I spotted this gorgeous furniture designed and made in the Netherlands and couldn’t help but share it with you. Magnificent! It’s from a company called SlowWood, have you heard of them before?
I really appreciate that each piece is handmade by a local Fryslan craftsmen in solid wood with 100% natural finishes and mineral paint and I love their clean, modern look and feel.
Found via: Visje bij de thee.
(images: Ben and Tatjana from Studio Aandacht)
Have you noticed that interior swings, particularly popular in loft spaces, seem to be catching on more and more? You will even spot a few swings in my book, purposely put there because I thought they were fun though admittedly quirky and unconventional. When I got a press release this morning from Svvving, I just had to show you their, “Exceptional interior swings for adults” to get your honest opinion. So here’s what I’m referring to…
From Svvving, “Ideal for large residential areas and lofts interiors spaces, this beautiful unusual object used alone or in pairs, can also find its place in the living room, the chamber, the bathroom, the office, the reception, the waiting room, the lobby of a hotel or coffee lounge, for everyday small pleasures.”
And a little swing music to get you in the mood – though an entirely different swing altogether! But fun still!
SO! Interior Swings – hot or not? You tell me!
(image: svvving)
Would you like to visit an eclectic home today belong to a blogger who shops mostly second hand? Oh yes, of course! Lovely Amanda from Here’s Looking at Me, Kid and her partner Phil want to share their cozy Ohio home with you. I thought it would be fun to get her thoughts on decorating so in addition to her photos, here’s a mini interview too. I hope this gets your creative wheels spinning and pay extra special attention to the many details – very sweet!
What is the inspiration behind your eclectic second hand home decorating style?
Amanda: I’m really inspired by eclectic places that aren’t too carefully decorated. I like to see homes, like the loft space of Emily Chalmers (of the book, Flea Market Style), that look like the contents have been collected over a period of years and where everything is truly loved — though might not perfectly fit. We’ve only been on our own for just under five years and have been in this apartment for under two, so collecting and curating is something we’re just beginning to figure out. We are moving into our first house soon so I’m looking forward to wallpapering (yippee!) and arranging beautiful treasures that will add a nice, cozy feeling to our home. It’s also important to note that in addition to the dream homes of admirable artists and designers, I’m also heavily inspired by our tiny budget. If it’s free, made by me, or found at a thrift store, it’s much more likely to take a place in our ever-changing home.
How do you define your interior style?
Amanda: My style used to be much more modern, wavering between an intense appreciation for minimal Swiss design and American mid-century modern style. Since moving into this 1920′s Tudor revival apartment, I found my tastes encompassing more of a crazy variety of styles- like a mix of kitschy vintage, traditional, and a dash of the sort of mid century style I can afford.
Where do you find ideas and inspiration for your home?
Amanda: On blogs, online and in magazines. I appreciate referring to my inspiration folder, where I had adhered all of my favorite tear sheets from Domino, Metropolitan Home and Elle Decor. Since most of my inspiration is found lately in the digital world, my inspiration folder resides at Pinterest these days. It is tremendously important to save images of homes and styles I love because it can be so difficult pin-pointing my exact style. I appreciate all good design but don’t necessarily want to live with all of it in my home! Keeping inspiration folders online or otherwise makes everything much less overwhelming, helps me detect trends I enjoy, and encourages me to figure out ways to bring similar elements into my own home.
What do you love about your home?
Amanda: I really adore the high ceilings, unique architectural elements, and even the squeaky old wooden floors that hint to our apartment’s mysterious history. The structure of the space really sets a nice vibe for everything we’ve put inside. We appreciate the things that fill our apartment and are quite proud that none of our home furnishings and accessories are monetarily valuable. Almost everything has been purchased second hand, and that sort of responsibility makes for guilt-free enjoyment of everything we have.
What makes a house a home?
Amanda: We host lots of parties in our apartment, so it’s important for our space to seem approachable, comfortable, and intimate. I love that when new guests arrive and proclaim that “everything is just sooo you!” To me, that means our apartment hasn’t been just a living space, but a home that says something about the people who live there. I love to be here, our friends love to be here, and happiness abounds in our home. And that’s why it’s more than just a house.
Lovely, right!? What caught your attention? I love that striped light green sofa shown directly above because my mother had this in our home when I was a child and it made me happy to see it again! I also love all of her rugs, they are fun!
(images: amanda johnson)
Good morning friends and happy new week to you! I want to share a little inspiration from Japan and nature today but first I thought I’d talk about something I sense a lot of you are feeling lately – unmotivated! Personally, I finally feel like I’ve come out from under a big blanket that covered me from new year’s until today! I’ve been inspiration-challenged and unmotivated, like my creative fuel tank was at 1/4 and slipping rapidly towards empty! I get this feeling each and every January and attribute it to nature’s way of saying, “Slow down. Rest up, enjoy the silence in your head because it will soon be full speed ahead!”, and well… Nature knows best.
