talent, communication, acceptance & shades of blue ~

crystal clear blue, turquoise, baby blue and all the possible shades one can find

captured in the sky and the sea,

are actually colors I grew up with, being born, raised and having lived for 33 years of my life

by the sea.

while strolling in the corridors of inspiring Internet places,

like Pinterest and favorite blogs,

I kept noticing that these past few days,

I'm drawn to these shades...

it must have all started with Desire (Dees) from Vosges Paris,

who has styled her freshly redesigned and renovated apartment with splashes of blue shades,

paired with an energizing green from plants, like aloe veras and cactus. 

The fact that she has spent time in Greece, visiting islands and in fact being totally in love with 

the whole story is manifesting in the effortless way she incorporates blue in her pretty city apartment in Amsterdam.

She currently has two places where blue flourishes in all its freshness:

her corridor, where the picture wall step by step and in time evolves around the poster from Santorini, admittedly one of the most magical places on earth...

and her entrance, where selectively cut images from magazines... 

and favorite magazines with accordingly colored covers, are resting as if nothing planned has happened...

The art of stylism has really been fascinating me since the very first decoration magazines,

which fell on my lap, already some 20 years ago 

(Gosh I shouldn't be mentioning things like that!)

and what has recently been fascinating me is that a lot, if probably not most of the

super talented stylists and interior designers are ones who haven't actually formally attended a relevant school, college or university.

Instead, the love for creating aesthetically beautiful environments is something that seems to have always been part of them, 

mostly being expressed in the way they bring together their own homes.

There are of course those who refine and evolve their talent by studying further.

Or ones who combined a natural inclination with studies.

Everything will do... but before all there seems to be a prerequisite:

talent.

I'd like to ramble a bit about its notion,

sharing some thoughts, while hearing from you,

that is if you actually have the patience and time to go through all this post!

a cup of tea + something nice to chew on are good companions ; )

So my dears,

talent seems in my eyes to be something very natural,

an inclination to something since the very early years,

something that one practices in his/ her life

with exactly the same enthusiasm whether financial profit is involved or not.

something that evolves with time, investing effort in practicing it,

something that sources from a very clear part of ourselves.

Talent is not a hobby, still one can practice his/ her talent as a hobby.

The happiest occasion occurs - both for the individual himself / herself and the community -

when people can support their lives practicing their talents.

Or when it is all right for them to perform another job they like, love or simply find beneficial enough,

while devoting their free time in their talent.

Talent is something that mostly makes others who encounter it feel at extreme ease,

rather than been just astonished,

something that provokes thinking as much as an instant celebration in one' s heart.

Talent can take countless forms!

                                             Talent is something much more common than rare,                                                                

         as there must be as many hidden talents in each and every person as there are people on earth.

Talent provokes admiration rather than envy,

and somehow enriches the lives of those who encounter it.

When talented people cross our lives it' s like a celebration,

one we feel part of without caring about our own current status quo.

Talent could be resembled with a stream of crystal clear water running down a natural source...

The matter seems to be: who is going to conform with his/ her natural inclinations...

who will invest his / her life in becoming the nicest oak tree 

he / she could ever be for example...

Modern societies could be suffering from too many problematic identity

cases, as so often beautiful lemon trees wish to have been born as let's say coconut trees,

and even worse, there is often time, effort and money invested in becoming something else.

I must make a "little" parenthesis here to refer to the by all means

super loving and caring Greek parent, who often "sacrifice" for their child

in order to send them to college, quite possibly also having picked the subject

or "kindly" reinforced a certain direction...

Seems that doctors, lawyers, professors of all kind and scientists

are all Greece needs...

one must wonder...

And I can't forget the years I was working with teenagers & children,

teaching English, while also applying my psychology insight...

Parents going crazy that their son was lazy and a "bad" student cause well,

grades in history and maths were rather horrible.

who cares if this person was already more grown up than expected in his teenage years,

 completely able of doing amazing handwork,

or show responsibility when working part time.

If only parents could keep a connection to their own childhood years,

rather than abruptly upgrade to an "adult",

how much more wonderful, trouble free and neurosis free this modern world would be?

