Happy Interior Blog Recommends: Hunting For George

There are many reasons for a trip to Australia: the ocean, the beaches, summer in winter, the easy going lifestyle. And for interior maniacs like myself: 'Hunting For George'. Truth be told, I discovered the Australian online shop only a few days ago, but it was an instant love affair: the products, the styling, the photography - every detail told me that this online shop is curated with love and passion.

'Hunting For George' was established in 2010 by Melbourne based sisters Jo Harris and Lucy-Glade Wright as a platform for both larger, well established brands as well as smaller, up-and-coming labels from Australia and abroad. I am particularly smitten with their range of homeware. Their latest addition is the fabulous Siesta Collection. It's all about taking a break, escaping and letting the designs fill our homes with plenty of good vibes - yes, they truly are Australians! What's not to love?!

Now while I am getting ready for winter here in Munich (my iPhone forecasts a max of 5 degrees Celsius with rain tomorrow) I am clicking through the amazing 'Hunting For George' website and daydream of an escape to sunny and happy Australia. Thanks for all the good vibes, 'Hunting For George'!

Photography via 'Hunting For George'

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Happy Guest: Design Shopping In Cologne

Hallo liebe Happy Interior Blogger, ich freu mich das ich heute hier bei Igor zu Gast sein darf! Wir kennen uns ja inzwischen schon ein bisschen länger und haben uns in diesem Jahr unter anderem im Januar auf der Möbelmesse in Köln gesehen - doch leider waren wir so viel auf der Messe unterwegs, dass ich gar keine Gelegenheit hatte Igor meine Stadt einmal zu zeigen! Ach ja, ich bin übrigens Ricarda, komme aus Köln und schreibe auf meinem Blog 23qm Stil über alles was die eigenen Quadratmeter schöner macht, über Stil, Design, Reisen und Köln.

Hi there Happy Interior Blog readers, I am happy to be guest blogging on Igor’s blog today. We’ve known each other for quite a while now and met in January at the imm design fair in Cologne alas we were so busy that I had no time to show him around in Cologne. Oh yes, my name is Ricarda, I live in Cologne and I blog at 23qm Stil about everything that makes your own home a more beautiful place like style, design, travels and Cologne.

Aber vielleicht kommt er ja noch mal wieder und dann stöbern wir zusammen durch die tollsten Läden Kölns. Und bis es soweit ist, zeig ich sie Euch heute hier schon mal auf dem Happy Interior Blog.

Well maybe he’ll be back to Cologne soon and we will be thrifting around together. But until then, I will show you some of my favorite stores in Cologne here on Happy Interior Blog.

Einer meiner Lieblingsläden im wunderschönen Agnesviertel ist Agnes & Wulfhilde. Inhaberin Elke war früher in Hamburg zu Hause und hat dort für viele Wohnredaktionen gearbeitet. Das Leben und die Liebe haben sie nach Köln verschlagen und nun findet sie für Agnes & Wulfhilde, dem Laden schöner Dinge, Möbel und Wohnaccessoires und setzt sie wirkungsvoll in Szene.

One of my favorite shops in the quaint Agnes Quarter is Agnes & Wulfhilde. Owner Elke used to live in Hamburg and worked for various interiors publications. Life and love have steered her to Cologne where she sources beautiful products, furniture and homewares for her store.

agnes & wulfhilde | Laden schöner Dinge | Schillingstraße 14, 50670 Köln

Weiter geht es ins Belgische Viertel. Hier ist DROOM zu Hause. DROOM steht für Design your Room und hier bekommt Ihr Möbel, Leuchten und Raumgestaltungselemente, die Ihr selber gestalten könnt. Dafür halten Katja und Ann, die diese tolle Idee hatten, unzählige Muster bereit. Auf dem Bild seht Ihr zum Beispiel unterschiedliche Leuchten mit den tollsten Mustern. Die Quahl der Wahl, aber eine unglaublich tolle Idee! Das ganze geht übrigens auch online, falls Ihr für Köln keine Zeit habt!

Next stop is the Belgian Quarter. That’s the home base of DROOM. DROOM stands for ‘design your room’ and features furniture, lighting, and interior design elements that can be individually designed by the purchaser. The picture shows a selection of colourful pendants with various patterns – a real agony of choice but so fun! All this is available online too if you can’t make it to Cologne.

