Snapshots From Home

June has commenced and I am wishing you all a happy new month! This month will be a very busy one and packed with travels. I will be off to Paris on Wednesday to attend the presentation of the new Habitat collection and discover a few new spots in the French capital. Next weekend I will be off to London with my Urban Jungle Bloggers partner-in-crime Judith to speak at Blogtacular about our green and thriving community. Then I am off to Amsterdam, Austria and back to Paris. In such busy times I love to save some rare but precious moments at home and unwind. Oh well, and enjoy some new little additions bien sûr!

I will not bore you with my future trips now, I will do that after the trip, ha! But for now I just want to  share some little snapshots of my home with you (yes, still the same small shoebox apartment). I have added a few new 'tchotchkes' to my home which I really like! Recently I've been e-thrifting and managed to score a few goodies like two vintage ceramic vases (mid-century German pottery) and a cute brass crane figurine - all found on eBay. I have also potted my new mini plants from Bordeaux (you remember from HERE) and the Sedum plant is now in my 'evil eye' planter, handmade by the potter Leandro Marcelino of 'Hey Camel Bazaar' in Vietnam.

For the scent of a comfy home I have opened the brand new KOTO scent diffuser which is perfect for summer as I tend to reduce my candle burning during the hot season. The diffuser is perfect as it scents the apartment gently and it looks pretty stylish. For candle lovers there is now a small KOTO candle too, all available through Skandinavisk.

Maybe you remember the motto I preach for small home dwelling: One in - one out. With all the recent additions it's time to restore the good balance which I will do by donating a huge pile of home goodies for free to a local flea market that will be organized on June 13th in Munich and all earnings will then be donated for earthquake relief in Nepal. That makes me double happy!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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The Poster Club x Silke Bonde

Sometimes there is this feeling when you see something and you say: match made in heaven! Well here we go with one of those examples, maybe in this case it's a match made in poster heaven. Denmark based The Poster Club has launched two new posters created by the fantastic Copenhagen based artist Silke Bonde.

The two watercolour art prints called 'Cove' and 'Leaf me' are exclusively made for The Poster Club and come in a limited edition of 300 signed prints. So, if you want one of these two beauties you better hurry up and go to The Poster Club and secure yourself one signed art print.

Silke Bonde's work is wonderfully light and airy - her art seems as elusive as a fresh breeze and as invigorating as cold waters. And on top of it all, it just looks amazing. Having said this, my heart goes out to the art print 'Cove'. What about you?

Photos by Enok Holsegård, styling by Sofie Brünner

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How To Create A Moodboard

Yesterday I presented my first moodboard ever on my Facebook page and Instagram account. It was a little collaboration with Farrow & Ball including a giveaway - so if you need 10 liters of good Farrow & Ball paint of your choice, make sure to leave a comment HERE. When I was asked to do the moodboard I felt challenged - because I have never done a moodboard but I admire all the talented people out there who manage to pin down their ideas in a visual and inspiring moodboard. So this was reason enough to take on the challenge!

The starting point was quickly set - I had a certain collection of images in mind that I had pinned over the past few weeks on my Pinterest account. I recalled that they all had a similar vibe - an earthy, slightly moody, slightly boho touch. The dominating colours were darker hues of blue and earthy tones like terracotta, clay and raw leather. These images also symbolized my love for ceramics, for handmade pieces, the perfection in the imperfection. I had a story in mind of a life we create with our hands, made from the soil we walk on. It is a feeling of being rooted, belonging to where you are, and creating with your hands. This story unfolded in my mind when I settled down to start the moodboard.

Then I started collecting pieces that I had at home. Images, ceramics, stones, felt swatches, dried flowers, driftwood, twine, bowls and a the lids of three little paint pots by Farrow & Ball - I opted for the colours Stiffkey Blue, Cook's Blue and Book Room Red. I laid out everything on a white cardboard and started shuffling and removing pieces. This is the really fun and interesting part. I felt challenged and that was the point when I asked for some professional advice by my dear friend, fellow blogger, trend expert and moodboard genius Gudy Herder of Eclectic Trends.

She was a wonderful mentor giving me helpful advice how to bring my moodboard to life. I worked on and voilà - I felt I accomplished the task. It is not perfect but my perfection lies in life's imperfections. And I am happy about it!

If you like moodboards too and feel inspired, I have great news: Gudy is sharing her knowledge in an e-course as of June 2015. I have already enrolled to follow the e-course and master my moodboard skills. You can find all relevant information HERE. And if you sign up for the Eclectic Trends newsletter, you might get the chance of a discount for the e-course - sign up HERE.

See you in the e-course!!

Photography: First image by Igor Josifovic, others by Gudy Herder

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Welcome To At{Mine}

If you are a regular reader of my blog or you follow me on one of my social media accounts, you will know that I am an eager user and fan of the new London based online interiors community at{mine}. In fact I've been a beta member from the very beginning and blogged about it back then (read it HERE). Not only do I love to share pictures of my home on at{mine}, I also love to peek into other creative homes and discover how people live in their homes. By now, many of my friends and leading interior bloggers have joined the beta community. And right now, at{mine} has launched its brand new site with many new features and a fantastic new look & feel - both on desktop and mobile.

The interiors community at{mine} is all about real homes. It showcases peeks into real people's homes as well as inspiring brands and their stylings. Users can also tag certain items in their homes and thus help others to find furniture and home decor pieces they like. But above all it inspires you to create and recreate your home and share it with likeminded people who respond and feedback.