{here comes the parenthesis closure btw}

Happiness and success are with hardly any doubt lying in:

- hard work, 

- planning, 

- decision and action.

Still it seems that for all those to come in a normal, non violent, long lasting and effective way,

there needs to be acceptance,

a deeply felt acceptance and digestion of one's past,

present and future aspirations.

A happy merge of them. A colorful salad,

where the dressing doesn't cover the ingredients' taste.

Purity. Clarity. Honesty. Vision. Love.

.

.

.

well, there you go, after some time since {the last one},  a life awareness post has just been written,

one I' m sure I'll be wondering how it ever came to life and where did all these words come from.

I can thank the communicative power turquoise and shades of blue carry...

and remind myself of these absolutely beautiful creative moments in our 

previous home residence,

which is still so often getting asked to be published,

while it is expected to be in April's issue of Casa Facile.

{ a little preview + some lovely Italian... gossiping to read here ;) }

The beautiful picture opening this post is courtesy of Mindy Gayer

whose work I recently stumbled up on, only to fall in love...

with the work itself, the way it is presented & the kind, talented person behind it.

oh... not to forget, talent somehow also seems to carry an element of kindness

and certainty, a quiet strength in the most non aggressive ways...

. 

.

.

sprinkling some love to you, through the dance of these characters typed here

and wishing you one lovely day ahead!

lots in my plate, as you probably know, both in the positive + difficulty spectrum,

so I'd better proceed with the day.

which ever project mentioned here recently, might temporarily appear paused is only cause,

life is also about knowing when to recalculate, re access and act accordingly.

till next time,

good thoughts + much positive energy + above a little peek into the new studio and work being done there

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

Credits 1st picture: Mindy Gayer, 2nd, 3rd, 4rth dyptich & 5th picture:  Desire for Vosges Paris + Ikea Family Live, 6th, 7th & 8th picture:  Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos 

invitation to Sofie's haus ~

... and how's Sunday evening for proceeding with introducing you to a home, blog & shop

 of a lovely lady?

 As you might have noticed, 

 despite my totally free nature & very individual relation ship with time,

 there are serious efforts done here to remain let's say on schedule,

 when something has been promised.

 So hop hop, let's jump all for a virtual visit to Sofie's haus, aka Butiksofie,

 which is located somewhere near Cologne, a German city I really enjoyed visiting some years ago.

 Sofie's haus actually belongs to Anja, a mother of three daugthers, owner of the on line shop

Butik Sofie & creative in all ways spirit behind her blog.

The soft feel to the images she beautifully styles and takes,

her personal approach to fashion styling

& the fact that she manages to combine working from home,

with being a domestic goddess & a successful shop owner

are some facts for which she has my total admiration.

From a short but delightful mail exchange, I gained a little more insight

into her every day life, which completed the picture.

Yes, indeed.

Motherhood, household keeping of what is a fabulous house,

 running a shop wearing all hats from

being a manager, secretary, creative executive, person taking care of product packaging & shipment

and keeping a blog based mostly on her own beautifully taken pictures

showcasing her daily life,

is certainly a lot of work, requiring a lot of discipline,

among energy, appetite & talent.

Anja has been very willing in replying to everything she was asked, with her only worry being what she thinks is her bad English... {oh if only she heard my German!} 

In fact she is very fluent, despite the fact her blog is officially written in German.

No worries, for those of you who don' t speak or read German, there is a translate button,

located on the top right of the blog.

Quite easy.

And let's not forget that pictures are worthy sometimes 1000 words each,

and Anja does have such a talent in taking pictures!

Before letting you proceed with your virtual dive into Sofie' s world,

( a little notice here: I must admit that choosing my most favorite pictures to share here

has been anything but easy, as I went through a few dozens of posts,

only to be finding myself liking the one more that the other!)

let me renew our appointment some time tomorrow,

to welcome the new week together.

You do know I love doing that, don't you?

