This is my home when it wasn't my home yet but when the bank was making the money ready and notaries were typing concepts. It was almost my home and during those few weeks I started to dread what Bo and I had done. It's too big for the two of us, 2 families could live in our home easily and about a dozen of illegal immigrants could set up house in the basement. But we bought it, contracts were signed and for four years we are the owners of a badly neglected old beaten up house.
I love this house though, I've never been happier anywhere else.
The year of my scary blood disease Bo started to work on the second floor. There he found out that the beams holding up our roof are the homes of termites, bats and probably millions of other creatures. The roof has been there since 1896 and has never been replaced. No one can really see this from the outside or on pictures but, trust me, the inside isn't a pleasant sight. On days when the rain comes from the Northwest (that's today) we keep the second floor dry with buckets and towels. It's all quite romantic but we need to fix this.
We'll start this summer ... eeeeee!!
So I thought you guys can help us by making a donation. I've never asked for donations before, neither do I have ads on my blog or make any income out of my blog whatsoever. I do get some free stuff and for that I'm grateful. With the thousands of visitors a month I could easily turn this blog into a money making machine but those are not my aesthetics as I'm quite simple and humble about the whole "Yvestown Fame" and I want to keep it like that.
So please consider to make that €1 donation and help us fund this new roof. And help to add content to this blog as with a new roof I'll be able to show you all the pretty new bedrooms.
There's a banner at the top of the index page, click on it and it will take you to PayPal where you can make a €1 donation.
Thank you so much for reading xox
Update:
Thank you so much to all who have sent a donation already and for all your kind words of appreciation. Honestly I feel utterly loved and showered with kindness. I have the best readers on the www!!!
Please feel free to put a button on your blog to promote the roof fund. Copy and paste the code below to your web page, blog, facebook page or whatever page.
Yesterday evening we had our very first BBQ of the year and to us that's something really exciting as we love a good BBQ.
After a hard day of work (me garden, Bo boot room) we decided that, although it was quite chilly when the sun went down, we could pull a quick BBQ. And believe me, one can have a quick BBQ. Last year I bought a "Smokey Joe ® Gold" from Weber as it's compact and it has a handle so I can carry it around like a handbag.
I only use 250 gram of organic boneless chicken (marinated in 2 tbsp of soy sauce and 2 tbsp of ketjap), peppers, red unions, mushrooms and 3 organic sausages for Bo as he breaks the "no-four-legs-rule" when we have a BBQ. I wrap red potatoes in aluminium foil and roast them on the Smokey Joe and I serve all that with a simple salad, that's all what it takes.
I love eating outside as all table rules don't matter any more.
I find it quite bad behaviour when people leave the table, or get up, in the middle of dinner or when other people haven't finished their dinner yet. I find it rude when people don't ask to be excused. I have been places where children (almost adults) empty their plates, push their plate to the centre of the table, get up (unannounced), leave the table (while other people are still eating) and don't even have the courtesy to shove their chair back to to the table. Honestly, so many rules were broken.
When eating outside everyone is excused for their rudeness and for their bad table manners. One can get up and wander when pleased, one can have paint and dirt on their hands, cats, dogs and chicken are allowed to run freely around (not on) the table and so on. It's liberating.
The renovation of my home is still going on and it will so for the next few years as there is still so much left to do. If all goes to plan, and we don't have more employees suing us, the roof will come off this summer.
Bo's busy now reconstructing the boot room what used to be the sun room. The inside is almost done but the outside is still a bit of a monster tackle, but he'll get there.
In the meantime I gave the whole kitchen a brand new coat of paint after the new garden doors were fitted. Those new garden doors are just amazing, we have my lovely mother to thank for them. She gave four sets of garden doors and a boot room window as a gift for our 12 1/2 year wedding anniversary last year. Now those are presents we like as doors don't come cheap. Thanks mum, you are the BEST!!
I also finally decided what to do with the inside of the empty fireplace. I was thinking about a gas burner but it would be really a waste of space (and gas) as there are perfectly working radiators in the kitchen. So I've made shelves, as one never can have enough shelves.
And I took the island out and put the table back in as I missed eating in the kitchen. I really only used the island to dump stuff on and to roll out the odd pastry. I'll have to build myself a small pastry table instead.
All my favourite cook books and Jamie Magazines are in the fireplace. I'm a happy woman now as shelves just make my heart beat a little faster.
