Cute Airbnb Garden Cabin In Seattle

Sometimes you need friends to remind you of great moments in your life. Like today: My friend Bradford, who I met in Seattle last year, tweeted and asked me to share my Seattle airbnb apartment with another mutual friend, Erin. I did so and I was instantly reminded that I wanted to share that super cute garden cabin with all of you too. You know, maybe the one or the other will go to Seattle one day or you will be inspired to transform your garden hut into a stylish cabin. Up to you! So here we roll!

I always wanted to travel to Seattle and last year in September the time has come to discover the 'Emerald City' (I blogged about it HERE). And since I love to feel at home wherever I am, I preferred to stay in an airbnb apartment. After a short research I stumbled over this fabulous garden cabin in the lovely Capitol Hill district of Seattle. And it was a great decision to book it!

First of all you have the full privacy to yourself. The cabin was fully equipped with a kitchen, bathroom/toilet, washing room and living/sleeping space with a comfy bed nook. Trust me, I was not sleepless in Seattle. It was carefully styled and placed in the middle of the garden of beautiful building in the leafy Capitol Hill quarter. In walking distance I found myself in the bustling heart of Capitol Hill with trendy restaurants, cafés, shops. 

Seattle left a wonderful impression on me. It was such a fresh, invigorating city with a great, outdoorsy lifestyle and easy-going people. You can grab a coffee wherever you are, you can breathe in the fresh air of the Pacific Northwest and enjoy water views all around. Fingers crossed that I'll get back there one day!

P.S. I've shared yet another inspiring home story on Roombeez - it's the home of a friend and interior stylist & blogger. Check it out!

Happy weekend, friends!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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From Place To Space: Escape To The Mountains

A little novelty on my blog: These words I am typing in a hotel room in Berlin. But I will tell you more about my design blogger tour in Berlin soon. Today I am daydreaming myself away - into the nature. And I hope you will follow along just for the sake of a refreshing Monday thought before we kick off the long and busy week. Last Monday I invited you over to the seaside and gave you an idea why the seaside inspires me so much and even has an effect on my own interior styling at home. Today I want to take you to another favorite spot in nature - to a little escape to the mountains.

When I traveled the Pacific Northwest in September and October this year, I couldn't help but take in all those precious moments in the mountains and emerald forests. The evergreens seem to underline the meaning of their name on every step I took - green from the mountain slopes to the Pacific shore. During my time in the Pacific Northwest I decided to visit three landmark peeks in the region: Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood and Mount Rainier.

First on my stop was the famous volcano Mount St. Helens in southern Washington State. Mount St. Helens gained a worldwide reputation after its enormous eruption in 1980. The area has since recovered and is a vast, mostly uninhabited national park with endless views of evergreen forests and a wild mountain river. 

Mount Hood is the landmark mountain of Portland, Oregon. On clear days you can see his hood-like and snow-capped peek from the city of Portland - a wonderful and inspiring city by the way, I blogged about it HERE. When I drove up to Mount Hood it was a pretty cloudy day and it hid his peek in heavy clouds and fog was moving in and out in minutes. It was amazing and very cold - however I took a little hike up on its slopes and enjoyed the views of wild blueberries, other forest berries and all kinds of ferns and evergreens. To warm up I went to the widely known Timberline Lodge for a little gourmet break with a plate of local cheeses and a hot coffee to round things up - do you recognize the lodge? It used to be the scary 'Overlook Hotel' from the iconic movie 'The Shining' where Jack Nicholson went mad - but I can reassure you, it is not creepy at all. Ok maybe just a bit when the fog moves in. And no, there is no labyrinth in front of the hotel:-)

Last but not least I went up to Mount Rainier, another volcano and probably the most known mountain peek in Washington State with an altitude of almost 4.400 meters. The Mount Rainier national park is a good hour drive away from Seattle and covers a vast area of wild nature beauty including 26 glaciers, a museum, lodges and hiking trails. Here again I was hiking up the trails to take in all the wild and thriving nature and feel the endless power and inspiring forces of the nature surrounding us.

Does nature inspire you and your home? I brought lots of clear mountain crystals back home from the volcanic peeks of the Pacific Northwest and felt inspired to add more greens to my home. I hope it does inspire you at least a bit, too. I wish you a great start to a hopefully very happy week! Hugs all around!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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From Place To Space: San Francisco - Part Two

What better way to start a new Monday than with travel and fun? After last week's first coverage of my recent San Francisco trip, here comes the second part of my happy voyage. Today I would like to focus on some shops, restaurants and cafés - just to give you a bit more of the unique flavor of the city by the bay.

I was a lucky duck cause I had local guides who showed me around and gave me real insider tips - Jordan of Oh Happy Day, Ana of Fluxi on Tour, Einat of Design Break Blog and Jeanne of Shop Sweet Things took me out on two subsequent days and made my trip not only cool but excellent. Thank you ladies!

To begin with, let me name a few areas that are sort of hot spots for shopping fans: Valencia Street in the Mission, Filmore Street close to Pacific Heights, the Ferry Building in Embarcadero, and Hayes Valley. But let me tell you about a few places that inspired me most. Off record: Don't miss the popular Lombard Street, also known as the crooked street, it is really lovely and the view of the city from up there is beautiful. Try to zoom out the hordes of tourists though. 