So dears, I hope your weekends have been nice in all possible ways!

c u here soon :*)

All images & diptychs by Sofie's Haus Photography

Curation of last dyptich: Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos

this weekend, be your beautiful self

a {handwritten note} since about a year and a half, {one of the first shots made with my then new camera

 in the house} is still very dear to me,

 so very dear that I'm bringing it here {again} in order to wish you a nice weekend

  &

  together with it share lots of what has been

 firing my inspiration's brain cells since about last night I guess...

 {leather bags} by {Yvone Kone} as photographed by {Line klein}

in dark basic and earthy colours,

 found through {Lotta Agaton},

 one lady whose styling abilites are marking me lately...

 {Jill Sander's villa} in Germany's Hamburg...

&

 {barks of birches},

probably my ever favorite tree,

as seen through a promising point of view

that lets me dream while awake...

and then

happiness can strike so easily when seeing

{these} three identical pendant lights in 3 colours,

hanging above a wooden table

surrounded by chairs in Danish design that 

make my heart skip...

mainly these images & {this reminder}

and it was enough for a collage / mood board... marathon to begin...

inspiration bringing inspiration...

isn't it in fact so magical when it happens?

here is what happened more or less, 

starting from the top left corner

and moving down ...

can you perhaps follow the steps?

the essence that I wish to bring to this weekend - that has almost arrived  btw - is to :

be my beautiful self,

after managing to be the worst person that I could just a week ago,

giving in to frustration, failing to see the positive sides

&

being temporarily stuck in

a very unproductive cirle...

I thought perhaps it would encourage you too

to do the same

& 

this is why the final moodboard made today,

features the messages to be kept close to hearts & minds,

and be put into action:

have a happy weekend & be your beautiful self...

everyone has such sides,

it's totally up to us to bring them out

& insist on emphasising them when situations are difficult

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

risking to make this one of this usual long posts 

I'm often concerned require too much of your effort and attention,

there are few on line places & a very special thank you I'd like to share and point out

before "the end" is written for today...

So:

{this gorgeous online inspiring website} found via amasing {Desire and her blog}, cannot but be adored by all interior & make over lovers

then, how super inspiring to watch all the pictures & videos over at  {Freunde von Freunden},

and find out about another {brilliant couple}...

and then last but certainly not least, {this} breathtaking life diary, whose posts as so real like the air that you breathe...  inspiring, enchanting, thought & feeling provoking...

{this is my most favorite post} from the ones I' ve read so far. Oh please to take some time to read it, you won't waste any of your time, I promise and while you do so listen...

For finding this blog, it's my dear friend Holy from {HvH Interiors}, that I have and want to thank... together with sending her a big hug, for having left a comment in the {previous post} which totally touched me.

You cannot imagine how comforting it is to hear & read positive things about yourself & your abilites from someone who knows both your good & bad sides in real life, when you actually need it the most, but don't dare to admit to yourself...

well my dears, one long day, one long post & hopefully what we'll experience as one long & happy weekend.

love being here with you & for you ! Till next time  ~ xox

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

All collages & the "happy weekend" note picture in this post are made and curated by Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy. Thank you for linking back properly.

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

P.S: picture credit for the female figure in the snow used in the last collage {here}

via {this} so interestingly & well put together photo collection blog,

where I arrived thanks to Lyssan's from {Pure living Interiors} gorgeous sense of stlyle.

P.S 2: making the links to this post has so taken forever, still it is worth it. Hope you enjoy & cherish them

... and I love you she said ~

and "I love you" she said...

  since I heard or read this phrase somewhere,

 whenever I focus on our favourite wooden ampersand,

 brought in our home at the very beginning, to symbolise the effort 

 two people place in order to merge two lives together, 

 two past lives, two hearts, two minds,

 &

  in our case also 

two different cultures and countries,

 I can only but whisper to myself...

 and I love you she said...

 there is no need to turn this post into a personal confession of feelings,

 still I find it quite all right to state here that:

  

 love in all its expressions is the driving force 

 I have always wished to lead my life

 then, I can only say that in {this little Penthouse},

 love in all its possible ways has flourished

and survived so many hard times

I learned {and of course am still every day learning} 

 to love in a healthy way being in an intimate

relationship,

 to love a person himself / herself,

 rather than the vague idea of love,

 let that person be a life partner or a friend.