I also splurged on new kitchen chairs and bought 4 at my favourite department store in The Netherlands, Dille & kamille, already painted in a very bright white.
I'm thinking of making cushions for the chairs as in winter our bottoms might get cold. I'm not really a fan of chair cushions as you kind of take the construction of the chair down with them, so I'll wait and see.
Our hens do so extremely well I just had to show off. Next job; a pastry table ...
Enjoy your weekend xox
Please ask away, I'll answer all your questions in the next post.
Hello everyone, I'm still here. Calming down after our little company had a really sad, hard and emotional week. But we'll survive and we've learned a great deal about people, businesses and the law. Hopefully everything will be back to normal by the end of the week so I can focus on my home and blog again.
In the meantime you have to head over to Mollie Makes to read a lovely article they did on me, my crochet and my shop. Oh my shop ... you guys have been so good to me, you've bought so much over the past few weeks. So many big fat pink bags traveled all over the world. As a treat I'll have another week of 5% discounts. Use voucher code "mollie makes" upon checkout.
I've promised you tulips and here they are, my own little back garden Floriade. I've planted them last September in one of the raised beds so I can take the bulbs out easily and store them for later this year. Initially I've planted them for picking but, how happy they make me filling that bed, I can't pick them.
Good start for a new week filled with sunshine and rain, perfect combination for my garden to grow.
Oh and by the way the breed of my hens are Orpingtons (buff), they rock so I can highly recommend them if you are a new hen keeper.
Anki and I drove up to Canterbury, were we stayed, last Thursday afternoon. Spent the evening having dinner at Wagamama and strolling through the town. On Friday morning we went by train to London for some shopping (that didn't work out) and after that we went to the party in Hanbury Hall. We got to meet so many lovely people in the flesh. I was so excited to get to say hi to Emma Lamb, as that was most of what we said, sorry Emma it was so brief. I also had a brief, but lovely, encounter with Jeanette from Fryd + Design.
And, of course as a matter of fact, my two favourite long time blog friends, Charlotte and Cherry showed up. We go way back and we try to meet as often as possible and I'm always amazed we get to hookup at a very short notice and when we meet it's like we've seen each other yesterday. I love them both very dearly.
And this is the reason I never have my photo taken as I ruin photos. I'm a professional photo ruiner.
We all went for chips dips and a Belgian chocolate milk that made my stomach spin with Dutch bloggersEline and Petra who were also at Selina's party.
On Saturday Anki and I did some Canterbury shopping (that did work out) and had a picnic in the car while Le Shuttle drove us back to France. At 20:30 I was home and this was the first thing I saw when I took the keys out of the ignition. What a lovely few days, I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such creative, smart and integer women.
On your way out don't forget to buy Selina's beautiful book, as all of her books are beautiful, Homespun Style, It's a must have.
Easter this year was really lovely. We started the day with a sun drenched dining room and a very first egg in the chicken house, I felt so proud and still haven't eaten it.
The tulips I planted last year are quite spectacular and I was able to pick a bunch for on the table. People on Instagram asked about the yellow peonies but they are not, those are tulips. I'll have to write a blog post on them soon as I'm quite excited to share the tulip-bed with you guys.
Bo's whole family was complete on Easter day brunch and yesterday we had chicken, chips and board games with my three nieces and nephew.
I only have two days left to clean up house before I leave for London to attend Selina Lake's Book Launch Party. I don't know if I find time to blog, so at the latest you'll hear from me on Sunday or next Monday. I bet I'll have lots of fun stuff to show you and I hope I get to meet some of you on Friday.
I'll be signing off for the Easter weekend as it will be a busy one. I have to boil 18 eggs and feed 18 people over a period of two days. Later today I'll be going out for dinner with Anki, Iris and Caroline so I'll have some relax time before the Easter madness begins.
I've made these for my sister, to add a splash of colour, you can find the pattern here.
Happy a lovely Easter, See you after the weekend xox
I've been a big Super Rural fan for quite a long time now. It started out with their famous For Like Ever poster, you can see it featured in my home here and here.
I can't tell you how happy I am with this new sponsorship thing I have going on. And I can't tell you how happy I am that Super Rural is one of my sponsors and sent this amazing neon pink (heart) ampersand print to me. It hangs perfectly in my new dining room above the magazine table.
Thank you Tracy for being such an amazing sponsor!
