d.i.y. tuesday & french toast

Pippa will move to a new place soon.
An old house in the city center, currently being renovated to make it habitable.
Nowadays it's very difficult for young people to find an affordable home in the Netherlands.
She has been waiting for so long and finally will have a place of her own soon.
In March she's moving in together with her boyfriend Joe, if all goes well.

Pip is looking forward to decorating her interior and has her own style, which is nothing like ours haha...
And that's exactly how it should be, right?

We are planning DIY Tuesdays for the coming weeks and I love to help.

Today the first preparations;

Filling up the golden pouf from Marrakech, which she bought almost 3 years ago...

Foam flakes all over the place! (including my woolen sweater, and it won't come off)

After cleaning up the mess, we went to the hardware store for tools and paint. Choices, choices, but we found just the right color.

Time for a break. I made French toast for lunch. In Dutch called 'wentelteeftjes', Pippa's all time favorite.

Back to work. We settle in my atelier (Pip's bedroom after all), so boucherouite carpet on the side, banana leaf curtains up and get started.

Together we carried our old heavy baroque mirror from the attic to clean it and paint it 'Flandres grey'.

Pippa handles the paint brush like a pro and she was very satisfied with the result.

We had such a fine day together and will continue next week...

pantone prognosis - color of the year 2020

For 20 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product, packaging and graphic design.

The Color of the Year selection process requires thoughtful consideration and trend analysis. To arrive at the selection each year, Pantone’s color experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, playstyles, and socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures, and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and even up-coming sporting events that capture worldwide attention.

Today is the reveal of the new color for 2020, a new decade!

I'm guessing the new Pantone color of the Year is somewhere in this color palette.

What do you think will be the color of 2020?

habitat, make it yours

I've spent more time at home in November than I did over the past half year. I'm a 'summer person' and I love playing in my garden and being outside. Inside the house I'm surrounded by just a few (big) plants and interior is getting more important to me.

Interior is an extension of your personality. That's what makes it so interesting and creative. Your interests, personal stuff collected over the years and being surrounded by things that are important to you. Certainly during the autumn and winter months, your habitat has to be a place where you can relax and really charge.

Well this time of year is fine too and I've been looking forward to spend more time at home, reading, watching movies, netflixing and finally finish the unfinished projects and find time to be creative and start new projects.

While the golden xs woodwoolstool cover is still in progress, I already have ideas about what to make next...

coffee & vitamin d

Friday morning in November.

Coffee & vitamin D in the frontyard.

The entire garden, including furniture, is covered by golden ginkgo leaves. What splendor! Nature does the best designs of all.

Cheers to the weekend.

ginkgo love

This time of year the ginkgo tree is at its most beautiful!

Every year in november I'm stunned by the beauty and the golden glow and brightness.

I enjoy the ginkgo leaves carpet in the frontyard each time when I look outside through the kitchen window.

We planted the ginkgo tree in our frontyard when we moved in 15 years ago.

The Ginkgo Biloba or Japanese walnut tree is my favorite tree. In Japan they honor the tree as a god; it symbolizes hope, love, magic, timelessness and longevity and is nicknamed temple tree.

Even on a rainy Monday the frontyard looks wonderful. The beech hedge turns brown and the hellebore is ready to flower again. Change of seasons remains spectacular!

crochet bikini trend continues

You can download the crochet BIKINI TOP PATTERN in my Etsy shop and start right away with the "step by step" crochet pattern, provided lots of detailed photos (18 pages) of this crochet bikini top.

All you need is 50 grams of yarn to make your summer bikini top! Choose your favorite colour and get started. It's not difficult at all and it takes just a few hours to make it.

The golden bikini top I made last year with the some golden bling bling yarn from Marrakech. It's a very simple straightforward variation on the bikini top.

The crochet bikini trend continues for the upcoming summer season

golden sample

New project.

A golden sample to make a filet crochet curtain, opposite to the previous harlequin project.

To prevent ending up again with the wrong size, I made a crochet sample this time. I rarely do this, but it seems to be a good 'investment'.

bling & yang

Once more no traditional Christmas items overhere, but instead unexpected and unusual December decorations. Our 'x-mas space' consists of opposing but complementary objects.

Christmas will be bling and also yang.
On one side bling; gold, glitter and over the top 'bad taste' with a wink.
On the other yang; exotic animals, natural materials, authenticity and obviously some green.

golden bikini top

You can download the crochet BIKINI TOP PATTERN in my Etsy shop and start right away with the "step by step" crochet pattern, provided lots of detailed photos (18 pages) of this crochet bikini top.

All you need is 50 grams of yarn to make your summer bikini top! Choose your favorite colour and get started. It's not difficult at all and it takes just a few hours to make it.

The golden bikini top I made this afternoon with the beautiful bling bling yarn from Marrakech. It's a very simple straightforward variation on the bikini top.

instant inspiration

First Monday morning in March and I'm in the middle of all kinds of preparations for next month's workshops in Marrakech.

I am working on another new design for a daily cool crochet project.

Spring sun is on turn now (after a harsh winter week) and as soon as I open the wool locker, inspiration comes naturally.

palme d’or

To ignore the freezing cold outside, I went for a golden palm this morning...
(after my weekly run; unfeasible! despite wearing double running trousers and thermo shirts, woolen gloves and a beanie)

A chic version of the palm I made last week, the c c p p, that is to say cool crochet palmtree pattern or cool crochet petit projet

Still a bit of testing for the cool crochet workshop, which is coming up in April.

weekend vibes

This week I've been working on a new cool crochet project.

After working on the huge harlequin blanket, it was so much fun to start something completely new!

A herringbone pillow (another personal favorite pattern besides the harlequin) in the same color as our new tiled kitchen wall (which is a coincidence).
The crochet work I finished yesterday evening and this morning I've been busy sewing the crochet onto white linen fabric.

I love how it worked out and I am really happy to prepare the new pattern for the upcoming cool crochet workshop in Marrakech in April.

The herringbone pillow is rocking the vintage garden chair, that we once found in Spain and the palm tree wallhanging in the background, is making the weekend feeling complete...

Have a nice weekend you all!