BRIGHT WEEK AT CONCRETE AND HONEY (PLUS SOME LINK LOVE)

This is a special day for me. My frightfully clever BF got a post doc. and is going to work abroad for the next year. He's starting his new job tomorrow, and he just left my apartment to go to the airport. Even though we'll visit each other a lot, it's going to be really strange not having him around on a daily basis...

To cheer myself up a bit, I've signed up to participate in the beautiful blog Concrete and Honey's Bright Week, where the assignment is to post some really colourful photos! I found the perfect photo yesterday:



This is one of Robert Polidori's photos from Versailles. You can read more over at my lovely and supportive blogging friend Judith's blog Paris Atelier.

I picked this photo because BF and I began our relationship in Paris. Because of this, we actually never made it to Versailles... But it's on our "to do"-list!

NEW BLOG LAYOUT

Have you noticed anything different around here? As you know, I'm really fond of makeovers, and this weekend my blog layout got a makeover to celebrate spring. I've changed font from Verdana to Courier because I believe every detective writes on an old-fashioned typewriter! I've decided to keep the pinks as my main colours and replace the red with a light green. I also made a new banner.

Old look:






New look:





The banner is just for now. I've started thinking about drawing a banner, but the one I've got now will have to do until I've made the real one.

This post is mainly to record The Deco Detective's history for myself, for future reference. Once you change your blog, the old is gone, and I think it will be fun looking back at this later.

I've also signed up for Concrete and Honey's Bright Week, so the next time I'm back it will be with some serious colour...

HAPPINESS IN LITTLE THINGS: TANGO SHOES I

Yesterday was Earth Hour! I celebrated by joining a friends' birthday party. We switched off all the lights and had champagne by candlelight. I even found a guy that wanted to talk about HTML code (occupational hazard for bloggers...).

Afterwards, I went to dance Argentine tango. One of my friends had some Comme il Faut tango shoes for sale, and suddenly I was the happy owner of these beauties:



Aren't they just gorgeous? Tango shoes are the only thing I really splash out on when needed! They've got velvet ribbons to tie around the ankles and...



...THE most spiky heels imaginable.

You know how I love decorating with my shoes and clothes; and I've discovered that my beautiful shoes are a perfect match to the small persian rug in the entry:



I bought this rug before I knew about the conditions the child labourers work under. I've decided to keep it and cherish it, and I'm often sending my thoughts to the person who made it, hoping he or she is ok.


(photo copyright: Trudi)

Now my new shoes are sitting next to the rug, waiting for the next time I go dancing.

This world is full of contrasts...

I hope you're having a lovely and peaceful Sunday!

Ps. I've updated Pugstore blog today!


Update 2. May 2009

Just to make sure that no one misinterprets the above, I would like to mention that after discovering the conditions in the Asian rug industry, I've written this post:

Bloggers Unite: Blogging for hope

I've also mentioned the issue here:

Rugmark: Rosemarie Hallgarten

Rugmark: Emma Gardner

The Deco Detective one year


Additional comments on this issue here.

EARTH HOUR

Remember to turn the lights off tonight at 8:30 local time!

To read more about Earth Hour, click photo!

Image courtesy of Kristi at Addicted To Decorating. Thank you Kristi for letting me use this photo!

NEW BABY AT WORK: PUGSTORE BLOG

Some of you might remember that I blogged about PUG in this post last October. PUG is a Norwegian web shop that only carries eco friendly and fairly traded stuff made without child labour. The post about PUG made me decide only to blog about interior decoration shops that have a social profile, and I was really happy about this. Turns out that PUG was quite happy too, because they contacted me a while ago and asked if I would like to work for them. I accepted, of course! If everything works out, I'm going to be in charge of updating PUG's website, running campaigns and so on.

As an avid blogger, I couldn't resist suggesting a blog for PUG... and today's the day we officially launch it.




Pugstore blog is designed to provide information about the products that are available in the web shop, plus campaigns. I made the banner based on the colours and patterns in the PUG website's banner.

We're running a campaign right now to get a bit of focus on the upcoming Earth Hour: 30% off on PUG's lovely bamboo bowls!