The workshop will be about blog sponsoring and product photography. I will explain how you can approach sponsors by contacting them and by letting the sponsors sending you products you can review and use at home. I will then style and photograph Brabantia products. Plus: the Brabantia team will crowd source what makes Useful Design Beautiful.
There are only a few tickets left for my workshop, I can't believe it thank you so much, so be quick as the event will be sold out any day now.
I'll hang out after the event so maybe we can arrange cocktails and dancing too : )
The workshop is Sold Out!! Thanks all and see you June 9th.
For most of my life that I lived in The Netherlands I've lived in the province of North Brabant. It's in the southern part of The Netherlands on the border with Belgium (hence I now live in Belgium but still do everything in The Netherlands) and Germany. I was born and raised there and each time I went back to live in The Netherlands I lived in North Brabant. I am a true "Brabander". I have a southern tongue, I speak with an extremely soft G and R and I speak the dialect of most places in Brabant as I moved around quite a lot. I love Brabant and I love the people and how people deal with each other in Brabant. All of my Dutch friends are from Brabant as we understand each other. I can't explain it but I sure know that most Brabanders who read this understand this.
All the provinces in The Netherlands have their own traditions and their own food specialties. In Brabant we have the "Brabantse Koffietafel" - Brabantse Coffee Table. It's a very large meal served with bread, coffee, tea, cheese, meat, soup etc. It's like an exploded brunch and it's always served to lots and lots of people at the same time. Traditionally families do this, or go to restaurants who serve koffietafels. I love them, I have fond memories of koffietafels with my own family.
I like to host them for friends and family and sometimes the crowd is small but the table is still packed, the essence of a proper koffietafel.
Even the egg cosies made an appearance. It was a good Sunday today.
For Dutch interior magazine, 101 woonideeën, I've designed crochet egg cosies for the Easter special booklet that's included with this month's issue. There are such fun Easter craft projects in this booklet and the layout is just too cute.
I was given quite a lot of these booklets so I'm giving them away to 20 of you, yes TWENTY!!
You only have to leave a comment and I'll pick 20 winners on Tuesday the 3rd. The booklets are in Dutch but a total feast to the eye so this giveaway is open to readers worldwide.
I guess by now the news circulated for those of you who follow me on Twitter that I no longer use Pinterest. The day before yesterday I pulled the plug mainly because I got scared after reading this article. It's scary right?
I started to use Pinterest as an inspiration pin board and as a guide to help me decorating my home. I also used it as a wish list. I never used it as a platform to curate beautiful images other people take because I don't have content of my own. I also never used it to become popular or to get loads of followers. But all of a sudden I had so and so many followers and was ranked second of all Dutch Pinterest users. Odd for something that initially started out as something I used for myself.
I also started to find lots of photos by my hand that were incorrectly linked back. I even one day was browsing for felt pom poms and stumble upon an Etsy shop that was selling them using a photo I took in my home of my Christmas tree using my own handmade pom pom garland as if she took it as if it was her home, her Christmas tree and her pom pom garland.
It felt so wrong.
Pinterest is so beautiful but it feels so wrong.
Please link with love. If you wish to link something from my site do it directly don't re-link, re-link, re-link, re-link.
Please consider reading this article and do something right today.
I'm really excited to introduce you to a new blog sponsor, Falcon Enamelware.
I bought one of the Falcon Enamelware Bake Sets, in the white & blue rim, over a year ago. Ever since the day those dishes arrived everything else I used for baking went out.
Falcon Enamelware was kindly enough to sent me a Pie Set, in Pillarbox Red, to promote on my blog. I'm so delighted to now have both sets as I have the perfect array for baking, cooking and grilling.
All Falcon Enamelware products don't burn, don't fade are dishwasher and oven proof up to 270 C. They can also be used on gas and electric hobs. The extra bonus is that they look amazingly rustic and are so easy to clean. They are also unbreakable, boy do I love this product.
I've made a really simple apple crumble in the large dish of the Pie Set and ate it, with some lemon sorbet ice cream, out of the smallest dish of the Pie Set.
Yesterday I found the time to sit down and do some crafting after two months of non-stop working on projects that actually pay the bills. I have to say that these projects are far from being boring and that I'm one lucky piggy to have the opportunity to make people pay me because they like my work so much. Bless them and bless you for reading my blog.
It feels time to pay back and make something pretty for you to download. I've made some birdhouses for Easter decorations.
