New Book Maak Het ( Make It)

Last week I bought a new book online. The book is called 'Maak het!' written by Machteld Stilting, it is in Dutch and is about 20 women between 27 - 45 years old who have an creative webshop. It is a shame that this book is not in English because it is so inspiring. It tells the story of the ups and downs of starting and owning a webshop and selling your our selfmade stuff online.

I especially liked the story of Ingrid of Wood & Wool Stool. She works in a hotel, like me, and makes stools of used wood and makes a cover for over the stool. I think that's such a great idea. And because I'm a stool fanatic, I have to have one. Ok, maybe I don't have space for it now but you never know! Here are some more pictures:




So you Dutch creative readers, you know what to do... Buy this book, it is worth it!

Weekend & lemonpie

So, how have you been spending your weekend? Mine was primarily in the kitchen. My sister came to dinner yesterday and I made lasagne, it was great. Today we had lunch with family from England. I made a lemon pie which didn't quite work...

This is the picture in the cookbook of how it supposed to look like but unfortunately mine wasn't exactly the same. I'm too embarrased to show you so just enjoy the pretty picture.

When I set the table for the lunch today, I noticed an unintentional Dutch theme with the red, white and blue colours. It looked great and the family loved it!


We had soup and sandwiches and the children loved the breadsticks. All in all a great afternoon. This evening is spend with watching tv, maybe watch a movie and blog a little bit.

Enjoy your evening, what are your plans? Let me know, I would love to hear from you!

The frozen fountain frame

Remembered I bought an frame at the Frozen Fountain, you can read the post here. Well, I finally found a great spot for it and not where I initially intended to hang it...



It now hangs with a other frame made of old wood I already had. Now they hang together next to the kithchen and it looks great, don't you think?

The new/old cabinet

Well, the cabinet is finished and I think it looks great! It's only painted with a primer to give it a plaster look. Maybe it doesn't show on the photo but when you look at it, you can defenitely see it!



We use it in the walk in room, not a closet, ha ha. We switched the bedroom and the room with the clothes a few weeks ago because we could hear our nextdoor neighbour at night and it is better not to know certain things about your neighbour, if you know what I mean... So now the room with the clothes is huge and it needed a cabinet. We use it for storage and toiletries.



The next project is an cabinet that used to belong to my grandmother and is supposed to stand in the hallway. I will let you know when the end result is ready!

De Bonte Kamer

Yesterday, I went to a store called de Bonte Kamer. This is a store that I found on the internet. They sell furniture from Eastern Europe for a reasonable price. I wasn't quite sure where it was because it said in the city centre of the Hague. So went I was there I was pleasantly surprised. It is located in a warehouse in a great neghbourhood in the city. The guy who works there helped me find the cabinet that I saw online. When I paid he helped me get it into the car and when I got home, I knew it was a great purchase.



It is suppose to go under the tv but I have to sell that first so now it is next to the tv. I actually think that it looks great now too!

Last week I also bought this cabinet online and picked it up last week. I want to paint it in a grey colour and put new knobs on it and then it's brand new again.



I'll show you the after when I'm finished. And check out the website of de Bonte Kamer, they also ship internationally!

Sunny breakfast

So, I don't know how you spend your sunday mornings but mine is very peaceful. Just having a glass of orange juice outside, enjoying the sun. It has been great weather all week and I'm trying to enjoy it when I'm off work.



Last friday was the very important worldcup match between the Netherlands and Brasil and it was the hottest day of the year so far. So after the Dutch won the match(Hup Holland Hup) all the people in the street went crazy, especially the children! Everybody were outside cheering and cars were driving and waving with Dutch flags. It was just so beautiful to see everybody so happy. I really hope that we win the worldcup! I think then there's going to be a great party in Amsterdam and I want to be there and enjoy the atmosphere. But now the focus is back on and we have to beat Uruguay first.
Yes maybe you're surprised but it's not only my home and furniture that I love, ha ha.

Well, I'm about to go out and visit family. I wish you all a great day, enjoy the sun and relax!

