DIY RED drawer chest: my new baby!

Before: Ikea's MALM drawer chest (birch veneer)

After: beautiful red piece with gold and blue handles

DIY room divider

OK OK, I know: I disappeared for a while. But I'm back with some new exciting posts!

As you know, we are working on a new apartment here in Curacao. That means: Interior Design Project!

Take a look at this awesome project. My dad and I made a room-divider out of some plastic squares I bought at Xenos in the Netherlands. When I saw these plastic squares I immediately fell in love with the modern pattern.

The following sequence of pictures shows the step by step progress.... From plastic to fabulous!

Back in Curacao!

Dear blog readers,

It has been a while! I haven't forgotten you though.
Some interesting posts are on their way. DIY projects are in the making here in Curacao!

Next week I will post some amazing new ideas. Do not forget to check in regularly.

Brown & Aqua bathroom color inspiration

Hello dear readers!

Toronto: Awesome

As you may or may not know I just returned from my sister's new "home": Toronto. Not only was it a fabulous place to visit, it also gave me the opportunity to splurge on brands that are not available in the Netherlands or Curacao.

The bathroom is often a great way to add color to your interior without it having to match with the rest of the house. So I decided to go crazy on BROWN & AQUA!

Enjoy & get inspired....

Click to enlarge

Rug, patterned towel, accessories: Better Homes/Large & mini brown towels: Ralph Lauren Home

Color inspiration for the weekend.....

Made by LvH

I was thinking "CLEAR"

Finally! After months of drooling behind my laptop screen I finally got them: The Onokuni nest of tables (set of 2).

Today I went to the Zara Home shop in Amsterdam to get some stuff for the new apartment in Curacao.This set of Metacrylic coffee tables is an essential part of my design. By using clear furniture you create more space in your interior because you can look right through them. Additionally, clear furniture can give every interior a sophisticated, clean, modern look. Acrylic furniture is known to be very expensive, but at Zara you get these 2 tables for 99 euro which I think is a pretty good deal. 


Unfortunately, I will have to look at the pictures along with you because they are already bubble wrapped and put into boxes. Oh, and please don't mind the boxes in the picture, our house looks like a warehouse of boxes right now. 

Can't wait to see how it will look in Curacao!

Inspiration.....NR2

Click to enlarge

Fun & Masculine Bachelor Pad

Digital Mood board by LvH

Inspiration.....NR1

Dear blog readers,

I had these mood boards that I made for people saved on my laptop so I thought it would be nice to share them with you.......one by one......;)

So stay tuned for more!

Click to enlarge

Light and airy: Blue, beige, white, brown

Digital Mood board by LvH

H&M Light Feeling Collection S/S 2011

I am sooo getting this cover set!

It's simple, yet elegant...and above all, ridiculously affordable.

Check out other accessories from the "light feeling" collection on www.HM.com/nl.

And like I said before: if you live in Curacao, let a friend/family member send/bring it to you. 

print screen  hm.com/nl     -click to enlarge

Bye bye Yellow Home.......

Since I am a couple of months away from going back to Curacao, I am beginning to say goodbye to our apartment. It is kind of sad, because I remember the day we moved in like yesterday. I remember spontaneously choosing the yellow paint-color at the hardware store without any hesitation. It was a dark winter month and I wanted to create a "sunny" effect. I can state that I achieved that since even in the winter-months there is a warm feeling in this living room.

A couple of days ago a real estate agent came in and took some pictures for their website. So I decided to share some of them with you to honor the lovely moments we have had in this home together with family and friends...

click to enlarge

Now it is time for a change. Time to decorate our new apartment in Curacao. I have been working on the mood-board for quite some time now, so it should be finished in a couple of weeks. Time to start making new memories in Curacao!!!!

The Power of Words..

Have you ever noticed how fun "words" can make an interior?

taken from realsimple.com

Although most people wouldn't think of including words into their interiors, they have been widely used to bring a certain vibe to a room. In the following pictures I will show you some of my favorite uses of words in interiors.


Take for example Jules' kitchen in Cougar town. The word "EAT" is cleverly placed on the wall to make it more interesting. Additionally, it adds color to the otherwise neutral wall. If you think about it, it is even a way to define the space. It screams: This is a kitchen, enjoy your food!

taken from creativelittledaisy.typad.com

The designers for H&M Home also seem to be big fans of using words in their accessories. Take a look at the S/S collection which also includes pieces with letters, words and even sentences. I love how H&M always  incorporates obvious, and sometimes even sarcastic words in their accessories.

taken from h&m.com/nl

And last but not least, writings on the wall! In my current apartment I have the following quote on one of the walls in the living room. The reason I chose to do this is because I love the idea of decorating a big boring wall with something unconventional and unique. I also love quotes so I thought it would be a good idea to put an inspiring quote on the wall. Also, I wanted to add more black in the room because I love the color scheme of yellow, black and white. Don't you agree that the black made the creamy yellow wall look exquisite? In my opinion it made the room look more sophisticated.

I couldn't resist not putting anything in the bedroom so that's why I decided to put a very light and airy (almost unnoticeable) colored text above our bed. This text has made the bedroom feel like a place to relax and fall asleep.

