A home near the sea for Summer | Casa Pyla

Casa Pyla is the beautiful brainchild by my long time French friend Karine and her family. I can't even remember when Karine and I first met, I am sure it was online somewhere in 2007 maybe when she was still running her successful online store Bodie and Fou. Over the years we met in London where she lived for 23 years, Paris and Amsterdam. We have always stayed in touch and following and encouraging... something very important in any good friendship I think,  each other with everything both on our blogs and in real life. 

Since moving back to French she not only renovated their family home but also started a new project Casa Pyla, a multi-disciplinary creative studio for branding, styling, photography and interior consultancy. Casa Pyla is also available for Location hire and Summer rentals! For me knowing Karine for so long I recognize her as she calls it effortless chic style, it is minimalistic in a French way.

Summer Rentals 
From June to September Casa Pyla is availably for Summer rentals and can accommodate up to 10 people (14 in fase two). I have been following renovations through Karine's blog and Instagram and can't wait to see what will happen to the home in phase two that will start in October. Casa Pyla is located two minutes from the beach and 5 minutes from all shops and restaurants in Le Moulleau (Arcachon), it’s the perfect base to explore the region with friends and family and make your Summer a memorable one! Book your stay!

photography ©Karine Kong

About Spaces and how they are created

There's been a lot of talking about painting and kitchens on the blog lately, and I hope to finish the first work and painting before Summer holiday's. Sometimes it takes time to make the final plans, but what I have learned over the years is that my first idea always is the best and eventually I will always come back to what felt best at first.

Talking with Niels Strøyer Christophersen (founder of Frama) some time ago about my kitchen and my fight between light and dark he told me: "Sometimes the space decides and not us...if the space decide.. what would it choose do you think" Definitely food for thought and such a good way to approach a space, don't you think? With this in mind I thought the new Frama space above the store perfectly showed how the team gave the old building lots of room to speak and shown its history.

Bare walls, a small corridor and different rooms, including a small quest apartment with a kitchen and bathroom and lots of space to work. A space with a perfect imperfect look, I hope you will have the chance to experience your self some time when in Copenhagen.

pictures ©vosgesparis

A monochrome masterclass by Paint & Paper Library

- current state of my home - 

When an invitation to join a Monochrome masterclass by Paint & Paper Library hits your mailbox I am curious to find out more! At the event space, the beautiful location of Enter the loft, huge pictures on painter’s easels showed different interiors all in Monochrome colours Ruth Mottershead and her colleague Vincent with his charming French accent, explained the different paired combinations and how to combine them in an interior. 

I thought the new collection ‘Monochrome’ by Paint Library looked quite sophisticated. I think one of the most difficult things when adding colour is finding the perfect colour combination. Also when it comes to a monochrome colour scheme at home finding the perfect balance and matching colour is difficult. 

In my previous post where I talked about finding the perfect colour for my home I explained how ‘The Little Book of Colour’ offers a variety of related colours to help you make the best combinations. The good news is that the Monochrome collection consists of six nuanced pairs of black and white shades, tonally formulated to be used together in chic, subtly harmonious relationships.

 - Enter the Loft -

- Enter the Loft -

Monochrome collection explained by Paint & Paper Library
Each white tone has been carefully selected for its versatility: all six whites can be used as striking, independent, all-over shades, but appear equally effectively as beautiful, plain whites within a scheme of tonal similarity.

Each black tone has been judiciously designed to be used with its monochromatic partner, in lesser or greater proportion, to dramatically change the interplay of light and space in a room, while at the same time effortlessly coordinating with existing materials and surfaces in the interior scheme.

Each white and black pair adopts the hue of the Paint & Paper Library ‘Original’ colour shown alongside it, thus presenting six options of varying undertone, including ochre, pink, warm grey, cool grey, blue and green. A few examples...

Clean White & New Black: These ‘Original Colours’ are currently extremities on Paint & Paper Library’s renowned colour card. The palest white and darkest black, each can be used to bring more depth to a classic, cool grey interior.

Eau de violette & Pontefract - With a visibly pink undertone, this elegant combination brings perceptible warmth without the use of any yellow pigment. It is particularly smart against darker hardwoods and pinkish stone or marble.

Minim & Kolh pictured below - A beautiful white in its own right, Minim is clean without being too bright, and is very stable in north and south facing rooms. Kohl is a charismatic neutral black with a suggestion of warm charcoal. The new collection will be available from September 2019

pictures 1-4 ©vosgesparis | 5-7 by Paint & Paper Library

A new colour moodboard for my home with Little Greene

You might have read the last post about my home changes, have a look here if you missed it: Soft Minimalism | Masterplan 2.0 In the post I showed you a few inspirational pictures and talked briefly about trying out some colours from the Little Greene collection and my search for the perfect colour to fit the atmosphere I have in mind.

Running this blog, I come across many paint companies and get to visit different colour events where new collections are introduced. It must have been some years ago I first got to meet Little Greene, an independent, British paint manufacturer, committed to the socially and environmentally responsible production of high quality paints and wallpapers.

With records dating back to the year 1773, the Little Greene Dye Works of Collyhurst Wood, on the outskirts of Manchester is one of England's most ancient industrial sites for the making of paints and dye solutions. More about the history of Little Greene can be found here

A Grey Colour card
I personally really don’t like strong colours, and I have been using mostly plain white and black over the years. Recently I painted a bedroom wall in soft grey and I loved it so much I decided to learn more about, and study different colour options to use at home. As many of you I love to use Pinterest when working on something new. The pictures in this post are some of my favourites from my Colour moodboard.

