morning sun...

... morning sun shining in the kitchen makes me happy,

and I thought sharing this is a nice way to thank you for your tender support in yesterday's post 

and wish you a nice Friday

So happy Friday it is!

... with a little glimpse in the organised studio corner, yet to be shared...

Pictures: Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy 2012 

the right words for a "wrong" mood...

 ... let not the title mislead you my dears... as no mood is ever wrong.

  whatever we feel is having its reason.

 it's not often that I come posting here a picture of myself and going,

 I just can't seem to find the right words and images to communicate my mood

 lately, which has been colored both with bright & dark tones at the same time.

 So, this is just a short notice to say that I haven't forgotten about you, all I wish to share and do in this place  and I'll be back, concentrating on all that is positive, carries beautiful, creative energy,

 while sharing my views on living a stylish, meaningful life, much as I try to do with mine.

 Till then, here is a corner freshly styled for the purpose of making a new display for

 Cupcake Love:

Enjoy!

Pictures: Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy 2012 

P.S: some garlands are already stocked on the shop's shelves. More to come!

our rooster says it's Friday ...

 our rooster says it's Friday and he's in the mood to abandon once more* his role as a door stopper

  and do instead something more creative end enjoyable:

 show you around a favorite corner in our bedroom, where rather unexpected splashes of color

 in neon pink or else bright strawberry red shake up the tranquility of neutral tones,

 just enough to not be feeling like taking naps and relaxing all the time...

 {* during Easter time, this cute little rooster was seen a... chicken and jumped on our dining table to lay  eggs for us... isn't the world of writing & pictures so convenient sometimes... 

 everything can be curated as we wish ; ) }

 isn't it a nice example of how a little color in just a few objects can

 brighten up an otherwise neutral palette,

 wh ile at the same time leaving the space feeling light & airy,

without being overwhelmed with colors?

 what is happening here?

neutrals meet neon 

+ 

white sleek surfaces meet the texture of natural materials,

like the dried banana leaves from which this big basket is woven

 (so so long in my wish list and just a couple of days ago added to our home force)

- here holding an all cotton summer blanket from Habitat, purchased during sales of course, when I was renting my first individual home in Greece back in 2003, a 40 sm bungalow with its own garden .

the little basket on the surface of the wall mounded "sideboard",

 made out of two kitchen cupboard units as described here,

brings another color to the picture, that of orange, which is also found in the stripes of the pillows featured on the cover of a book which is all about exactly what the title says: a beloved Home or else a geliebtes Zuhause.

"wonderful" thinks the rooster ...

and proceeds with showing you around a little more...

look! the wallpaper meant to go on the wall of the bed's headboard like described here,

is unpacked and almost ready to be applied.

&

and an olive tree is enjoying the loads of light by the big windows,

after arriving here this winter in February,

when mother visited over and actually carried it in her suitcase

Yes, indeed, such things we do.

it is planted in a white ceramic pot with its own plate

and holds a little house shaped label,

where an important reminder is written:

"here lives Love"

period. hard times or not. this is the essence of life here.

  the rooster kindly asks you to not pay attention to the metal skeleton of our helping table,

the top of which is still not adjusted, as new screws are needed to be found.

instead he says, "focus your attention on this amazing London illustration print created by equally amazing

Laura Amiss!"

how more adorable can a city's illustration get?

not a single little bit.

to celebrate the occasion of welcoming long wished new items at home,

a new garland has been created,

to be added to the shelves of our on line store,

where you'll find "her" during the weekend.

"hurry up!" Mr Rooster is advising you,

"this is a one of a kind piece made from incredibly long lasting wallpaper samples,

which are though not available any more"

and to give you a rest to sink in all that has so far been said ans shared,

here is a little chance to relax by staring at the wonderful light of this

blurry image:

lost in light are here a pair of two more darling wallpaper garlands,

which though will be presented and revealed during the next post here,

when another secret corner of this bedroom is shared...

till then, enjoy a delightful Friday !

from our rooster and me the best of regards,

Iro, xx

                                               ..........................................................

All images of this post are styled & shot by me. Thank you for sharing/ linking / pinning with love & care.