 I learned to love who I am,

 despite all shortcomings & disadvantages in character,

 and be able to feel totally grateful for all that life graciously offers to me

 I learned to love what I have 

 and cherish my experiences, even when they brought much frustration 

 and tears in my eyes.

 I found out that I indeed love with all my heart what I do,

 which instantly transforms a person to a rich one,

regardless of any bank account statement

 or belongings

 I found out that so long as I love who I am and accept also who I have been to reach here,

 there is no need for labels to feel a sense of identity.

 so in this spirit of love and lots of light,

I'm so happy to share that the next person who'll be living in the little Penthouse,

has officially been found.

she' s a wonderful person and already so in love with her soon future home!

 and I couldn't be any much happier for the fact that I feel connected to her,

 which means that there's no need to say a permanent goodbye to this place.

maybe a new friendship will arise,

who knows...

what's amazing is that as we'll be moving out from here,

and I'll be settling our new home,

I'll also still be decorating this place, as the new inhabitant agreed to

work with me on putting her home together here,

while some parts of the interior

are already purchased by her.

 this is making the movement process so much easier for both parties

honestly, things couldn't have worked out any better...

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

 there is currently a total ease with the whole changing process

 and rather than being sad that soon living here will be over,

I cherish each moment like the most precious present...

enjoying every sun ray, 

every different shadow that is formed...

this joy has begun settling since {the previous weekend},

when Ilaria was here for the magazine photo shoot...

I enjoyed so much styling around in order for her to photograph

{ok at some point we were both photographing!}

and it was such a joy to watch her create magic with her hands,

 when she was not working for the magazine photographing but for herself,

sitting in my favorite corners around the house...

speaking of magic created by hands,

{Ilaria} crochets and makes such wonderful things

like garlands

 not only monochrome and white like this one here,

 but endless combinations of wonderful colors

more of which you can see {here}

what I love about Ilaria and actually every person who love what they do,

and do what they love, is the story behind it all...

when she realized that crochet was something that has acquired a new dimension in modern life,

she decided to bring into practice all she had been taught by her favorite aunt,

when she stayed with her for a while back in time, 

in the beautiful Italian country side.

in pictures like the one above, I can see clearly the purity of her happiness,

merged with healthy pride she takes in what she does...

it's happiness of past, present and future blending together...

and then seeing that people who come in our place

feel so happy to be here,

almost immediately at home, relaxed and in peace

is the biggest compliment for my work...

creating interiors that promote a happy and healthy way of living,

human focused interiors, 

using good interior architecture, design and decoration processes 

merely as a means for achieving a happy & fulfilled life.

after all, the pages of magazines we all fall in love with,

at least most of them, carry a story behind

&

often are the places where happy & successful people live their lives

it is the life that we imagine inside that we fall in love with,

rather than purely just the interiors themselves

.....

"Decorate" is the book that brought Ilaria & I together,

as we both attended "meet the blogger" event in Amsterdam,

having as its major sponsor {Holly Becker}, who also signed her books there,

along with giving a very inspiring speech.

more of the event through my eyes {here} & {there}

now, am sharing a couple of more pictures taken during our days of the photo shoot and after

until recently...

capturing corners and different hues of light, 

depending on the time of the day and the weather conditions...

take a look and then come with me at the end for a mostly delightful revelation...

can you start seeing something in the background?

still not?

may be now?

if you have spotted something modern with a traditional twist

resting on our sofa,

then you have come across the most beautiful handmade blanket I have ever been given so far,

made by the magical hands of Ilaria

&

 specially thought out from her so that it fits our home

and my personal approach to style

 a totally simple & minimal {white blanket from Ikea},

with 6 circles of different sizes,

all crocheted by hand with 100% pure wool in ivory white

 sewn upon the blanket.

