I just loved this free download from kikki.K that I spotted today, it’s a Christmas Gift Guide PDF and I think that the photography is lovely and the product shots are divine. I wish kikki.K was a little closer to home (they are an Australian paper goods company), but that’s okay because I can still enjoy browsing their products online. Here, have a peek and then go be inspired on their site with all of their great products + things…

Red, Blue and White – how pretty!

Enjoy!

(images: kikki.K)

Hey there people! :) I thought I’d put together 10 Etsy shops in a mini shopping round-up for you today since I missed Take Five yesterday — double your pleasure with 10 instead of 5! Here are some sellers that you may already know about if you’ve been blogging or reading blogs for awhile — others may be brand new if you are newly online visiting handmade shops for the first time. I hope that you enjoy these talented handmade things for you, your home, your friends… Everyone loves handmade!

1. Jennifer Davis – Prints and paintings.

2. The Lime Shop with tear towels, aprons and more.

3. Papersquid – Modern eco-friendly papers.

4. Kush Kush – For the kid in you.

5. Eva Juliet – I always love what this creative lady in Montreal has up her sleeve. I own this print, but now I want to get my hands on this one for my office, too.

6. Inaluxe – Fantastic colors and patterns that pop!

7. Michele Maule – Collages with heart, both prints and original works.

8. Palomas Nest – I bought my husband a custom text bowl a few years ago and he still keeps it on his bedside table.

9. Drikab – I also have a bag from drikab that I bought years back as well, very durable — I still have it!

10. Maria Kallin Photography – Such a treat!

I hope you saw something that made your heart go boom boom!

(images: linked to their sources above)

I’m so sorry that I missed Etsy Take Five Tuesdays yesterday, I will make it up to you in a moment with an Etsy shopping post so stay tuned for that! Yesterday was not only a bad internet day (we had problems with our wireless router for 16 hours straight so I just gave up writing online and did some work around the house instead. It ended up being quite hectic around here, my new desk and work chair arrived and it inspired me to transform my guest bedroom into a working office until the other things that I ordered arrive for what will be my permanent work studio complete with crafting table and sitting area. It could be another month, and I got tired of working from the sofa and the coffee table over the past few months. In an afternoon I pulled together a space that I feel cozy and creative in, on a budget. Now I’m in my cute little guest bedroom with a huge window and great light. I blogged about it on Haus Maus if you want to take a peek. Speaking of peeks, do you want to catch a peek of the beautiful works of art found over at Boxbird in the UK?

The work above is by artist Patrick Edgeley and I just love these bold, colorful graphics — don’t you?

These are by Ruth Green, another talented favorite of mine from the Boxbird collection of artists.

More graphic color and pattern, this time from Hello Marine.

Back in a jiffy with more finds! :)

(images: boxbird)

I am so excited to debut the House Doctor Spring 2011 “Everyday” collection today on decor8! It’s a beautiful gathering of objects, furniture, lighting… I just had a flip through their new catalog and though I can’t show you everything I want to share some glimpses with the many House Doctor fans out there. None of this is even on their website or blog yet, and hasn’t been blogged anywhere, so you are indeed getting a very special glimpse. Ready? Good, let’s look!

First, the two lights that I want in my work room are shown above – the large and the smaller one — these are a big favorite of mine at the moment and the items from this collection that I predict will be a hot seller!

These green over-sized glass vases are gorgeous in a grouping of three and catch the natural daylight so beautifully. The wooden table with the metal legs is another favorite, I would use that as a cocktail table in my living room. I love the idea of having a mini bar with pretty glasses and such out on display and ready to go for guests. The white owl lamp is another favorite, in ceramic, that would be on my table in the guest room for sure. I bet the owl will be another popular item for them as well. Everyone loves an owl lamp, especially when it is subtle enough to use in a grown up room to add a bit of whimsy.

