E n t e r * m a g i c *

... h e l l o 

H a p p y   F r i d a y !

This is being indeed such a  s w e e t   N o v e m b e r

while work & our own home project* are keeping me pleasantly busy

&

somewhere in between almost daily walks to the woods & lakes nearby,

other times alone, others with company

or with a precious companion,

the dog of dear friends & neighbors

who generously have simply allowed

love & bonding to evolve between their beloved fury friend & myself,

baptizing our relationship

as me being his godmother

{ funny how our names match : Iro + Roy }

I wanted to wish you all a beautiful,  m a g i c  Friday & weekend ahead.

* I promised to share the process & results of our make over in  t h i s  post

and I've been enthusiastically working on that!

P a t i e n c e  my friends... it's a virtue after all ; )

*      *      *      *   

These few words accompanying the picture above were put together last night,

while listening to a heartwarming collection

of female Jazz music, chosen by my amazing man...

The picture was taken already more than a week ago

with Roy by my side.

He waves hello to you, too!

He loves watching the duck action

in "our " lakes,

A rather large family of ducks, plus a pair of swans, which are still here and will only seek

warmer places any time soon...

photography & words by Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos {copyright 2013, all rights reserved }

H e l l o N e w W a l l !

... we might as well be mad

that's why a day was spent prepping for sanding this wall,

which, till today, hadn't ever seen straighter days before.

The man of the house bought & used with supreme care & elegance

a professional machine, which of course is getting sold

after all our renovation works are done,

any time soon hopefully.

It's not too much to ask after 2 years { ! } of having bought & moved into this

house, right?

{ Since you might be wanting to take a glimpse into this room,

as it was until some time ago,

please click here }

With a favorite wallpaper bought but never applied till today,

cause of the rather dreadful job* of applying layers of paste, 

sanding & sanding again

and especially the work

of organizing the temporary new placements of the furniture,

so that the room can also be of use during its renovation,

the day that it will be applied in all its glory {as I have imagined}

seems like a tiny victory which has taken the very long road...

how welcome it is!

For the record, this room measures 17 sm² and is on the 2nd floor of our maisonette,

which is also the last floor of the house,

meaning that there are sliding ceilings on the one side,

while the other side  - the wall we are working on - has a generous height of  3,15 meters.

My man & I both quite much liked how the room got a totally new

vibe as the bed got removed from the wall,

the white, Malm chest of drawers being directly 

behind it, its six drawers facing the wall,

with a comfortable corridor for passing,

and of course opening & using the drawers.

The "arrangement" on the surface of the chest of drawers

consists of :

1. my ever favorite "Antifoni" reading lamp 

bought about 10 years ago, while I was renting my own apartment,

which I now "stole" from our working room in the same floor.

2. one of our favorite stone mugs in grey purchased this Spring, 

paired with a natural wooden plate

{ see 3rd pic in this post }

3. a book my man is reading

&

4. one of my very few perfumes,

which mostly acts as a ring catcher.

I think I fell in love with the look as soon

as I saw this picture taken with my i Phone this morning,

on what is a cold, mostly cloudy day

with tones of bright light { that I adore! } though.

Before I wish you all a wonderful 

Sunday afternoon,

I'm renewing our "appointment" here for sometime

soon this week again,

sharing more pictures of our current

make over !

picture credit: Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic stories with Ivy 2013 taken with her i Phone.

f o n t choices: top hers & bottom his

p.s

yesterday among the wall repairs and  h o u r s  {painful ones, yes!}

of cleaning,

we enjoyed consuming the sweets I begun preparing on Friday evening:

homemade chocolates, like these below

and my "well known" soufle au chocolat

which served as breakfast,

topped with raspberry jam.

{ certainly not the healthiest version of a breakfast,

a delicious one though ; ) }

*  wishing everyone a nice closure to the weekend !  *

... for all the " k o n i k l o s " of the world!

[via]

 h e l l o  T h u r s d a y !

h e l l o   e v e r y o n e ! 

 it's with pleasure & a sense of sweet anticipation,

that this elegant, antique brooch, discovered in London by undoubtedly talented,

kind & lovely Angelica, is expected to reach my doorstep.

I believe in good work and true, polite intentions.

When encountered with an opportunity to be part of something like that,

I jump in, just like I would dive in crystal clear waters,

on an early summer or early autumn afternoon...

The leaf brooch is part of a collection currently been offered 

at  K o n i k l o s , a pop-up shop to be running till the 20th of December,

curated by Angelica,

the author of Aufrais blog,

a photographer, graphic designer & overall creative person

with a high sense of aesthetics.

Below she is modeling one of the three 

{still just one available - correction: just sold out while this post was being written }

vintage brass bracelet.

photography & collage by Angelica Aufrais  [via]

All items have been carefully collected through her travels

both in Greece, her country of origin and current place of residence,

and abroad.

I'm in love with the 60's coffeepot & the boot removers!

ummm, boot - what - I heard you say?

h e r e  is a fully informative post,

to find out what they are & how to use them.

Thought, care, love & attention have been devoted

from accumulating the goods, to photographing them,

to pricing them & developing the packaging.

{ you can read this post to find out more through the author herself }

Asides the vintage collection,

at Koniklos, you'll find a calendar with Angelica's beautiful photos 

&  b e e w a x   s a l v e s ,

like beeswax body butter & ginger lip balm

prepared all the way by herself

in her studio at home,

paying attention to detail, while experimenting

with new fragrances.

I really appreciate similar handmade & homemade

initiatives, don't you?

"handmade" sometimes seems to be getting rather misunderstood nowadays...

k o n i k l o s 

Angelica posts some updates of what is going on in her shop,

- which is already doing very good business! -

in her facebook page,

a serene place to take a look at,

spending a few quality minutes of your time.