Impressed by the ‘Grey’ colour card of Little Greene I decided to try out different shades of grey. I discovered there are many shades of white and even if they all look the same a small nuance can give a total different feel to a room. I personally really love that particular colour of freshly plastered walls and it was this almost stone like colour I was after.

The Grey collection consists of a palette of 28 greys, four variations in seven degrees of intensity, and embraces shades of grey from the palest, almost white, tones through to charcoal, brown and blue-black hues. A proven palette of graduated greys, which have been formulated using four naturally-occurring pigments as standard: verdigris, umber, ochre and red oxide. These pigments have, for many centuries, been used to create harmonious, balanced and tranquil interiors…. Just what I am after for my own home!

I have always learned that even if a colour looks great on the colour card, once tested in your home it can look totally different. Testing different colours from the Grey colour card confirmed this theory, I ordered a few sample pots from the different variations except for the ones at the far left of the colour card as I thought those would look to cold, and it is a more warm colour I am after.

Once testing at home I discovered the colours I thought I would love most actually didn’t matched the light in my home after all. So far so good… I selected two colours, the lighter Tusk 237 and a matching variation Limestone 238, another favourite is Mortor 239 which is a bit darker. The three colours match beautifully together. Little Greene has a great guide called ‘The Little Book of Colour’ that offers a variety of related colours for interiors to help you make the best combinations. The colour card can be found also in my Pinterest album: New colours for my home

Finally it was good to see, after showing the two colours to a friend who I asked to design the actual kitchen’s work space, in consultation with me, the colours I have chosen perfectly fit the plan she made. Now it's time to finally finish installation, order products and start painting soon.. I will keep you posted... meanwhile have a look at Masterplan 2.0 to keep up with my latest home changes.

'Tusk' colour sample on my wall & new ceramic
Below a colour test with the colours all next to each other I did first

Follow Masterplan 2.0 for my latest home changes

moodboard photography: Benoit Linero and Damien de Medeiros / pedro paulo venzon / kinfolk / vosgesparis | picture 2 Norm Architects | picture 3 x+l | picture 4-6 vosgesparis | picture 7 Koen van Damme

Japanese Furoshiki in the kitchen | w/ Style shoot

When it comes to different cultures, Japanese customs and minimalism are at the top of my list. The sophistication they surround themselves with in the kitchen and their houses in general really appeal to me. It is no secret I love shopping at any Muji store whenever I get the chance and actually visiting Japan is high on my bucket-list.

When I think of Japan, I think of beautiful materials and small smart solutions in the kitchen. A super fun starting point for our new series w / Style photo shoots with the different bulthaup accessories. Last month we shoot the sturdy Natural Cutting boards which are a great addition to your kitchen inventory and a practical accessory to always have on display for cutting and chopping.

This month I would like to show you the maple wood cutting boards, these handy cutting boards can be used multifunctional in the kitchen, as well as on the table with beautiful Japanese snacks or your own favourite dish off course! Do you recognize the Japanese theme in our photos and do you like the Japanese Furoshiki knot technique as much as we do.

This post is written in collaboration with bulthaup | Pictures © w/ Style | Concept w/ Style | Photography Wen van Woudenberg | Styling Desiree Groenendal

Vipp Chimney House

I have been waiting some time for the reveal of the third room of the 'Vipp Hotel'. You might remember my blogpost about the first ánd second room of the brands hotel concept. Last year Wen and myself kicked off our collaboration as w/ Style with a stay at both the Loft in Copenhagen and The Shelter in Sweden. Still thinking back a lot of the Shelter which was one of my most treasured experiences ever. At both locations I got the opportunity to test the Vipp kitchen, at the Chimney House guest can also experience the brand’s new furniture collection in a home-away-from-home.

New Works Showroom Copenhagen

Visiting the New Works Showroom in Copenhagen, designed in collaboration with Lotta Agaton, was definitely one of the highlights of 3 days of Design for me. Beautiful greys in warm hues next to natural and earthy materials and colours. A perfect backdrop to the many pieces I could easily see in my own home. More about the design of the showroom can be found here

Soft Minimalism | Masterplan 2.0

Soft minimalism is probably the mood and term that best fit my masterplan 2.0 as I love to call the changes at home I am realizing at the moment. It looks like it is taking ages before I can show you some actual results and believe me, I wish it would have been done by now. But I am patient, some things took really long to deliver and actually need some more work before they can properly been installed. It actually gives me time to think a bit longer and experience the empty space before redecorating.

Travelling to Transylvania with Tisca rugs

Travelling is something I really enjoy  and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to travel to different destinations thanks to my blog and you, my readers! My latest collaboration brought me to the heart of Transylvania, yes the country of Dracula, but more about him later. Despite being a fan of Vampire stories, Transylvania never had been on my radar, until I met the team behind Tisca two years ago.

Inspiration cafe powered by Luxaflex | w/ Style at InCoDa 2019

Scroll down for English

Terwijl de zomer al lekker op weg is en onze zomervakanties zijn geboekt zijn veel van ons alweer bezig met de voorbereidingen voor de eerste najaarsbeurzen en zo ook w/ Style!

InCoDa, Interieur Collectie Dagen, is een vakevenement voor woning- en projectinrichting waar de nieuwste collecties op het gebied van vloeren, stoffering, wandbekleding en raamdecoratie centraal staan. Van zondag 15 tot en met dinsdag 17 september 2019 ligt de focus in de Gorinchemse evenementenhal op netwerken, inspiratie en kennisdeling.