Animals hibernate, trees stand naked with exposed limbs, soil freezes over with no signs of life and yet we always-hungry-for-more humans still push with all of our might to fly forward without any rest or reflection. The moment our body tells us to pause we think something is wrong and freak out. More and more, because I’ve noticed this January pattern for several years now and am “on” to it, I think something is right when I feel like doing a lot of nothing. My January down time is something I expect and roll with these days… Who cares, I reason, I’ll get back on my feet soon enough. This month, I caught up on a ton of boring administrative work, read some novels, went to museums and lingered a lot, did horrible expense report stuff and tax stuff and tried to prepare for the year before me. I cooked and cleaned and ironed and felt crabby a lot. I ate sweets and drank wine and just did my downhill spiral January thing. After three weeks of a giant TIME OUT, I woke up feeling like Holly 2.0 today which makes me happy because I know that I’ve gotten through it, my groove is back and now I can begin again. I hope you are feeling energized too or are on your way and if not, you’ll get there. Don’t worry. You’ll soon emerge from your little bear cave, too. You need these natural pauses, I think it’s good for the mental health over all other things. Learn to accept them and yourself, down time is exactly what you need in order to do your best work when your body says that you are ready.
With that, let’s chat for a moment about pure simple living because this is being highlighted by IKEA’s Livet Hemma blog as one big trend for 2012 and I have to agree with them – though in my opinion, not necessarily only Japanese-inspired for me but nature-inspired from anywhere be it Norway, the California coast, Finland or the Alps… it’s nature that gives us the call to balance and simplicity that centers us. Japanese tend to work with raw concrete, natural woods and light colors in their design and these elements are inspiring rooms in the home in the western world, too. Harmonious natural elements make us happy and for me, these tactile elements help me enormously to connect to my environment as I like to touch a lot – I relate and explore through touch which I am sure annoys every shop I enter because I tend to touch everything. Tactile natural elements are also nice to live around because of their warmth and welcome spirit but for some, the less “busy” an interior is (not a lot of color, clean, simple, etc.), the more inspiration can flow in and around that person.
Do you appreciate this simple, calm style in your interior too? Are you feeling inspired for 2012 yet or still in a creative coma hung over from all of the work you did in 2011? Talk to me people.
(images: Nina Broberg/IKEA Livet Hemma)
I’m always seeking out fresh ways to be more creative at home, especially when it comes to decorating. I also love to browse for ideas that I can share on decor8 that are inspirational on some level. You never know when you may see something and have that light bulb moment, right? We all need inspiration but often I find that this inspiration gets dropped into a folder never to be found again. I decided that starting this week, I will pick one small project from my inspiration folders to actually experiment with at home – one per week. Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?
Here are 10 creative ideas that I found to be quite out of the box. I wonder which one will resonate with you? Or perhaps several?
Idea 1: Wallpapered Door Panels from Martha Stewart, Idea 2: a Polaroid heart made using tons of Polaroids of course from the portfolio of Warren Heath and Idea 3: Stack magazines in an unused fireplace as a design element but also quite a practical storage space from French by Design. This also works because the spines are neutral and the magazines are the same width. Bear this in mind if you try this at home.
Idea 4: Frame fabric or wallpaper that you love (especially practical for renters!) and mount to the wall for a bit of pattern and color, this photo comes from BH&G.
Idea 5: Using chalk, sketch an rough outline of something that you admire (like a chandelier) on a wall painted in chalkboard paint OR on a chalkboard mounted or leaning against your wall. This clever ideas is from Velvet, a cafe in Croatia designed by owner Saša Šekoranja that Sania Pell photographed recently for her blog.
Idea 6: Why not wallpaper a wooden headboard from BH&G? Of if you don’t have a headboard, try tracing an outline of one on your wall with pencil and cut wallpaper to size and mount directly onto the wall.
Idea 7: Change up your eat-in kitchen by mixing up your chairs – things don’t always have to match! If you have wooden floors and want to change things up, stain them in a very deep chocolate brown for a more rustic “French bistro” look. It’s not nearly the huge commitment that painting floors black entails, but the darkened wood elevates the space in my opinion and looks quite stunning. This photo is from Alvhem, a real estate agency and interior design firm in Sweden.
Idea 8: Group lovely things together that have special meaning to you. This is from graphic designer and knitter extraordinaire Sandra Juto in Berlin, a Swedish lady whom I’m very fond of for her authenticity, wit, courage and amazing eye for style. Here she shows that you don’t even need to use frames in the correct size to make a stylish statement. Love this!
Idea 9: Pick a palette and layer from there, on my own dresser at home I’ve placed all of the things that I use and love and they happen to work rather nicely together!
Idea 10: Paint your fireplace in a bold color and group art from mantle top to ceiling and forget the glass, just find frames and paint them all in the same color, inserting art inside fixed to the wall so the focus first is the art and grouping, THEN people notice the frames. This is exactly what Regas NY did in their studio and I love it, via Brooklyn Bride.
See any ideas to try at home?
(images linked to their sources above.)
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