Why This Room Caught My Eye

Today's post is a great example to showcase that it doesn't take loads of furniture, numerous design pieces and an impeccably styled interior to catch my eye - and hopefully your eye too. The latest house tour over on Apartment Therapy is a couple's home in Portland, Oregon, and it stands out because it is full with character: with the owner's obvious love for nature and greens and a liking of mid-century design and a easy-going interior style.

I've consciously picked a shot of their home that is rather unspectacular in the sense that it doesn't clearly show a specific room - it is just a peek-through through a door into a room which seems to be the bedroom. And yet it captures my attention with a few simple elements:

• House Plants: The selection of robust, easy-to-care house plants like the monstera deliciosa and the rubber plant is a great way to add visual interest to a room. They look very sculptural and cause the least plant care. Plus they are smartly places - one to the left-hand side leading the eye to the rear of the room with the wild monstera cascading down from a closet.
• Kilim Rug: You must admit - a colorful kilim rug always catches the eye's attention. Place a long, rectangular vintage kilim rug as seen here to give visual guidance and invite the eye into the room.
• Wooden Floor: This 'basic' is a safe eye-catcher - wooden floors always get my attention as they create an instant homey and warm feeling. After many years in an apartment with real wooden parquet, I can not imagine myself in a home with laminate or other synthetic flooring. I just can't. 

Are you the 'simple interior' kind of person or do you prefer a more styled home? I am curious!

Photography by Jaclyn Campanaro via Apartment Therapy

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Schoolhouse Electric: Get A Hipster Home!

Last Tuesday I took you to Portland, Oregon, the so-called capital of hipsters. Now, if my pictures haven't been proof enough, hold on - I have the coolest address to make your home a hipster home! Schoolhouse Electric is a Portland based treasury for hip furniture, home accessories, lighting fixtures and hardware. The product range is carefully curated and has a great hipster vibe to it, don't you agree?

Their online store is a constant 'click-teaser' - you will be repeatedly tempted to hit the buy button while browsing their cool collection. The overarching vibe is probably typical for the Pacific Northwest: It is a tad vintage yet contemporary, it is cool yet unpretentious, urban yet natural, and everything seems to be rooted and balanced. No frills, no fuss. Just plain cool style. 

I couldn't help but curate a little collection of my personal favorites. These would definitely make my home a hipster home. Ok, maybe I would grow a mustache and get a tattoo, too. How about you? 

Photography via Schoolhouse Electric

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From Place To Space: Going to Hipsterville - Portland, Oregon

Due to yesterday's blog birthday and book giveaway, this week's 'From Place To Space' post makes its appearance on an unusual Tuesday. But nonetheless I will make sure this yet another inspiring virtual trip to a new city. Today you are very welcome to join me to Hipsterville, the capital of hipsters, tattoos, moustaches and beards: Welcome to Portland, Oregon!

The City of Roses
Portland was my second stop on my Canada & USA trip mid September and early October. Since I was traveling the Pacific Northwest it was a must to go and visit Portland, the vibrant and cool city on the northern tip of Oregon. Some bare facts first: Portland is a rather small city. Very walkable or better yet easy to discover by bikes. It is also THE most bike-friendly city in the United States. The Willamette river divides the city into two parts which are interconnected with numerous bridges. Portland is also supposed to be one of the most optimistic places in the world with a very cool and relaxed lifestyle. It also is the hometown of the inimitable Kinfolk Magazine. It also is a foodie's heaven with a thriving food scene and great restaurants tucked away in various corners of the city and many food carts serving yummy food to-go. It is known for its numberless microbrews, so beer fans will feel like in heaven too, as will coffee lovers. It is nicknamed 'The City of Roses' and features one of the oldest open parks in the US with a fabulous International Rose Test Garden with more than 7.500 different roses. Sounds good, right?

Portland's Aces
I settled in Portland for four nights in the highly hyped Ace Hotel. The hotel is perfectly located in the city center and features a very Portlandian cool vibe - it feels almost like a hipster youth hostel for the cool crowd. Moreover it holds two more aces - the epitomized coffee place 'Stumptown Coffee' and a fabulous restaurant named 'Clyde Common'. Both highly recommendable. Coffee places are paramount in town so make sure you roam around and try all the different coffees as well. Opposite of the hotel is a brand new shopping passage called 'Union Way' with some very cool shops for fashion, interiors, food and sweets. I visited another very cool store at Union Way, but I will share it in a separate blogpost soon. Next doors to the hotel is also the delicious 'Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen' with luscious Jewish delicatessen and famed for its cured meats - make sure you're really hungry when you go there! Even book lovers just need to take a one minute walk to arrive at the fantastic 'Powell's City of Book', the largest independent store for new and used books worldwide. I spent like an entire evening there and left loaded with new and vintage books!

Keep Portland Weird
What attracted me most to Portland? I think it's the lifestyle in general. It was the first American city where I experienced such a relaxed, urban lifestyle, impromptu gatherings and performances on the streets, and an honest and refreshing friendliness of its people. A typical Pacific Northwest phenomenon is how the city liaises urban life with the vast surrounding nature. It is a short drive away from the wild Oregon Pacific coast as well as from the high, densly-wooded peaks of the Cascade Range. Go and see both! I will share more on the surroundings later on the blog. And when people say 'keep Portland weird' I will strongly agree if it means that the city stays as cool as it is. Or weird for that matter.

More Good Places
The problem with cities where you feel like almost every place you visited is recommendable, is how to break it down in one blogpost. Anyways, here are just a few more recommendable places if you ever happen to be in Portland: Mother's Bistro, Olympic Provisions, Barista, Voodoo Doughnuts (be prepared for queuing), Canoe for interior design lovers, Quin for the sweet thooths among you. If you have more recommendations, share them in the comment section.

Happy Tuesday, folks!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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From Place To Space: Go West - Portland

After my holiday announcements for San Francisco and Seattle, it is time to tell you also about my planned visit to the birthplace of hipsters and Kinfolk magazine, to über-cool Portland in Oregon. I am so so excited to visit this city as it's been on my travel wish list for quite a long time. 

I am equally excited as I will be staying in one of the coolest hotels in town - the ACE Hotel. The hotel is known for its cool design where each room has its own character and style. Moreover, it hosts the fab restaurant Clyde Common and is perfectly located to discover Portland by foot. Or bike for that matter, as the hotel offers free bikes to its guests. Yay!

Located in downtown Portland, it is just around the corner of the world's largest bookstore Powell's Books and the Northwest Pacific's landmark coffee shop Stumptown Coffee. They also serve Stumptown French Press for breakfast and that is all my coffee loving heart needs to know. Most everything served in the hotel is locally sourced or homemade, so another big plus for the ace among Portland hotels.

I can't wait to stay there soon and will make sure to report back here on the blog about my personal experience in the Ace Hotel and Portland in general. 

By the way, I will also travel to Vancouver in Canada, but I am short of pics of the cool airbnb home where I will be staying, so I will report on Vancouver upon my return.

Happy week, friends!

Photography: Print via Etsy, hotel pics by Jeremy Pelley and John Mark Sorum for Ace Hotel

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