Friday, November 29, 2013

Getting Ready For Winter & A Cosy Giveaway




With the first snowflakes, the glimmering lights of the Christmas markets here in town, and the scent of gingerbread and mulled wine, I am getting ready for winter at home. I have been restyling my home over the past few weeks, step by step, corner by corner, with the knowledge that it is never finished and in constant flow. I have toned down the use of colours in my little apartment and added a few new home décor items from one of my favorite Danish home accessories brands, Broste Copenhagen.



My rooftop apartment is very small - a mere 32 square meters are divided into a living room area and a bedroom area connected by a round arch. This bisection has also been a basis for my restyling. I have decided to keep the bedroom area very calm and serene with lots of white, grey and muted blues like the hand-knitted plaid in icy blue.





The living room area is a tad more vibrant with stronger grey hues, deeper blues, zesty yellows and stronger patterns. Even the round arch has served as a basis for decoration decisions. I have used the round shape to mirror it on both opposed walls: In the bedroom I have mounted a big, round mirror whereas in the living room I have a large moon poster on the wall and two round cushions on the sofa. Moreover, a round coffee table brings the styling together and these round shapes are counteracted by rectangular shapes of furniture pieces, my zigzag rug and frames on my little gallery wall.



If you look at my sideboard in the bedroom you will see the combination of shapes in a smaller scale, too. The round mirror is taken up by the round Milk lamp, both are opposed by the rectangular glass boxes, books and the geometric shaped little planter. But my sideboard is an ongoing test area - I constantly shuffle things around and rearrange them. Now for instance I have added my Monstera plant to the left next to the wooden candleholders. 

Another favorite styling test area is my little chest of drawers in the living room. I holds my little urban garden and I have recently added a new mirror to visually enlarge the narrow space as well as the new ceramic boxes to hold all those little tidbits and keep them out of sight. 


I have teamed up with the folks of Broste Copenhagen to help you get ready for winter, too. How? Well, above you have seen some of their wonderful items in my home (the glass boxes, the ceramic boxes, the round cushions, the hand-knitted plaid, the rectangular mirror...) and now we are giving away and incredible loot of beautiful home accessories to you: One lucky winner will receive three different cushions, the hand-knitted plaid and two ceramic boxes. What you have to do? Leave a comment under this blogpost (don't forget to add your email address) until coming Friday, December 6th, midnight CET, and like the Facebook page of Broste Copenhagen. Good luck my friends!

Photography by Igor Josifovic
This post has been brought to you in cooperation with Broste Copenhagen

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Shop Love: 'Room To Dream' In Munich




I usually discover the coolest and prettiest interior design stores while traveling the world like this one or this one, both in Vancouver, Canada. Sometimes I really forget to look around in my hood, that is in Munich, and discover new and inspiring stores just here in front of my nose. Lucky enough I recently spotted a new interior store in downtown Munich during an online research. The website of 'Room to Dream' looked very promising so one Saturday morning I set off to check it out personally and the moment I entered the store I was enchanted.




When I walked in the store I was welcomed with a big smile by the shop owner Sabine Stadtherr. She showed me around her adorable little store packed with beautiful home décor, furniture pieces, home textiles and selected food items, most from Scandinavian design labels. After the little tour we sat down to enjoy a cup of freshly brewed jasmine tea and we chatted about interior design, design fairs, favorite products and brands. 




Later on I snapped a few pictures for you my readers and bought a few goodies for a friend's birthday. I was particularly drawn to Sabine's great styling in the shop - you can tell she loves interior styling and has a creative eye! I left the store an hour or so later, happy to have found a beautiful interior store in my town, happy to have found a likeminded, interior loving person and happy to have bought some beautiful goodies and taken lovely photos.




Now if you ever happen to be in Munich, you should not miss the opportunity to stop by at 'Room to Dream'. You won't leave it empty-handed, I am pretty sure.


Room to Dream, Lenbachplatz 7, 80331 Munich


Photography by Igor Josifovic


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Happy Interior Blog Recommends...