First download the template and print out on 250 grams A4 sized paper. Cut out the template and fold where needs folding (instructions can be found on the template). Glue the fabric on to the house and roof (no need for fabric on the back). Glue the house parts together and with a pin, on the inside, attached a twig. Glue the roof on top of the house and you're done. If you like to you can put a bird on the twig.
I used various Cath Kidston fabrics for the houses. The plates are also old CK plates, but the blue one is by Burleigh and the top plate is a hand painted Will and Kate wedding plate by The House that Lars Build. The famous green pendant is also from an old CK collection and no longer for sale.
I'm not religious and haven't been brought up religious, so I'm one of those people who don't exactly know why we celebrate Easter. I know it's the end of lent but I also don't know what lent stands for. I do however like to decorate and I love holidays where everyone is off and we get together and eat. For the same reason I like Christmas. I couldn't give a care in the world that Jesus was born on Christmas day as other religions say he wasn't and for all we know he didn't even exist. But it's nice as we get to decorate and spend time together, I don't see nothing wrong in that.
And you know what? There will be more decorations from me to you in the next few weeks.
Two years ago I bought a lot of old, damaged paintings at a flea market. I thought they would be perfect to frame new paintings in as the frames were still in good condition. The frames also work well as chalkboard or pin board frames so I've made one for the kitchen.
This is what it looked like before. I took the oil painting out of the frame and replaced it with 2 cm thick MDF plate that I first gave a coat of primer and next painted with black chalkboard paint. The cool thing about chalkboard paint is that you can get it mixed in whatever colour. I've used black as chalkboards, in my head, are either black or green.
After painting the frame in my favourite pink, I distressed it a bit by sanding it roughly around the edges.
The "welcome" decal is by Shanna Murray. Shanna is spring cleaning so hurry up and get a 10% discount on all of her wonderful goodies.
I had the pleasure to conduct a colour sampler for the Dutch website www.kleurinspiratie.nl. It's a very fun and useful website about paint.
You can view my colour sampler (kleurtrend) here and read an interview with me (in Dutch) over here. Try throwing the page into Google Translator to understand what I'm babbling about.
The one good thing of having this cold is that Bo is at home, since a very long time, as I've infected him. It's good to have Bo at home without his normal energy level as he'll potter. Bo doesn't have the time or the patience to potter as pottering soon turns out to something that is planned and coordinated. There will be potter rules and restrictions, we'll have to wear security helmets and in the end there will be lots of "can you give me a timeframe please?".
He helped me with photographing all the yarn for the shop. It's something I wanted to do for ages as the previous colours were so off.
If you go to the shop's pages you might have to refresh or reload as I've just uploaded all the new images and pages. Just renew and reload anyway as you'll be 100% sure you get the new images and pages.
You'll also find crochet projects & patterns in the shop and you can instantly buy the yarn I used for the project.
Hello there, I'm back again after spending a week on the sofa with a nasty cold.
Today I bring you a sponsor post, if you want to become a sponsor click here.
My friend, Roel, is one of the founders of ixxi. By now I think you all have heard of this amazing company that makes decorative wall systems. I've been thinking about an ixxi for my own for a while now but couldn't come up with one as I didn't want to just enlarge a photo. Frankly speaking I'm not keen on family photos on the wall or anywhere in the house for that matter.
So after some pondering and contemplating a large bare wall in my basement studio I came up with an ixxi crochet wall hanging. I individually photographed 25 unique crochet starburst rounds on a white paper background, cut and resized them all to the same size in Photoshop and uploaded them to the ixxi mainframe.
Once I had my ixxi at home and up on the wall I thought it looked boring with the x's and i's onto the back, as it's supposed to be. So I thought I could have them the wrong way round as it looks like a cross stitch instead. It worked and I love it!
The cool thing is that I can order more cards of the various startburst rounds and make the ixxi larger. I have my very own ixxi crochet blanket!
Get in touch with me if you'd like an ixxi/yvestown crochet blanket for yourself.
Hello I'm back from my work/play trip to London with a new feature for my blog.
As I'm quite addicted to films and books I thought it would be a fun idea to share with you what I've seen and read each month and what I think you should see and read.
Let us call it "The A list" as in; "a book to read, a film to see and so on". I'm not going too much into detail so trust me, if books and films made it up here I've seen and read them personally and I'm hysterically lyrically about them.
I will be in London the next few days working, playing, shopping, cooking and eating with my friend Charlotte. I don't know if I get the chance to blog, otherwise I'll be back Friday. You can always follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@yvestown) and see what I'm up to.
