Happy Holidays And See You in 2015!

With today's blog post I want to wish you all a very festive holiday season and a happy new year. I am thankful for each and everyone of you who has followed me along the path, who has read my blog, commented here, who followed me on other social media channels. Staying in touch with all of you is such a great and rewarding experience and makes blogging so much fun.

I promise lots of exciting news in 2015 on Happy Interior Blog! But until then I will step away from my computer for a while and enjoy a good time out as many of you will do too I hope. I am off to Paris tonight and will be there until early 2015. Of course I will not be able to not share a few shots on Instagram, so if you feel like following me along to festive Paris, do so on Instagram, you will find me @igorjosif.

Happy holidays my friends & may all your wishes come true! See you back in 2015!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

Tweet

From Place To Space: Advent In Nuremberg

Before we all take off to our well-deserved Christmas holidays and spend the days and evening feasting with our beloved ones, let me take you one more time to a new city in this year. Since we've almost reached Christmas, I thought it would be nice to take you to the German city of Nuremberg. Nuremberg is known for its castle, Albrecht Dürer, its sausages, its ginger bread and - yes of course - its huge Christmas market during the advent time (be prepared, it can get crowded - ok, I am absolutely understating this!).

Luckily, Nuremberg is a mere hour train ride away from Munich and so I took the opportunity to visit a friend of mine during the festive advent season there. In the heart of Nuremberg's old town the huge Christmas market welcomes every year thousands and thousands of guest from all over the world. People flock to take in the festive atmosphere that recalls fairy tales from the brothers Grimm, sip on a mug of mulled wine and nibble on yummy sausages and tasty ginger bread - both local specialties and really worth tasting!

But the Christmas market is not everything there is to Nuremberg. Take a stroll off the main square and discover small alleyways, half-timbered houses, cosy inns named 'The Witch's Hut' or 'The Castle's Guard', vintage bookstores and more. A visit to Nuremberg is not complete without a visit to the city's castle perched on a rocky hill overlooking the city's red rooftops.

Even though I am pretty sure everyone is already in a very festive mood, I hope this little stroll through Nuremberg in the advent time has added a bit more festive feeling to your Monday. Happy Christmas week!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

Tweet

Light It Up!

There is one advantage of grey and gloomy days: You get to play along with all kind of light sources at home. And since it's a festive season too, you can unpack all your twinkling lights without the feeling of guilt to be childish.

In general I like to light up various source of light in my apartment (like my cool Bulbing light in my hallway, designed by Studio Cheha from Israel - I blogged about them HERE) - the main pendant lighting is only used when I need a full illumination of my apartment. But in winter time it's all about cocooning and cosiness at home. So light it up, put out your lights and get cosy this weekend - it's the last one before the holidays!

Happy weekend, friends!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

Tweet

Side Effects: Art Prints From The Balkans

Some of you know that my family is of Serbian origin and thus I like to peek to the Balkans from time to time and observe what is happening in the design scene over there. Belgrade has become a sort of center for the Balkans design scene with various cool concept stores like THIS one ore fab design cafés like THIS one. Now the first online store for art prints by Balkan based designers has been launched - Side Effects.

Side Effects has curated a fine selection of large scale art prints by local designers and every print is a carefully created silk screen art print and it comes in a limited series of 100 pieces with a hand-signed serial number. And the collection of art prints is constantly growing and so is the pool of young artists.

When I browsed through their current collection I was particularly drawn to the work entitled 'Layers of Needs' by artist Sandra Milanovic and 'Golden Boy' by Mane Radmanovic. But I also fell for the art print called 'Field of Rhombus' by Danijel Savovic - it looks a bit like a giant sketching in a very orderly and designy manner. Now I wonder: Which one is your favorite art print?

I think we will have to look more often to the southeastern edge of Europe in the future. There is lots of interesting happening there right now, many young, creative people are emerging on the design market and I think we all can handle a little bit of a fresh breeze from the Balkans!

