loft

It is nice to see how things come together. I still remember the first time that I discovered products by Aveda. More than twenty years ago, when I bought a jar of bath salt in a little shop in Antwerp. The scent was heavenly and I wanted more! Unfortunately it took a while before Aveda was sold in the Netherlands. And, a whole different story (hang in there): few years ago I thought: why can't you buy empty bottles that you can refill with water, instead of buying those plastic bottles that you throw away when you've finished the water? Now you can buy beautiful re-usable bottles at Aveda, and the money goes to Join the Pipe that wants to build the longest pipeline in the world, so clean water will be available for everybody. And, to make the story complete, my friend Nathalie has taken over an Aveda lifestyle salon Loft in Bussum with two friends.  Now I can visit her, buy a beautiful bottle AND buy my favourite products in one go. Congratulations and good luck!

kleurinspiratie.nl

A few weeks ago I mentioned the website I was working on: kleurinspiratie.nl. My work is online now on this website. You can find six colour forecasts for the coming season for inspiration for you own house, plus a tool with which you can test these colours on an image of a room in your house. It is in Dutch, but if you don't speak the language, you can still look at the images. I made the colour forecasts with Maaike Koorman, plus I wrote the texts.

mood boards

When I'm working on a design for a house, or a cook book, or an interior production, I like to work with mood boards. They they give me inspiration before I start working, they really make me happy and excited about my work when I'm making them, they make sure I stick to the idea that I first have (which most of the times is the best idea) and they give other people a general idea of the direction your working in. Plus they look nice. At home I just stick them to the walls in the spaces that I happen to be working in at that time.
The images are taken by Paul Barbera

styling production for VT Wonen

While I was cleaning up my computer, I found some images of a production I did last year for VT Wonen, a Dutch interior magazine. I did the styling with Maaike Koorman, I designed the ideas for the bird cage, the mirror inside a picture frame, the clothes hanger made of a piece of leftover fabric and lace. Tjitske van Leeuwen (www.tjitske.com) was the photographer. The production was called Intstant Styling, to show everybody that a nice atmosphere can be created in a short time.

Virginie Besançon

One of the things that I'm looking forward to when I go to the south of France this summer, is meeting Virginie Besançon again. I made a cook book with her a few years ago (see below), and she is a lovely, colorfull and inspirational person. Originally she is a costume designer, and she still does some designs for theater groups. And she joined a theatre group and circus to cook for them twice a day, every summer. Only because of all the work an admirable job! And then she still finds the time and energy to make beautiful pictures of her 'everiday life' with the theatre group.

a discovery in my own country

To my big shame I have to admit that only last weekend I discovered that my country has a part that is at least as beautiful as parts of France (Brittany) and England (Cornwall) that I love visiting so much. So now I don't have to travel all the way there anymore. It is called Het Groene Hart, the green heart (quite appropriate) and it is a perfect area to go if you want to have a break from the big, busy city. We took our camper for a little testdrive, because it has got a new motor, and stayed two nights on an eco-friendly campsite that is part of a small farm, in Snelrewaard. We became a member of www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl so now we can visit all kinds a beautifull, green small campsites in the Netherlands.

food of the season

Now that the weather is getting better and better, I'm reminded of the time I will be spending this summer in the south of France. And that again reminds me of the work I did there a few years ago for the cook book Mijn Keuken van de Zon, which is translated in French, German and Finnish. We even won a price with it! The book shows images by Anna de Leeuw and recipes by Virginie Besançon. She cooks only seasonal food, and it all tastes even better than it looks. The book has only recipes for vegetables and fruits, so perfect for vegetarians and people that want to cut back on eating meat. I did the styling, part of the production and edited all the recipes.



Mijn keuken van de zon
V. Besancon

crocheted art

I really love these children's clothes that are made by www.teenytini.com. They are a perfect example of authenticity in creation and art, that so many people are looking for these days. As am I. And luckily imperfection is sort of a trend, because the one time that I have knitted something, it also looked really authentic like this.

gardens bij XandL

For me, the interior designs by XandL are amongst the best I have seen. They are timeless and at the same time way ahaid of their time. They transform an ordinary house in a beautiful piece of art that is practical at the same time. But what I admire also is that they not only design beautiful interiors but can work their magic on gardens as well, as you can see in the images.
Check their website for more beautiful and inspirational images www.xandl.nl.

new shop: Sketch

There's a great new shop in The Hague, in an old cinema at Lange Poten 41. The brothers Oosterom, who already own two interior shops in Rotterdam and The Hague, opened the shop in December last year. This time they bring more than just furniture. They sell everything that they like, and that can be anything. From shoes, chairs and paintings to fashion, great organic food and jewellery. From high end brands like Acne, Stella Nova, Raf Simons, Volta and Missoni Home, but also new, young designers and artists. The collection changes all the time, it is dynamic and conceptual, like a sketch.
www.sketchstore.nl

spring scene

Spring really is my favourite season of the year. And I especially like all thos beautiful spring blossoms. They cheer up the dulles, glummest days. I bought some branches a few weeks ago, and first I could enjoy the blossoms, and now they are growing little leaves. They combine well with Rosie and Viv's Stek-chairs (www.aboutstek.nl), that I wrote earlier about. The little blackbird's skull is made by Dutch artist Jeroen Kuster (.nl), and makes this little scene a bit edgier.

In the background you can see two beautiful images that are made by Stephen Gill. They are part of a series called Buried. He took pictures in his old neighbourhood Hackney Wick, and buried them on the spot. After a few weeks he dug them up again, to give a beautiful, weathered effect. We bought the images at Foam, the museum of phogography in Amsterdam (www.foam.nl). There's also a book about it, but I'm not sure if it is still for sale.

Paul Barbera, again

You can see in Paul's work that he loves how people work, live and create. And I love how he is a contemporary master of light.

Paul In Holland

Paul Barbera, the photographer from Australia that I wrote about earlier, is in the Netherlands again. I can't wait to work with him again. That counts for other people, because he's flying to Milan for the design fair on monday. But after that, I hope to do some work with him. Here's some examples from his beautiful work, that you can also find on his website where they create (see my links).