Category: pretty things
PRETTY THINGS: go green
Since the Belgian weather isn’t really co-operating on giving us some spring, we have to do it ourselves, by bringing some green into our homes for instance.
- I love this ‘living wall’ created by urban landscaper Kari Elwell Katzander of Mingo Design. Gives you some green, some light and some privacy. Perfect. More photos of this house here.
- These concrete planters seem like an easy DIY, but if you’re a bit lazy: you can also buy them at Joanna Wojtkowiak’s etsy.
- Jeremie Egry and Aurelien Arbet did a series called Underground, consisting of plants growing in the most unlikely places, such as these books, a cap and a jean jacket.
- You can use this mobile prism as is, but it is also the perfect size to hold air plants. I’m kind of confused about what exactly air plants might be (or more exactly, what they live from), but it looks really pretty. You can buy this ‘Himmeli’ (referring to the finish tradition of celebrating the winter solstice and serving as a means of good fortune for the future, Himmeli is swedish for sky, or heaven) here.
- Textile designer Isabel Wilson lives in a gorgeous home filled with plants, and -as they always do- freunde von freunden captured it beautifully. More here.
- Beautiful hanging vases by textile and fashion designer Jurgen Lehl.
- These hanging copper and brass vases by The Workshop Gallery are handcrafted. So beautiful.
- Here you can find these wonderful concrete and steel vases that do a pretty good job keeping your single flower straight.
More ideas can be found in this and this old post, or in my pinterest.
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PRETTY THINGS: lightbulbs
Despite – or maybe even thanks to?- the energy-saving lightbulb, designers have been focusing their attention to the classig lightbulb for a while, giving it new shapes or putting it in the spotlight with beautiful sockets. I collected my favorites for you!
- With some help from a talented grandmother, you might be able to make your own version of this knitted lamp from byBLINE, no?
- If you’ve got some swedish up your sleeve (or google translate on your side) you can figure out how to DIY this golden beauty.
- The beautiful Marble Light Collection by studio vit. (source)
- Small Spica by Iacoli & McAllister gives the regular lightbulb all the attention it deserves.
- This mint version is my favorite, but Muuto’s E27 pendant lamp is available in many other colors as well.
- Noam Rappaport puts the lightbulb in the spotlight with just some wood and plastic cables.
- I think I featured this one on the blog before, but Ferro Watt produces the most beautiful lightbulbs, based on Edison’s authentic design. The beautiful packaging is a bonus.
- Base is a design from the NUD collection, and nothing more than a lightbulb with a beautiful concrete socket and a cord that comes in 44 colors.
- The atalier lamp is a beautiful twist on the regular lightbulb. Available at Baroness O.
- Eric Therner’s Diamond Light has been going around the blogosphere for a while, but I had to include this one!
- This worklamp inspired golden girl is available here, but I have to admit I really like the classic worklamp as a design element too. (It’s a pity I can’t remember where I have seen this being used…)
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PRETTY THINGS: DIY ideas
I came home from my Erasmus in Portugal with no money and the good intentions of buying less and recycling/DIY’ing more. A plan that is surprisingly easy to stick too, if only I had a little bit more time on my hands to execute every idea! Anyways, I’ve already had a lot of fun creating birthday gifts and redecorating my room, so I figured it’s time to let you in on all the fun. It wasn’t an easy task to limit this list to just 8 ideas, so feel free to take a look at my pinterest board and these old posts.
- This kit introduces you to the art of Japanese bookbinding, although I’m sure with a little bit of google work you can find the right tutorials and start without the kit.
- I’m obsessed with decorations in concrete and combined with gold, I’m lost for sure. Beau-ti-ful! (source)
- Surely I’m not the only one who’s having trouble keeping her jewelry collection in order (at the moment I taped my necklaces to the wall with bits of colorful washi tape, not for heavy necklaces though!), and this branch display seems like the perfect way to do it. And it’s gold! (source)
- A simple shirt and some scissors make for this gorgeous cut out top. Easy-peasy!
- Throw in some architectural references in an interior and I’ll love it, so this skyline made out of what seems to be electrical cord is surely a winner in my book. (source)
- All you need for this is simple white mugs and a porcelain marker. I’ve tested this myself as a gift for my sister’s birthday and it has been approved! You don’t even need a really steady hand, there are tons of simple designs anyone can do. I pinned a lot of inspiring designs on my diy pinterest board and miss Mangelmoes even devoted a whole board to painted porcelain, so no excuses! (source)
- More branches! I already declared my love to branches in interiors years ago, and my opinion hasn’t changed. How beautiful is this lamp ornament? (source)
- If you’re too lazy, you can buy this black and gold clutch here, but this shouldn’t be too hard to have a go at yourself.
Enough rambling, go get crafty!
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PRETTY THINGS: books
- I don’t know a lot about painters, but I do know I love Gerhard Richter‘s work and that every time I came across one of his paintings in a museum, it made a big impression on me. ’November ‘contains 54 works in ink and for what I’ve seen, they are absolutely stunning. (source)
- Designer Thomas Billas is the man behind ‘How to make it without ikea’, a zine that shows us how to transform everyday objects into useful tools. Volume three comes out soon, volume I and II can be found on line here and here. (source)
- As far as my german skills tell me, ‘wenn ich mal gross bin, werde ich designer’ is a student project and a pretty cool one at that. This masterpiece contains beautiful illustrations, both hand drawn and on computer, and even some pop-up mechanisms. Take a look here.
- ‘Quite good houses‘ shows us ordinary European houses, which might surprise us upon taking a closer look at them, but honestly, the title alone already does it for me.
- Like every self respecting person of my generation, I have a collection of tote bags. However, the author of this book, which is conveniently named ‘Tote Bag‘, has gathered a much bigger collection that is well worth taking a look at if you love design and illustration. (By the way, author Jitesh Patel also has a blog dedicated to the subject.)
- ‘A history of graphic design for rainy days’ gives you what its title promises, all explained with beautiful illustrations and even some exercises to keep you focused.
- ‘Don’t eat the yellow snow‘ gives us advice in the form of 250 of the best pop songs from the last 50 years, in all possible genres.
- The flamingos on the cover are what got me interested in ‘Mémoire universelle‘, and the fact that it’s available at Hunting & Collecting (one of Brussels’ finest shops) was very promising as well. Stylist and curator Benoît Bethume started a series of nine ‘bookazines’ of which this one is the first, devoted to love. It’s available with four different covers and shows us a collection of articles and shoots, presented as an encyclopedia of personal memories.
For more pretty books, take a look at my pinterest board or my previous posts.
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