Photography via Side Effects

Tweet

Happy Interior Blog Recommends: Smood

Today's blog post comes with a few excuses and apologies as a preface. First of all, apology for inviting you unintentionally into my messy bed (ooops), excuse me for the chaos and ignore the fact that I have no sheet on my mattress. It all has a meaning. A good one. A very good one. Because the mattress is the leading cast today. Let me introduce you to Smood, my latest revelation to enhance my (too short) sleep hours!

To be honest with you guys: I have never paid attention to my mattress. Frankly, I bought my old one when I moved into my apartment seven years ago and all I did was flip it from one side to the other after a few years in use. So when I was approached by the Home24 team announcing the introduction of a brand new mattress called 'Smood', my passion level was lukewarm. A mattress? What's so special about a mattress? It was not until I watched their fun promotional video (see it below) that my interest was piqued. I wanted to know more!

I will spare you the adventurous story of receiving a huge mattress by mail, but once it was here and up on my bed, a new love story has unfolded. No worries though, this bed story is not risqué at all! By now, I've slept for two weeks on my new Smood mattress and the effect is amazing - believe me or not, I am not saying this because I got the mattress for a test! If it was terrible I would have not mentioned it on my blog at all. But this pretty thing called Smood is doing me good!

The mattress has a foam and gel body and a removable and washable cover and is higher than other mattresses - at least here in Germany. No need to mention that I've slept really well on Smood. But it also keeps me in bed on weekends. Spending late mornings in bed with a nice book (lately that is 'In Detail' by Swedish stylist Hans Blomquist) is a sort of ritual during rainy winter weekends for me.

What's the essence of today's story? Maybe just a little reminder that we should think about our mattress a bit more and put it in focus. After all it's where we lay our tired bodies for a good night's sleep. I won't give away my Smood anymore. No, no, no! It's here to stay!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

This blog post has been brought to you in collaboration with Home24

Tweet

Why This Room Caught My Eye

Yes, it's very festive here in Munich. Yes, Christmas is around the corner. Yet the weather is absolutely dreary and gloomy. I've gone in and out of my apartment in weeks without seeing the sun or the slightest bit of blue in the sky. That is the season when I wish I could go into hibernation - at least for an entire weekend. Staying in bed, pulling the duvet above my head, turning to the other side and neglect and deny the weather outside. A nice and comfy bedroom helps to boost this feeling. Like the one shown above.

This bedroom looks like a place where the dreariest of weathers would turn into a happy idle experience as long as you stayed in bed. Why exactly? Well, here we go:

• Fun Pennant: The fun pennant above the bed has much more meaning than just a decorative one. It reminds us: It's ok to stay in bed from time to time. It really is ok!
• Kilim Cushion: Sweet, playful and perfect to be hugged if nobody else is around. And it is very decorative and pleasant for the eye, this cute kilim cushion.
• Potted Succulent: How about accompanying your next breakfast in bed with a cute potted succulent instead of a flower in a vase? I think it's a pretty awesome idea. And yes, it's ok!

Would you hibernate in this bedroom too?

Photography via Wit & Delight

Tweet

From Place To Space: Room To Dream In Munich

Today I want to take you to my favorite shopping spot in Munich, Germany, to the cute interiors boutique for slow living: 'Room to Dream'. I have already blogged about it quite a while ago, but recently I went to the boutique to style up a few corners and get them photographed by my friend and photographer Lina Skukauske. These are the results of our mutual work.

'Room to Dream' is run by Sabine Stadtherr, a charming lady who welcomes every client with a big smile and sometimes even with a cup of tea and cookies. Currently the entire store boosts with wonderful Christmas decor ideas as well as fantastic gift ideas for the upcoming holidays. One of my insider tips if you are in Munich and still on the look out for Christmas presents: Sabine makes her own collection of chunky knit cushion covers and baskets. Absolutely spot on at the moment and super soft and comfy!

If you love Scandinavian design and Scandinavian interior brands, you should visit 'Room to Dream'. You will find a beautifully curated selection of home accessories, furniture and home textiles for stylish homes. Oh and you can enjoy a warm mug of mulled wine just in front of the store, too. What else can one wish for on a festive shopping spree in Munich?

Room to Dream, Lenbachplatz 7, 80333 München

Photography by Lina Skukauske

Tweet