I N T E R I O R / Packaging and Mirrors

A while ago I brought back this box with some groceries but held on to it because of its funny graphics. We even had a little the-chicken-or-the-egg-discussion about this one. Anyhow, saw this lovely snapshot of our living room appear on Romeo's instagram featuring some glass, mirrors and the box!

I N T E R I O R / Lego

Much more fun than a cupboard; giant lego bricks for storage but also for just being beautiful objects in our living room. We got them at one of those shops that sell the most random things from glitter skulls to well, giant lego blocks in Amsterdam but which unfortunately is now gone (good news is that a HAY store is coming in it's place).

I N T E R I O R / Decorating Walls With Tape

Made a rectangle out of silver foil tape when I styled one of the shoots for Blackblessed and it still hurts a little that I had to take it down afterwards. So I decided to put up this temporary, geometric wall decoration up somewhere in my home; simply taping a rectangle to the wall. The slender sword lilies look even more beautiful when their visually framed by the reflecting lines.

I N T E R I O R / Inside Maison Martin Margiela

From the outside one would never know that there is a little Margiela universe behind the thick walls of the former convent. There is no sign, no logo, nothing indicating that these are the headquarters of the Maison. Ultra discrete. Only in my wildest dreams would I ever enter this place, it was absolutely insane being invited (and getting a tour) by Maison Martin Margiela, which traditionally only communicated with press through a fax machine.

Before I knew it, I was standing in their entrance hall underneath the iconic veiled chandelier. The entire place was of course decorated with all their legendary stuff and furniture; the painted couch, trompe-l'oeil everywhere, the bottle lamps, piles and piles of their deconstructed lookbooks, empty snow globes and I even spotted a fax machine. Almost everything in white and stripped from its identity, even the computers were partly covered hiding the apples logos. As a tradition from Martin, all staff from all departments were still wearing the white overall uniforms, creating a sense of equality and collectiveness. As a visitor there was just no way to figure out who is from the design team, who is in sales, who cleans the toilets.

Most doors were covered with a picture of a different door creating a trompe-l'oeil effect, these were pictures of the doors at the first Maison Martin Margiela headquarters. When they moved in 2004 this was a way to take a piece of their former home with them. Though they didn't change or cover up much about the identity of this building, none of the walls are painted but left in their natural old, sometimes dilapidating state. Which makes a beautiful contrast with all the white, the crafted clothes and accessories. It was just one big space where creativity flows everywhere.

I N T E R I O R / Geometric Glass Jewelry Trays

Although I don't buy much, I do love to go on a hunt for stuff, I wouldn't call it shopping. The mini diamond glass container is one of those lucky finds, it was the only single thing I bought on that day when I went thrift shopping with a few friends. (Oh and it only cost 30 cents, ha!) Careful picking and being consistent about it, has built me an almost curated collection of random objects. These three tiny trays were bought months, even years apart from each other, one was a birthday gift, but they go so very well together. That's a bit of the same feeling I get with the jewelry at COS. Specially with the set made out of delicate wire with heavy brass cylinders and the silver ring with the minimalistic slit (funny thing is, my boyfriend had made an identical ring in a thinner version for himself a long time ago). Just like the hunted down trays these pieces don't have a very new feeling to them, they are more interesting, they look like they have a bit of history, they could be industrial little objects that perhaps aren't jewelry at all.

MyCOS project via Fashiolista

diamond container: thrift store
round container: iittala lid
square container: iittala
silver ring: COS
silver/brass wire ring: COS
silver/brass wire bracelet: COS

D I Y / DIY Mini Clothing Rail, Facing Front

As you might know, I like to keep the stuff I love out where I can see it, and 'merchandise' my favorite pieces according to season.
Most clothing racks only show the clothes from the side, seeing all sleeves in different fabrics next to each other is nice.
But I wanted something that displays garments as they would be displayed in a boutique. So I made this mini clothing rail that shows clothes from the front.

Here go the instructions:
Take a table leg (the coffee-table length) and screw it to the wall.

INTERIOR | Decorating Workspace With Functional Objects

injection pen: Amsterdam souvenir shop
round stickers: wholesale store
white pencils: HEMA
silver foil tape: hardware store
Maison Martin Margiela x Atelier d'exercices notebook: Net-A-Porter
thumbtacks: HEMA

Yes, it is weekend, yes this has to do with working. Let's just say it's nice to work on your own projects in the weekend.
I have a notebook fetish, a stationary obession and a weak spot for pictures of offices and workspaces.
Love to arrange them nicely and almost decorate my working area with these functional little objects.

