The colors of my home...

Hello all on this last Monday of July... I woke up really early today and found a little sun shining in my kitchen and illuminating (hehe) my Ay Illuminate lamp in a wonderful way. And it made me realize how much I love the different colors of my home... here' a little impression made this morning. Have a happy week you all with lots of sunshine !
 

Love, bonheur and soft tones

First Saturday morning of a my summer holidays... I got up at ten! had some breakfast with cereals and soy yoghurt and a few coffee's. On the mornings I am at home and not rushed out to go to work I love to read my mail, drink coffee's and wander around a bit through the rooms of my home.

Waking up with the image above next to my bed I was thinking of the color-scheme in my home and realized that those who visite my blog sometimes think I live in a totally black and white monochromatic place... Although I am mostly dressed in black-white and greys... with a little blue sometimes.... my colleagues at work somehow think I am still some kind of hippy-girl who lives in a very colorful home with lots of plants ??GASP??  Can you believe how surprised they were the other week when I invited them all to have the workparty here in my  kitchen! 

Anyway... all this made me decide to make some random pictures throughout my home and spot some soft tones. See you later this weekend when I will be back with some really cool summerhomes.
  

All pictures by Desiree for Vosgesparis

Skulls + Stuff boxes {cheap styling ideas for little corners! }

Since those real cute stuff boxes from Danish brand HAY are not for sale in any shop in my hometown I thought about some alternatives to make them myself. So I bought a simple shop-window display and made my own... I love to change things around my coat rack, that I still love to bits! I think displaying things in shiny little boxes give them something special and it lightens op this little corner

The shoes I bought on Queens day for 50 eurocent and they are purely for decoration, I thought they were looking well Rock&Roll with the little skulls on them ;) I have a bit of a soft spot for accessories with skulls, like wallets and cute shirts from Zadig & Voltaire.
Those simple shoes might end up being displayed in a shiny box as well one day.

How to make a personal studio {IKEA blogpost}

Today you can find me on the IKEA Live website with a blogpost about my studio. I wrote this one over a year ago but it somehow got lost when their new site went online. The other day I found it in my folders with the pictures from back then when I just finished it {two tables and a room}

That my sisters picture is in it feels extra special to me. She passed away 2 years ago and tomorrow her daughter will fly to Ibiza, to bring her to her final destination. The sunny island she loved so much... strange how a post I wrote so long ago popped up at this very same moment.

The look of the room changed several times since I first wrote this and ofcourse I added most of the latest pictures.... do you always like the latest changes to your home as well?

Poster: Bodie and Fou

IKEA blog June:
I have always been intrigued by beautiful pictures. Photos of Interiors, simple black and white, graphic or fashion pictures, I love them all. I have a big inspiration folder on my laptop and tons of magazines and clippings with beautiful images.


When I come across a picture I really like, I print or cut it out. Most of the time it ends up in a mood board on one of my walls. But I also really like to frame some and use them in my studio. I attached Ribba picture rails on two walls to display things. One with a curtain wire under it for little notes or pictures I come across. I like the simple way of just hanging a piece of paper with a beautiful image or a sweet note on it.

Creativity text on clipboard by Vosgesparis

The Ribba shelves are great to display all kind of things. Books, a picture of someone you love or admire, just whatever makes your heart beat faster. Try to place them in little groups and different ways to make it interesting to look at. Just putting four of the same frames next to each other can be pretty boring after a while.


The pictures above my desk are of all kind of things. There are black and white graphic posters. advertising posters from musea. And on the picture rail I made little groups of two or three cards or pictures together. Some of different heights - from big to small next to each other, either framed or not. I also added other things like the wooden stamps to it. And on the table I add larger frames against the wall.  

I think you should put up only things that inspire you or means something to you personally.. For me that is a big black and white picture of my sister made in the sixties and a card of a French actress she admired in front of it .. Placing those two together brings back memories of how my sister used to love those old movies and played certain scenes out of it that made us laugh together. It is something that is special for me and I think that those that is unique and special for you will give your studio that personal touch.

Poster: Ylva Skarp

All photos Desiree for Vosgesparis

Painting a locker - Inspired by Milano {bedroom storage}

When we were in the MERCI pop up store during the Salone del mobile there was a corridor with some lockers and I got this idea to paint the one I have in my bedroom. It has been grey for a while now with some Dutch post bags on top. Some weekends ago I painted it white and turned it also around so I could open the doors easier. As a matter of fact I love to keep one open and see the pictures on the inside. I added the little suitcase (limited edition for MERCI - designed by Paola Navone) and the Corso Como bag from Milano on top.

Turning the locker around, also means more concrete wall to display posters. I added a huge clipboard as a poster holder for the Runaway poster from Mini & Maximus... Ohhh and for who wonders... I keep all the little souvenirs from the Salone in the dotted suitcase. Pretty in love with the new layout ;) 

New pictures from my studio {Studio Update}

I thought it is a long time since I showed some pictures from my studio. To be honest I am not using it all the time anymore as I sit a lot at the kitchen table as well. But it is south faced and in the morning when it is still a bit dark in the kitchen I love to hang around. The light is so beautiful in there at that time and I use those moment to work on little projects or to look through the piles of magazines and books I got stored in there.  


I recently got a poster sent by Ylva Skarp from Sweden, you might have seen her home in the UK issue of Elle Decoration. If not, have a look on Clippings.com Ylva studied calligraphy at the Roehampton Institute in London and after returning to Sweden she decided to put her words on her own products.  I thought it was a good moment to switch things around a bit and make some new pictures. 

Posters available at Ylva Skarp.... and for all the Vosgesparis readers: Write "vosgesparis" in the comment field. The first ten customers get a gift!

Chair: Sourced and Sold

All pictures by Vosgesparis 

A new lamp + a kitchen update {The masterplan}

Last autumn when my new kitchen was just the size it is now and before I was so lucky to win the VT Wonen competition and getting a new floor for my apartment. I was still painting black walls and playin around with  paper and tape to see how the Bamboo lamp from Ay Illuminate I love so much would look in the kitchen. It remained some time and I took it off when it was getting colder and I wanted to burn some candles on the kitchen table....

I kept thinking about it and though it would not really fit, because my apartment has really low ceilings. Even though I changed it into a cute city loft with bare concrete walls and all ... I can't change the height of the rooms. But then I discovered there is a smaller version and it would perfectly fit my apartment.

So today I am so glad to be able to show you my little kitchen update... after dreaming about it for a long time.. it finally is there.... in my kitchen above the table being all pretty and different from any other lamp I ever saw... I love the light bamboo and the thin hand woven cotton from Ethiopia. It is so simple and therefor I love it !

In case you are wondering It is the Z4/Cotton cover (65 cm high) by the Ay Illuminate design team, being, Ay Lin, Mark Eden Schooley en Nelson Sepulveda. You can find stores and/or request a digital catalogue  on the Site of Ay Illuminate