where we ended up.

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Seeing green

This is the sitting side of my living space. I showed you the media side here. I originally planned on showing them together, because heck my space is ahem petite, but decided the details are just too good. 

While I’m still fantasising about a grouping of small coffee tables, the current lonely tabletop got a refresh with different candles, tealights, my beloved coffee tree in a jar (Pikaplant), the big brother to these coffee cups from De Intuitiefabriek and a new espresso cup and porcelain spoon which I physically shopped instead of my usual online habit but more about that tomorrow.

I vowed to relax on the couch more, I changed out the cushions. I love my Hay dots ones but was not in the mood for colour so in the fall I changed them to black and white ones but those were too small for good support and if I’m going to relax then I am going to do it right… propped up to the nines. How cool is the Objekten kangaroo cushion with pockets? In fave eggplant because lifting my arm to the coffee table is just too much effort to get the zapper. Off-set with a blue Muuto grid cushion the prop-factor is nigh on perfect..after I finish snuggling my tootsies into the sheepskin..

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Green-fingered cable girl

This post is a combination of two things that were bugging me about my living room. Firstly the cables running down the wall behind the television. I have yet to decide what the permanent fix will be and if to put the media boxes in the storage unit as originally intended. I keep thinking about some sort of extra wall, maybe in plywood and running down the top, front and bottom of the cupboards but that is a major project I’m just not ready to tackle. But since I just about screamed every time those suckers ended up in a photo, I needed a quick fix. Bam, posters. 

Framed posters that hide the majority of the cables. I was a bit hesitant, thinking they might be too distracting when watching telly but luckily that proved a non-issue. The rest of the cables are obscured by issue number two..planting.

Green, living things, I need plants in my space. See here and here. Since the untimely death of my bird of paradise there is just the one little orchid and weekly bouquet in my living space. Not enough to make an impact, especially with the higher ceilings. I had moved the plants pots from hidden behind the blinds to the media cupboard weeks earlier but finally got around to filling them and with staghorn ferns. This plant was the first one I bought for my first grown-up joint apartment and it so it’s back in my first grown-up single space. 

But that was not enough because I wanted to make more of the height, so stretching down to meet the ferns are two delicate glass hanging pots containing an equally delicate flower and offset by a single wall candle holder which twinkles of the glass at nighttime highlighting the beauty of the flame lilies.

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