Now it is official - it is snowing and the festive Christmas twinkle lights are switched on all over town. Yep, it is approaching - the holiday season! Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, other holidays or nothing at all - a bit of festive décor is never wrong, right?

That said, I browsed the world wide web for you quickly in order to give you just a few inspiration sparkles if you haven't decided yet on your decoration scheme. So here we go!

1. Crystal Votive Holders by West Elm
2. Copper star by Stoer Metaal 
3. Feather ornaments via Etsy
4. Vintage baubles via Etsy
5. Foxy Mrs. Nutcracker via Xmas Deluxe
6. Geometric ornaments via Etsy

Happy hump day!

Photography on top via Etsy

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Why This Room Caught My Eye


The very moment I type this words on my MacBook, it's snowing outside. It is the first snow of the year here in Munich downtown and I am a bit excited. The first snow coincides with today's opening of all Christmas markets around town so I can surely say: Winter has arrived and Munich is getting festive! With the first snowflakes I am getting into a sort of hibernation mood. Layering various textiles, taking that extra blanket for your bed, adding a few more cushions to the sofa, adding muted colours to the scheme - the more frosty it gets outside, the cozier it gets inside!

When I spotted this bedroom on Pinterest, I felt like it perfectly conveys that winter cosiness I have mind. It caught my eye instantly and I could happily jump into the bed, snuggle up with a cup of tea and a good book and forget about time, weekday, to-dos or the cold winter day outside. 

What exactly caught my eye? Here are interior styling eye-catchers:
  • Grey Symphony: I have a soft spot for grey hues. I think grey is a fabulous, calming backdrop for a cosy feeling at home. Whether it's just one feature wall, the entire room or a combination of wall, home textiles, home décor - the effect is cosy yet sophisticated. Just like in this bedroom.
  • Muted Colours: The use of muted colours in this room perfectly blend in with the grey backdrop. The soft shades of green, purple and brown give the room a rooted, earthy base as opposed to the elusive lightness of grey.
  • Ethnic Elements: Another soft spot of mine - everything with ethnic patterns catches my eye immediately. The kilim rug and cushion tie the whole interior styling impeccably together. 
Does this room catch you eye?

Photography via Klikk Bolig by Solveig Grovle and Ann Helen Lund/NIB

Monday, November 25, 2013

Blogst 2013 - Speaking At The German Blogger Conference



It seems that the weeks before the festive holidays need to be pretty busy and packed with schedules, not only gift shopping. In between all my trips I'm trying to take you with me and share some precious moments of happiness with you. Thus, I want to share with you my participation as a speaker at the German blogger conference Blogst two weekends ago. I was invited to speak on the topic of 'Social Media Personality' and I was thrilled and a bit nervous to speak in front of 180 passionate bloggers. But from the very first moment at the conference it proved that my nervousness was absolutely out of place. And if you wonder what my presentation was all about, check out the fabulous impromptu sketch note made by blogger Frau Hölle during my presentation. So fab!





Blogst is an annual blogger conference founded and organized by my two blogger friends Ricarda and Clara and has received high appraisal among the German lifestyle blogger crowd - Blogst is most popular among interior design, DIY, and food bloggers. 



This year's conference was held in the Western German city of Essen in a pretty urban and artsy event location called Unperfekthaus. It had a sort of rough Berlin edge to it. Everything was perfectly organized and supported by numerous sponsors, I met some good old blogger friends as well as charming new ones. But I was not only speaking there, I was also there to learn from other experienced bloggers. I listened carefully to the keynote by the ever charming sisters Thea and Toni of Sister Magazine, I attended a Photoshop breakout session taught by Trixi and enjoyed every single presentation of the other speakers. 


The overall feeling that still lingers on is that Germany has a very warmhearted and inspiring lifestyle blogger community which is why the entire Blogst conference felt like a big annual blogger family meeting. The only question that remains: Will I see you next year at Blogst, too?

Photography: Blogst marked photos by Christian Burmester, all other photos by Bridgee/Little Star Blog, Sketch note by Frau Hölle
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...