DROOM / DESIGN YOUR ROOM | Brüsseler Str. 79 | 50672 Köln

Köln hat viele schöne Veedel, also Stadtviertel, aber in Ehrenfeld findet man besonders viele tolle Läden rund ums Wohnen. Einer davon ist Exquisit. In einer alten Lagerhalle verkauft Marcel Möbel mit Charakter und Geschichte, die er in Holland, Belgien, Frankreich und Deutschland kauft und liebevoll aufarbeitet. Ständig verändert sich etwas, altes verschwindet und Neues konnt hinzu - einer meiner absoluten Lieblingsläden!

Cologne is compiled of many beautiful ‚Veedel‘ meaning quarters, but Ehrenfeld is the best spot for interior stores. One of those stores is Exquisit. Marcel sells vintage furniture with character and history in the halls of an old factory. He sources the products in Holland, Belgium, France and Germany and refurbishes them on his own. The store is in constant change, pieces are sold and new come in – one of my absolute favorites!

                         Exquisit | Inneneinrichtung & mehr | Fröbelplatz 13 |50823 Köln

Euch ist nicht nach Shopping, sondern eher nach Kultur? Dann solltet Ihr unbedingt das Museum für angewandte Kunst, das MAKK, ganz in der Nähe des Kölner Doms besuchen.

Besonders interessant ist die Ausstellung Kunst + Design im Dialog. In der Design Abteilung trefft Ihr auf Design-Klassiker und (Kunst) Ikonen des 20. Jahrhunderts.

You’re not so much into shopping but rather you fancy culture? Then head to the museum for applied arts, the MAKK, close to the Dome of Cologne. Especially interesting is the exhibit ‘Kunst + Design im Dialog’. The design section features design classics and iconic art of the 20^th century.

MAKK | An der Rechtschule | 50667 Köln

Müde und hungrig nach der langen Shoppingtour? Dann kann ich Euch Metzgerei und Salon Schmitz auf der Aachener Straße empfehlen. Vintage Möbel, sehen und gesehen werden und leckerstes Essen - hier trifft sich Köln den ganzen Tag und besonders Abends!

Tired and hungry after the shopping spree? Then I can recommend the restaurants Metzgerei and Salon Schmitz on the Aachener Street. Vintage furniture, see and be seen and delicious food – this is the favorite meeting point for Cologne locals, day and night!

                         Metzgerei & Salon Schmitz | Aachener Straße 28 | 50674 Köln

Ich hoffe die kleine Köln Tour hat Euch gefallen! Und falls Ihr mal hier seid, twitter mich gerne an @23qmstil! Dann treffen wir uns im Salon Schmitz auf einen Kaffee!

I hope you enjoyed the little Cologne tour. And if you happen to visit the city, send me a tweet to @23qmstil and we’ll have a coffee in Salon Schmitz!

Tschö (wie man in Köln sagt/the local version of ‚bye‘),

Ricarda

Photography by Ricarda Nieswandt

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5 Happy Inspirations: Double The Fun!

Sometimes five is not enough. You know, five cookies, five candies, five pieces of chocolate, five vases or five cushions. Sometimes in life we have to double the fun. After I'd visited the revamped online shop Ebury Home & Garden again, I found another proof of my doubling theory. I knew this has to go on the blog for my '5 Happy Inspirations' post, the only problem was: how to pick five goodies out of this plethora of visual amazement for happy homes?

Well as you can see, I couldn't do it and eventually I had to double the fun. So today you're enjoying five times two happy inspirations from Ebury Home & Garden. I love the rustic feel of the homewares, the pretty pale pink ceramics, the delicate vases, the natural baskets…oh there's so much happiness there! You better check for yourself! Happy browsing!

Photography via Ebury Home & Garden

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5 Happy Inspirations: Nautical Homeware

Imagine a soft sea breeze, salty air, the light scent of pines, soft sand under your feet and the repetitious sound of crushing waves - nothing beats a walk along the beach. But even if you happen to live far away from the sea and the beach you are not doomed to merely fantasize - bring that nautical feel of a maritime sojourn to your home with home accessories. In today's '5 Happy Inspirations' I've compiled a few nautical home goodies to add that touch of seaside feeling into your home. 

Which goodie could make it into your happy home?

P.S. Have you noticed the new 'click & shop' experience? Just scroll over the photography above and links will lead you directly to the online shops of the goodies!

Photography: 1. via Anthropologie; 2. via Lacrimosa Design; 3. via Moon Garden (as seen on decor8); 4. via Human Empire Shop; 5. via Wantful.

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Blogs & Coffee Munich: Design Fun Part Two

Ten days ago I invited 30 German lifestyle bloggers to Munich for a weekend full of fun, design, shopping and networking. Last week I covered the first part of our 'Blogs & Coffee' weekend HERE, today I want to share the rest of our discoveries with you.

