emilies interiors

In the blog post about the Antwerp house of Vincent van Duysen, we consulted the use of venetian blinds in order to make the huge windows less high. This optical trick is to apply for high ceilings as well.  The room with the white shelves has been painted green. This green gives a fresh look combined with the white of the cushions and the red of the upholstered chairs and lamp shade. The ceiling beams have been plastered white as well. The plastering overflows the walls for another 30 centimeters that results in an optical trick of floating ceilings. This image gives the spectator the idea of a bigger space.

The same sort of trick has been done in this New York hotel room. The ceiling and walls have been plastered in the same color. In order to make the ceiling ‘float’ a white ledge has been applied 50 centimeters from the ceiling.

If you are planning to use this optical trick ,applied to the green room; we advise you to start painting the ceiling and the overflow to the walls. If you’ve checked the results and you have approved them, then it is wise to continue with the walls. If the results do not impress you, you can always repaint the overflow in the color of the walls. The same counts for the application of the ledge. Start painting the ceiling and the overflow until the height of the planned application of the ledge. Then paint the walls and stop at 15 centimeters below the height of the application of the ledge. If you like the results you can apply the ledge; if not you will continue painting the gap in the color of the walls.

The photo of the green room is from an old edition of Marie Claire Maison. The one from the room of the Herald Hotel in New York is taken by Emilie Verbeek.

If you decided to stay at home this summer to enjoy your own garden or terrace, this blog post might inspire you. Last week Farrow & Ball presented in her newsletter her exterior color schemes that are to apply on masonry, wood- and metalwork. The schemes are lovely and reminded us of the colored houses we’ve photographed last spring in New York.The one with the blue door associated us with the scene in ‘Notting Hill’, where Hugh Grant is pointing at his house with the blue door, after he bumped into Julia Roberts and spilled her white blouse with two cups of orange juice. The range of Farrow & Ball in exterior paint is environment friendly and available in over more than 100 colors.

The photo of New York’s  Chelsea and Soho have been taken by Emilie Verbeek.

A new edition of Vogue Living Australia is out!

Next to the Milan 2009 report there are some inspiring interiors to marvel at. Vincent van Duysen is a Belgian Architect with the love for tacile use of materials. It took him 3 years to rebuild his nineteen century house in Antwerp. In his large and spacious living the windows and skylights have been upholstered with natural colored drapes and venetian blinds.

Those blinds are both decorative and functional. In our Amsterdam loft we’ve applied them as well for the reasons that they filter the sunlight and make the windows look less grotesque. Venetian blinds are to purchase a the official Luxaflex dealers and Ikea.

Yesterday we visited a friend, whom is renting a houseboat in Amsterdam. This boat is remarkable for its design and applied colors. The outside has been painted in a grayish khaki, a ripened red and a Swedish blue. This grayish kaki is the same color we mentioned in our blog about a loft in Amsterdam. The owner has been very consistent in his color palette and continued the grayish khaki, ripened red and Swedish blue inboard . This in combination with sanded Teak floorboards resulted in a simple chic living. We think our friend succeeded with her decoration. She combined her beloved old French dining table with comfortable chairs in beige . For optical reasons the Ektorp sofa (Ikea) is in white . Just as the locker set (IKEA PS), that is strategically positioned at the end of the living in the order to let the light reflect upon the sanded floor. This mix & match of styles, colors and forms has been done well and have created a good fit with the exterior of the houseboat.

Herewith a bunch of Scilly Mauves. This family of scented Pelargonium’s or Geraniums grow wild on the Table Top Mountain in South Africa. Their scent is strong and they smell like wild roses. With the intention to fill the containers on the balcony, Emilie visited the local nursery and found these lovely reeking pot plants, that are strong and resistant to a lot of sun. The petals of the Scilly Mauve are velvety in a deep burgundy tone; that in contrast with the crisp green leaves. It’s a pity that you cannot buy the Scilly Mauve as a cultural flower. As a solution Emilie cut some twigs from the pots and arranged simple and scented flower arrangements. This was not an expensive action. In Holland the price of a pot of Scilly Mauves is € 2.70. Emilie bought 4 pots for €10.00 and cut the twigs from 2. The total costs were equal to the price for a bunch of non scented roses.

During our visit to the wholesale fair , we were surprised to see the comeback of an trend from the early nineties, the tin lamp from Turkey. This hanging lamp is decorative and lightweight. It is easy to get mixed up with the Moroccan version. The difference in the latter one is the appliance of colored glass. In this post we stick to the Turkish version, that is deliverable in different styles: as a hanging lampshade, a bowl and as a lantern. The costs of a Turkish hanging lamp differ from € 25 to € 75. And if you are savvy, you can get them for less in a souk or bazaar. To make a statement with this romantic lamp, we advice to buy a few of them and bundle them together. An example is ‘the Fluoro Cluster’ by Tom Dixon, an English rewarded designer. This year he launched ‘the Fluoro shade 2009 | 2010 collection’ during The Salone di Mobile 2009. We end this post with a tip; buy a few Turkish hanging lanterns or bowls and apply wax lights in different colors. Hang them in bundles in trees or in the ridge of a tent. Be aware that trees and tents will not catch fire and that tin lamps are not happy with damp and rain.

An example of a design classic is La Chaise, designed in 1948 by Charles and Ray Eames. They were inspired by a sculpture of Gaston Lachaise with the name ‘Floating Figure’. This ‘piece de la resistance’ is to apply in hallways and large livings. For its organic form this chair is decorative, no matter in what position, and elegant. Let us inform you that La Chaise is quite large. The measurements are: 134 cm x 90 cm x 90 cm. To give you an idea of proportions. A normal two seated couch is 180 cm x 90 cm x 90 cm. We have used La Chaise as a room divider and placed it in the center of the loft. Despite the presumption of visitors, La Chaise is a comfortable chair, for reading the papers or having a quick lunch. As in blog post design classics 2 | 4, we have asked Jos Duiters of 59 design to look for a bargain and he delivered one for € 3900,00. You can check the Internet and you will learn that this is a good price for such a design classic as La Chaise.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Aluminum Chair, design by Charles and Ray Eames for Vitra. We think this home office chair is the most popular applied design in offices. Let us know if we are wrong! For our own office we were looking for the E117 version in white leather. Like in our blog post ,design classics 1 | 4, we have found our favorite at the www.marktplaats.nl (the Dutch version of e-bay). Invitra is a small company with an expertise in new and used office design. You can give them your wish list and they will find your favorites for a price lower than the market price. They keep a small assortment in office tables and Aluminum chairs by Eames at their office, that is located in a lovely renovated formal postal office building in Sneek. If you want to check out their current collection, tick Invitra in the search box of marktplaats.nl and you will get a list of their current stock. PS: Do not think that the E117 version in white leather is uneasy in usage. Our chairs are from 2005 and they survived photo shoots, three removals and the usage of our jeans. Our tip is to clean the leather with a soft cloth, dipped in lukewarm water. Do not forget to rub the leather dry softly with an old woolen sock.