What a book!

Oh my! Was all I could think to say! (Seen on BLDGBLOG)

Wedding looks

We've finally set the date (I think, I just need to check a couple of things) so I'm now going to plunge into the preparations. To start with I'm thinking about the dress (of course!). How amazing would this dress look in white, with a pillbox hat?! All found on Etsy (follow the links).

You know you're in Iceland when...

...you go to a high street book café and bump into the prime minister. I once saw the president and his wife in a record store the day before christmas eve. My then boyfriend who wasn't from Iceland would not believe me when I pointed them out!

Updating floating shelves

A cute way to update those floating shelves we all have somewhere in our house is to cover them in fabric. I found this tip in last month's issue of Livingetc. I wouldn't use a staple gun though as they suggest, at least not on the surface where you can see it, i'd try to do all the fixing at the back or use sticky tape or something where you can't see it, so that the shelf could be used without the fabric again when you tire of it. Perfect for the nursery.

Liking...

...this BÖJA lamp from IKEA. Beautiful for the bedroom or a cozy living room.

Now there is a fitness routine!

And it shall be my new one!

Librarian?

I always associated glass chains (are they called that?) with frumpy old librarians, but this is waaaayy cool! Librarian? I don't think so!

(photo via Face Hunter)

Today I had to laugh at myself

My husband sent me out of the house to have a relaxed cup of coffee and escape reality for about an hour. I was wearing a black dress and leggings, threw on my beige trench and grey boots. Headed downtown in my silver grey station car, stopped by the recycling station to drop off an old desk, then parked in a parking garage but bumped my car on a concrete column in the process. At this stage I was in a quiet rage, desperate not to think about how much it will cost to have this fixed (fortunately it was just a scratch so I hope I can get away with a good wash and polish). As I walked the short distance to my favorite book café I looked at my reflection in the shop windows, my sharply cut shoulder length hair matching my outfit, my fatigue clearly visible on my non made-up face. 'Motherhood', I half growled, half laughed inside.

On my way home, Nirvana's 'come as you are' played on the radio. I sang out loud, I really got into it, I was taken back to the time where I was starting my adult life, in my future I would never shout at my kids, I would never wear beige, I was always going to be the coolest person ever (whatever that entailed), I would always have time for loving my husband (energy was not something I lacked in those days) and I would never worry about trivial things, such as housework and money.

I laughed out loud in a beautiful moment of self realisation, acceptance and joy!

About time

So, last post got me thinking about getting fit, so I looked up some exercise ball videos


I'll start a fitness routine... soon... Any motivational tips, some inspiration?

Baby it's cold outside

Yes, it's cold, windy and rainy outside, I'm home alone (well, kids in bed anyway), eating strawberry chocolate fondue on my own and looking for fashion inspiration for winter. Perfect night in!

From facehunter

Fashiontoast

Topshop lookbook

Great little song!

This is a fantastic little song - and I only just got what it's about!!!

Reykjavík music hall

I don't know when it will be completed, but here is how it might look like one day.

Hamster wheel electricity?

This wall sticker made me laugh outloud!

Love me a bit of Steven Holl

I'm not all about the teeny tiny scale after all. Expect more posts on architecture in the future. Image from here.

Happy birthday mum!

Shell House

I've been on maternity leave for six months now and as lovely as that is, I'm starting to miss my profession, which is, lest I forget, architecture. I've been flipping through some architecture books and in 'Architecture Now! - Houses', I came across this weekend cottage (!) in Japan, by architect Kotaro Ide. It's beautiful curves immediately captivated me, the way it seems to just have landed in the forrest ages ago and has since merged into it's surroundings is so intriguing and very different to how I normally work with my context. Maybe it's the nesting instinct in me, but these last few months I've been paying so much more attention to the smaller scale, residential architecture than before. I used to be all about the large structures, my dream projects being museums, art galleries, libraries, schools, factories even. Now I dream of houses and cottages... that is when I'm not knitting or trying to find the perfect lamp for my entrance hall...

Perfect!

The 'Highland Fling' collection at Topshop matches the key pieces in my wardrobe (I have the PERFECT leather jacket to go with that dress!), it's affordable-ish on my non-existent budget and is generally the sort of thing that I like! Perfect!

In need of closet space?

This closet (kind of thing) by Nynke Boelens grows with your expanding shoe (or whatever) collection. It's made of 580 parts which are connected with elastic cord and therefore no longer defines the amount of the things you can keep. Seen on designspotter.

This is what Iceland looks like...

... seen through the lens of Pixie... otherwise known as my auntie Begga. And I didn't even know, up until very recently, that she was 'dabbling' in photography. See all her pictures on ipernity. Those are two of my favorites, the colours just get me.

Join the fight!

over at design spunk.