Some time ago I came in touch with Finnish decorating editor and stylist Paulina Arcklin. Her former Helsinki home was shown in the same issue of Dutch interior magazine as my home was in so it almost seemed as if we already knew each other a little. And after some mails we found out we do not even live that far from each other … So the other week we met at her Amsterdam Expat home and Paulina gave me a little home tour.
I have fallen completely in love with the home where she and photographer Tim, who is responsible for most of the beautiful pictures at their site, live. What I love most is how she decorated their apartment. We totally agreed about the fact that you do not need a big amount of things or money to have a beautiful home. What you need is lots of inspiration and clever ideas.
Paulina and Tim kindly share their ideas on the brand new website they just launched and I am absolutely sure you are gonna love it and won’t reveal to much of it on here so you will have lots to read and look at…I’d love you to get to know Paulina a little better by some questions I asked here for this blogpost, as I am sure we are going to hear lots more from her in the future!
Your Helsinki apartment was recently publiced in VT Wonen magazine… and now you are living in Amsterdam.. How do you like the city and do you have a favorite place to go already?
Yes, my former Helsinki home story was in Vtwonen January 2012 issue.
I love this city! Really! I really like the lifestyle of Amsterdam and the people who live here…. Everybody is enjoying their life and you can see this also in their homes. Dutch people have such an inspiring and relaxing taste of decorating.
I have many favourite places to visit…interior shops of course! I like to visit them very often and check whats new. I also like places like Roast, Cafe Brecht…and I love Vondelpark and Amstelpark! But I know that I have not seen everything yet, so there might be other places also that Ilike 😉 And beause I love photographing myself too, there are so many places to go photographing!
Is there anything you miss from Helsinki and your old apartment in Helsinki?
No. I don’t miss anything from Helsinki or my old apartment. And maybe because I love all the new things in my ‘new’ life. I wanted to change my life and it happened! And if I want, I can always go to visit Helsinki 😉 My Helsinki home was a rental home, so the only important things were my stuff. It was very emotional to sell a huge part of it. But now when I think of them, I like more my new stuff then the old ones.
What do you think about the look/layout of the houses in Amsterdam?
I love the old Amsterdam houses. Each one of them has such a personality and unique floorplans. It’s amazing. In fact, normally I would like to stay and live in one home as long as possible, but here I have become so curious, that I would like to live in a few different kind of houses. Also in Houseboat, about what I first thought “that! never ever” 😀
Is your Dutch apartment gonna look very different from the clean Scandinavian look you created in your Helsinki home? Is there anything you are gonna do different and why?
Yeah, our Amsterdam home is very different as my former Helsinki home. And this “our” home. I found a very special man that came to my life here. He is photographer and we just started working together.
Those few furniture what I take with me from Helsinki, looks so different in here and it’s only good. I like a much more relaxed and soft style now. I like to mix and the industrial style is definately a new part of me too.
Would you be working as a stylist in Holland or do you have other plans?
I’m an interior stylist and editor (journalist). When we are going to take photos for a Home Story. I style the homes for the pictures, but I like to use the owners own items and things. And I also style our decorating story photos.