LMVH - room for inspiration

Etsy

2009-09-01T06:37:00.001-07:00

My first treasury!

Etsy

2009-08-03T02:08:00.001-07:00

Etsy
Buy Handmade
room0031

Embroider Eams!

2009-07-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

Cool huh? Buy the pattern here!

DONNA WILSON

2009-07-15T02:53:00.000-07:00

I am totally amazed by the new Donna Wilson products, somehow she kept to her style but developed products that are less toy and more grown up (not that the softies and monsters are just for kids or anything like that).

What I also really love is the patterns she uses in combination with the knitted and woven materials, it reminds me of the sweaters we wore in the 80's!

New items in my Etsy shop!

2009-07-08T06:56:00.001-07:00

Working hard to upload new items to my Etsy shop, the above is my favorite!

MOO cards

2009-07-06T04:16:00.001-07:00

Browsing trough Etsy I remembered seeing this before, MOO cards. I really love these designs by Colorlovers. Think I will buy these just for the color combinations!

Rob Nypels - photography

2009-06-25T01:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was in Amsterdam for a business meeting, and my friend Ricky invited me to come to the exhibition of her father's photography on one of the canals.

Her father, Rob Nypels, works and lives in France. I have met him two or three times and he is a lovely man. What I love about this work (Only gaze a while longer) is that it somehow reflects images that you see in dreams, without it being too figurative, and that it could well be abstract art.

Allmost all of the photo's were printed on matte paper (ca 100 x 100 cm) with a simple, thin, black wooden frame around the edges. Just a few were printed on smaller glossy paper. I liked the larger, matte prints better because it suited the images better and it doesn't reflect the light as much.

If you are in Amsterdam, go see and buy the book! Or visit Rob Nypels' website

Untill 30/08/2009:

Huis Marseille
Museum voor Fotografie
Keizersgracht 401
Amsterdam

Ontwerpduo

2009-06-04T07:48:00.001-07:00

I can't remember exactly how I landed on Ontwerpduo's website, but I found these images of a project they did. I love the soft green tones, I want to paint and change the whole house now..

But..as we speak my boyfriend is picking up a commode that my father restored for us to put in the (still a bit empty) livingroom, and I chose a very orange-red color for it. I think that would clash a bit and the great thing about the above interior is that it is ALL green.

I am keeping this in Evernote, in case we decide to move somewhere else in the future.

Amazing!

2009-05-27T02:58:00.000-07:00

On Etsy I found the perfect accessorie for any (party)outfit! They are created by Holy Stalder, shrugs! I did not know this word for it, I would call it a fancy bolero or something, but they are amazing! To check out her Etsy shop: Click .

I would really like to have this bedroom

2009-05-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

From London with Love

2009-05-04T03:56:00.000-07:00

London was great, especially because the weather was super nice. We brought back the vase on the right, from Habitat. I love it so much in combibation with all the white and light grey in our living room and the red candle stick from my boyfriend's grandmother.

On a trip

2009-04-22T01:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the economic crisis creeped a bit further towards our doorstep, as the company my boyfriend works for fired a big group of people. Luckily not him and for the moment everything seems quiet in that area. Tomorrow we will be in Londen for a short 3-day vacation, and we are really looking forward to it. His mother send us a super present: tickets for "The phantom of the opera"!!
I hope the weather is going to be as nice as it is over here in Belgium, so we can walk around in this lovely city to explore The British Museum, historical sites and sit in the sun in Hyde Park.

In the meanwhile I am working on a new concept and I am hoping to sign with the first client next week.

New home stuff

2009-04-20T08:46:00.001-07:00

On my last trip to IKEA I bought a small dinner table, shortened the legs and painted it brown/grey and now we use it as a coffee table. The colour blends in wonderful with the colours in the livingroom and gives a nice contrast to the accessories I placed on it.

While I was at the shop, I also picked up some meters of fabric, maybe for pillows, I don't know yet. I think the bright red goes well with the soft grey on our walls, and we can use some nice colour overall.

Diamond trend

2009-04-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

Seems there is a new thing going on: Diamond inspired products and art. I see it popping up everywhere. Maybe because I am working on a diamond project...