INTERIOR | Sunshine, Sick of Fashion

Dear fashion, I'm a bit sick of you.
Somehow directly fashion related things inspire me less and less, everything around me is just over saturated with fashion images.
All my social media channels are crammed with blurry runway images and pictures of shoes, you can count on it that Zara will
have a diluted version of that Balenciaga and Proenza Schouler collection on their racks in two weeks, that train is never late.
By the time the atumn/winter season starts and the real deal will hit stores, we will already be sick of it.
All these clothes seem to have no meaning, it doesn't seem to be about the design anymore. It completely lost its excitement for me.

The line where light and dark were divided fell exactly on the corner of a pile of magazines, dividing it into a dark and a light triangle.
I did not even have to adjust the pile of zines, it was insane how perfect that one little moment was.
Instead of fashion, beautiful spaces and these kinds of things are much more interesting to me and bring new inspiration right now.
*Don't worry, I'll be back in love with fashion, just right now my eyes just had an overload of it.

LIFE | Note To Self: Today Is Not Just Another Day

black pile: notebook, my fashionary (c/o), sketchbook
white pile: DIY anonymous books
left glass container: ittala
right glass container: thrift store


It is natural to get used to waking up every morning and having another day to spend.
And postponing the things you want to do, because you're so used of having tomorrows.
The reality is that our days are limited.
So I put up this little note to myself to remind me that today is not just another day.
(Please don't mind my irregular handwriting, I blame it on typing too much)

INTERIOR | Not Under Construction

Thoughts about things
Someone recently asked what we planned on doing with that unfinished lamp in our hallway, were we in the middle of redecorating?
My answer 'no, it's finished' just made her laugh, which made me laugh even harder because I was not joking.
These simple lamps made out of a single wire+bulb are nothing new on my blog, I'm sure youve seen one of them at some point (remember this little DIY?)
I love them, they are completely stripped of everything, I love to decorate with undecorated items, would that be not decorating?
Having fewer stuff feels like having more stuff. Unnecessary things aren't there, aren't seen so don't take up brain space, things don't have to compete for attention.
Things like these lamps give so much space to focus.

D I Y / Clothing Rack, Made From Plumbing Tubes

There have been tons of clothing racks made out of plumbing parts, here's my little version of it.
It is the easiest, most uncomplicated clothing rack imaginable, it is basically just a frame that leans against the wall.
And surprisingly it turned out sturdier than I thought it would be, and is also really easy to deconstruct and move around.


What you'll need:
/ 2 tubes of 2 meters in length
/ 2 tubes of 1 meter in length
/ 4 3 way joints for plumbing tubes
/ a roll of tape

step one.
put the long tubes against the wall in an inclined way. Mine are on the floor about 75cm away from the wall. It seems like really far away. But the more you'll incline them, the sturdier your rack will be. Doesn't seem like it now, but once it is assembled it will be.

step two.
Put your hanger on a height where it will not be touching the wall , like shown on the fourth picture, and mark this spot on the tube. This is the height where you will place the horizontal tube.

step 3.
Put a bit of strong plastic tape around the spot you just marked before placing the 3 way joint. This bit of tape will make the tube thicker on the place where the hardware comes, it will secure it and prevent it from sliding down. Make sure the hardware is placed on exactly the same height on both long tubes. If not, the rack will turn out wobbly.

step 4.
After you've placed all four joints, you can assemble the rack by connecting the long tubes with the short horizontal ones in between.

step 5. (optional)
I planned to put two screws in the floor on which you can put the tubes on top to prevent them from moving. But skipped this step because the rack turned out to be much much sturdier that I had expected, because of the weight on the rack it really stays on it's place and leans against the wall.

LIFE | Home Made Calendar : Get Shit Done

Get shit done.
That is what 2013 is going to be all about for me! Romeo and I have been making our own calendars for a long time, but the beginning of 2013 called for a fresh, new one titled; get shit done (got that powerful line from this poster). I am no graphic designer, so after posting a picture of it on instagram, I was beyond surprised to read that so many people liked it and wanted a copy for themselves.

So here you go guys: Click to download the file.
Just print it out on some thick A3 paper, hang it on a clothing hanger or large clip like I did, and get shit done!

*please let me know if that link is working, never done this before

INTERIOR | Round Hanger, Improvised Picture Frame

round clothing rack: courtesy of Annaleena
Picture frame is nothing more than a Celine ad cut from a magazine and taped to a plate of glass.

This round rack is now actually hanging in our hall, opposite of our front door. Besides how awesome the black geometric object looks in our petite all white entrance, it has a function too; one can just toss a scarf or a coat through the loop. How fun? Annaleena send it over from Sweden after she read how much I loved her designs. So sweet! Thank you Anna!

