I'M MOVING TO A NEW BLOG HOME!

Do you want to join me?

Many of you have been following me here at The Deco Detective for quite some time. At the moment, I'm feeling that I want to play and explore a bit - there is so much beauty out there that I need a space for more variation. This is why I'm launching my new blog today:


beauty comma


Since The Deco Detective was my first blog, there's simply too much to clean up and rearrange here for me to get a consistent look and feel. I think that a new blog with a new title gives me a fresh start which also allows me to blog about other things than just interior decoration - although there will be plenty of that, too, alongside all sorts of photography, art...

My old blog will be available as an archive, but currently, I'll be posting at my new blog. So if you want to join me on this new venture, please update your bookmarks and blogrolls!

My new blog url is

http://beautycomma.blogspot.com/

and the blog's name is beauty comma.

I'm fully aware of the rules that say that one shouldn't change one's "brand", but I'm doing it anyway. I hope that all readers, followers and subscribers from my old blog will join me to see what happens in my new blog home!

POLAROID BEAUTY: PHOTOGRAPHER JENIFER ALTMAN

Have you got a couple of hours to spare today?




If you do, I strongly recommend that you spend them in photographer Jenifer Altman's company.

(Photos are full size in this post, so there are no links to larger versions)








See what I mean?

These photos are from her website www.jeniferaltman.com.

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Jenifer Altman's also got two blogs! One of them is a polaroid blog called Nectar & Light. The other one, short stories, is a real gem that consists of her own photos accompanied by short, very poetic, texts -



Jenifer's also got an Etsy shop: Fieryeyed Photography.

Hmm... maybe you'll need the whole day for all this?

Whichever way you're spending it: have a lovely Sunday!

PS. I found out about Jennifer Altman via Make Room For Living, a happy and colourful blog that I suggest for your Monday reading - it's guaranteed to cheer you up!

THESE SHOES ARE MADE FOR...?

BF and I are heading into town, I just wanted to share one fun photo first:


(click for large view)

What do you think, are these shoes made for walking? Or are they suitable for decorating as well? I found this photo quite inspiring for a casual storage-cum-display since as you know, I love decorating with my shoes, clothes and bags. Do you put unusual items on your walls, too?

Photo by Henry Moshizi.

PS. I've found something really lovely for tomorrow, I can't wait to show you!

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NORWEGIAN SUMMER HOUSE

Today, I'd like you to join me on a visit to a summer house that for me is the quintessential Norwegian summer nostalgia.

(Photos are full size in this post, so there are no links to larger versions)


The Swiss-style villa in Esviken was built in 1872. The property is situated in the woods of Asker near Oslo and is part summer house, part art gallery/ cultural meeting point for everyone who needs some breathing space. The municipality of Asker owns the place, but architect Kristin Ellefsen rents it and tries to rescue it from deterioration - the house is protected but has been sadly neglected over the years.



Ellefsen actually resigned from her job to create Stillscape, a non-profit organization that deals with concerts, art exhibits, creative literature, dramatic art and architecture; most of this takes place at Esviken.



Both Stillscape and Esviken has an organic profile. Ellefsen lives at Esviken part of the year - even if the house doesn't have modern water supplies.



The kitchen is in a separate building, and serves as a café in summer. The text on the blackboard says:

"Pay for food with a kind heart and within your means. Payment to be put in the box on the counter. Thank you!"



The interior decoration is a mix of previous owners' items and furnishing done by Ellefsen, in collaboration with interior stylist Ingvild Flesland and her husband Olaf Rademacher.







Same room, same view, but another season:



Even Norway's first king in modern times, Haakon VII, visited Esviken with his family about 100 years ago! It's fascinating to think about the people who used to walk on these floors...



... and in the garden!

I hope you'll get to walk in a garden during the weekend, too. (I'll be busy making my own garden the next days)

Photo credits:

1, 4, 7, 8, 12: Nina dreyer Hensley & Jim Hensley/ InteriørMagasinet no.4 2009

The rest of the photos are from the websites of Esviken and Stillscape.

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HAPPINESS IN LITTLE THINGS: PINK WITH DARK RED

Sorry I'm a bit lazy regarding new posts these days. I'm still playing.

Not sure whether the taste of cherry with rosé is the ultimate one...




... but the colour combo is!




Hope you're having a lovely Tuesday.

And thanks for your comments guys; I'll soon get back to you all!

Photos by me.

SPEAKING OF SUMMER...

Which one of these photos speaks the most about summer to you?















All photos by Swedish photographer Anna Kern, found through a Google search but whose work I think I've seen around the blogosphere.

I KNOW I SHOULDN'T...

...have pain au chocolat for breakfast.




But I'm on holiday, and it is France, after all.

Plus I'm excused because I wanted to try putting together a nice, but simple breakfast tableau out of objets trouvés, i.e. found objects. BF's rental apartment contains all essentials, but nothing more, which makes breakfast a nice little decoration challenge.



There are some nice things in the kitchen cabinets though. The tablecloth is actually a waffle towel.

I might be a Napkin Nerd - I've got a quite nice little collection at home - but I haven't bought any here. So I took a sheet of ordinary kitchen paper and separated the layers. I used one layer to make the little paper fan.




From the other layer, I cut out a couple of paper flowers.




Bit flower power, isn't it? This is a simple way of decorating if you've got little money (and lots of spare time...)