Clockwise from top left: Vase by Habitat, Table object Rots by Mara Skujeniece for PerLei, Candle holders by Jean Pelle on Etsy, Diamond shaped house from Gael Maison, Cushion and Rug by Habitat, Vase by Habitat, Chairs by Fun Makes Good.

Decoration from the garden

2009-04-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

From our garden I got some branches with yellow flowers, to decorate the diningroom. I put them in my favourite vase, by Hella Jongerius for Ikea. I think they look very good with the yellow and grey of the lamp my parent found at a local flee market (best find ever!).

That's it: I want a Mac

2009-04-01T05:03:00.000-07:00

I wasn't much of a computer person (my boyfriend still thinks I know nothing about them, but that's another story) when I started as a first year design student at The Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I even asked Gijs Bakker, the founder of Droog and one of the teachers at DA, if it was really necessary for design (whahaha what was I thinking). The whole Mac/Apple thing was even beyond my understanding..

Now, ten years and several PC's and a laptop later, I finally see the light. Just this morning I went to buy a poweradapter for my laptop, because our beloved dog chewed the wire of the old one completely. The only machine (it IS a machine by size, trust me) that I could find was a Trust all purpose poweradapter. It is huge! And it make the exact same noise as a blowdryer!

At least in de Apple universe, everything is compatible and small and SILENT. Oh, and it looks nice aswell.

As soon as the payments of the two projects I am currently working on are in, I will buy a MacBook!

Going Green

2009-03-26T03:05:00.001-07:00

With spring at our doorstep, the gardening season ready to start and a need for something fresh, today is all about green. I especially like combining shades of green to add a bit more depth to it, sometimes green can look a bit cheap or dull if you use only one hue (and step away from the limegreen as an accent color, please!).

Clockwise from top left: Lamp Tall Tank by Established&Sons, Sony Cybershot, Notebook from GetFeltUp's Etsyshop, Cushion with buttons by Tas-ka, Butterfly necklace by bndesign on Etsy, Dutch bike, Sofa Kramfors by Ikea, Color inspiration by VT Wonen, Fabric Atticus Basil by ModGreenPod via Volksfaden.

Klas Ernflo

2009-03-25T04:58:00.001-07:00

I just stumbled upon the fresh and supercool artwork of Klas Ernflow. Seems like he has a lot of talent and feeling for different materials and for both illustration and photography. The bottom drawing is part of a series he did for Apartamento magazine in 2008, the other two I saw on his Flickr stream. If you have some time to kill, go to his website!

Inspiration guaranteed.

Updating the shop

2009-03-24T01:19:00.001-07:00

I'm busy this morning with sorting my buttons for the Etsy shop, like I was yesterday... There is so much.. and it looks so much better in the new box!

I really like the Etsy concept and how it is all set up. Playing around with Google Analytics is getting addictive, especially clicking on the map overlay to check where the visitors are from.

Circles and dots

2009-03-23T07:55:00.001-07:00

Looking at my vintage buttons while sorting them to put them on Etsy, I was suddenly reminded of those color blindness test I took once while being examined by the school doctor.

The pattern is so beautiful, and the colors are so well chosen.. could be nice as a cool fabric pattern. I wonder if there are vintage posters or books for sale on Ebay with these prints...

Button up!

2009-03-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Since two or three months I have an Etsy account, because occasionally I buy things there. Yesterday I decided to open my own shop , because all the clutter was getting to me, and I wanted to sell some of the pieces I collected over the past 10 years.

This morning I checked the "shop" to see how it looked, and added two more items. When I tried to sort my listings there were two items missing, so I searched for them in my files and the yet to be discovered corners of Etsy. But what do you know: they had already been sold! I am so happy, a sale! (well technically TWO sales!)

So now the time has come to say goodbye to some of my (vintage) bits and bobs, but I rather see them with someone who uses them, than let them collect dust in the attic.

Painting by numbers

2009-03-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

Browsing Volksfaden today, I found some funny fabrics by Erin Michael (pic 4,5&6) that are inspired by Painting by numbers. I loved it when I was a kid: real oil paint, creating a "masterpiece"... a simple but fabulous idea.

Browsing along, I found some painting by numbers look-a-likes (pics 1&7) at Knowoffhand. It has something to do with the technique and colours the artist uses in the process. Those colours...whoa!

