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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Happy Guest: A Happy Home In France

Hi everyone! It's Judith from JOELIX.com. While Igor is on a happy adventure in the wild, wild west, I'm honored to guestblog here today.

As some of you may know, I live in a very happy home in France, just north from Paris. It's a former factory that we transformed into a spacious, bright and colorful home. After almost 9 years, it's still not entirely finished (will it ever?) and next on our list is building a new beautiful bathroom. Hopefully it will look something like my Pinterest board…

One of the few rules I try to live by is: "Whenever you buy something for your home, make sure it's the most beautiful version of that thing that you can afford." For me, this helps to declutter and be more conscious of what to bring into our home. Below you'll find a selection of home goodies that are currently on my wishlist. I hope they'll make you happy too!

1. Couch Confluences by Ligne Roset 2. Modular shelves by adónde? 3. Circle mug by Stelton 4. Rubber stamp by Hunters Hideaway 5. Mirror Ki Ko Koi by Y'a pas le feu au lac 6. Bed linen by Scholten & Baijings for HAY 7. Sticky notes by HAY

Merci beaucoup Igor, fellow Urban Jungle Blogger, for having me! I hope that you're having a wonderful time i Canada and the US, and will bring home lots of fresh inspiration to keep your blog a happy place for all of us ;) 

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Happy Guest: Happy London Lifestyle Guide

Hello Happy Interior Blog readers. My name is Tina and my blog is called Colourliving. I feel honoured to be here and will try my best to bring you inspiration in Igor's absence.

I thought long and hard about what to post here as Igor's blog in an online encyclopedia for a Happy Home and everything that goes with it. Colourliving embraces colour, creativity, design, interiors, real food and inspired ideas for slow living.

For some time now I was thinking of creating some curated Colourliving lifestyle guides. These guides will be themtic and show ways of creative and inspired lifestyle. To kick things off I tailor-made a little guide here for you dear readers and will be your own personal tour guide:-) Igor and I share a love for colours and for London, so hopefully he will enjoy this too:-).

London - a 24hrs shopping spree. Don't worry if you can't make it to London. All shops featured here have online stores for you to be able to indulge, should you wish so. Let's go...

We're starting out on the famous Kings Road in Southwest London. The Shop at Bluebird is an eclectic lifestyle store offering an exceptional edit from the world of fashion, interiors and beauty. It has evolved a lot since it first opened in 2005, and has become very much a destination shop for finding untapped brands and the latest must have items.

A new concept to the shop is a series of pop-up concessions. I was delighted to see this first one on my visit: YCN is close to my heart and I have blogged about them here.

You'll find many interesting products as well as funky shop displays.

I'm a huge Fornasetti fan and the Shop at Bluebird carries a large range of this most fascinating artist.

They have a sofa upholstered in one of my favourite fabrics. It's called Jerusalem by day and I have it as a picture frame hanging in my bedroom.

Just opposite you will find the exquisite Rococo Chocolates. This year they're celebrating 30 years in business and it's not hard to see why. Founded in 1983 by Chantal Coady, Rococo Chocolates is a heaven for chocoholics. The packaging, the variety of flavours, and the design make Rococo treats highly desireable gifts.

You'll find they'll use all kinds of combinations like chocolates with flowers, spices, dried fruit and teas with dark, white or milk chocolate. I'm sugar and dairy intolerant but if I want something special, Rococo is certainly the ticket!

A few minutes down the road you'll stumble across an iconic shop that I've loved since they first opened many many years ago. Wild Ones is an Aladdin's cave of New Age gifts sourced from around the world. They also have a massive selection of Native American jewellery and artefacts, as well as world music and spiritual books.

This jewellery is designed and hand made by Michael Van Moppes and each piece is unique.

New are the biggest collection anywhere of hand-made Navajo Rugs. They are all one-offs and when they're gone they're gone. It seems that the new generation is more interested in computer devices than hand-spinning rugs so it's a dying craft out there. I must admit they look far better in real life than in the photos online but that goes for a lot of products, right? Wild Ones used to be famous for their second-hand native cowboy boots. They no longer sell those.

Hopping over to Central London, we'll make a pitt-stop at Content - an organic and natural apothecary. For those of you interested in organic cosmetics and skin care, you won't find a better place. You can read a far more in-depth interview I did with Imelda, the founder here.

This deodorant is my absolute favourite product and I cannot recommend it enough!

Arriving in Hoxton, we pop into the Goodhood store. Made up of a lifestyle store and a separate fashion store (directly opposite) it's another refreshing and welcome addition to truly creative independent retail shops in London. Their product ranges are expertly curated and it's got more of a feel like one of those enviable Japanese shops, full of clever and well made products. You'll find everything from mens and womens fashion to accessories, homewares, footwear, divine stationery and much more.

I love these plant hangers.

This Log Stool is by the Japanese Collective Gelchop and, apparently, rather difficult to obtain. It's beautiful but also carries a hefty price tag!