I've been baking cookies, initially for sending them along with the cards but it got rather messy so they are in a cookie tin for us to eat now.
Someone over at Instagram asked me where I got the plastic cookie cutters from but I can't remember. I think I've bought them on eBay as there's Japanese writing on the box they come in. So maybe you should try eBay. I don't eBay as much as I used to so I'm a bit out of that scene ; )
The recipe card is a new feature, drag and print or click and save and print, or don't print ; )
Last Wednesday Anki, Iris and I went shopping at oxo interiors in Den Bosch The Netherlands. Once (or twice) a year they have a super sale and everything in their shop is up for grabs. Wallpaper and fabric books, sample fabric and wallpaper, Fermob furniture reduced, Hay furniture reduced. It's a mayhem of fabulous interior stock up for sale.
This year I had a very good loot. I bought the red Fermob bistro chair for Bo's study, a roll of Studio Ditte wallpaper and some other bits and bobs.
After lunch I spotted the green Jieldé pendant in the Vintage Room's window and had to have it. It's just the perfect green for that room.
The oxo super sale ends February 18, so hush hush.
UPDATE
Oh crap, I forgot to tell you what we saw. Well quite obvious we saw a really awesome property we wanted to have a closer look at. It's an amazing old gymnasium but too small for us to live in. Totally crazy as we have an amazing home that we are still renovating but we have this dream to live in something crazy and we thought this could be that crazy property for us. That was it. Have a lovely evening x
Yesterday Bo and I went to Anki and Casper and we played in the snow, like most people in western Europe did. It always amaze me that people seem to really complain about cold and wet weather as if we live in a tropical sun swept climate the rest of the year. There should be snow in January because it's January.
Alistair Appleton wrote something so funny, and true, about the subject:
"Perhaps it also explains British people's absurd misery over the rain. As if in any other year it didn't rain in England. As if Britain was a tropical island maliciously haunted by a temperate rain God that taunted us. Why are we always surprised and cross that it's raining? It's like being cross because it gets dark at night, or because we only have two hands not eight."
On our way back to Anki and Casper's home we saw something amazing, something Bo and I are going to look at today. I'll get back to this as it's too exciting but probably a little too good to be true. Will tell you all about that an other day.
It's so bitterly cold outside but oh so bright and light inside. So light actually that I could shoot the photos in this post using just 100 iso. Now this is super geeky and I'll not go deep into this subject but I'm super excited about that as my study is always really dark.
I received a copy of Just Being Audrey by Margaret Cardillo and Julia Denos today. I'm in love with it, I don't think love is something that describes my sensation about this book enough so I guess I'm utterly in love with this book. The illustrations are so pretty, so Audrey, and the story (about Audrey's life) is wonderful. Wonderful!! It's for all ages, it's for all true Audrey fans.
It's not all flowery white with pink rooms and daisies all day in my life. I do have other hobbies and interest. I've read all Alain de Botton's books with great interest, I watch a massive amount of films (hence my late nights), I like art, architecture and I'm a big lover of folk music.
I also like to spend time at concerts and plays. Last summer I booked tickets to see Johnny Flynn play in November 2011 but the date got pushed to January 2012. So there I sat front row in St Mary's Church in Ashford Kent a week ago Saturday listing to Johnny Flynn.
He just stood there on his own with his guitar being absolutely amazing. I'm so glad that I've experienced this very intimate concert with him. The acoustics were amazing especially when he had us all sing along to Tickle me Pink, it was just so special.
Thank you Johnny.
Remember the good old days when we bloggers had music swaps? Is anyone out there up for one of those again? I'd love to arrange a swap.
I couldn't resist consulting Google to find other Tala vegetable racks. I only found one other, in green on eBay, for too much money in a rather poor condition. So I feel lucky that I had this one for just £14 in fire engine red, fire engine red people!!
I actually does store fruit and veg now and hangs just of the left side of the archway in the new part of the kitchen what used to be the sunroom, are you still with me?
Did you see the photo of this wall in yesterdays post, with the bare white walls? It needed a repeat of wallpaper just like I have on the other side of the kitchen (featured here on lovely Will's blog). So when I got home late last night Bo surprised me and wallpapered the wall. Never let a man go who surprises you with something like that, never!
The doors are painted as well. I was going to not paint them, I was going to paint them blue and now they are white and I'm still not convinced if they will stay white. We need to complete the rest of this part of the kitchen. Boy, do I need a good name for this room as "This Part of The Kitchen" doesn't flow so nice does it?
