Exciting News!

"And suddenly you know... It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings."

I have some very exciting news to share! Finally I can tell you that very soon I'll be launching my new website including a webshop! I've been working on this for quite some time and with a lot of help from Casper (Zilverblauw) my new website is almost finished... I can't wait for you to see it!

For a while I've been having this dream to open my own online shop with vintage furniture and accessories that I've collected and often updated as well. I had a lot of doubts and insecurities before I found the courage to just take this step. Collecting vintage treasures is really something that I'm passionate about and it makes me very happy! So why not share it with the rest of the world?! Well let's just start with Holland and Belgium...

To give you an impression of the products I will be selling, here are some pictures to hopefully get you excited! Off course I'm hoping that you will keep following me on my new website because I'll keep on blogging like before, just with a new look! I'll keep you posted about my new website so stay tuned!!

Pictures by Marij Hessel

A splash of Palm Green!

Last week I decided to give our guestroom / my workspace an update. When we moved into our home, we used a lot of simple white wallpaper on the walls upstairs. Now there's almost nothing left of the wallpaper, I rather paint my walls white or give them a nice splash of colour! For this room I had a dark green in mind. I thought it would go well with the plants & furniture in that room because I used a lot of mint, light blue, green and grey. On the website of Flexa, I looked at all the options in dark green and teal. I chose the colour "100% Palmboom". To paint the complete wall in this colour could be a little too much so I decided to make a graphic shape on the wall and paint it in the palm green colour. 

I wanted to combine the palm green with another fresh colour, only couldn't decide which colour would go well with it... A great way to decide which colour to use for your walls are the Flexa Creations Testers. You can buy them at the construction market for less than two Euro's and you can choose from 35 different colours. I decided to test out the colours "Stylish Pink", "Fresh Linen" and "Early Dew". The testers are really easy to use because there's a mini roller integrated into the tester so you can use it directly onto your walls or you could use them on a piece of paper. I used them on my wall right next to the palm green so I would get a good impression of the colours in daylight and artificial light.

After testing the three colours on my wall I eliminated the "Stylish Pink". I do like the combination of pink and green but in this room it wouldn't be great. When I looked at the furniture and accessories in this room I decided to go for the "Fresh Linen". There's already a lot going on in this room and with the colour "Early Dew" there would be too much different shades of green. So I got myself a can of the Fresh Linen and painted the rest of the wall with it. As you can see this colour is very close to white but it's just a tat more greyish and I think it's very fresh with the Palm Green!

This was also a great moment to hang my new String Plex Pocket that I got at the Imm Cologne tour, such a generous gift! This is a new version with wall panels of clear perspex which gives it an original and modern twist. I love my new wall and the Palm Green got me thinking of a nice tropical wallpaper, maybe, somewhere? We'll see!

Pictures by Marij Hessel

DIY Postcard Art

As you may know, every month I make a diy for the Dutch magazine Fashionista. For this issue I made an artwork with used postcards. I love to receive nice postcards from friends and family for my birthday or just spontaneously (those are the best)! When it's a nice looking postcard I often keep it on a pinboard or on my refrigerator. But after a while you might get bored with them and throw them away, such a waste! Especially when you received it from someone you love. With this diy, you can keep those lovey postcards as an artwork on your wall!

This is what you do:

- Collect a couple of postcards and make a nice (colour coordinated) selection.

- Use a ruler and a pencil to draw triangles on the back of the postcards & cut them out. I made triangles of 4x5 cm and 10x15 cm. Cut some of them in halve so you can make a rectangle with them later on.

- Create a nice pattern with the triangles and make a rectangle. When you're satisfied you can glue the artwork onto a piece of paper. 

- When it's dry, cut out your artwork and put it into a frame. I used a frame with double glass so it looks a little bit like it's floating.

Give the artwork a nice place in your home so every time you look at it, it will remind you of some great moments and great people!

Pictures by Marij Hessel

A Happy Home: Pink Wall

Sometimes you have those very impulsive moments when you want to paint something... Last week I had such a moment when I decided to paint the wall in our dressing room pink! I still had some paint left from the Flexa workshop I gave at the Meet The Blogger conference in Amsterdam. For this wall I used the pink/peach colour by Flexa with the code D5.13.72 It's a beautiful colour that really warms up the whole room! 

I didn't have to change a lot in this room because the items that were already there were matching great with the new pink wall... I think the different shades of wood blend in perfectly with this colour. On the wall there are pieces by Housedoctor, Marieke Veere and Roxanne Dekker. On my Ikea drawer there's the Trash Lamp, some boxes from Sostrene Grene & a small mirror by Ikea PS. The big mirror & the leather bag I found at the thrift store.

On the other side of the room you can see out vintage closet that we found on Marktplaats. On top of it there are some thrifted vintage vases that I love! On the floor there's a kelim that we bought at the Dutch festival Pinkpop at the Kiboots stand. The green magazine rack I bought a while ago at Urban Outfitters. The cute cacti illustrations are made by the talented Inge from Teken-ing and the calendar is from the lovely Darling Clementine. 

