A lovely light-filled Dutch family houseboat

Yaaaay, it's the weekend (almost)! The sun's shining and I can see the sea sparkling in the distance (definitely heading off for a swim shortly!)....but first today's tour. Could you imagine anything more wonderful than living on a house boat at this time of year? Brought up in a sailing family, I was practically born on a boat and this would be my dream come true, but it does conjure up images of a rather dark, cramped living space. Not in this Dutch house boat captured by Binti Home though. Located a mere 10 minutes from the centre of Amsterdam, Annelie (co-owner of Bynorr.nl), Hans and baby Scott's home is flooded with natural light. The self-designed open-plan space is uncluttered with fresh white walls and pretty pastel accessories.  The only real hint that it's afloat is from the water seen from the living room window. Such a lovely family home, don't you think?

Homeowner: ByNorr.nl. Binti Home (shared with kind permission). Featured in Flair Magazine.

Apart from the fresh colours, patterns and light wood I think my favourite thing about this home is the mix-match coffee tables in the living room. How about you?

I love the cute children's room too. For similar inspiration it's well worth popping over to fellow Malmö blogger Paul et Paula. My favourite online children shops right now are The Youngsters (owned by my talented interior designer friend Genevieve who also lives in Malmö and who I recently collaborated with on my little girls bedroom) and British/Swedish brand Indikidual (Syreeta used to live here too!) - so lucky to be surrounded by such talented people!

There are a load more pictures of this lovely home plus a full write-up over at Binti Home and Flair Magazine (in Dutch). 

For more inspiration from Holland this weekend (after all, the Dutch do have such a great sense of style don't they?) there's an entire archive here (scroll through the first one as it's most likely this home). 

Have a wonderful couple of days and for those of you in America...long weekend!

PS if you fancy a dip this afternoon but have no where to go - you can always imagine yourself relaxing in one of these beautiful swimming pools. Love!  

The perfect items for a calm zen-like home

Don't you love it when you're on the hunt for a design piece and then find out it's actually a readily available high street find? This year I've had the privilege of spending a few days at the IKEA headquarters. I must say, the design team have really come up trumps this year and it was pretty hard to focus on the new upcoming collections - all I could think was 'I need these items in my life'!  My two favourites being the SINNERLIG collection which has been designed in collaboration with the talented  Ilse Crawford and focuses on natural materials such as cork, bamboo and cotton to create a zen feel. And the second; SKOGSTA is a collection of classic kitchen and dining items made of solid acacia wood designed to age gracefully. See you in line?!

My favourite item? That daybed!...I also love the cork work stool, which would be perfect for the long days I'm spending at my desk writing right now.

How about you?

Both collections will finally hit stores as early as next month in some countries ...see you there?!

If you're after more calm home inspiration today I love this, this and this space. And relax!

Have a lovely day!

PS This is not a sponsored post, I just love these collections and thought you may feel inspired by them too! 

Zoe Dent's exotic yet calm oasis in Avalon

Happy July! This has become one of my favourite months since moving to Scandinavia. When the sunshine comes out, there's no where I'd rather be and today's a ripper (I took this pic in Helsingborg yesterday, can you believe it?!). To celebrate I'm going for a home tour with a tropical vibe. And Zoe Dent of The Wedding Nest has achieved just that. Her light and open plan Australian beachside pad in Avalon, which she shares with partner and new born baby, reflects her love of nature and the seaside. The interior is decorated using a neutral colour palette and the varying textiles and textures add depth.  Wall to ceiling windows and plants bring the outside in to form a wonderful oasis of calm.  Let's take a look...

Photography: Hannah Blackmore (shared with kind permission). Styling: Claudia Stephensen. Adore Magazine.

What a wonderful living area, don't you think? I'm sure it would feel sunny even on the greyest of days.

A few items I know and love: Basket lampshade,  Beni Ourani rug, search for tribal ceremonial necklaces on etsy, wishbone and Safari chairs, juju hat (on wall).

Is this your kind of style?

For more boho-exotic inspiration I'm also loving Jade Jagger's Goa retreat and this little piece of paradise in the Philippines. 

Have a lovely sunny day!

PS I love to see unique online boutiques grow in exciting ways and Blackthumb is doing exactly that. This month the store, which brings a collection of Nordic design home and gardening products to North America, has added items from fab Scandinavian brands Nur Design, By Garmi, Kreavtivitum and Menu to the mix. I've got my eye on the Concrete Copper Chunk candle-holder, Nur tray and Opuntia print. How about you?

