Oh, I just found this gem of a family place yesterday. Sitting right in the canals of our last destination, Amsterdam, so I had lots of memories coming back!
A former warehouse just off Prinsengracht, one of the main canals in Amsterdam’s city center, it is a four-storey red-brick building built in the early 1800s. A typical long stretched space (home owners used to pay taxes based on the width of their houses back in the 1600!) that was recently renovated by their passionate and current owners.
The children’s rooms are sitting under the steeply pitched eaves. And the parents created such a poetic universe for their little ones, it is just beautiful. In general, I just cannot stop looking at these pictures. So many little details, vintage finds and cool ideas. I love it! [read more=”Read more” less=”Read less”]
In between the Vintage finds, there are also some bespoke pieces. Like the ceiling-height living room cabinet made by local Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek. It is composed of recycled cupboard doors and just so awesome!
“Sometimes designers forget about comfort, but it’s a home and it should feel like home.” Marloes Hoedeman, owner of this amazing place.
There is nothing more to add to this…
Photographed by Marc Van Praag and styled by Thelma McQuillan for Vogue Living Australia
My dear Leonor turned 6 at the end of September and we made sure to host a glorious party for her.
As per request, it was all about rainbows!
She says that she loves rainbows and that they make her happy. She thinks that they are pretty (I agree) and that there should be more rainbows in the world. So we brought a lot of them to our home for at least one day…
She was very specific about the cake situation as well: On her actual birthday, she wanted a rainbow cake. A beautiful layered cake that was baked and decorated with love by her big sister (who looooves baking).
And for the party, she asked for rainbow cupcakes. So the big sister was in the kitchen again and produced beautiful cupcakes in all the colours of the rainbow. (trust me, she wanted a break from baking after all of that!)
And because it is Monday and it is good to talk about parties and rainbows to start a new week, I am sharing a few pictures from her lovely party.
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Party Program:
We started with some playtime until all the invited children arrived.
Then we had lunch: Pasta! I made 3 different pasta shapes and 3 different sauces. Nothing super fancy and really just to make it more fun. We had butterfly pasta as well as fussili and penne. And then I had made a bolognese sauce, a tomato – no meat- sauce, and pesto. To top, we had Parmesan and normal cheese.
The kids really enjoyed choosing their personal dish and were happily munching around the table.
Then we served the cupcakes!
After the food:
First, we did a few rounds of dance-stop. We played a song, the kids danced and once you stop the music everyone has to stand still. Good thing after sitting down!
Then we pinned some clouds on the rainbow. We printed a rainbow and two clouds. We put the rainbow on a cupboard and put some glue tag on the clouds. Every child got their eyes blindfolded and had to try to put the clouds as good as possible on the end of the rainbow. The other children could help and give directions.
Next up was ‘spin the bottle’, for opening the birthday gifts!
Finale:
The pinata! No birthday in our house without a pinata :)
The filling is part of the goodie bags children receive when going home. I put some little pencils and tiny bottles filled with pearls and glitter in the bags beforehand too.
My girl had a lot of fun and so did her friends. Personally, I love this kind of easy and relaxed parties best. Because in the end, it is all about having your friends around you to celebrate your special day!
Oh hello! At the moment I am not so sure how I feel about Fridays. On the one hand, I am happy for the weekend to start. On the other hand, I feel like time is literally rushing through. Another week has gone by… waaaaahhh…
I cannot wait to slow down again and breathe. We do have a really great holiday coming up for the Winter break (Dec/Jan) and I just love the pre-excitement before going away. This time even more, because we all really need a break. To relax, to spend time together (slow and quality) and do not follow any wake-up calls, appointments, and other commitments.
How about you?
I do love autumn very much and this year we are lucky to see some sun shining through the pretty leaves as well. But I can also see that this is always a rather hard period for the children. Between the middle of August when they went to school and the very end of October – it is a long period of school weeks. On top the days are getting shorter, the mornings are dark and a little chilly. Everyone is tired. Do you feel the same?
Nevertheless, I have gathered quite a few cool finds as well as reads for you. I hope that you will enjoy them:
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Oh, the perfect mini&me look. Black dresses! (here are more twinning outfits that are really cool)
Loving this DARLING cushion!
OMG! You see what I see? This tiny door? Isn’t adorable?
Super cool collab!
I love the play kitchens from Macarena Bilbao. She added lots of cool play food and other bits to her shop like these wooden fishes!
You like to eat like a local while traveling? Here are some great tips on how to actually do that…
Love seeing ‘real’ family homes. And here, the dad is really creative and makes lots of cool stuff for the kids. Fun fact – the family lives in Malmo. Ha!
Very detailed article about fake Instagram followers, comments and likes. If you are interested!
Very different to this ultra modern and clean version of a kids room. But I like the functionality and use of space.
My little Jo is growing and just turned 3. Being the youngest of four she definitely picked up lots of things from her siblings and is quite ‘advanced’ for her age.
And of course she wants, can and needs to do everything by herself. So when it came to picking a pair of new shoes for autumn, I knew that we needed a pair that she can put on by herself.
And they need to be fun and somehow cute too. Of course. That probably goes without saying, haha.
So once her new autumn shoes arrived and we took them out of the box, little Miss Jo started putting them on like a pro. As a next, step she started to discover the beautiful embroideries. Which then became a little language play and we found all the names in all languages we have in the family together. [read more=”Read more” less=”Read less”]
This delightful shoe is adorned with hearts, butterflies, and stars and makes a really cool yet romantic sneaker.
I think that the mix of delicate details, the easy velcro fastening, and sturdy rubber soles are perfect for my three-year-old. (the shoe is available with laces or in silver as well)
The other day, when I picked her up from daycare, we had to chat about fjärilar (Swedish for butterflies) whilst putting on her jacket and shoes. How small they are and how difficult it is to catch them. That they fly very high and that Joséphine would like to follow them on their journey one day. Isn’t always inspiring to let yourself in, in these little adventures? Putting on little butterfly wings and taking a little break from our busy schedules?!
Ready to take her new dog out for a run!
In collaboration with Falcotto, a long-term partner we value and who values us and our readers!
‘An apple a day…’ or ‘eat your rainbow’. We all know the importance of fruits and veggies in our regime and are busy to inspire our offspring to eat their important vitamins. But why not bringing the yummy and colourful fruits into our home in a different way too?
My latest crush is the the pear shaped storage basket you can find below and it inspired me to search a bit further and see how fruits can be incorporated into children’s rooms.
Let’s have a look: [read more=”Read more” less=”Read less”]
Tropical feel in this colourful room with a pineapple lamp and watermelon cushion. Spotted the banana sheet too? Source: Inside Out Mag
Oeuf NYC always has some cool fruit and veggie shaped alpaca cushions in their sortiment. The perfect detail for any cool nursery or children’s room!
Bright room with lots of little fruit details. Another pineapple lamp, a lemon print and fruit hooks. I can spot a pear basket as well. So happy and enchanting. Source: Live Loud Girl
H&M also has some cool bits and bobs in the fruit theme. Like this fun apple mirror or the apple hooks.
Beautiful shared room with each a fruit print over the bed. Noah is the apple… Source: A Cup of Jo
And her my big love – the pear shaped storage basket from Ferm Living. Isn’t cool?
The Enzo Mari prints are just always an eye catcher and perfect in this open plan family kitchen. Source: Martha Stewart