The new sites features great functionalities like a search option to look for certain users or categories, the explore section gives you a fantastic overview of all available categories and lets you thus delve into inspiration hunting according to your needs. You can like and comment on pictures and add items that you like to your wish list.

The new at{mine} community is still in beta phase but will launch officially very soon. However, as my dear Happy Interior Blog readers you are very welcome to join me and many other inspiring people on at{mine} right now by using THIS INVITE.

See you at{mine}!

Photography via at{mine}, living room image with dog at{Carolina V}, 

sofa image at{Rebecca Guss}

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Urban Jungle Bloggers: My Plant Gang & Airbnb Apartment In Bordeaux

This month's Urban Jungle Bloggers topic comes a bit earlier than usually. Which included a major challenge for me - I was on vacation until last Sunday in France. Consequently I had no time to style up and shoot my plant gang at home. But you know, challenges trigger creativity, right? So instead of making night pictures at my home, I simply decided to share my plant gang at home away from home - in the fantastic airbnb apartment where I was staying in Bordeaux, France. So today's Urban Jungle Bloggers post is about my Bordeaux-bound plant gang and a little home tour. On y va!

The idea to set my plant gang into the airbnb apartment in Bordeaux was triggered the very first moment when I entered the apartment. I loved its light flooded rooms, the minimal styling, the magnificent old wooden flooring and there was one large plant in the living room - a big and healthy Pachira tree. But one plant is not a gang, right? On the other hand, an Urban Jungle Blogger is not a simple tourist, but one that visits plant shops too, right? Thus one morning I found myself exploring a plant shop in the neighborhood and doing my way of 'souvenir shopping' - I got myself some nice plants.

I was beyond happy to find two plants that I had on my wish list for quite a while (I mentioned them in our interview on The Sill) - I bought a cute pink Sedum rubrotinctum and an Aeonium cyclops (both of which I brought back to Munich). I also bought a tiny Lithops plant, a Nerium oleander and what I think to be a Gilt Edge plant. Voilà my plant gang at home away from home!

The airbnb apartment in Bordeaux was a perfect choice for my city trip. It is located in the city's old town overlooking a lively square, the Place du Palais with magnificent building. The apartment features an airy living room with an integrated kitchen, a bright bedroom, a small corner room and a second mezzanine bedroom plus a bathroom and restroom. I loved all the old details in the apartment: the already mentioned wooden flooring with its outstanding pattern, the high ceilings and plastering, the beautiful windows, the old brass window handles - in one word, this will be my place of choice again if I return to Bordeaux one day. Soon I will share more about this beautiful city in the southwest of France. In the meantime I am off to see all your plant gangs!

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series initiated by 2 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board and keep up-to-date on our website and Facebook page. Want to join? Use #urbanjunglebloggers on Twitter and Instagram. Or let us know and we'll share the badge and upcoming topics with you. Let's bring some green into your homes and blogs!

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Illustrator Zoë More O'Ferrall

Creative people are one of the sources of inspiration I love (their work and their homes). I do not consider myself too creative as I am not executing a creative job per se - I am not a designer, an architect, a potter, a textile designer, an illustrator. Those creative minds inspire me to seek more creativity in my daily life and try to see things from a different perspective.

One of those creative minds I had the honor to meet shortly during our Bloggers Tour in London last March. Zoë More O'Ferrall is a London based commercial illustrator and has a very distinct, quirky style that makes me smile in an instant. When I heard that our friends from at{mine} teamed up with her for the Bloggers Tour London, I was excited to say at least. When I heard that she is going to illustrate our tour, I was very excited.

Zoë has worked for major names like the Vogue, The Times, Mr Porter, New York Times Magazine, Harrods and many more. Now imagine how humble I felt that she also set her pen onto paper to illustrate my face among others!? Ha, I love the outcome! I think we all look very cool as illustrations (I felt the urge to shave afterwards obviously LOL)  and the map perfectly captures our busy but super exciting London Design Bloggers Tour.

See more of Zoë's work HERE.

Image and illustration via Zoë More O'Ferrall

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Spring Getaway To Lake Como

This week is packed with travel posts (as I am traveling simultaneously) so after the last blog post from Palermo I am taking you up north to the other end of Italy: to the magic Lake Como. A few weeks ago I spent three days at the famous Lago di Como (and please don't ask me if I met George Clooney. In fact I had an espresso with him) as part of a workshop for Ikea. Workshop sounds like work and it was. Yet, I had some time to explore the beauties of Lake Como.

Spring at the Lake Como is truly enchanting. Everything is in bloom, it smells divine, it is warm and sunny. Even though this is a lake and not the Mediterranean, it already feels very mediterranean with the lush vegetation, beautiful, colourful villas and little boats. However this lake is not a tiny one, in fact it is pretty large and stretches from north to south over 46 kilometers whereas its width is rather small and makes it ever charming as you can always have a look at the villages and towns tucked on the opposite hillside.

I was staying in the far south of the lake in a picturesque village called Cernobbio, not far away from the name-giving town of Como. Since free time was short during my trip, I only made it with the ferry up to the serene and almost dormant village of Torno. It was so nice to walk around without a plan, discovering narrow alleyways, smelling the flowers, eating ice cream - and all this with my two good friends and fellow bloggers Ricarda from Germany and Sarah from Canada. We had lots of fun!

Lake Como is located pretty close to Milano so it is absolutely worth a prolonged weekend trip to enjoy sunshine, nature, good food and cruising this beautiful lake. A la prossima, ragazzi!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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