UPDATE: 2/14/11 - As of February 14, 2011 it appears as though this company is no longer in business. - Editor The Danish company Villa Collection had my attention the moment I discovered their products in Europe last year. I'm leaving the states in a few weeks to continue working on my new apartment abroad where we will live for five months each year, New Hampshire is my base but northern Germany will be my hideout. :) Well, not really a hideout as I have a ton of plans during my time abroad and I'll still be writing decor8 so I certainly won't be hiding from all of you -- that's for sure!

I'm currently in the process of decorating our new one-bedroom apartment remotely, and things are coming along quite well with only a few minor issues popping up here and there. I ordered so many things online in advance of our arrival, going through lists I'd created to decide what we need the moment that we arrive vs. what can wait a day or two. So far our mattresses were delivered along with a pendant light, the entryway furniture, towels, vacuum, iron, clothes rack, duvets and pillows, a ceramic hallway table light, and other bathroom items (soaps and etc.). All ordered from the web. Since our kitchen is completely bare (not even a kitchen sink!), I have a new refrigerator waiting but will quickly need to pull together a usable kitchen so no doubt I'll be at IKEA the day after we arrive. It's extremely exciting to pull this together but a bonus from all of this online shopping in German is that I've learned many new words from Kleiderschrank (clothes closet/wardrobe) to Teppiche (carpet).

Although small (59 square meters = 635 sq. ft.) and definitely simple (post-war, no fancy architectural details or flooring), I plan to make our second home cozy and relaxing. Our goal is to eventually buy a condo in a pre-war Jugendstil style building but for now, simple is the plan because wealthy we are not. :)

It's important that the overall style is a reflection of both of us so I made the decision to merge our favorite things and figure out how to make them play well together. Taking into account Thorsten's love of all things contemporary and streamlined along with metal, black, gray, orchids (he enjoys growing them), Japanese design (he loves a clean, modern aesthetic) and my love for white, textiles, bohemian, vintage, ethnic design, Scandinavian design, and my recent affection for the color lilac, I've nailed the exact look and feel that I want for our place. Add a little yellow, a little sea glass blue, a splash of pink and there you have it. Home.

Would you like a glimpse of the spaces that have inspired the design of our new place? Villa Collection gives you a good sense of what I'm going for, although not quite as pristine and definitely a bit less styled. But the elements and textures are all here. And I plan to add more color to the mix but at least you can view my inspirations for now. And don't worry, zebra and hides of any kind will not be part of the mix!

Again, I plan to infuse each room with a bit more color and pattern, but these images show you an example of my starting point. You can view a few pages from my inspiration binder here.

If you enjoy following decorating projects like this one, please visit my other blog called haus maus which is dedicated to shopping in Germany (and surrounding countries), navigating a new culture, and setting up house abroad. I'm trying to keep decor8 and haus maus separate but from time to time I will update you with our decorating progress here on decor8. I hope you don't mind. :)

(images from villa collection)