Guys, I hope you're not missing the ordinary interior decoration photos too much. I promise to post some of these in between. But I think that when you're on holiday, you should do the things you normally haven't got time for - and in my case, it's doing these small everyday displays plus practising my photography,

and just, you know -



play ---


Photos by me.

COLOURFUL CHINESE LANTERNS

Yesterday, I wanted to draw some Chinese lanterns, so I did a little browsing through Gooogle images to see how the details look like. I found this gorgeous photo that I wanted to share with you:


Photo credit: Mike Richards

I think all these colours look fantastic together. Which one is your favourite?

The photo shows a shop display in Hoi An, Vietnam, and it's from the online travel journal of Mike and Karen.

Thanks Mike for allowing me to blog your photo!

LIGHT CLOTHES

It's Tuesday. BF is at work, and I'm chasing the light in the apartment.




It's a lovely, sunny day.




Time for lunch soon.




Photos by me.

(personal, please don't re-blog or use in any other way)

PHOTO ART BY TIM IRVING

The other day, I got a very nice email from Tim Irving. As it turns out, he lives in one of my favourite places; Granada in Andalucia! He's also a great photographer:

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Tim has got lots and lots of different-themed photos in his Etsy shop opart, so if you're into the Polaroid look, go take a peek! Ans don't miss out on his blog either.


Have a lovely Tuesday --


.

ALLEM STUDIO

As you may have noticed, I'm very fond of pillows. If you are, too, you're about to get a real fix! I've recently discovered Allem Studio, a small company that consists of two friends who offer the loveliest art and craft from India.

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Everything from Allem Studio is hand or machine embroidered by Indian artisans.





The details in this pouf are so sweet --




I also found some lovely items for the table on Allem Studio's website.



There's also a blog with some background information on the artisans' work plus some colourful, inspiring photos from India!

HAPPINESS IN LITTLE THINGS: CHOCOLATE TRIP

Anyone for Mikado?

BF and I have just discovered the chocolate biscuit version of the pick-up sticks game. The chocolate Mikados by LU are both yummy, practical and fun (although we restrict ourselves to just eating them)! Their only drawback is that they're dangerously tempting. I managed to eat only two while taking the pictures, and eating them was completely justified: they were both broken and wouldn't look good in the photos...

As you can see, the sticks are very easy to pick up (too, easy, actually).


While we're on the subject: I've fallen completely in love with the flooring in BF's rental apartment. There might not be an obvious connection between chocolate and parquet flooring, but its colours actually remind me of all sorts of delicious stuff:

See what I mean?

Unfortunately, I have no idea what kind of wood it's made from. If you recognize it, let me know!


Hope you're having a delightful Monday!

Photos by me.

CLEAN SHABBY CHIC

It's a bit too hot to blog today. Actually, it's a bit too hot to think altogether. Feeling the need for some white rooms to cool me off, I popped by Shootspaces to see if they could help a damsel in distress. Naturally, they could (they're British, after all).

This should be just the house to charm the shabby chic-enthusiast in us all, although it's very clean and not too romantic.

See the Dualit toaster in the photo below? It's the ridiculously expensive one I considered buying a while back, under the pretext that if one just toasts enough old bread, one eventually has saved the expenses. But a girl can only eat so much toast, so in the end I opted for a cheaper (read: less expensive) version.

Second-hand shopping ideas for the kitchen: old framed flower prints, white porcelain, nice tins, old cutlery with bone handles (remember not to put these in the dishwasher, they'll crack up after a while).

I suspect there's been a good deal of paint distressing going on to make the dining room furniture look like this. I like the real thing, i.e. old furniture and original peeling paint, although it's not always easy to tell the difference...

There's nothing distressing about the bathroom though!

My favourite room is this fabulous nursery, which is so cheerful despite being totally void of plastic junk:

THE FIND

I'm staying for almost three weeks at BF's this time. He's just come back from a trip to New York, and as it turns out, he's been at Barnes & Noble again...When I arrived at his apartment yesterday, he presented me with this:

This is just the book I would have picked if BF had asked me to choose - the funny thing is that he didn't know that I wanted it! He's got the knack for picking the right books for me.

Incidentally, I've blogged about Jim Franco, the photographer for the book, earlier - you can read my post about him here. I actually had a draft with pictures ready for a separate post about this book! Well, I guess the perfect occasion just presented itself...

"The Find" is written by Stan Williams. The book is about decorating with thrift shop finds - and doing it with style! Even the front cover holds inspiration for thrift shop decorators. I love the orchid in the jug - using jugs for potted flowers is a great idea.

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An exercise in patience: covering your fireplace in seashells... We who are not that persevering can collect inspiration from the use of colour in this photo - or the display. I like the use of both similar and contrasting shapes on the mantlepieces in this photo and the next:

If you want inspiration for a less traditional/ romantic, but still vintage look, this should be the right photo:

Apartment Therapy did an interview with the author here - this is also where I borrowed the photos for this post.

I'm heading for the couch to read my new book now. Have a lovely Friday!

I'M OFF!

Later today, I'm leaving town again - this time to visit BF for three weeks.


I've packed my suitcase...



(unfortunately, it does not seem to be as lightweight as the one in the photo)

...and am out the door!



(hopefully, I'll remember to actually lock the door upon leaving)


Inspiring budget ideas:

- virtual coat hanger (made usable with small pegs to hang your real coat on)

- mismatched hooks from second-hand shops or maybe from your own attic?

Photos from LivingEtc.

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PS. I'll be blogging!