Aren't they beautiful?

You can read more here: http://pugstoreblog.blogspot.com

HAPPY MONDAY VII AND A LITTLE DIY: JENNIFER COLLIER

Since it's Monday, I probably shouldn't post any DIY stuff. But after seeing these, you might want to start looking for tiny items for a project next weekend... Jennifer Collier makes the most exquisite shoes and clothes out of paper. They aren't terribly expensive either!









The reason I picked just these photos, is that they've inspired me to put something else than art in my frames. You know the tiny items that just lie there because they're not really useful but that you can't throw away because they've got some kind of sentimental value? We've all got them, so why not use them for a collage?

I found this story at blue moss' blog. They've also got a very inspiring photo of their jewelry display here.

Have a lovely Monday - I'm off to play detective in my drawers now!

HAPPINESS IN LITTLE THINGS: TEA TRAY

It's raining and BF has gone to work on his thesis. The apartment smells of coffee and toast after our cozy breakfast. I'm going to do some vacuuming in a little while; but before I do that I just wanted to share one of my tiny happinesses...



All these lovely things are gifts. The tray is a classic cafeteria/diner tray. It may seem cheap, but it's made of wood, and I love its simple lines and smooth surface. The teacup is from Norwegian china company Porsgrund Porselænsfabrik. This range was designed in year 2000 and consists of 12 different patterns; one for each month. I'm September! The teaspoon is also Norwegian design; Maya from 1962. It's designed by Tias Eckhoff for Norstaal.

The little doily is by my mom. Actually, it's a cloth to wipe the pans with after washing them - the tea towels are reserved for the more delicate stuff. My mom decided she wanted to make a few for me, and she made them look extra nice by machine embroidering Spanish words on them (she was studying Spanish at the time)! This one says "con cariño" which means "with love".


Photo copyright: Trudi

If you look closely, you can see the sky and my phalaenopsis orchid reflected in the tea...

SOMETHING NEW...

I've recently redecorated my living room. Photos are coming up when the light returns so it's possible to take some half decent pictures! The colours I've been working with are red, pale pink and hot pinks. So I guess it won't come as a big surprise that I've started thinking about blues and greens...








Photos found here.

BUTTERFLIES BY CINDY LEE-DAVIES

This is too funny for words. When I got up this morning, there was a newsletter from Australian design company top3 by design in my inbox. One of the entries in the newsletter was - yes, you guessed right - butterflies...

These ornamental butterflies are made from reclaimed crockery - great redesign idea! Designer: Cindy Lee-Davies for design company lightly.

Have a fluttery Friday!

SWEET SILHOUETTE PRINTS

The other day, Jules over at the lovely blog Belle Maison (which by the way has its first blog anniversary today!) sent out a Trend alert: Butterflies post. She's right; I'm spotting butterflies everywhere at the moment!

There also seems to be a bit of silhouette rage around. These beautiful and simple prints from lemondropstudio on Etsy seem to fit in perfectly with both trends:





You can even order a customized print - both motif and background are available in several fun colours:




Here are a couple of cute alternatives to the butterflies:





I love seahorses! If you want a name on the print, you can choose which font you'd like.

This Etsy artist also makes other stuff. I'd like to mention her Earth Friendly crayons, which are made from pieces of crayon that are broken or too small to use - great recycling for toddler artists!

There's also a lovely blog; lemon drop studios/ fresh-squeezed gifts!

(lemondropstudios has kindly agreed to letting me use her pictures on The Deco Detective)

MORE THAN A PRETTY BLOG: ASHLEY FROM DECOROLOGY

Today's post may look like the ordinary interior decoration post. Read it carefully though, it may contain something different...

You may know this blog already, but I'd still like to draw your attention to:

This beautiful blog is written by Ashley, who's a graphic designer with a great interest in interior design. She digs up the most gorgeous stuff for us to enjoy - but before you go ahead and get completely lost in all the lovely pictures, I'd like you to notice this banner:



- which you'll also find in the sidebar on the Decorology blog. This banner links directly to Ashley's fundraising page. Ashley's training to run a marathon (26 miles) for the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.