As for the shop's name, K o n i k l o s ,

it's the ancient Greek work for  r a b b i t,

the small domestic animal which symbolizes 

a b u n d a n c e   &    c o m f o r t .

These precious & priceless qualities of life, 

especially in the current worlds we are living in.

Isn't it a wonderful notion,

to be feeling comfortable in the skin we are living in,

meaning in full awareness & acceptance

of who we are & who we are evolving into,

while appreciating the abundance that surrounds us?

 Love hearing from you & wishing everyone a beautiful day,

filled with abundance & comfort!

_____________________

All photography by Angelica Aufrais, posted with permission.

S ü ß e s * Z u h a u s e *

S ü ß e s   Z u h a u s e

 "Home sweet Home"

 or as anyone wishes to call it,

 it's really nice to wish you all a  h a p p y ,  n e w   w e e k  ahead,

from my most favorite place in the world...

I hope your weekend was a happy one, similarly to mine

I'll be sharing details of our current make over in a different post

{do give me a shout out if you are with me, reading this! ; ) }

.... for now & from me another  " h e l l o " 

with progress going on in the bookcase behind me ; )

promising to share a better self portrait!

_______________________________________________________

     _______________________________________________________

Contact me for rates & availability offering my  i n t e r i o r   &   l i f e   c o n s u l t a n c y  services.

so that we build together  y o u r  beautiful space, where your personality can unfold,

reaching  y o u r   f u l l e s t  potential.

Our living environments are but  e x t e n s i o n s  of ourselves.

By working on them, we inevitably work on ourselves,

allowing us to reach outcomes that once might have only been

dreams & wishes.

O u i !

* H a p p y W e e k e n d *

wishing you all a  h a p p y  w e e k e n d ! 

here is a {new} glimpse in the living room

of the Pearl Birches House 

aka as our home :)

________

more soon

Interiors / Styling  / Photography by Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos

Staying at home for a s w e e t November... { Inspiration Friday }

left: all white home in Copenhagen by Norm architects via Vosges Paris
right:  via Tiziana Tosoni's pinterest 

H e l l o   e v e r y o n e !  

{ s m i l i n g  wholeheartedly to you... }

Friday morning* and it's been since the beginning of this - past already! - week

that waking up at home in Germany

is the norm.

{ have you perhaps read the instant post about how it felt to wake up in the middle of nowhere,

when I spent some beautiful days on Mallorca island with my man,

this trip being a surprise,

shortly after I returned to our home

in the beginning of September? }

Do you also like to wake up in similar places?

Have you been to this island?

If yes, how did you like it?

{a little more about it you can read in this recent post }

* was indeed as these lines were being typed; thanks to a nicely busy day though, late afternoon and this post can finally go on line!

clockwise from top left: figs via / "she believed she could so she did" via / wonderful Elizabeth Heier's new beautiful home via / fresh wreath via

It feels great to be having the chance to grow stronger

through the challenges of the past months.

It feels great to be back home, with my man.

However it requires

constant work with ourselves in order for relation ships to really flourish,

in order for them to become a means

of bringing each part of it forward and to the right direction,

we both made the brave and perhaps wise choice,

to use difficulties as  o p p o r t u n i t i e s  to learn, 

to grow,

and to take strength for realizing our dreams.

One by one, day by day, one strep at a time, minute by minute.

left: via / top right: via /  bottom right: via

I am personally particularly pleased with myself,

for I handled what was a demanding and discomforting situation

in a very  p o s i t i v e  manner,

emphasizing an open heart & mind,

and deep belief in deserving to receive.

I'm really proud that I seem to have crossed a bridge

I always wanted to, but somehow was reluctant to do so.

I'm confident in my choices.

Allowing & welcoming prosperity & wealth our ways,

sharing even if just a little bit of  g o o d n e s s with the  w o r l d .

Sometimes it takes such a small action, yet full of  love, awareness and pure, clear intentions

for what we have been taught to perceive as  m i r a c l e s  to occur.

left: via / right: via 

Going back to the norm of being at home in Germany,

I love it. I love it with all heart, mind & spirit.

Visiting Greece again for some days in October

in order to take care of some practical issues

requiring care & attention

has been nice this time.

I enjoyed myself as a tourist in my own country of origin,

focusing on spending quality time

even if just mostly by myself,

gladly enjoyed meetings with few good friends,

who always seem eager to engage into constructive conversations

about our lives,

exchange opinions about life in Greece, life in Germany,

the economic crisis, ways to deal with it,

a t t i t u d e  changes that when put into action,

following deep awareness, understanding & true love for life

they make the everyday nice, meaningful & joyful.

left:   via, via / right: via
Right now, I'm very happy when I find the peaceful time to post here

and since it's Friday, I put together some collages and diptychs

using images that came through my screen using pinterest,

making another Inspiration Friday post.

They all convey current moods and they aim at bringing you

t r a n q u i l i t y ,   h a p p i n e s s   &   g o o d   p o s i t i v e   v i b e s

while encountering them.

left: via / right: via

I hope you enjoy!

Have a  w o n d e r f u l  weekend!

See you next week while sharing some of my recent work & projects.

left:  via / right: via

individual picture credits can be found linked in captions

collage curation: Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy 2013

{ a note about today }

p.s: in Greece people celebrate not only birthdays, but also name days and today my father and the son of a wonderful woman & man have theirs. 

So many happy returns dear Stratos & Serafeim!

For the record, I personally don't have a name day, as my first name - Iro -comes from Greek Mythology.

But from next year I will celebrate, cause this summer, my man decided that I do have my own and it is on the 10th of August which is regarded as "hero" day. 

This summer I was in Amsterdam, I'm all smiles to find out where next one will be!