Pictures by Marij Hessel

Diy Tealight Holders for Fashionista

In Holland it's still pretty cold and unfortunately we have to wait a little longer for spring to come. But let's enjoy this season while we can and make it cosy and warm at home! I made these easy Diy Tealight Holders for the Dutch magazine Fashionista. You'll be done in a couple of minutes spending almost nothing! 

You'll only need a couple of used and cleaned glass jars, a white (chalk) marker and some tealights. After removing the labels from the jars with some hot water and soap, I used the white marker to draw some fun patterns on them. It really doesn't have to be perfect and when you're not happy you can easily remove the pattern with some water and start over! I mixed them up with a couple of thrifted wooden candle holders. They're perfect for these last cosy winter nights!

Pictures by Marij Hessel

Urban Jungle Bloggers: Jungle Animals

It's that time of the month again! It's still so much fun to join the monthly Urban Jungle Bloggers themes that Igor and Judith come up with! This time it's all about Jungle Animals... With this theme I immediately thought of the inspiring Justina Blakeney and her amazing Jungalow style that I absolutely love!! Just browsing through her images for a couple of minutes inspired me to get going. Actually I don't have a lot of animalistic things in my home (except for my two cats) so I decided to give the thrift store a go (any excuse will do). I was positively surprised by the cool things that I found! First I stumbled upon some wooden elephant figurines and later on a wooden and a marble (!) rhino. You can imagine how excited I was when I found the hanging monkeys that were just perfect for this theme! It's funny when you have a certain theme in mind, how different you look at things. Otherwise I probably wouldn't even have noticed these fun jungle animals!

Oh and congratulations Igor and Judith with your upcoming Urban Jungle Book!! Very well deserved and I can't wait for the result!

Pictures by Marij Hessel

Today's Crush: Cool Plant Styling by Victoria Ling

Today I want to share with you these amazing photo's taken by still life photographer Victoria Ling. Often together with a stylist or set designer, Victoria creates still life compositions for various clients such as Elle Decoration, Wallpaper, Clarks, Marie Claire and many more. She also makes beautiful personal work like this series of patterned botanics called "Plant Cells", it's so cool! The patterns on the plants are created with lots of stickers, it seems like a lot of work but the result is stunning, especially combined with the printed wallpaper! For more of Victoria's work go to her website.

Photography: Victoria Ling

Thrift Shop

Yep, I did it again... While visiting a couple of thrift stores with a friend I came across this colourful piece of embroidery (I have a thing for embroideries lately). It really makes me long for spring with all those lovely flowers. Can you imagine how much patience it must have cost to make something like this? Because of the soft pastel tones it looks perfect above our couch next to my thrifted vase, wooden candlesticks and the round mirror I bought at a flea market.

I also found the cup and saucer which I instantly loved because of the green dots! The marble coaster and teapot are the result of an earlier thrift hunt. Can't wait for my next trip... Have a great week!

Pictures by Marij Hessel

Imm Cologne 2016

This Saturday I got up early to meet up with a small group of fellow bloggers to travel to Cologne & visit the fair "Imm Cologne". We were invited by Thonet to visit their stand & hear all about the history of this iconic brand. A range of new designs were also presented at the Thonet stand like the "Bentwood Table 1060", their in and outdoor collection "Thonet All Seasons" and the "Lounge Programme 860". The collections show that Thonet is a classic design brand that will never get out of style!

I had a great and inspiring day, thanks Thonet for inviting us!

After our tour on the Thonet stand we took a little walk to Design Post which was very close to the fair. Design Post is a showroom open for design fanatics and professionals (like architects and retailers), with international interior design brands who show their latest collections. As you can see we were surrounded by beautiful designs, shapes and colours...

Back to the fair we payed a visit to String (what's not to like?!) and again it was very nice to learn more about the story of this brand. The stand was beautiful with a lot of black and white. As you know I'm a big fan of colour but I can certainly appreciate a dose of black and white from time to time! I was also very impressed by the "String Works" collection with an adjustable desk which is perfect for a flexible work environment!

After admiring the String collection, we had some time to wander around the fair on our own. I made a selection of my favourite images so take a look!

Beautiful, deep & soft tones at Menu:

Loved these shades of red, rust brown and orange together at Muuto:

Cutest clock ever by the Japanese brand Karimoku New Standard:

"Das Haus" designed by Sebastian Herkner:

"Guest of Honour Sebastian Herkner is designing a round, transparent version of "Das Haus" for the international interiors show imm cologne that is open on all sides. It is circular, more or less transparent and has almost no solid wall elements. Nonetheless, Sebastian Herkner's house promises to be a sensual experience – a house that is soft and aromatic, colourful and communicative, and which is able to change its form like a chameleon."

Artek for Vitra:

This brand I wasn't yet familiar with but I was pleasantly surprised by the collection of the Danish brand "Woud":

How amazing are these marbled tables by Snedker Studio?! After years of experimenting, Pernille  Snedker Hansen has developed a technique to create these beautiful marbled patterns on wood and paper. Here you can read more about the process: http://www.snedkerstudio.dk/process

Again dark, deep tones and rusty shades at &Tradition:

Something different at Petite Friture! Cool styling, materials, colours and prints at this original brand from France.

Fresh colours and shapes at Harto from Paris:

Pictures by Marij Hessel