Ashley and the rest of the participants on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

Ashley's goal is to raise $ 4.900 by June 2009. She's raised 1/3, but she still needs our help. The best way is of course to donate, but you may also help out simply by spreading the word: Send this blog post to your friends and contacts, or do like me: blog about Ashley's lifesaving work!

Here are a few examples of what we can enjoy over at Decorology:

(all photos are links to the posts where they originally appeared)

Have a beautiful day=)

FROM MY HOME: TINY KITCHEN TABLEAU

Since my kitchen is integrated in my living room, it's the first thing we see when we enter this room. I've had a bit of fun trying to make the countertop look reasonably stylish. Theme colours at the moment are dark brick red, black and cream.

I'm quite happy with how it looks like at the moment. You know how I love things that have similarities in colours and shapes, so I've been playing!

The rubber potholders are pure genius (from Eva Solo). I love their flowing lines, so I've tried to enhance them with everyday items in various heights. And the top of the wine bottle is just the perfect red...

The clock with timer is a copy of an old classic. It's from Swedich company Åhléns.

The brushes for doing the dishes have suction, so we can just slam them onto the countertop when we're done. The colours are perfect, and the shape of the brushes are similar to the shape of the clock, so you can imagine how happy I was when I found them at IKEA!

HAPPY MONDAY VI - MORE FROM TRINE THORSEN

On this particular Monday, I'd prefer lounging on something like this:

...with some of this:

But if I had a workspace that looked like this:

things wouldn't be so bad!

More stuff from Norwegian photographer Trine Thorsen here and here.

RANDOM STUFF II

Office common area in Rotterdam by Dutch designer Bertjan Pot.

Photographer: Christian Schaulin

The carpet is second-hand. The designer melted pieces of duct tape into it! The couch is covered in fabric pieces that the designer collected over the years.

Nice idea for revamping an old couch, isn't it? Not so sure of the carpet though!

Article found here.

RANDOM STUFF I

Just a couple of nice photos from Simon Upton!

NORWEGIAN ARTIST ANNETTE MANGSETH

In my blog anniversary post, I was contemplating my blog content for the year to come. One thing I'm sure of, is that I want to feature more lovely, affordable art! I also want to find more artists and designers from Norway, and today's Etsy find is Annette Mangseth of Carambatack Design. She makes the cutest prints, and she also makes art cards, stickers and greeting cards!

Melissa (art card)

Under my wing 2 (print)

This Peacock Print was featured in Australian Home Beautiful!

Love song (print)



Blue Butterflies (print)

If you like what's in Annette's Etsy shop, have a look at her Flickr page as well!

THE DECO DETECTIVE ONE YEAR!

Yesterday, my blog had its first birthday! On March 9th 2008 I decided to leave my Norwegian blog (which by then was only a couple of weeks old) and start blogging in English. When I started blogging, I had used the Internet just for emails and had barely seen an interior blog - I just wanted to document what I did in my apartment and prove that it's possible to make changes at home without spending lots of money.

Of course I ended up doing other things as well. Here's a small summary of what's been going on the last year. All photos are links to the post where they originally appeared. Enjoy!

March 2008:

Green-and white calendar assignment. From February to June, I changed my living room decoration once a month, inspired by the pictures in my 2008 calendar!

April 2008:

Discovering Flickr and making my first post about an interior designer; Tambra of Champagne Chic.

I also discovered Etsy and had quite a feast blogging stuff I found there! My first Etsy post was about Sharon Peterkin.

May 2008:

Joined Bloggers' Unite - blogging for hope and did a post about child labour in the Asian rug industry. This was quite life-changing for me as a consumer. I had no idea of how other human beings suffer to produce our beautiful stuff!

On the more cheery side: Calendar Assignment from my living room.

June 2008:

I started checking out online interior magazines and blogging more interiors from the Internet.

July 2008:

I got this book and did more decluttering and less blogging...

August 2008:

Even less blogging, partly because I went on holiday to Italy!