I'm thrilled to have the honor of the blanket being named after me

when it hits {the shelves of Ilaria's shop} after it is reopened.

please meet Miss Ivy Blanket,

ready to make cozy hours on the couch

 just a little bit more cozier and certainly

much more beautiful & personalized

You 'll be seeing more of it throughout this autumn and winter

in my shots

and then you can see all circles

and how beautifully and wisely they are randomly spread

let me sum up here where you can find Ilaria, in case you don't already know:

~ her blog ~

~ her shop ~

~ her flickr ~

~ her twitter ~

yeah... I think this has been actually two posts in one, 

as I both wished to share the news about the Penthouse

and Ilaria's creations...

other than that, today we are meeting with the person who will possibly be chosen as the worker to help us with our renovation and I just can't wait to meet him!

 am sincerely hoping to be able to come and post here very soon, as inspiration is flowing like

a mountain stream these days

and would both like to share and make posts on this journal as a reference

till then, a shot of me in my recent favorite cardigan,

which is making styling an easy matter 

&

 dressed comfortably a chic occasion

take care ~

have delightful days dear all!

~ goodbye summer ~

Hello everyone!

 it 's one of those times that I'm  happy to be managing to come here 

 and post despite the late hour of the day.

 So first things first,

 let me wish you a great new month ahead,

 together with the new season...

 whenever September comes, it makes me look back to my school years

or even the ones I was working as an English teacher back in Greece...

I remember the bittersweetness it brought with it at the beginning...

on the one hand so eager to begin something new,

on the other hand still wishing that there would be more days

free left for swimming & a relaxed way of life

but then, which kid {and teacher} doesn't love having a great excuse to 

 get their hands on new stationary?

see my point ; )

anyways, 

 before I move on to current news and autumn related stuff

{coming tomorrow}

I wanted to say the sweetest goodbye to this summer,

and cherish some of its wonderful moments 

 one of these was our preparation for a mini 5 day vacation

 on Kos {a Dodecanesean Greek island}

and off course the heavenly delighful days

 we spent there, for which you can read about it 

{here}

 As you have probably suspected from the pictures floating around this post,

 one of my favorite part of the trip's preparation was packing for the trip

& 

having the chance to use the new Tote that has just arrived at our door.

in a perfect size, perfectly sewn & double sided in beautiful black & white

cotton fabric,

I was so pleased to have ordered this 

from the {etsy shop} of a very {creative woman},

who also happens to be a marine scientist

living in Faro, Portugal.

Rita's passion is to sew and she certainly does a fabulous job!

I discovered her shop after she placed an order

of a {love & luck paper boat garland}.

So happy she did!

not only for honouring me by choosing somethimg handmade & thought off by me,

but also cause I got to the chance to get familiar with

 her wonderful bags, more of which you can see {here}

this is my order shortly after I opened it {the bag is folded in the middle here} 

 it was nicely wrapped,

 there was a thoughtful personal letter

&

a proof of having contributed to a good cause with my purchase!

I like that so much!

 the cherry on the top of the cake,

was a very practical & pretty present:

a tissue "pocket"

however of a detail it might be,

I really disliked having to carry my tissues in their plastic package

so this little accessory has been making my day 

everytime I need to pull out

or to offer a tissue!

Even though I have already since a long time personally thanked Rita,

I had also promised to link you to a few 

shops connected to bags,

worthy of their price

and 

{Ogato tigrado} is certainly one of them.

Thank you Rita,

I spent a fantastic summer carrying your bag!

it accompanied me from the beaches in Greece,

to the Spa in Frankfurt

&

the river in our neighbourhood,

carrying blankets to set on the grass...

 and now that the season has changed and so do the colours of the wardrobe,

it is finding it's space around our home,

other times filled with magazines

&

others with crafting supplies.

still I think "she" was at her happiest right there: 

Good bye summer... till next year!

have a good night everyone

&

a warm hearted welcome to all new readers

I'm so glad to see you here and be reading your comments 

Thank you so much : )

 c u all tomorrow... 

  with  more posts

 {one of which was planned for today, which is being posted with a little delay though}

better late than never said the Greeks ; )