I N T E R I O R / Clear Bonbon Box - Jewelry Container

There is no charming way to otherwise say; I snatched this empty Ferrero Rocher bonbon box out of my friend's garbage can. Though I usually go for clear, heavy, glass containers instead of plastic, this cute little box just screamed to be rescued and recycled into a container for my current favorite rings.

INTERIOR | Bedroom

DIY lamp, DIY hanging branche rack
An appropriate post for a Sunday isn't it? Some snapshots of our bedroom that I took for Company Magazine about the place where I blog from. Hope that everyone also had a long breakfast, and had the chance to catch up with all the magazines and newspapers. Though I love lazy Sundays, my favorite day of the week is Monday, it feels like new years day every time.

INTERIOR | 4 Objects I Love

crinkled glass cup: Tiger DK
It looks like a disposable bashed plastic cup, except this one is made out of glass.

glass coaster: broken glass
Again, making the disposable undisposable. A picture frame of two thick plates of glass fell from its shelf and broke into four beautiful pieces. It now leads a new life as a couple of coasters.

brass scissors: HAY
If you're also a sucker for stationary and office utensils, take a look at HAY. You'll find these brass scissors(which also come in matte black), golden paperclips and gorgeous cardboard storage boxes.

white boxes: gift
Three boxes with three birthday wishes inside. Got these in the mail, exactly on my birthday from Land's Linda.

D I Y / DIY Anonymous Books

Books: Click to see how they looked before

glass container: iittala
lamp: gift from my mom
perfume: Maison Martin Margiela

I really like to keep my stuff in sight and not tuck everything away behind closet doors; like a thrifted fashion encyclopedia from 1986 and the favorite book from my childhood Matilda. Though a shelf crammed with piles of books can look pretty messy and is visually disturbing. So I figured that giving them a new white cover(just some thick paper folded around the original covers) would solve this and also protect my vintage books. I planned to write the titles on the book spines with a black marker but I really liked their new anonymous look, besides I know exactly which book is which. To keep your books standing up without any book stands just take an elastic, tie a knot in it and put it around your books.

INTERIOR | Work Area, Notebook Fetish

Desk: Made by my boyfriend with plumbing pipes and leftover perspex from my side table DIY. He is a genius when it comes to interior design projects; I could hardy call this a DIY, it's more like a finished product.
Lamp: Also made by my boyfriend from old merchandising material from the shop where he works.
Chair: Hema
Current notebooks: Large black ringbound notebook: Tiger DK, thin sketch book: Moleskine, thick sketch book: Moleskine, double binder white notebooks: Maison Martin Margiela
Clear cuff: DIY

I am obsessed with working areas; whether that be someone's kitchen table, Jowy's little art room where she works on her illustrations or Linda's atelier. So I thought it would be fun to also share some snapshots of the area where I blog from; a corner of our living room. I don't separate 'work' from the rest of my life; one should spend as much time doing what they love, I don't mind staying up all night to work on interesting projects. The pile of notebooks is the result of my notebook fetish, and these are my current favorites. I always make sure I have at least one of them with me at all times as ideas and inspiration come when you least expect them.

D I Y / Clear Side Table

My obsession for all things clear goes further than jewelry, bags and clothes. Our house is also filled with clear objects; from chairs, to glass containers, lamps and now also this side table I made as a DIY for NSMBL.

What you'll need is a piece of perspex of 5mm thickness, a heat blower gun (the kind that is used to remove paint from wood) and a few pieces of tape. Start out by determining the measurements of your table, though the bigger the table, the thicker the perspex needs to be. I used a panel of perspex of 120cm x 50cm and decided to make the side table 25cm in height, marked it with bits of tape and bended it into shape.
To bend the sides of your table, lay the perspex on a right, heat proof edge, like for example the kitchen counter. Secure the panel of perspex with clamps or ask someone to hold it for you.
Blow hot air across the edge you want to bend, close to the plastic for about four minutes. Now the perspex should be soft enough to bend. You could bend it all the way and make a sharp 90 degrees angle, or like me, bend it a little less so that the sides are slightly inclined. That's it! You've got a clear side table in under 30 minutes.

Update: though the plastic doesn't smell when heating it, the fumes can be extremely toxic. Be sure to wear a mouth mask and keep the area well ventilated.

INTERIOR | Keeping It In Sight

sandals: Topshop (sold out unfortunately)
nails: silver nail foil

Getting rid of things is so liberating. I've been throwing out more and more stuff, not only from my wardrobe, but also from the rest of the house. Only the things that have true value or that I absolutely love to death are allowed to stay. It is stuff that you don't want to put away in a drawer but keep it in sight! Like this white pile of old Dazed & Confused magazines and flat white boxes.