September 2008:

I started searching for interior designers, and had a whole week that I dedicated to different colours.

October 2008:

I made a decision not to blog about shopping unless it was fairtrade & eco friendly!

I also had great fun exploring American traditions.

November 2008:

The month I fully realized the trend madness in the world of interior decorating =D

Also the month when I changed my template, did a lot of work on my blog's layout and started blogging larger photos when possible.

December 2008:

Christmas, of course!

January 2009:

Planning my pink-and-red interior and blogging lots of interior decoration from the Internet.

February 2009:

Keeping up the last month's search for interior photographers.

If you want to see more, you'll find one photo for each month in the sidebar (column on the right). If you click these photos, all blog entries for each month will appear on one page, which makes it really quick and easy to study my archives.

I'm not sure where my blog will head in 2009. I hope I'll be able to give more low-budget and eco-conscious inspiration and that I'll brighten someones' day once in a while!

HAPPY MONDAY V - YELLOW CHAIRS

This Happy Monday post took some work! It started with this photo that I found on Flickr, which made me do some browsing, looking for yellow chairs. I found a lot, but most of them were outdoors furniture. Here are a few of my favourite indoors chairs!

snappyshop

woodleypark-zoo

pep_per

juju bug

perfect bound

lp-c
is from Norway, like me!

Have a happy day!

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2009

Greetings to all the strong, brave and kind women all over the world: I admire the way you cope with your trials, and I wish you the best for today and for your future.

(photo copyright: Trudi)

EMBROIDERED WALL ART - NEAWEAR

You know how you sometimes go looking for something specific, and then end up with something completely different? Happened to me yesterday! I didn't have much success finding what I originally was Googling, but I found the most lovely blog instead! Janick of Creativadoration lives in Montreal and creates some really cute and whimsical embroidered wall art which I fell completely for:

(click photos for large versions!)

The designs are all Janick's own. Lots of the frames are vintage!

If you adore these as much as I do, visit Janick's Etsy shops -
she makes jewelry as well! She's also got a shop with pearls and other items for embroidery and jewelry making.

nea
nea jewelry & wall wear
NeaBlossoms

PHOTOGRAPHER ELLEN SILVERMAN

When blogging Paul Løwe's typewriter art yesterday, I noticed the photo credit and went to visit Ellen Silverman's website. It immediately became clear to me what my next blog post was going to feature...

I always try to translate photos of seemingly expensive decoration into something that's doable on a budget. Key words for low-budget inspiration are often: second-hand; mismatched; colour coordinating. There's lots to find in these photos!

The last photo doesn't quite belong on an "interior design only" blog. But I do decorate with my clothes, and who could resist this?

VIA SWEET PAUL: TYPEWRITER RECYCLING ART

Paul Løwe is the Norwegian interior & food stylist who had great success in Norway, then went to New York to have, well, more success. He's got this great blog where you always get hungry when visiting. I fell for this lovely DIY project of his: art made of old typewriter keys!

Photo: Ellen Silverman

To read all about his project and to enjoy a lovely blog, visit him over at Sweet Paul!

HAPPY MONDAY IV

This is an extra Happy Monday for me. The schools have a vacation this week, and so do I! I spent the weekend cleaning and tidying up my apartment, so now it looks almost as pristine as these rooms...

Photos from Easy Living Magazine.com.

Need more cheering up? You'll find my previous three Happy Monday posts here!

Have a lovely day =)

SUNDAY TREAT: PHOTOGRAPHER TRINE THORSEN

Here's a photographer I bookmarked when I first wrote about Kråkvik/D'Orazio in October! Trine Thorsen's got the most lovely website to get lost in... I've chosen mostly purple/lilac photos from her site. I simply had to restrict myself, or I would never have been able to choose!

The first photos are from the apartment of a girl called Krista. I like it because it's decorated with all kinds of secondhand stuff!

How cool is that chest of drawers? And look at the ladder she's using for her shoes!

The next picture is a great example of how beautiful old and used things can be:

The last one is included just because it makes me go swoon...!

Enjoy your stay at her website, just be warned: you'll need some time there =)