It took me awhile to warm up to baskets, most likely because my mother loved them so much in the 80s and displayed them proudly on the wall over our kitchen cabinets only to be replaced later by wallpaper border – ha ha – those of you who were kids in the 80s must remember the baskets on the wall trend, or the wallpaper border trend, right? So that is why I’m a bit damaged for life when it comes to dark brown woven baskets. But those with a more open weave, in a lighter wood, that are modern and truly have function (not purely nailed to the wall as decoration), I really like. The new baskets from House Doctor, and they have a ton of them, are modern, beautiful and functional to use as storage. Baskets are great to store bottled water in the kitchen, newspapers to recycle, magazines near the sofa, blankets in the guest bedroom on top of a tall wooden cabinet, or rolls of toilet paper in the bathroom if you don’t have a cabinet to conceal them inside of. Another great storage idea is to use vintage suitcases or at least, those that look vintage like the new ones that House Doctor has added to their Spring collection. My husband has three vintage suitcases and a trunk in his office that he uses for storage, my favorite is his pebbled black leather suitcase from the 1920s.

I love that they now offer this sofa table in gray now (along with black which they have currently). I also love this blue storage locker, it’s a favorite of mine.

Sawhorse style metal legs are a big trend and a favorite of mine so my heart went boom when I saw this pretty table. I imagine it would be great to work on… Lay out all of your crafty projects and pull together some beautiful ideas that make you happy! I also like their colorful new chairs for inside or out (I would use them on my balcony or wintergarten). Just the right amount of color!

Here are some close up product shots — new tea towels, a white ceramic pendant that can work well in a bathroom, their new clothing, and some of their new pillows.

Spot anything you’d love to own? What do you think of these glimpses from this collection, do you like it? The House Doctor Everyday Catalog for 2011 will be available soon on the House Doctor website here so keep watching their site to see all of their new offerings for Spring — this was just a glimpse. I hope that you enjoyed and felt inspired by seeing the latest from this popular Danish brand.

If you want to see the House Doctor brand in person, and you are visiting Berlin in January, there will be a special House Doctor pop-up shop there. I’ll give you more details as the date draws nearer. Stay tuned!

(images: house doctor)

Hello and happy Monday to you! It’s the last big week before the holidays, so I bet lots of you are running around trying to get everything prepared in time. Hopefully you are allowing yourself some blog reading breaks. :) I have something very inspirational to share with you today that came from one of my lovely readers who told me recently about Atelier Charivari, which is a blog but also a shop in Rouen, France that specializes in making old furniture new again and she right, I love the work of owner Soizic Menut! Wow! I feel really inspired seeing how he brought back to life pieces that would have otherwise been passed by at a yard sale, flea market or second hand shop — but when you have a good eye and can see the potential, and if you have the knack and patience for restoring things, then you can do anything.

The thing to really look for when you find old furniture is quality — I don’t mean surface scratches or even small dents or missing hardware — that is not a problem. Most of the time, it’s the dents and scratches that add charm but if charm isn’t what you are looking for, you can sand the item down and paint it to look new. What you have to look for, above everything else, is first do you like it (of course) but next, it needs to have good bones — it must be sturdy and made well. Here is a very helpful article that may help you when it comes to choosing quality wood furniture, How to Check Wood Furniture for Quality.

This above is exactly the dream cabinet that I am on the prowl for, I want this cabinet so badly because it has four doors and shelving inside so that I can store all of my fun crafty things in — I could get organized and finally empty my boxes — the ones that have been packed since June 2009. Oh yes, gulp is right! I wish they had another or that I could find something just like it and soon — because I want to get my work room finished so badly it really hurts at this point. You know that feeling?

Metal lockers, metal tables with exposed rivets, wood tables with metal tops, metal bookcases with wood shelves, these are all quite the rage currently, have you noticed? I love this look shown above – mixing metal lockers with old painted furniture. My husband has a wood locker with a metal base and hardware, all in black, where he stores his photo equipment in his office and I love it. It’s my favorite piece in his office in addition to the gorgeous old bookcase he picked up in Berlin that looks exactly like this (only his has ball feet) and the outside is black with a cream interior.

Another tip, when you paint a piece of furniture use the best paint that you can afford. Farrow & Ball is a personal favorite of mine. If you like what you see in these photos, choosing a color from this palette would help you to re-create the look on your own piece of furniture in one day or less!

I love Atelier Charivari and hope you do too! If you are interested in ordering from them and live in mainland Europe, you may contact them if you see something on their blog that you are interested in purchasing.