The pineapples are by Jenny Wilkinson who creates all sorts off wallpapers inspired on Painting by numbers.

Crochet virgin

2009-03-16T05:09:00.000-07:00

Playing around with the colour picker on Etsy, I found these great objects by Resurrection Fern. I recognized them immedeately, as they are frequently posted on my favorite blogs. (top 2 pics)

All things hand made are defenitaly a trend this year, and crochet was unexplored territory for me untill now. I love the Japanese crochet patterns called Amigurumi and the crocheted stones are also super inspirational, even though they are on the other end of the spectrum, style wise. (bottom pics)

Not sure wheather I will have time (or skills!) to do this, but this certainly triggers me to do more crafting.

Petite arrangement des fleurs

2009-03-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a picture in the Belgian deco magazine "feelingWONEN" (top) and some on design*sponge (middle), I left home yesterday feeling very flowery en colorful. I took my small collection of white vintage vases of the mantelpiece and headed to the villages florist. He was not into my idea of "some random flowers grouped in three white vases" and tried to sell me a BIG AND VERY OLDFASHIONED AND SUPER EXPENSIVE bouquet. Sure, he's the florist, but it's my kitchen table.

So I stood strong and purchased only twenty orange and pink flowers. It's not a very professional flower arrangement, but I love it and it makes me very happy, see the result in the bottom picture.

Feast for the eyes

2009-03-10T05:11:00.000-07:00

Well, how I actually found these books I don't remember, I think it was via a blog on knitting. From the first one I kept on finding links to other bizarre titles. It are books that show real ugly pictures or very strange recipies, knitting patterns etc.

I almost wet my pants reading the comments to the food pictures in the Regrettable Foods book, and I can't imagine people actually do this for a living..where can I apply??

Wool and the gang

2009-02-26T00:08:00.000-08:00

I am researching for a consultancy project on wool, and through a friend I found this website/shop. Wool and the gang offers a series of DIY knitting projects, including all the materials you need. It looks very fresh and fashionable, and what I really like is that they produce their own "crazy sexy wool" in Peru in a few dashing colours.

New products online soon!

2009-02-25T03:58:00.000-08:00

Finally I have some time to update the website with some supercool new products that I will be selling in Belgium.

First (bottom pictures) tableware from WISE-departmentstore by Geke Lensink and Bas van Wayenburg from Amsterdam. With their designs they want to emphasize on craftmanship, short lines and honest production. The range contains espresso, coffee, tea cups and mugs, napkins, a bowl and olive wood salad servers.

Second the textile designs of Marlies Spaan of MeS Textiles, recycled blankets and designer fabrics combined in a colourful patchwork collection. I really love the way she uses colour and the combinations she makes.

Soon I will travel all over Belgium with these products, Brussels had a first glimpse and the store owners loved them! I'm working on the website now, and hope to finish this part today!

Tiny people

2009-02-17T03:33:00.000-08:00

A while ago we cleaned the house of my boyfriend's grandmother, because she moved to a home for the elderly (she passed away a few weeks later). We brought a few items with us to our home, to prevent them from being thrown away. One of the things I could not leave behind were a small family of tiny people serving as cocktailparty-food-stick thingies. (Top photo)

I love that someone put so much effort in making and painting these, and they remember me of the little "good fortune" puppets you can buy at what we call "wereldwinkel" (a shop were you can buy gifts from around the world, produced with care and for a fair price, called Fair Trade).

This morning, while I was *enjoying* a cup of instant coffee (I really have to go to Brussels to buy the GOOD stuff again) and scrolling through one of my favourite blogs, I came upon the Etsy-shop The Small Object and found these! (bottom photo)

I want to have, have, have them!

SPRING!!!

2009-02-12T07:02:00.000-08:00

Here, in central Belgium, the spring starts to take over from winter. More and more sunny hours during the day, and shorter nights. I am busy with a lot of projects, including design for a website, consulting on e-commerce ideas and reselling Dutch Design.

Finally life starts to be a bit more normal and although I work from home, I have a certain flow in the workdays now.