Picture styling & creation: Iro Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy 2012.

children stuff or stuff for... grown up children

 so... almost everyone around me is having babies...

 my youngest cousin in Greece...

 one of my first dearest on line friends...

 one of our neighbors in just a matter of days or hours...

 my best girlfriend in Greece is already the mother of an adorable two and a half year old boy

 and the story goes on.

 whether babies or not will come in my life I don't know yet,

 but I do know that children stuff and children's spaces have always been fascinating me.

 one of the last room make overs I was hired to do was a teenager's room

 - in that case less little -

 and must admit that caring for creating worlds for little people 

 moves my heart and mind accordingly

 today I'll take the chance to share some wonderful children's toys I shot

 at the breathtakingly gorgeous loft apartment of my cousin,

 while I was in Greece about  two weeks ago

 ... but not before I rumble here a bit

 (you were afraid that it was about to start, right?)

 she & him brought in the world the most amazing little baby girl I' ve ever seen,

 with a calmness of a wise soul and the sweetness of strawberries dipped in sugar.

 her name: Jo, from Joanna

 it fits her just so perfectly.

being an only child has not allowed for much interaction with little people throughout my life so far,

thus I'm rather not familiar with the baby factor,

neither a woman that goes crazy over baby making and babies in general.

being in my late 30s  though (I swear I'd rather bite my tongue than write this) 

the whole thing does cross my mind now and then

you know... imagining my days creating at the studio in the winter garden with 

a little darling angel around, most probably having the blue eyes of her father

and the dark hair of her mum...

ooops, did I just write that?

no, no I absolutely did not.

and whoever did, may they please proceed in erasing it.

now, back to some more serious mood.

children's stuff.

ha! what can be more serious than children's stuff after all?

the whole world and our tomorrows are based on the children of today.

 specifically Jo's stuff,

the little misses who is growing among tones of love, craziness & creativity,

being the daughter of a fashion photographer & an accessories designer.

asides from interacting with her,

one of the highlights of the time we spent together with my cousin

was showing me her stuff.

little darling pieces of stylish clothes and toys.

oh the toys.

on the top of the post you see a small sample of her wooden toys.

I swear I could order them just for myself.

I know, shame on me.

the tiger and elephant are from Tiger stores

which have opened in Salonica ( in Athens too pretty please or somewhere in middle Germany - thank you), where my cousin originates from - actually my mother, too.

the little wooden finger dolls featuring bears, dogs, kitties & rabbits

are from Muji and you can actually order them here

what I mostly love about the choice of toys my cousin does is that she beautifully mixes

natural tones with vibrant colors,

much like these delightful soft animals made from reclaimed original 70's towels

by German designer Andreas Linzner

excuse me, how gorgeous are these pigs?

if anyone calls you ever a pig, just bring these ones in mind

and thank them for the nice attribute they just made.

speaking of vibrant colors,

she (my cousin) off course loves neon, pink in particular.

so here is the present I had prepared for her and little darling Jo:

a crochet blanket in simple grey tone,

with her name stitched in almost neon pink

my dear friend Ilaria was the one who undertook my special order

and my mother was the one who did the stitching,

following my design tips while she greatly improvised while doing the "o"

I know, I didn't do much actually ; )

isn't it just lovely?

it was just perfect to hear that it will be finding its way on the wall, 

when little Jo is not so little anymore,

decorating the walls of her room which is currently being designed.

I'm just so anticipating my next visit so that I can shoot around her room!

{shot in the guest room of Apart 44}

and seeing her having grown of course

what about you? 

are you a grown up loving children's stuff as well, 

regardless of whether there are children in your family or not?

in my next post you'll see a corner of our bedroom where color plays an important role

and children friendly details are not missing.

till then, enjoy your evenings!

hope your days were lovely.

 a long walk in the woods and around the lakes was the highlight of the day,

today being a bank holiday here

oh and German dads, it's your day today, so: 

happy father's day to you all!

...........................................................

All images of this post are styled & shot by me. Thank you for sharing/ linking / pinning with love & care.

Picture styling & creation: Iro Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy 2012.

expressive neutrals & muted tones

today, as many other days in fact,

 my love for neutral and muted tones finds a way to be expressed through this post by sharing some favorite  corners shot recently in our home.

 above, my beloved grass woven slippers brought from my trip to Greece,

 are just an excuse so that I can share with you our finally finished

 step in the area between the kitchen and the winter garden.