(images: atelier charivari)

I’m signing off for the weekend, lots to do and plan, but I’ll meet you back here again on Monday. I hope that you enjoyed your week visiting decor8, and that you go into your weekend feeling inspired and ready to work on those projects, decorate, clean, brainstorm, and whatever else busy little you plans to do! This time of year always makes me think about how thankful I am for my family, my friends, this community, the love, the energy, the support and how grateful I am to have my health and a nice apartment that took me a year of pounding the pavement to find. I feel so safe, at home and cozy here. And though I am still blogging from my coffee table until my desk arrives, I feel thankful.

Inspiration from Lonny Magazine

To leave you with a dose of positivity, I was researching quotes the other day, and I took my work to Twitter and asked what quote was a favorite and I’ve selected below a few of my favorites. I put them together to resemble those little papers you receive in fortune cookies. I’d love to know what is YOUR favorite motivational quote? What thought sometimes gets you through the day?

I wish you a wonderful weekend, I have many projects coming up for 2011 that I need to start planning, so most of my weekend will be dedicated to that though I’m definitely going to hit some more weihnachtsmarkts here in Germany — I plan to take the train to Oldenburg tomorrow to hit one there and HEMA, of course, and Sunday there is a party in the house where I live, I can’t wait to go upstairs and mingle with my new neighbors and enjoy some of their Danish goodies that they will make. Cheers!

Psst: Have you see the December issue of Lonny? It’s real nice.

(images: lonny)

Before I sign off for the week I must share the charming work of British textile and pattern designer Ellen Calvert who just wrote to me a few minutes ago to talk about her handmade things. I like her work so much that it simply can’t wait until Monday — I must share a glimpse now! These up-cycled home items are part of a limited edition collection and were created using both new and recycled products rejuvenated using several techniques such as screen print, embroidery and hand knitting. I like how familiar these things feel yet also how fresh!

I love her reclaimed 1930s school chairs. They are powder-coated and using her hand-knitted fabric, freshly upholstered so the chair is brought into the modern world though the frame still gives away its age. The fabric on the chair seats is made using quality British wool that is very sturdy and then printed and embroidered on top with original patterns designed by Ellen. She also creates complimentary hand-knitted cushions that you can see above, I simply can’t stop looking at them because I want to own them all! Each pillow has her knitted fabric on front and then the back is vintage cross-stitched table linens. Clever use of materials!

Aren’t these things lovely? You can find out more on Ellen’s website here.

(images: ellen calvert)

Pantone is THE global color authority for the fashion and home industry so I shared their Spring 2011 color forecast with Real Simple readers today (view it here) because I was so inspired by the palette. Here is a pretty little presentation that I’ve put together for you to view these colors — maybe as you look at them you can think of which ones you’d like to try in a room scheme…

Over at Real Simple, I also shared a few things in my home since it seems that rather unknowingly, I had a feeling for pink before it was predicted to be the color of the year. I guess when you work with interiors and are around products long enough, you just start to get a feel for things, don’t you? You must find this true of yourself, blogging and the internet makes us all feel pretty tuned in to what’s going on out there.

Did you know that Pantone has a gorgeous PDF to download each year that is filled with color inspiration for the season to come, from some of today’s top fashion designers? Oh yes. I’ve been downloading it for years. In it, you’ll read various expert opinions from a panel of fashion designers who talk about what inspired their color choices and overall collection and which ones they believe will work well together in your closet (my favorite part) — though you can also try the same suggestions in your living room.

Here are some colors that I think work together from the 10 shown above:

• For a mid century modern enthusiast: Mix Coral Rose, Russet and Beeswax.
• For a modern, contemporary home that is also warm: Mix Color Rose, Russet and Regatta.
• For a fresh Moroccan vibe: Regatta and Blue Curacao all the way! Add Silver Cloud, too.
• For a little cool sophistication try: Regatta, Blue Curacao, Lavender and Silver Cloud.
• For some spice why not go with: Coral Rose, Honeysuckle, Russet and Beeswax.

See a favorite or two? What colors do you see working well together in a room?

(images: pantone)