Now we're moving over to the darker side of things:-) We're off to Stoke Newington and the eclectic Pelicans and Parrots. There are 2 shops, one concentrating heavily on fashion and the other (this one here) sells stylish vintage furniture and ornaments, as well as the odd bit of clothing. Ochuko, who runs this shop has a great eye and it's not hard to want to buy most things.

Painted black, the shop oozes a rather dramatic appearance and makes the wonderful selection of objects and furniture stand out.

I particularly love all the rather ingenious contextualising by using taxidermy and other artefacts to display and show off products. It's one of those shops that you will return to over and over again and that makes vintage clothes shopping so much more attractive!

If you're a lover of 'making a home' than you absolutely must visit the fabulous Abigail Ahern and her emporium of seriously gorgeous homewares on Islington's Upper Street. If you can't get there, then take a look at her rather 'yabberish' but full of wonderful tips and tricks blog. And, if by any chance you fancy becoming the next Ms. Ahern, then attend school, either online or offline (with the design guru herself in her most lavish house). If all else fails, buy her new book, have a cup of tea and indulge in her world!

I'm lucky to live a few minutes away from the shop so am a regular visitor. I'm also lucky to have attended one of her classes in her house. Going to the dark side is her thing! Whether it's your thing or not, what is clear is that Abigail has an incredible style, a great eye for detail and loves sharing her knowledge.

Just look at this wonderful lamp.

Yep, the tin tiles are actually wallpaper.

I'll never tire seeing those animal lamps. If your budget doesn't stretch to these, Abigail has just launched a more affordable edition range for Debenhams so don't worry! They ship worldwide.

Some fab patchwork dog cushions.

I dare you to walk out without buying something.

Ok, to round it all up and because by now you'll be tired and a little broke:-) we'll nip across the street to the one and only Ottolenghi for a quick snack. Another emporium, but this time it's food. I've been a big fan since the first time I visited the very first one on Ledbury Street back in 2002. Since then, Yoram has gone to super stardom so if you don't already know this fabulous place that essentially wants to make people happy with good food, take a look and indulge next time you're in London. You won't be sorry, I promise. Alternatively, buy all of his books. You will treasure them.

Phew, that's it. We made it. I hope you've enjoyed my curated guide and that you found some new inspiration here.

I want to thank Igor for inviting me over to his virtual home and am sure he's having a whole load of inspiration while on vacation. I'd love you to leave comments and let me know which shops you know, would like to visit or simply what has inspired you. I hope we meet again. Bye from London!

Photography by Tina Bernstein

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Happy Guest: Dab It Yourself!

Hi everyone! I'm Dabito from Old Brand New and I'm thrilled to be filling in for Igor today. I just wanted to share some quick and dirty tips on painting planters, poufs and old paintings you already own to give your home an updated look without spending a fortune.

With planters, I like to use Rust-Oleum paint. I love the drip effect so I paint around it and dab a little extra paint in certain spots to allow the drip to happen.

For poufs, I use interior paint. I got the poufs from Ikea and you can use it to hang it on the wall, for sitting, or even stack a few to create a nightstand. 

And finally, for paintings, I've been going to thrift stores to find old paintings that are perfectly mounted and framed. And then I just paint over it an make it my own. 

I hope you find these tips inspiring. Have fun dabbing it yourself! Sweet thanks to Igor for having me over.

Photography by Dabito / Old Brand New

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Happy Guest: An All Natural House On Mykonos

I'm Lisa Hjalt of the LatteLisa blog, one of happy Igor's followers, honoured to write a guest post for him while he's away on vacation. We all know that Igor is from Serbia, was brought up in Austria and now lives in Germany, but the funny or strange thing is that I always associate him with Greece. During his studies there he seems to have done a lot of Greek island hopping and that's why I'm taking you to a Greek island.

This beautiful house on the island of Mykonos is a Deborah French design (she lived in it for some time) and has been featured in many interior magazines. There is simply something about it that reminds me of Igor and his taste. It has a bit of that ethnic vibe that we often find on his blog.

The house and its garden blend perfectly into its surroundings and the stones used to build it come from the mountains. What makes the house even more natural is the layout of the rooms; the shape of the hillside dictates their layout. All materials used are natural and as you can see, there is no fuss on the inside. Walls are white with plenty of rustic wood throughout and the decor consists mainly of things like Greek urns and dried flowers. The result is a peaceful home.

When I first saw the exterior I remember finding it interesting that the house wasn't painted white, as most Greek houses. It turns out that Deborah French had to get permission from the Architectural Committee of the Cycladic Islands to not paint it!

I feel like the one thing missing in this post is a photo of Igor himself jumping on a beach nearby. Enjoy your time in the west, Igor! I'm already looking forward to your Monday posts when you get back.

Photo credit: Paul Ryan for Deborah French Designs

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