Generally I feel a lot better than the first few months we've been here, and this is also reflected in my urge for more and more colour. I copied the picture from the website of VTwonen, a dutch interior and decorating magazine. The combination is so spot on Spring for me..

scarf mania

2009-02-05T04:21:00.000-08:00

With spring peeking around the corner, I really want to buy colourful things. Because I don't want to spend the all of the little money I earned while in Belgium, scarfs are the solution! I just bought the green one at H&M, and when the Bijenkorf magazine fell on the doormat this morning, it fell open on the scarf page! I think I will pay them a visit asap, that means I "have" to go to Amsterdam soon, yohoo!

Ashleyg

2009-01-30T06:13:00.001-08:00

I just spent some money online, to, ehh, keep the economy going! The print on the left will soon be mine, can't wait..
Off course these have been all over the internet, but I still like them, because they are a bit weird and circus-y.
Take a look for more nice items in Ashleyg's Etsyshop

You grow girl!

2009-01-28T07:57:00.001-08:00

With the beautiful sunny weather of today, I have gardening on my mind.

The house has a garden across the street, with lots of trees and bushes, a new fence and a small shed. The owner has planted some fruit trees but the rest is up to us. Ever since I first saw the website http://www.yougrowgirl.com/ I dreamt of having my own garden. So now that we finally have one, I can't wait !! But first we have to do some serious cleaning up..

Plate runner part 2

2009-01-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

Let me start with saying: I've got them!

It turned out that the checkup took more than just the morning yesterday. So at 9 in the evening we could finally drive the 100 km's to pick up the papers and the 100 km's back home. This morning I took an early bus to the train station, and a train to the city centre. That went very smooth I must say.

After arriving at the licence registration office I took my number (again) and waited for two hours (again) to get the paperwork done (again). I was getting nervous because the people at the desk practice a very worried look when typing your stuff in the computer. But after some French mumbling from his side of the glass, I finally got it! But...it was only one plate. Almost in tears I asked where the other one was. The man gave me the strangest answer I could ever imagine:
Man: "Do you see that van outside?"
Me: "Err, yes..??"
Man: "Well, go to the man and ask him for a duplicate of your plate!"
Me: "Err...???"
Man: "That's how it works!"

So I walked to the van, gave the man my plate, paid him 10 euro's and he made me another one.

This really happened.

Another 643.267 miles to go...

2009-01-26T00:43:00.000-08:00

Before we moved to Belgium, the boyfriend and I lived in the centre of Amsterdam. And I owned a bike and I had a job. That means total freedom: to have some money coming in every month, a bike to cruise the city and trains, trams, a car to bring you everywhere the bike can't take you.

Then we moved, and in just one week I lost all my freedom. No city, no job, no self earned money, no bike and no public transport. Of course the new house is beautiful, the village looks like a postcard and the garden is lovely in potential. BUT I AM TOTALLY STUCK HERE. We had foreseen this and reserved some of the moving money to buy me a car.

We bought a car last year (technically last year, it was the 31st of December), and we still cannot drive it! The thing in Belgium is that you pick up your own licence plates first, but in order to do that you need insurance first, and in order to get THAT you need to be registered with the city first.... aha!

Well on friday I finally completed the registration with the city, it took them almost 2 months and the last step included the mayer to fill in some scrap of paper by hand and stamp it a zillion times and then suddenly it was done. I drove to Brussels to "pick up"my plates, boy was I optimistic. I waited for 2,5 hours with a hundred others, there were only three windows and another hundred people who came in and went straight to the windows (why bother taking a number and just wait like the rest of us?). But I was still very optimistic, after all I could pick up the car, my car, later that afternoon! Well...not really. In the two months time the registration process with the city took, the date on the piece of paper that said that the car is in good condition, expired. By not even a week. The car needed to undergo an extensive check up, afterall it moved a vast distance of...well... 10 meters in the last month!

The check up takes place as we speak, let's hope the car will pass and I can drive 100 kilometres to the guy who tested the car to pick up a piece of paper, then drive 100 k's back to Brussels again this afternoon to pick up the plates. Then drive the 100 k's back with the plates to the car with the boyfriend and drive the last 100 k's with two cars. PLEASE

Spoonflower

2009-01-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

You can actually print what you design, and order 10 yards or just buy a tiny swatch! I have seen this sort of site before, but there were always some dissapointments after submitting a design, f.e. THEY would CHOOSE a fabric to be printed, or you would have to order a minimum amount. But not with Spoonflower! I ordered a color chart, to see if my computer screen needs some finetuning, in order to submit more designs. There's one tiny little thing: shipping in US takes at least 3 (!) weeks, I'm wondering how long it takes to ship it to Belgium... we'll see!

