Hasta La Ideas

… this is where we stay … the first 'home' my husband and I bought … last year our  friends XandL renovated our 100sqm and we are thrilled with the result … although the place is not done completely, as we still should decorate it a bit better I feel…but already we find it is quite nice 'as is'…I really wanted to share the images I took with one of my favourite blogs … because XandL deserve the attention!

I have been a long and with that I mean a very long time fan of Remodilista. I truly appreciate how the founding ladies of this blog or should I say online interior design resource still give so much personality to each and every post they share with their huge amount of readers. So when I sent over some pics of our Amsterdam apartment to Sarah Lonsdale I was thrilled she was interested in sharing them at remodilista … so if you would like to go for a short tour … head over to Remodilistaand read a bit more about our special place in the Jordaan. 

All images by me, Irene Hoofs

.. Amsterdam apartment over at Remodilista
.. X and L

Today I would like to share a personal project with you that I finished last week. Two chairs that I bought a long time ago while living in Toronto … vintage chairs in a beautiful shop on Queen street, not sure if the shop is still there? 

I never really liked the upholstery but last year I bought a whole roll of this retro fabric for only 6 euros and although I first imagined them as curtains in a perfectly white bedroom I decided to use them for these chairs instead.

The bedrooms here in our new Singapore apartment are a bit brownish already with all the wood used for the cupboards and floors so it was better to use white and light curtains instead. Not sure what I will do with the remaining fabric though 🙂

Upholstering chairs like these is actually quite easy. Just make sure you have the right stapler (you can buy in all the craft and hardware stores). Make sure you follow the patterns of the fabrics and stretch the fabric not too hard but strong enough so it doesn't wrinkle on the top. Corners are always a bit tricky but just experiment a bit and pretend you are wrapping a gift.

Good luck! ~irene xoxo

I really felt like cleaning out some shelves and re-organise some things in our dining area. Perhaps the loss of my dad and all the sadness around it made me want to start fresh again … you recognise this feeling? Some people go out sporting or shopping I like to stay in my own home and find comfort in the things I cherish … so last Sunday while my boys were playing outside I gave myself some 'me' time .. while listening to some music I enjoyed moving my things around. 

Usually I forget taking pictures but this time I thought let's share it with you my dear readers, you have been so supportive of me lately … so I hope you like my small decoration ideas. 

I always keep things simple in my home, group things together and try to give proper attention to even the smallest object.                            [CONTINUE READING]

Tin, copper and bras are my new favorites and luckily for me my mom had quite a collection and she was more than willing to pass them on to me. I like how the tinny things are grouped together in a more modern setting. It is probably the color that I like so much. And mixing old and new is I believe always a good idea. 

I will mention some of the obeject you see in the pictures. The red bar stool is by Heidi Sebastian for established&sons. Rik and I bought it for our apartment in Singapore but with new tenants living their now we thought better to use it ourselves. I absolutely love the stool and just to let you know it sits very comfortably. 

The shelves are by string from Sweden, but I guess you knew that already 🙂 … a little vintage vase by Tapio Wirkkalla, square robot prints by Vorstin, Italian cotton threads by Carta inc., a ceramic pencil box by Dick van Hoff, blue ceramic pot by inkypots and the rest are thrift store finds.

Art on the wall is by Dutch photographer Anna Tiedink. Some trays by fog linen on the marble table, facemaker by miller&goodman the luxe edition and of course a little picture off my dad.   

I feel it has been a good week at Bloesem and BKids. Many beautiful pictures … hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. I have also managed to finish a lot of work behind the scenes… but still working on my NY visit report though … it always takes much longer to prepare these things than initially planned for, and I want to make sure I am not omitting any of  the good stuff from NY in the report…so something to look forward to next week…

But I have taken some snapshots from items I brought home from NY via my new addiction instragram. Such a wonderful tool to quickly show you what I have been up to…

From top to bottom, left to right: beautiful tray from studio Piano Nobili, 2013 linen calendar from Lotta Jansdotter for fog linen work, a Donna Wilson plate, MillerGoodman facemaker, paper flowers from Jurianne Matter, tray from fog linen work, fabric by Karen Barbe, beautiful thread from carta inc. and the city calendar from rifle paper & co… 

Next week, more and better pics from these items in my home.

Have a great weekend for those of you in Asia and further South…Down-Under…and hang in there for all of you in the EU and US…as the weekend is almost upon you too…I am sure it is well-deserved…

Hope to see you back on Monday and don't forget to enter the giveaway from Ink+Wit or this giveaway on BloesemKids: 2 posters from Paola Zakimi to win! 

And do follow me on instagram! ~irene xoxo