Hoot Hoot!

I seem to have spotted a new interior trend: vintage owls.

After seeing these beauties, I'm going to keep an eye open on eBay...


Peacock feathers


Through Flickr


Through Flickr


Making it lovely


Decor8

Colour coded

I'm quite an organised person if I say so myself. (I love lists.) But there are times when the aesthetical comes before the logical. That's why I decided to order my books by colour rather than just put them alphabetically.



And it seems that I'm not the only one...


Mark Lund


Through Flickr


Through Flickr


Designsponge

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, It's a mural! (+tutorial)

My sister and I have a deal: she is going to help us build or renovate our future house — she's an architect — and I'll help her out with all her futher graphic needs: wedding invitations, birth announcements...

I thought I had the better end of the deal since she actually isn't engaged yet and so far it doesn't look like their will be any babies on the way soon. But then she moved into her first rental house with her boyfriend... And she aked her big sis to design a nice mural for their bedroom.

So I knocked out a design and started painting with some help from the boyfriend.

I'm not that good at freehand drawing so I made the design in Illustrator and we then projected it on the wall using an video projector from my boyfriends work.



We traced the outline with a pencil.



And then started filling it in. This step actually went a lot faster than I thought. It did however take about 3 coats to get the color right.



And here's the result.

I like big type and I can not lie

As a graphic designer I have a healthy typography addiction. And type can be a great addition to your interior too.

Here's the proof.


Through Flickr


Nicolas Mathéus


Mata Hina


Lucas Allen

Little House in the Desert

As you might know from previous posts, me and the boyfriend are looking for a house to buy. To this date the house search has been rather f****** frustrating – pardon my french – but after seeing the following listing, I think I have found my dream home.



The property I've got an eye on is the Kaufmann Desert House and was designed by Richard Neutra in 1946.



It has five-bedrooms, five-bathrooms, large sliding glass walls, service spaces and staff quarters. Mmm, does sound like a lot of cleaning ... And since this house is situated in Palm Springs it will mean we will have to relocate... And I think any interior rebuilding/redecorating might be a bit of an issue since it's one of the most important examples of the International Style architecture...



Anyway, it's up for sale for 12.95 million dollar. Mmm, I wonder if that price is negotiable...


Photos by Julius Schulman and Juergen Nogai

A bird in the hand...

I'm still feeling a bit sick but I tought I just share my latest thrift store find with you.

Nothing can make my day as finding some nice ceramics. So I was very excited when I spotted these plates and coffee mugs.



They combine two of my greatest loves: illustration and ceramics.



The print on the back says they we're made in Belgium by Boch. Does anybody know if that's the same Boch as in Villeroy & Boch?



Even if they aren't, I don't care, I'm just so happy to have found them!

Through with winter

I'm having a ludicrously heavy cold and it's grey outside. Boy, I wish it was summer already...

Luckily, these colourful shots cheer me up a little... a little... I'm gonna hide underneath my bedcovers now...


Ngoc Minh Ngo


Angus McRitchie


Todd Oldham


Living Etc

Still life

When I was still in college I took photography lessons. I always loved those, especially when we learned how to develop our own photographs. But ever since I graduated and started working, my photography hobby died a silent dead.

Not because I didn't love it any more but just because I just couldn't find the time and energy anymore to fully concentrate on it.



But when I saw this still life photo of Erwin Olaf for Moooi in Elle Decoration, I felt inspired.



I had a lot of fun doing the 'styling' for my own version. The only thing I regret is not having any film around, so I used our digital camera instead.

I know that my version isn't nearly as good as the original but I enjoyed myself and I think that's the only thing that counts... I might even get some film next week...

The writings on the wall

I live in a 'university city' – lots of dorms – and there's no denying it, exams are here! When I think of all those students out there cramming for their tests, I almost feel sorry for them.

Almost because, let's face it, university has a lot of perks too: variety in hours (forget the nine to five mentality), a three month summer holiday (if you pass those exmans) and a lot of time (and energy) for socializing and partying... Not that bad!



But if you go to Wageningen University, it gets even better. Thanks to designer and artist Yomara Augusto, you will be able to stare at these cool wall illustrations!



Should be able to cheer anyone up, no matter how hard that last exam was...

Design that makes me smile: Stamp mugs

You know those annoying ringmarks you leave all over the place while drinking – not so neately – your daily cup of coffee? (My boss is really good at this, he likes making them on all my papers.)



Well, fear no more, thanks to the stamp mug they will be turned into little pieces of art. How cool is that!

Miss Colour 2009

Pantone – the colour Matching System manufacturers, not the designer – selected their colour for 2009. The honor goes to 14-0848, known to friends as Mimosa. It's a bright optimistic yellow because 'in a time of economic uncertainty and political change, optimism is paramount and no other color expresses hope and reassurance more than yellow.'



I couldn't agree more. That being said however, yellow isn't the easiest colour to use in your interior. So I've collected some photos to inspire you.


Design*Sponge


Twig Hutchinson


Home Designing


Weheartit


Desire to inspire

Small spaces: Mini-loft

One of the frustrating things about house searching is how small the houses and apartments are that we can buy.



But when I came across this 57m2 apartment, I realished small can be both stylish and sophisticated. Thanks to the big windows, the white walls and the subtle colour accents this tiny apartment is transformed into a mini-loft!




Marie Claire Maison

Brrr – Trying to keep warm

For the last week it has been absolutely freezing over here, with night temperatures being as low as -20°C! In the evenings I just retreat to the couch, covered with many blankets, to watch the Desperate Housewives DVD's the boyfriend got me for Christmas.

To make it even warmer, I'll have a nice cup of hot chocolate.



These lovely mugs are called 'Jus' and were a gift from me to the boyfriend. (He's got a little coffee addiction going on at the moment.)

They are from Habitat and feature some lovely apple illustrations. I tried searching for the illustrator but I can't seem to find it on the world wide web. So if you know please let me know!

Tick tock: Design clocks for the office

When you get back to work after being on holidays, time just seems to go that little bit slower. I keep checking the clock on my computer and hoping it will be, please, pretty please, six o'clock. Most of the times it's only four, thanks a lot stupid dark winter...

Unfortunately there is no design yet for a 'time forwarder', but at least we can sweeten the bitter pill a bit by counting down the hours on a well-designed clock.

Like for instance this Timeless clock by Pascal Tarabay. By the time you have figured out how late it is, it will be time to go home.



Or if you work, like me, in a graphic design company, you just have to get the Font clock from Established & Sons.



And then there's the clocks of all clocks, the Sunflower clock from Georges Nelson. To expensive to buy yourself, try convincing the office that productivity will definitely go up when they buy this beauty.

Design classics: Utensilo

A new year, a new design classic. First up: the Utensilo.


Through Flickr

Designed in the late sixties by Dorothee Becker, the Utensilo brings order to all your chaos. The differently-shaped and sized pockets helps you organize whatever room you want.


Bolig Magasinet

It's made from ABS plastic and comes in 2 sizes, the original one (87 by 67 cm) and a smaller version (68 by 52 cm), and three colours (white, black and red).


Vitra

The Utensilo is both practical and beautiful. The holy grail for an organizing freak like me. This next to a memo board – for my numerous lists – is my idea of heaven.