As one of three hosts it was my duty to scout nice and cool locations in Munich in order to present the Bavarian capital as a thriving design hub in southern Germany. But let me take you step by step on our blogger tour. 

Saturday afternoon was reserved for discovering some of my favorite interior design stores and cafés in the lively Glockenbach quarter. First, I took my blogger friends to my favorite boutique 'Ladoug'. This is a real gem in downtown Munich. Small, intimate, full of beautifully curated homewares, mostly vintage and handcrafted, scouted by the charming owner Andrea Douglas. Not only will you dive into a dreamy world when entering the boutique, but the owner will also tell you one or two anecdotes from her trips around the globe in order to find these fine home decoration goodies. My secret favorite: the vintage Moroccan wedding cushions.

Later on we continued to a kooky store bursting with industrial and vintage finds called 'Delikatessen'. This is the place to head to if you look for one-of-a-kind vintage furniture pieces, local designs, fine ceramics, industrial pendants. We literally fell in like a horde into the store and snapped our way along. 

A short coffee and cake break was squeezed in at the beautiful organic 'Kranz Café' before we headed to a new concept store in the Schwabing area called 'Weissglut'. Weissglut means 'incandecence' in German and you will reach a state of glowing when you roam through the super stylish concept store with carefully selected homeware pieces, home textiles and fashion in the basement. The owner is a friendly chap and will tell you about the idea if asked. So head to this cool store if you happen to be in Munich. Dinner was organized in the über-cool restaurant 'Theresa'. Since it was too dark for nice pics, see my blog post about the restaurant HERE to have an idea of how stylish it is (and yummy by the way). 

Sunday morning marked our farewell breakfast in the dreamy-white café 'White Rabbit's Room'. Easy to decode, the theme is based on the world famous Alice in Wonderland story. A white washed interior, exposed bulbs, wooden furniture, colourful tableware and yummy food - all good reasons to stop by and have a break in the Haidhausen area. Plus, a little store completes the café for those who fall in love with the accessories and tableware.

So, isn't this all super enticing? Don't you want to jump to Munich for a quick visit? 

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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5 Happy Inspirations: Bodie And Fou

Hello friends! After a few days without blogging I am back and full with new inspirations and ideas for more happiness at home. Some of you might know that I spent the last weekend in London attending the 'Meet The Blogger' conference. I had the great honour to finally meet one of my favorite stylists and shop owners in person, Karine Candice Kong of the sublime 'Bodie and Fou' online store. We laughed along, chatted along and I can say - we really clicked! 

For quite a while I was actually flirting with the exquisite linen beddings from 'Bodie and Fou'. The new colour range finally made me give in - I've order the blue linen bedding for more morning happiness in my bed! So I thought it might be a cool idea to share my five favorite finds from the new spring/summer 2013 range of 'Bodie and Fou'. So here they are. Oh, and don't forget to tell me what is your favorite?

1. Natural Basket; 2. Blue linen bedding; 3. Wooden chopping boards; 4. Orange wire pendant light; 5. Turquoise industrial stool 'Have a Seat'.

Happy hump day!

Photography via Bodie and Fou

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From Place To Space: BlogTour London

When it comes to world metropolises, the good thing is you can go back there over and over again and find new inspiration. Well that rule certainly applies to London. I've been many times to London but ever new time is over again a revelation. So I was pretty sure I will get back with loads of ideas and new tips for you after the fabulous BlogTour. Ok, I promise we will round things up this week with my ongoing BlogTour coverage. But there is just so much to share with you. A sunset cruise on the Thames, loads of design, inviting shops and yummy markets. Here we go.

Despite of our tough BlogTour schedule we had some free time to use to discover some corners of London by ourselves. Well, a great invitation to the Conran Shop Party was reason enough to head over to the fab flagship store and enjoy  yummy cocktails and great furniture design - moreover, we all celebrated the famous Conran red with our dear hosts. The next morning we surely needed a good brunch - luckily our dear sponsor Mr. Steam took us to Bill's, a great venue for feasty brunches.

In between great design shows such as 100% Design we used the little gaps for shopping marathons. I prepped up properly by asking my London blogger friend Will to take me to some great stores and we visited Summerill & Bishop and Ben Pentreath Ltd. Both stores great addresses for amazing homewares and utilities in simple yet striking designs. 

After that we headed to the Dock to visit the Tom Dixon store and the London pop-up store of Paris based super brand Merci. There were too many temptations so the way back was way more difficult - after all, we were loaded with shopping bags. 

