interior-design

Marble is in again

I´ve always loved marble! Coming from Romania, where furniture and inventory was supposed to last for a lifetime, I grew up learning to appreciate natural materials as leather, wood, marble, granite, in short- the real deal. My parents bought a house when they were 37 and it took them 4 years to finish it, but they used the best materials they could afford at that time. So I walked on marble floors and I learned to love it even more.

These days it´s awfully fancy to decorate with marble, everything from the coffee table to the countertop desk and even bathroom tiles. I´ve written about it before, but I can´t help it, I love it so much! Here are some of my favorite pieces! Which one do you like best?

Source: http://www.pilotfrun.se

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Living room styling

We went to a party on Saturday, in fact two of them! The first one was in the lovely apartment of Melissa Hegge from Ideastosteal, damn, does she have a cool place! We were stunned! So many artifacts and so beautifully gathered, it felt like a gallery. We literally  went from room to room and took pictures!

The other party was on a roof terrace just a couple of blocks´away with a view over Galgeberg. Our lovely host Mona was not pleased with us for needing to go and walk Sammy like a pair of  Cinderellas before midnight. 😉

Now it´s a fact that a party every now and then is therapy for body and soul and this time was no exception. In addition to new people and subjects of conversation, good laughs and a bit of cake to sin with, Melissa´s interior was such an inspiration! What do you think?

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Holiday house

I keep coming back to my initial blog theme, interior decoration. While sipping Petit Bourgeois and hiding from the heat, I stumbled upon this wonderful holiday retreat where Amsterdam-based Anne-Claire Petit and Jan Wolleswinke spend their summers in France, by the Italian border. I love the white hues, the  natural elements of stone and granite, the concrete floors and the light. The simplicity of it all propels me in the Mediterranean environment where one can find peace of mind while making fig jam and chatting with the neighbor. What do you think?

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Industrial Loft in Barcelona

 

Resembling a New York apartment, this loft is a rare find in Barcelona with its 170 m2 areal, its incredible light and all the original details. I love the feeling such a huge space gives one when scarcely furnished, how the interior is kept simple without turning boring, not to speak of all the glimpses of color and playfulness. I´ve always appreciated open solutions, but I don´t know if it´s so easy to receive guest when you don´t have a bedroom door? What do you think?

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Rustic getaway in Daylesford

My strongest wish is to own a home where I can see myself living till the end of time, so that I can decorate it just as I please without thinking that I will need to sell it at one point. Interior designer´s Kali Cavanagh home is just one of these dreams! Vintage meets rustic meets industrial meets romantic! I mean, what else would you call a bath tub in the bedroom?! Love it!

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Living room lamp

I´m so excited, I can barely breathe! I finally found the perfect lamp for our living room! A limited edition Louis Poulsen PH lamp in copper! Ai ai ai! I´ve never seen anything this beautiful, I swear! But I should let you see for yourselves. I´ll place an order as soon as I manage to scrape together the 1200€ it costs!

Source: http://www.lyseideer.no

Boutique Hotel, Portugal

Now a 100-acre organic farm, Community Culture Retreat was a former ruin, restored by Pedro Ressano Garcia to reflect the Community Culture concept. The courtyard has two houses and it concentrates on sharing a culture of organic production, hospitality and gastronomy. The key achievement of the project was redefining already existing buildings and making do with what materials were available. 

Community Culture Retreat has 7 rooms and a library and hall for seminars, concerts and workshops. Relax by the pool, enjoy a secluded room or take part in a harvest. Don´t mind if I do!

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Perfect Saturday

How are you doing? I´ve had perfect Saturday doing only things I enjoy! I went to town hand in hand with my husband, found a gift from Piet Hein for my friend Cristina, had lunch and got in touch with a guy doing research about Roma people from Romania (fate wanted that to happen since I´m a Romanian interpreter and they need one to accompany them for field trips to Stockholm and Copenhagen!), ate Mexican tapas with close friends to celebrate Cristina´s birthday and stayed up late chit chatting in bed with the birthday girl like teen agers on high school trips.

We also got around to order a new bedroom lamp from George Nelson since I decided that 2014 is the year we get our apartment in order. I already arranged a meeting with a professional to design a new wardrobe and we´re also looking for somebody to paint our walls and dig for the original floors. 😉 A few more baskets for the shoes and Sam and his crate out of the bedroom and it´ll finally turn into a romantic place you actually want to go to sleep in! Do you have that problem,too? That your bedroom is just one big mess of unfolded bedding and socks and orchids that stopped blooming ten years ago? Any advice is much appreciated! Have a lovely Sunday!

http://www.flick.com

Mad Men Apartment

Now, I´m more of a bourgeois person, but I love Mad Men and the 60s! And this apartment could be Don Draper´s bachelor pad for all I know, it´s just too cool to be true! The 60s down to every single detail. The George Nelson lamp (we have it, too!), the oak kitchen, Ilmari Tapiovara´s Mademoiselle chair (we have that, too), the String shelves (oh, yeah!), the Eames rocking chairs, and so on. Nice touch on the bathroom, nothing to say against up-to-date facilities in an otherwise so great replica of another era. What´s your opinion?

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Christmas at the Tran residence

This year we´re celebrating Christmas in Norway with our friends and my husband´s family. Although it´s nice to go back to my mother country, Romania, which we do every other year for the holidays, it´s kind of comfortable to be at home and go about things my way. So my man brought a Christmas tree and we decorated it with Sam and Beo prowling around it and sniffing the forrest smell, I baked and cleaned and bought some pretty light chains and the imperative hyacinths, the only thing missing is a Christmas wreath, which I´ll make after taking Sam for a walk in the woods. We´re done with finding and wrapping the gifts, what´s left is buying the food and the drinks and finding the pajamas and Home alone 1 and 2. Meanwhile, I´ll be spending time baking some more and making some Christmas chutney while listening to Christmas carols. How are you spending the holidays? Merry Christmas to you all!

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