The fresh light-filled home of an inspiring foodie + give-away winner

Which section of a newspaper do you read first? According to one article this will tell you where your passion lies. And this is what led Anna Jones to quit her office job one grey day and start a chef training programme at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant. Since then Anna's gone from strength to strength having worked at restaurants such as Le Caprice, cooked for rock stars, royalty and the G20 at downing street, as well as shaped the meals at east end schools and people suffering from obesity. Anna now works as a stylist and food writer out of her Victorian town house in Hackney, East London where she created her first book: A modern way to cook, a collection of yummy healthy vegetarian recipes. Her creativity shines through in the way she's decorated her home too: artfully mixing designer, antique and bespoke pieces. The white wood floors and walls give way to vibrant pops of yellow and blue, resulting in a pared-back, fresh and light home. Let's take a peek inside....

Photographer: Idha Lindhag. Stylist Linda Berlin

Such a lovely home, so simple and calm. And such an inspiring career change, don't you think?

Items I know and love: Bluebell sofa, mirror,  blanket,  frosted window film, bespoke plywood kitchen cabinets by Russell Bamber, glass pendant light from here. Circus pendant light (above dining table) - 20% off right now. Eames chair (15% off right now).  French bed frame from Ardingly Antiques Collectors Fair. Am I missing anything?

Is there anything that stands out to you?

Other fabulous foodie homes I've featured include the blue home of a Swedish food blogger (also captured by Idha Lindhag) and the New York home of a cafe owner . And for more London inspiration I'm a big fan of Tamsin Flower's cheerful home and a pretty white and grey Primrose Hill home. Aaaaaw, this post is making me want to go home for a few days! I do love London!

Have a lovely day! - oh and don't forget to pick up today's paper to check where you turn to first. You never know - an inspiring career change might be just around the corner....

PS Thank you to everyone who entered the weekend give-away. The winner and runner-up has now been announced here.... eeeee....holding thumbs as they say in Sweden!

TWICKENHAM ….. A POST THAT WON'T INSPIRE !!!! ……….

My husband likes rugby ….. I like watching sport and watch rugby but it's not my favourite ! This post probably won't bring me many Brownie points or comments and will probably lose me some followers. It won't appeal to many ….. it didn't really appeal to me much ….. BUT, we went on a tour of Twickenham Stadium, the Home of England Rugby …… AND …..

it was a really good day out. 

Even though Twickenham is quite a long journey from where we live, it was a beautiful day and we had friend's to chat to.

Twickenham Stadium is located in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames in South West London.

Guarding the gate is the golden Lion. It is a Coade stone lion { like the one at Westminster Bridge } and came from the old Lion Brewery on the South Bank.

Twickers, as the rugby faithful call it, seats 82,000 people and is the largest dedicated rugby union venue in the world. The pitch had just been re-seeded when we went so that's why it's brown !!

The first game was played in 1909 and, 100 years later, is still going strong.

The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Genesis, Lady Gaga and Rihanna are just some of the acts that have played there.

……. and, those faithful rugby fans { and me !! } got to see Sir Clive Woodward who was a former England rugby union player and coach. There was some 'do' going on on the day we went and we got to brush shoulders with many sporting dignitaries.  Sir Clive Woodward was the coach of the England team from 1997-2004, taking them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

These are a couple of the original baths that have been left at the players request. They are used for ice baths now. I asked where the communal bath was but was told that there has never been one …… slight disappointment !!!!

….. the changing rooms. Each cubicle has the names of every player who has used it. I sat in Billy Beaumont's !!

….. the tunnel …..

….. and me on the edge of the pitch !

The historic venue of Twickenham began life as a humble cabbage patch, hence the name of the pub that we went to where I had ……

a really lovely tomato and basil linguine.

SO, the moral of this story is go on any trip that is offered …… they usually turn out to be worth it.

Regular readers to my blog will know that our son is a music producer and has done the music for the London New Year fireworks and, when we got back from Twickenham, he informed us that he is doing the music for the Rugby World Cup's glittering Opening Ceremony which starts on the 18th September 2015 !!!!

Apologies to anyone who isn't interested in rugby but will be back to flowers next as we are going to RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this week !!

Beautiful weather is forecast for Wimbledon and I shall be glued to the tele for the next fortnight, rooting for Andy Murray !!

XXXX



images 1 - 11 via ME. image 12: via perfect pint, image 13: via gastronomers guide