I had tickets to see Johnny Flynn perform in Ashford last November but as Johnny was in a play the concert got rescheduled to the 21st. Quite good as I also had tickets for the Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibit in The National Gallery in London on the 22nd. So we combined the two and it turned out to be a great weekend.
We had a good old day to explore Whitstable for the very first time and we loved it. There's such a crafty scene going on there with many arts & crafts shops on Oxford Street and High Street but also lots of brocante all along Oxford Street.
We visited the 'Seaside Brocante Fair' in St Mary's Hall. It's on every Saturday and vendors sell pretty brocante. It's not that big, as I hoped it would be, but lovely nonetheless. I bought a brilliant vegetable rack and an enamel bucket.
Park on Shaftesbury Road and walk through a small alley straight to St Mary's and Oxford street.
I'm going to tell you more about that wall and the vegetable rack tomorrow as it will transform overnight.
I've fallen in love with Whitstable with her beautiful concept shops like Frank, the seaside huts, Whitstable Castle where I had a lovely spot of hot chocolate and all the beautiful brocante shops on every corner. I can highly recommend to drive there in a car with a big boot.
Also a thank you for all your sweet comments on yesterdays post. I feel fine!! I can't hardly believe it but I don't have any pain. We buried Annabelle in the garden and the other two still look happy and healthy.
I'll be away for the weekend so you'll see me back Tuesday.
When I woke up in the morning and looked out of the kitchen doors to check on the chicken, Annabelle (one of the chicken) was laying down in the middle of the coop with her head down and her bum up. It looked quite odd so I went outside to check on her, she was having it rough.
Yesterday I was driving and eating liquorice and all of a sudden I had part of my tooth in my liquorice. I phoned my dentist and she could see me today. So I left the chicken at 12:00 hoping Annabelle would be fine by the time I got back.
When my dentist looked at my tooth she was rather in a state of shock and told me she had to get it out completely as there was an infection in my root canal, she could do that next week. I told her to do it straight away - you can better get over and done with these things. So after quite a lot of injections she started to yank and it didn't work, so she yanked some more and more and more and it felt like she was yanking out my entire skull. After 15 minutes the tooth was out and part of my skull with it. Now I have to walk around with a tooth out for 6 whole weeks and look like a pirate, aye ...
When I drove back home, my mouth stiff and blood dripping, I got home to find Annabelle dead, stone dead. With the stiff blood dripping mouth I had to get Annabelle out of the coop and the coop cleaned so that her two sisters could remain happy.
I do feel better now and my mouth and tooth are not aching so I'll be fine, the chicken will be fine.
It's such a shame she died just 3 days after we've revamped their coop because the chicken will be photo models next week.
Even Boo did a coop quality inspection while the ladies were on the move.
There was nothing wrong they all looked beautiful, big, fluffy, good colour and sheen.
I thought there would be a higher response to my previous post but apparently there are just a few of you who care about paint instead of the hundreds I thought. So I'll keep this post, and subject, short.
The Pinks
Wall
Colour number: S 1010-Y90R Natural Colour System 2nd Edition
Paint used: Histor wall paint Satin
Chest of drawers
Colour number: S 1030-R10B Violier Histor Collection 2
Paint used: Sigma Coatings S2U Nova Satin
As by public demand the first chapter of my paint guide.
Bare in mind that what you are about to read is how I like to work, I can't claim it's the best way to do it. I'm convinced you should always ask information and guidance at your local paint/D.I.Y. shop. I write this post as I'm often asked what my routine is and as I like to share that with you I'll dedicate this post to the subject. I hope it will satisfy your needs ;o)
I know that the following contents applies for Europe but I'm not sure if it will work elsewhere. WILL YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
The image below shows a chart of the tools I use. Each tool is numbered so if I write; "use 1 and 8", it will refer to this chart.
If I use acrylic paint (water based) I use felt paint rollers if I use turpentine paint (oil based) I use foam paint rollers.
For surface cleaning I use hot water with a drop of ammonium.
I use disposable paint brushes as I can't be bothered to clean them (the only really bad thing I do for the environment beside being human)
Water Based vs Oil Based
I have a really simple rule for that: use water based paint for everything that you don't walk on and use oil based paint for everything you do walk on. Water based paint is perfect for furniture, woodwork etc.. as it dries super fast. It's also much better to use indoors as it doesn't smell and it's not so toxic. Oil based paint is much more durable and hard wearing. Experts say that it should be used to paint outdoors but I don't agree. If you get a good water based paint it will last outdoors.