Influenza

2009-01-21T04:56:00.000-08:00

For the last 3 days I have been ill, the flue I think. At least the virusses LOOK better than they are!

Don't worry, be happy!

2009-01-13T03:28:00.001-08:00

How can you not feel happy when yo see these designs? I'm fond of Jaime Hayons work because it's so positive and cheerful, almost childlike. When I feel a little down or when I am stuck in one of my designs, I just take a look on his website and within minutes I feel better, such an inspiration!

Colourful Friday: Dark blue

2009-01-09T02:14:00.000-08:00

Like Picasso, I am experiencing a blue period at the moment. The darker the better, combined with grey and charcoal, or with a pinch of electric blue. Yesterday, as I was cleaning my closet and rearranged my clothing, I found that I own four (!) ink blue dresses, a few dark blue tops and three pairs of dark, dark denim! As they villagers would say: incroiable! (unbelieveable).

Here are a few of my favourites:

Dark blue butterfly wing, image by Tony Stone, Colour inspiration by VT Wonen (Dutch magazine), Starry, starry night, image by Getty Images, Modern Delft Blue tiles, by Hugo Kaagman.

And let there be light!

2009-01-08T02:20:00.000-08:00

This is the first edition of the "Lamp no. 1 ", a design I did for my new label ROOM0031. The idea is that I sell products by (young and/or starting) designers from The Netherlands to shops in Belgium. Because we moved to Belgium, I had to quit my job in Amsterdam. This gave me the opportunity to start over again and I am very, very lucky that I can do what I like. Because of this luck and the gratitude I have for that, I really want to make this work!

Because I love interior and designing interior objects, I will contribute a few things to the label too.

About the lamp: it comes in a variety of colors (probabely 4-8 different) and the shade, stand and wire are in one color. The wire is covered with a cotton sleave, the stand has a glossy finish and the shade is made of chintz. Custom design and/or colors or finishes are also possible!

Winter Wonderland

2009-01-06T04:05:00.000-08:00

The snow kept me home yesterday, the roads were too slippery and the children in the village enjoyed the day off school. Our puppy Ibu loves playing around and eating snow flakes. All the whites inspired me to do some restyling during lunch break.

Colourful Friday: Yellow

2008-12-19T02:42:00.000-08:00

Since I was able to hold a pencil, my favourite colour has been yellow. Not that I walk around town dressed in yellow (especially not now we have moved from down town Amsterdam to a tiny conservative village) or drive a yellow car, or anything like that. I like yellow when it's used in a subtile way like the yellow Cole and Son "Cow Parsley" wallpaper. It combines so well with the white print, I will definately buy this for my study!
It's a shame the colour yellow is so disliked by the general public. I once held a 5 minute long speech to one of our design custumors about why I thought we should use yellow in their bedroom, and he looked at me as if I was going mental!

In the picture today: some of my favourite yellow objects.

Lamp Twiggy, by Marc Sadler for Foscarini, bowl Serious Busines by Scholten en Baijings, vintage melamine cups at Sweetlittle's on Etsy, Cow Parsley wallpaper by Cole and Son.

Daydreaming

2008-12-18T03:13:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of moving to a new place, is that you can go in a new direction interiorwise. Because we just moved from a small apartment to a huge house, our furniture is more or less drowning in the large rooms and I need to do some serious decorating . If only I had a budget without limits...

In my head I decorate the house over and over again, think of luxurious bedrooms, big woven rugs, fabulous furniture and lots of art and colour.

Clockwise from top left:

Mug Teema by Kaj Franck for Iittala, Animal bowl by Hella Jongerius for Nymphenburg, Clusterlamp by Joel Degermark for Moooi, BD Showtime Chair by Jaime Hayon, Soft Clock by Kiki van Eijk, Poldersofa by Hella Jongerius for Vitra, Kast cabinet by Maarten van Severen for Vitra, handprinted silk Scarf by Hellen van Berkel, Candy apple coffeetable by Chroma Lab.