Above the couch

Last week we decided that something should be hung above the couch. The wall is pretty long so we had to come up with something big because otherwise it would look silly.



And we decided that it would be best to hang different kinds of things. I think it looks great. I printed some of my favourite photo's and the great thing is that it's possible to change it if I want to.




We bought the shelves and the white frames at Ikea, the pink one is a gift but I know it's bought at Zara home and the black ones are from Hema.


I'm waiting for S. to come home from work so that we can pick up an cabinet I bought online. I have already have paint waiting for it. I'll make an before and after to show you the result! And saturday I'm going to de Bonte Kamer, a store that sells secondhand furniture from eastern Europe. I saw a cabinet that we can use as a tv cabinet. All the details will follow!

Old/ new

Ok, I'm not going to start again explaining why I have been absent for a long time... Let's just keep it that I've been busy with work and painting old furniture. Yes, that's right! My new hobby is buying old furniture and give it new life!

We have been living in our new home for almost zeven months now and I see now what it needs. And it needs a mixture between comtemporary and brocante. And a small budget maybe has something to do with it, ha ha.

In my last post you can read that I bought an old stool and was planning to paint it. And that's exactly what I did. This is how it looked before:


You can see, a real old fashioned stool, I think from the 1950's / 1960's. And this is what is looks with a new coat of paint!


I put the stool, together with another 'new old' one in the livingroom.


Stools are multifunctional! You can use it for an extra seat or as a sidetable. This one I use in the livingroom as both. Last week I was at the secondhand store where I bought it and saw another one, exactly the same! And of course I had to buy it too and take it home with me. The fact that I was on my bike was no problem. It took a bit longer to get home, but I got there and the stool was still intact, stratch free! With this one I'm going to experiment and I'll show you when it's done!

And finally, I painted a cabinet I bought years ago. This time, not white but a beautiful grey colour.



It's now in my bedroom and the towels and bedding are put away in it. I think it just looks lovely!

Lazy sunday

The sun has finally started shining and I'm enjoying it fully!

What am I doing this weekd? Well not much... Bought an stool yesterday at a secondhand store and have sanded it and already gave it three coats of paint. I think it will be finished tomorrow and then I will show you.

Furthermore, nothing exciting, watched some episodes of the Dutch Antique Roadshow called Tussen Kunst en Kitch. I secretly love this show. Every time it's exciting to see if someone has an item in their possesion which is so expensive and they have no idea! Two weeks ago there was a man who had an old wooden statue of an African man and it turned out to have a value of 80.000 Euros!!! I wish I had something at home that is worth a lot of money. Sadly, our budget reduces a lot lately because of the renovation on the house and all kinds of plans we have which we need to save money for. Meanwhile, I'll just bought a stool that I love and is going to look great in the living room and then read a few interior magazines. My sister gave me a few old one of 2008. See if the interior taste has changed of the last two years.

I'll leave you with a few bright pictures and enjoy your sunday!

Another visit to Amsterdam

As a birthdaypresent, S and I went to see a concert of a famous Dutch band called Blof who played in Amsterdam last sunday. And just for the fun of it, we booked a hotel in the city Centre, called Carlton Bank Mansion, who I really recommend.

On monday we went shopping and I had a few shops on my list to go to. The most imprtant one is the Frozen Fountain on the Prinsegracht. They specialise in modern Dutch furniture which is very expensive. They sell furniture of Piet Hein Eek and Vitra so a lot of Eames furniture and Hella Jongerius. I bought a small frame made of old pieces of wood.



We're planning to hang a shelf in the living room full with art and pictures.

After that, we went to the Rituals shop which I think is a wonderful shop if you want to buy a special present for someone. We bought soap and a home fragrance bottle with wooden sticks for in the bathroom.

Ofcourse there was a lot more to see and buy but we were sensible this time, ha ha. I have a lot more on my wishlist now that we live in our home for a few months and I can see what the house needs. But I'm starting to become a patience woman (yeah right!) and I have all the time in the world. Besides It's fun to buy stuff and slowly see the result. So I'm streching out the time and enjoy myself when I go out on a mission (ha ha) for our home.