So water based paint wins.
Paint
Don't go for cheap - DO NOT EVER! Cheap paint will take many, many coats and will be in the long run very expensive. Settle with a quality paint brand and good tools as it will make your life easier. I only use paint from SIGMA COATINGS - not worldwide available. I'll get it mixed in any colour I fancy.
The Magic of Colour Numbers
If you go to your local D.I.Y. shop, where they have a paint mixing station, they can mix any colour you desire using any brand of paint you desire. I use SIGMA paint but I want a Farrow & Ball colour, it's possible as all colours carry a colour number. For example; Farrow & Ball All White 2005 carries universal number: FB approx 2005. If my paint guy exactly types this in his mixing station computer he'll get All White by Farrow & Ball and can mix it with anything, even wall paint.
So you need to know colour numbers and you need to know brands.
RAL Numbers
There's another way to get the right colour and that's using RAL numbers. RAL numbers are brandless set colours. RAL number 9010 is the most used RAL number for white, I use it a lot. The same counts for RAL numbers, you can take them to your mixing guy and tell him you want RAL number .... mixed in your desired paint.
Brandless Mysterious Numbers
Take them to your mixing guy and let him find it, he will, he'll only needs a bit of encouraging.
Trust me, every colour is mixable as long as you have a colour number.
Stages of Painting
There are 4 stages (phases) in painting:
1. sanding
2. priming
3. sanding
4. painting
This is my pantry/broom closet in 4 stages.
Sometimes you need two or even three coats of paint and you'll have to repeat the sanding/painting stages for as long as it will do the trick. In the end I painted my closet two times.
Paint Technique
I apply the paint with a paint brush (5/6) on to the object that needs painting and roll the paint out with a paint roller (7/8). I never dip the paint roller in a bucket of paint I just use it to even the paint out.
When I paint floors I do the same thing only I put the paint roller on a broomstick (1) and even the paint out like I'm mopping the floor.
Next post will be about the numbers I use in my home, hopefully online tomorrow. Please ask me anything so I can answer your questions in my second paint guide.
Just before Christmas 2010 Tanya Whelan of Grand Revival Design contacted me if I was willing to help photograph and style her first sewing book Sew What You Love and also if she could use my home as a set for her book. I've known Tanya for years through blogging and as I love her designs and aesthetic I replied with a firm yes. Tanya and her family are American expats living in the south of Belgium so a 2 hour trip to my home (twice) was actually doable and fun as we could meet.
Working with Tanya is a delight as we share the same taste and ideas. Things moved fast and swiftly and with lots of fun. She has a great eye for beautiful things, she works hard and is a total no-bullshit person. I feel very privileged to work and be friends with someone like her.
After months of waiting (on my side, while Tanya did the hard work) I finally have a copy of her beautiful book in my hands, I love it and I know you'll love it too. It's perfect for beginners as the instructions are so well written and so clear, you can't go wrong. The projects in Sew What You Love are very diverse so there's something there for everyone. As an extra bonus you'll recognize a lot of my home in this book.
I'm allowed to give a signed copy (by Tanya and yours truly) to one of you. And a second price of a free downloadable Grand Revival Design pattern. All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog and next Thursday, January 19th) I'll draw the winners.
If you go over to Tanya's blog you'll find an interview with me and other great giveaways.
Thanks for participating xox
This giveaway is now closed. You can find the winners here.
It's done, horrible task one is over. Now we have horrible task two waiting ahead of us and that's the roof.
You can read all about my basement studio/shop over at IKEA Live. The lightning in the photos is a bit odd but you have to remember it's a cave, a pretty white cave nonetheless.
I often get the question if there's something fundamentally wrong with my husband Bo as he likes the colour pink. I find that a rather scary question as it shows that society believes pink is a colour just for the female specious. Oddly enough way, way back boys were associated with the colour pink as it stood for a strong, powerful colour and girls were associated to the colour blue as it stood for pale and serene. Also way, way back a boy was not called a boy (as servants were called boy) but they were called 'gay boys'. Oh my!! Now that will shake the socks right off all those men who are scared of the colour pink just because they are told they should be scared of it by society a.k.a. dimwitted parents and other men.
It's a beautiful colour equally for male and female.