If you love a sort of curiosity shop with unique décor elements, lots of natural goodies like home plants and crystals, you will enjoy Paxton Gate on Valencia Street. It is like a curiosity cabinet and unlike any other store I've visited before. Of course, I was totally smitten by all the greens and bought an air plant and a vintage plant pot.

On the same street you will discover a pretty new store that is actually two stores in one. Until recently, Little Paper Planes and the Owl Cave were online stores but both owners united their forces and opened up their first mutual store in the vibrant Mission district. A fabulous assortment of fine homeware, books and magazines, handmade jewelry, fashion and body care products make it difficult to leave the store empty-handed. Here again, I bought a SF based magazine and some presents for a friend. 

Just opposite is Aggregate Supply, yet another cool store with home décor, home textiles, fashion and cosmetics - great to buy unique pieces just like my cast iron whale bookends. If you feel exhausted, you will find lots of great places to take a break in the area. Chocoholics should stop by at Dandelion Chocolates. From the moment you open the door yours nostrils will encounter the warm and sweet scent of cocoa and you will feel the pheromones rushing through your body. I recommend the hot chocolate - rich, velvety and delicious! Coffee lovers should enjoy a cup of poured coffee made with a Chemex right in front of your eyes at the hip and trending café The Mill. Oh and feel free to taste some of their divine pastries or buy a loaf of freshly baked bread.

If you need more cool, unique and handmade goodies, head to Rare Device on Divisadero Street. The shop has a huge selection of art prints, many of local artists, that are ideal souvenirs. If you head to Filmore Street don't miss the Jonathan Adler store, Steven Alan for great fashion and Le Labo for handmade, customizable perfumes and scented candles with fabulous packaging design (oh and they have a boutique in Paris too, I plan to go there in December). You can continue all the way to Hayes Valley for more shopping fun and lots of great sweets stores like Miette or the macaron place Chantal Guillon, coffee is great at Ritual Coffee Roasters and food is prime at La Boulange. Voilà!

The popular Ferry Building in the Embarcadero district is another popular shopping destination. Lots of small shops and food stalls will entice you into roaming around and - consequently - shop. Heath Ceramics features a little store in the Ferry Building, the famous Blue Bottle Coffee is just opposite, and great, local food and produce are to be found there, too. I bought some amazing Californian olive oil from Stonehouse Olive Oil. Recommended!

I'll draw a line here and let you go into your Monday - hopefully a sunny, not stressful and above all happy one. 

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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From Place To Space: San Francisco - Part One

After Vancouver, Portland, and Seattle I am taking you to San Francisco this week. However, there are so many cool things and photos I want to share with you, I had to split it up in two parts. Today's part will speak more generally of the sights that I enjoyed during my one week stay in the city by the bay. Next week I will give you a more in-depth view of shop discoveries and other fancy travel joys. But let us roll. Buckle up, San Fran, here we come!

A little warning straight ahead: For those of you who know San Francisco or live there, excuse my touristy rejoicing of the most known sights in town. It was my very first time in San Francisco and I couldn't help! So, judging from my pictures I was utterly charmed by the city's most famous sight - the Golden Gate Bridge. No need to say this is a must visit, but even better, rent a bike and ride over the famous bridge and descend to Sausalito on the other side of the bay. Most probably you'll have the honor to greet one of the most known San Franciscan, Karl the Fog. I said hi. He was kind to us!

Apart from the famous bridge, I recommend an afternoon strolling through the Golden Gate Park. Even though the name might suggest it is a park next to the Golden Gate Bridge, it is not. However, it is a huge, leafy park with fabulous museums such as the De Young museum with art from around the globe. At the very end of the park you will reach the shore of the Pacific with wide, sandy beaches and surfers riding the waves. Impressive!

Another must-do is a ride with the popular cable car. Little warning: the queue can be tedious and annoying so don't be too angry at yourself if you just give in and skip that. I did it cause I was lucky enough that the queue was short (I have no idea why) but the cable car was super full nonetheless and I couldn't even take a decent picture. Well, we tourists! If you take it, get off at Chinatown, it's definitely worth a stroll with plenty of colorful facades - but in general, San Francisco is a color loving city!

Not to miss is Castro district - if San Francisco is a liberal city in general, than this is the core of a liberal, open-minded lifestyle. Be prepared for all kind of styles, fashion extravaganza, and a very lively nightlife on the streets of Castro district. If you like cinemas, go to the Castro Theatre, it is amazing, like a huge theater and every session starts with a little organ concert - totally unique!

For amazing walk, food and shopping I recommend the Mission quarter. The long Valencia street is the quarter's lifeline boasting with fab stores, restaurants, cafés. Enjoy a break in the beautiful Mission Dolores park, have brunch at fancy Craftsman & Wolves or Tartine, shop home goodies at Aggregate Supply, curiosities at Paxton Gate, vintage finds and antiques at Stuff (wow), food at Bi-Rite Market (and ice cream at their ice cream parlor), enjoy dinner at Delfina Pizzeria (delicious) or a fantastic fromage tasting at Mission Cheese. But next week I will speak more about shops and other finds in San Francisco.

Yet another great touristy attraction is a trip to Alcatraz island. It is worth the hassle because the audio guided tour is really interesting. Did you know that one of the prisoners taught crocheting to the other inmates so they started crocheting and decorating their cells? Well, sounds different from the famous Al Capone stories, right? Tip: Avoid ticket queuing by buying the ticket online in advance. Way better!

So, that's it for today, I don't want to steal your entire Monday. Have a great week and see you back tomorrow on Happy Interior Blog!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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