zaterdag 24 juli 2010

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!

zondag 4 juli 2010

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!

donderdag 1 juli 2010

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!

woensdag 30 juni 2010

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!

zondag 18 april 2010

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!



woensdag 14 april 2010

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.

dinsdag 30 maart 2010

The Hummingbird Bakery


For our kitchen I wanted a nice painting or framed photo of somthing that looks nice in a kitchen but doesn't look like an item that you use in the kitchen. So no pictures of cultery, ingredients or something like that.

Then I remembered that I made a picture of the logo of the Hummingbird Bakery when we were in London in 2008. So I have the picture enlarged and hung it in the kitchen. And then I heard from a friend that there was a cookbook of the Hummingbird Bakery so I got that too and this is the result!





On the other side of the kitchen I made an inspirational board. So every time I see something nice or inspiring in a magazine, I hang it on the inspirational board. This is sort of my own painting, ha ha

woensdag 24 maart 2010

My very own!

About a year ago I blogged about a painting I saw in Amsterdam. I never stopped thinking about it and hoped that one day it would be mine.



But unfortunately it was already sold. But they told me that I could ask the painter if he would make somthing like that again. So I did and after waiting for a few weeks, this is how our painting looks like!



I can't believe hoe great it looks. I gave it S. for his birthday but I'm equally happy with it. It hangs in our living room where I can look at it everyday!



This is our first real piece of art and hopefully not our last. I have become really exited about beautiful art and hopefully in the future we will buy another piece.

Please tell me what you think of it! I would love to hear from you!