 (look here for reference)

 sometimes it's worth to patiently - or perhaps quietly impatiently - wait for the final touches to be made.

 being no professional hand workers, the need to hire someone in order to have work done in a correct way  is often crucial.

 the edges of steps being areas where extreme care needs to be taken in order for safety and endurance

 to take place, we had ours finished with a mat L shaped "bar" of inox;

 specially made & placed by our hand worker,

 who also did a remarkable job in covering the pre-existing marble step

 in both its horizontal & vertical surface, as if the wooden waves of the floor naturally pass from one

  area to the other.

then, it's the rocking chair in the bedroom with the curves of which I have been totally falling in love,

as much as its fabric's texture and the details.

the leather straps on the head pillow being one of them.

 it feels as if a fine piece of Scandinavian design lives with us, when it is in fact a rather affordable 

Ikea product (Scandinavian still... )

I'm also enjoying much the sliding ceiling of the roof, and feel quite cosy under it, rocking with a warm cup of tea in hand in the evenings, looking out the big windows.

speaking of windows, they are calling for some kind of curtain treatment,

now that the summer period is here.

The sun currently rises at about 05:30 a.m and sets around 21:30 p.m

needless to say these six months pay off for the short and often dark winter days.

needless to say that I have come to love this northern light in ways I could have never imagined should we turned the clock back some let's say 5 years ago.

in the bedroom wall, where the bed's headboard is, there has still been not 

much of a progress. in fact, there has been no progress at all.

the five cupboards planned to be vertically placed the one under the other in the corner where now the plant camouflages things, are still stacked there.

the wall is still undone and waits to be sanded before the longingly wished wallpaper with black and silver grey circles finds its way on it.

Till all these are done, I simply brought home a pair of 80 x 80 cm inner cushions from my last trip to Ikea, so that finally one of the four pairs of pillow cases found at h&m home some years ago - patiently waiting the day they come out of the cupboards -

freshen things up a bit.

Typography has always moved my interest.

and despite dark blue not being in the color palette of the bedroom,

their presence has been both visually and practically welcoming.

and how could I avoid making a garland?

I borrowed it from our shop, on the virtual shelves of which it  is heading these days, until it comes to live in one of your beautiful homes.

the glass lantern in a huge pine corn form, is a spontaneous present from a friend with whom I spent heartwarming times when in Greece...

it's a typically Greek lantern, often found on islands and I seem to have forever been meaning to bring one here, at home in Germany.

"oh come on now... as if there is not enough stuff to pack with after spending time

in my parents' Apart 44"

I kept on thinking... and never actually bought one.

the appreciation of the situation totally changes when someone you cherish from the depths of your heart

offers you something, simply just like that:

" oh how do I love this lantern!" said I when visiting his uniquely styled home*

 "take it" he said...

after a few refusals insisting that should I have thought that this would lead to that,

I would have never said that,

I left that night with a wonderful souvenir to cherish...

something made in the country of light where I proudly originate from, currently going through such incredibly dark times,

something given from a person I deeply cherish and feel connected to...

it is lit almost every night, its flame reflected in the round mirror...

the room is different... a little bit of magic takes place...

with all walls undone and other things unfinished,

this room feels like a warm place to be at.

{* how could it not, he has been the art director of my beloved Maison et Decoration magazine}

kind regards & wishes for a wonderful rest of the week to everyone.

please be visiting our shop often, as garlands and other updates are to be taking place these days.

                                                 ..............................................................

Picture styling & creation: Iro Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy 2012.

Studio & shop update

Hello there lovely people!

 I'm here, well, and have been quietly busy working in the studio,

since I returned from my two week trip in Greece,

just in time to enjoy a wonderful 1st of May spent pic nicking by the lakes close to our home.

Spring here is wonderful & I seem to be returning to routines I had tremendously missed,

such as spending quiet time with myself, taking care of the house & its domestic chores,

doing everyday even a little tiny thing in order to settle us in.

The precious help of our hand worker is resulting in pretty finishes all around,

and this place is forming into a beloved home, despite all things still undone and unfinished.

The studio corner is finally set up and almost completely organised.

I'll devote a whole post in detailed pictures any time soon.

The shop is also looking good and currently serving elegant cups of comfort.

 I would truly love to see you there!

For now, just a few pictures to share & connect with you: 

I hope your days are wonderful in meaningful to you ways.

Love, always.

Iro

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All images of this post are styled & shot by me. Thank you for sharing/ linking / pinning with love & care.