style

It’s a Hard Knock Life

Hey, how have you been? Back from holidays? Taken a plunge into reality yet? 😉 My week started with a pang on Tuesday, but I did get a couple of hours here and there to give my apartment the love it needs in order to be sold on the first home inspection. So now that I’m done with the bedroom and living-room, almost done with the kitchen floor, I only need to wash the whole place spotless (which my cleaning lady will do) and style it, so it’s ready for the photographer and soon for the hoards. haha! I know I may lack a little in modesty, but hey, I can’t help it, I simply believe I have a better sense of style than “the girl next door”! 😉

Skjermbilde 2017-04-20 10.18.53.png

Continue reading →

Parisian Apartment

Although living in Norway for 15 years will definitely affect your perception of style, Parisian apartments remain the embodiment of chic for me. A sucker for all things bourgeois and at the same time a lover of clean lines, I find myself drawn to quirky, eclectic abodes, somewhat eccentric and at the same time where the owner is not trying too hard.

Daphné Desjeux and Dorothée Delaye are the interior architects who renovated this 110m2 place and I think they did a marvellous job! Take a look!

Continue reading →

Living room update

Money can´t buy you happiness, that´s a fact. They can´t buy you style, you either got it or you don´t. They can´t even buy you a decent couch,  you need a trained eye to pick the right one. 😉 We found the perfect couch on the internet yesterday and now it´s ours! So here I am, bragging about my trained eye! 😉 haha! Take a look!

IMG_0951

Continue reading →

Then we take Berlin

I´m just back from a trip to Berlin and boy  was it  invigorating! I love that city, there´s no doubt in my mind that it has everything you could ever want from a metropole, except for the sea, perhaps. I´d settle for that anytime!

I was in Berlin for a conference; in a way it was the excuse I needed to allow myself 4 days off.  The conference about community interpreting was intense and inspiring, although I found out mostly what I already knew, that the world is compromising more and more for the sake of saving a penny and that availability precedes quality.

However, that didn´t stop me from having a good time. We did some shopping, we dined French, Asian and Italian. We walked till our feet hurt, stopped for a beer and then walked some more. I´m not very much into German cuisine, except for the curry wurste and the pretzel, which I had my share of this time, too.

On Sunday we went to the Mauerpark for the flea market, but since it was Memorial Day there was no market.  What else to do than eat some organic pizza and have more coffee? We then walked all the way to Mitte through Prenzlauer Berg with its colorful  buildings, shops and falafel stores. Berlin was chilly and grey and yet not distressing at all. They´d just started Christmas decorating and somehow I felt I was a couple of weeks early.

Yesterday we wrapped up by cake and coffee at KADEWE, the amazing shopping center of West Berlin, where you find whatever you could ever dream of from exclusive handcrafted bags to chocolate truffles and eclairs. We had amazing eclairs and bought some small gifts and magazines, I am now the proud owner of the latest CEREAL edition! Later on we visited the Bauhaus Museum and found yet some more inspiration in the clean lines and visionary buildings. I am currently on my couch in my pjs and life has never been as sweet.

_MG_4830

Continue reading →

Constant state of planning

I´m terrible at enjoying what I have. This living in the present- art, “carpe diem” and “festina lente”, I wasn´t made for that. I´m a product of the coffee latte generation. Always running, always in a hurry. I make plans years in advance and propel myself hotheadedly into the future. If only I get my MA degree, if only we move into a bigger apartment, if only we get a dog.. Then I´ll be happy. Then things will be perfect. For the moment, they need a boost. Maybe you know the reasoning?

The bad thing about it is that I seldom sit down and just enjoy life as it is. Being a virgo I don´t have time to enjoy things, I´m always in between projects. That does not necessarily mean I´m actually doing anything about those projects, but they hinder me in getting other stuff done.

The good thing about it though is that I´m not static. I´m in a constant need for change and for improvement. And that in itself is not so bad. Or what do you reckon?

Right now I have a two years´ plan: 1. a full apartment make-over, 2. hopefully a new family member and 3. a house with a garden. Since number 2 can´t be planned as such, I pretend it´s not that important anyway and I work long hours to achieve nr 1 and 3. Anyone else feeling me?

So I started gathering and buying things for our house, things that we don´t have place for in our current apartment. You probably think it´s half crazy, my husband will agree, but to me it´s just a quicker way of getting there. I could go on and on about the need to have a Gustavian couch, a rococo mirror and an extensible couch for guests. I will show you some pictures of what dreams are made of instead.

My dream villa

Continue reading →

The meaning of cool

I´ve never been cool. For as long as I can remember I´ve been quite close to being cool, but I never made it all the way. As a little girl, I payed too much attention in class and wouldn´t swap my sandwich with other kids. As a teenager, I wasn´t allowed by my fanatic grandma to be en vogue and had to wear pleated skirts just over the knees. And as a young lady I tried too hard.

I stopped trying some 10 years ago and concluded that cool just doesn´t define me. And I have to admit that it was such a relief! I could stretch after more attainable things: I could try to be feminine, classy, well-dressed, well-read, a good cook, nice, whatever. Just not cool. This change of perspective eased my transition into adulthood. It´s nice to get to know who you really are. It´s ok not to wear Converse. And not to be the festival type. It´s ok to read magazines on a Friday evening instead of going to a concert. And you don´t have to go to parties if that just makes you tired.

Much of the blog world today is a reminder of the wanna-be cool days. I feel many wear the same clothes, promote the same brands and have an identical approach to fashion. I´m glad I´m not there any more. Nothing wrong with the perfect white t-shirt and the punk-inspired boots, but I can´t relate to them at all.

I´m taking you to yet another trip with me in wonderland! Enjoy!

Philip Lim

Continue reading →