Tip: use words to add color, interest and inspiration to your room or to define a space and create a certain vibe. 

You make your own Luck

We Curacaoans are known to be superstitious. So I was always told that putting sea shells in your home can bring bad luck. A couple of years ago I couldn't resist it anymore and finally decided to gather some sea shells on the beach to use as decoration in my house. After all, what could give a better beach-feeling than actual sea shells?

              

So now that I have had these shells (and am constantly adding more), I can assure you that the old believe does not hold anymore. I would also go as far as to say that it actually brings good luck! ;) Besides, I have found it to be very entertaining and relaxing to walk on the beach to look for strange, beautiful shells. By finding the shells yourself, you will always have a unique collection. Otherwise you can always buy them in craft stores (or do a combination of both, like I did).

This is a another beautiful example of how you can bring the ocean into your home....

All in all, the point of this post is to persuade you to let go of the old superstitious beliefs and put some sea shells in your home. Sea shells give a "beachy" and peaceful feeling to every interior.

Be yourself.....

Today I got this wonderful quote in my mailbox.

“You don't need to have a home that’s like anybody else's. Take the ideas that speak to you. Use your imagination. Create something wonderful…” - Oprah Winfrey


And I think it is so true. You need to be yourself in everything you do. Living an authentic life is the most important thing you can do for yourself. And that's exactly what your interior needs to represent: Yourself. Not a copy of someone else's interior.


So go out there! Create your own, wonderful, unique, interior. 

We have to start somewhere, Don't we?

Tadaaaa!

As promised, some pictures of the inspiration piece for our new apartment. I found this fabric in Curacao a couple of weeks ago. From the moment I saw it I was sure that this is exactly what I was looking for. A beautiful fabric with the most fabulous colors and designs. Exactly the colors that I had in my head. I bought a piece to make a large decoration pillow out of it. Seeing that the fabric is very busy, I opted to make just one pillow. This pillow will then be the center of the design of the whole apartment. 
*click on pictures to enlarge

The colors include: Dark orange, Aqua, Brown, Beige........and so on (depends on your eyes really). 

Now don't be scared. This does not mean that the whole apartment will be filled with these colors or that the walls will be aqua and orange. I will take these colors into account when buying furniture and decoration pieces. The color of the walls will, most probably, be neutral.

P.s. Thanks for the very nice e-mail! That's exactly what I wanted to achieve with this blog...

Gone to the beach.....

Dear Blog Readers: Miss me much? I’m back! (with a “BEACHY” guest room make-over)

First of all: I am sooo sorry that I haven’t posted anything for the last 6 weeks. But try getting your Masters at RSM Erasmus University, keeping your social life on track AND posting on your blog –all at the same time: IMPOSSIBLE. Fortunately for you, I have been able to gather some very exciting things in my head;)

Here comes the first:

I just returned from Curacao from a 5 week vacation (LOVE). So of course, I took on an interior design project! This time it was a guest room in my parents' house. My sister and I drove from one furniture store to the next, one fabric store to the other….and so on. It was a great experience. I love finding great interior pieces in Curacao.

Warning: this room is not finished yet. The TV still needs to be attached to the wall in front of the bed, the wall-pieces still need to be hung, white shelves still need to be put in place, a big mirror with a dark brown frame will be put on top of the dresser.

The inspiration piece: Dark Brown. Baby Blue. White.

As stated in earlier posts, the way I personally decorate is: I need to have an inspirational piece to start with. It can be anything, -a piece of fabric, a painting, a vase…

In this case the starting point was this beautiful, and at the same time fun, wall art. My sister bought it at Target Home last year. This piece inspired us to work with Dark Brown, Baby Blue, Beige and White.

Wall color: Satin white (which is an off-white color)

It was important to keep the room light and airy. Because the room is relatively small and cozy, it gave us the liberty to paint the walls a light color. I also took the color of the flooring into consideration: Dark brown tiles look great with a contrasting light color on the walls.

Woodwork: Ice White

The woodwork in this room (including the bathroom) was dark brown. In order to give the room a clean fresh look we let them paint all the woodwork an ice white color. We also changed the doorknobs (my hobby;)) to give the bathroom a more sophisticated look. 

Bed: Black

We opted for a “sofa-style” bed. Since this is a guest room, the bed can always be used as a sofa. About the color: A really important tip is that you always need to have something black in a room. It has something to do with the absorbency of the light with which I will not bother you right now. Just put something black in your room! Trust me. Also, we thought the contrast between the black of the bed and the white of the walls would make the bed stand out more.

Accessories: Baby Blue, Dark Brown, Neutral

It is of utmost importance to decide on what you will put in the room or not (no overkill). 

Since the theme is “Beach”, we opted to include more pieces that are related to the beach.

Pillows: We decided to buy two contrasting fabrics to make pillow cases (brown, blue).

Curtains: beige (white would have been too cold).  Notice how the carpet is exactly the same color as the candle in the lantern? I LOVE THAT COLOR (my own bedroom wall is that same color).

It was nice showing you this and I hope it has inspired you to beautify the rooms in your home one by one! Stay tuned for the “inspiration-starting point-piece” for my new apartment in Curacao! And YES, I found it on the island! So excited!