I have a very lovely 'gay boy' and there's nothing wrong with him. He is actually a rather fascinating person. He's musical, artistic, creative and the owner of a pair of golden hands.
It was quite challenging to decorate a room in "Yvestown Style" around all his art projects and black and brown stuff but I quite feel accomplished and so does he. There's even the odd pink bookcase, basket and flowers in there, oh yes!!
And when I have one of my black days I totally match this room of the house.
Over the weekend I'm going to spend a whole post on paint. So please bare with me as I'll get all your paint questions answered.
There's an archway in my kitchen that leads to the hideous sun room that the previous owners build in the seventies. The archway was once a door but I thought an archway would be much cooler as the sun room could become part of the kitchen.
It took us a while but we are finally realizing this plan.
Step one: we've bought some old doors and Bo is turning them into a pantry. I'm going to paint them in the same shade of blue as the toilet door to add some colour to all the white. I love popping colours.
I love these doors, I even love them as they are now.
Step two: all that window will go and they will be replaced by those doors that lean against the wall. There's also a cute little window there, ready to be fitted next to the pantry. Our carpenter made them so I can open them to the outside, and as the walls will be massive, I'll have this amazing big windowsill where I can grow my herbs. And each room, of course, needs a princess light, it just does - don't know why it's there.
Oh the thought of this boot room to be finished, the little porch that will lead straight into the garden .... oh spring!
Ever since Cath Kidston launched the circus print I've been in love with it. I love the mixture of vivid bright colours on a white background and I love the characters. Deep inside I think I just love the circus in general how wrong it may be. The print came together with a beautiful ray of other prints like Shooting Star, Dotty and Chintz. All of these prints I use in my home and, to my opinion, after that line it didn't get so good any more.
I loved the Cath Kidston in 2004. I loved the cleanness of it, it wasn't frilly, it was fabric for women who like flowers but aren't that girly altogether. Ah well, all good things must come to an end right? And maybe Cath's designers will read this and go back to the old design scheme - if only.
With my love for the circus print I never thought I could pull it off to use it in a no-child related room. But as 2012 stands for 'I don't give a rats ass' I made some curtains for my study using the cotton duck fabric and I love it.
I even made it more circus by adding some bright pink fringe trim all along the top.
And there it is in all it's glory, at long last I have circus curtains and I'm proud of it. Obliviously Bo walked in the other day and said: "they look good but shouldn't they be in a child's bedroom?". Men ...
They bright up the room and they bright up my life.
While I was at it, I took some pictures of the rest of the study for you to enjoy.
You see what I'm doing here right? Filling the topics as I even find it empty ;o)
Today I bring you Bo's favourite dish. It's simple, fast and even he can make it.
A new feature to my blog will be the recipe cards. You can drag them to your desktop and print them or on Windows you can right click and save them and print. I hope you like this new feature.
Back in December I bought this pine bookcase on Marktplaats (Dutch Craigslist) for Bo's study. I spent a little while searching as I never want to spend too much money on something that I'm going to makeover and I don't want to do a cross-country. I was lucky for €50 and a 30 km drive.
Once at home I sanded the bookcase, give it an allover white prime and two fresh coats of Farrow & Ball All White. Now that I'm using water based paints I can paint a bookcase like this in a day, I love it!
After the coats of paint I changed the pine knobs with a mitch match of fun porcelain painted knobs .
I've bought these at 'Zoals Vroeger'. It's a great simple webshop for buying knobs like these. I'm sure if you mail the owners (and tell them you've found their shop through my blog) they'll answer and help you in English.
I used knobs 32, 99, 113 and 155 for my bookcase.
Thank you so much for the positive comments on a very big decision I've made. It's not that I just woke up one day and thought to myself; "lets get rid of that blog", it took months. Just see it that I will have to fill this space so that I will be here very often.
You may wonder where all the contents of my blog has gone to, it's gone. After 7 years of blogging, moving home and several blog makeovers I started to loose interest. I kept wondering, and asking myself, why I didn't enjoy blogging anymore. I need a blank canvas to work on, I need a fresh new start so I've deleted the lot.
I've gained so many loyal readers over the years and made some amazing friendships through this blog. I'm grateful for all the people who feel inspired by my words and photography and I hope to keep doing so for many years to come.
So now I have this blank canvas, just like the amazing basement studio/shop we worked so hard on the last few months. I'm filling it with furniture as I will fill this blog with all sorts of stories, projects and photography.