But it is not only design and homewares that make me go all weak and inspire me. It is food markets, too. Luckily, our hotel was just around the corner of the famous Borough Market and believe me, a sunny Saturday morning at the market is just the right thing to do - just make sure to come hungry! 

That's it for today, friends. Let us start a great week with these images and inspiration. 

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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Happy Guest: Bright Bazaar

Hello, Happy Interior Blog readers! It's so fun to be guest blogging here today whilst Igor escapes to sunnier climes! My name is Will and I blog daily over at Bright.Bazaar about all things colourful and eclectic in interiors. I thought it would be fun to replicate one of Igor's fab regular features, Five Happy Inspirations, so here are my top five Must Haves of the moment:

1. I'm pretty sure my heart skips a beat each and every time I see the Wilmot sofa in the window of my local Habitat store. The Scandinavian simplicity appeals to my urge to keep key pieces of furniture pared-back - I like to use them as a canvas to add lots of colourful brights. Rest assured, if this piece made it into my Bright.Bazaar home, it would soon be acquainted with a pile of vibrant textiles. I'm thinking hot pink or yellow would be a match made in sofa heaven!

2. Another Habitat lust item is their Saunders rubber pendant, which I've been crushing on since I saw it at their press show in the height of the summer. The use of rubber makes the piece all the more interesting as you expect it to be metal at first glance. I also like how it has a light filter underneath to produce a softer pool of light.

3. I discovered Baines & Fricker at TENT London during London Design Festival and their take on the fruit crate is a winner in my book. I love how they've used both type and colour to create a striking graphic effect.

4. I've been waiting a while for Robert's radio to release one of their Retro Revival radios in a colour I could get down with. Well, their Mustard Yellow Radio certainly ticks that box, I love it.

5. To me, scrolling through School House Electric's emporium of lighting and office goodies is as enjoyable as being in a candy store is for a kid. The brand's yellow clock is hand assembled in Portland, Oregon and the second hand moves continuously - a must for me as I'm not a fan of ticking clocks in an office!

Thanks for reading, folks. If you like, you can find more colourful inspiration from me on my blog | facebook | twitter | pinterest.

Mr. Bazaar, aka Will

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New Collection: Mariska Meijers

She's just back from the famous Maison & Objet design show in Paris where she presented a vivid colour injection for truly happy homes - I speak of Amsterdam based designer Mariska Meijers. Now since I couldn't make it to the Paris Maison & Objet and the London Design Festival in one month, I asked Mariska to send me some pics of her new collection that comprises textiles and tray tables.

The visual impact of the 'Jungle Fever' collection is striking - the design seems to mix ethnic patterns with spacey lines and ties it together with flashy colours. For those who love a more traditional approach, the Ikat line is just right. Whether it's the micro Ikat print or the arty painted Ikats with warm shades - happiness for the sofa or bed is guaranteed!

For more pieces and information check out Mariska's colourful website. And now go and get some colours to brighten up this Thursday!

Photography via Mariska Meijers

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Disney Happiness For The Home

Here in Munich, I enjoy a great advantage. I live downtown and there are many interior decoration and homeware stores just around the corner. One of them is Butlers, a German home & interior store, that has spread its wings to the UK and other countries recently. Truth be told, it keeps distracting me whenever I am on the way home after work - I always have to take a little tour just to grasp some inspiration from their lovely displays and table settings.  

When I heard that they are launching a new Disney collection for the home, I was all ears. The Disney characters have been the heroes of my childhood so I was imagining a renewed friendship on plates, mugs, totes. So here is just a little sneak peek of the upcoming collection that will be available from August 27 in stores and online, including kitchenware, home accessories and gift goods.

Moreover, Butlers is organising a great in-store event with a Disney illustrator in Germany, Austria and the UK. I will attend the Munich event and secure my own, bespoke Disney illustration. If you fancy one too, make sure to check it out in these cities: Cologne (August 28), Munich (August 30), Vienna (August 31), Berlin (September 3), Hamburg (September 5), London/Notting Hill Gate (September 6).

Make sure to come back here after the Munich event - I will be sharing some pics with you! Happy Tuesday!

Photography via Butlers

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Happily Ever After: 'Sarjaton' by Iittala

I have many times admitted that I love ceramics, tableware, glassware, anything designed and made thoughtfully, with love and passion for form, function and emotions. The Finnish brand Iittala has always managed to fulfill these criteria and make me happy with their fine products. Now I am eagerly waiting for their brand-new 'Sarjaton' collection which will be launched in September. If you haven't seen it yet, watch this little video to understand my delight and happiness.

I wish you all a very happy & sunny Friday!

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