27.9.11

... 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:




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!






12 comments:

  1. Dear Iro, what a lovely post and beautiful photos as always. The blanket looks gorgeous and its name is perfect! xoxo, rita

    ReplyDelete
  2. As sweet as always ... You have got such a nice way to write things down!

    Regards * Denise

    ReplyDelete
  3. Miss Ivy...how lovely. You have always endeavored to bring love and understanding to every thing you touch; it is so refreshing. I have admired you and Ilaria both through the past few years via blogs, flickr, etsy, etc... What a wonderful thing it is to see the two of you paired together. I'm in love with the blanket, and it is aptly named!
    :)
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Rita, Denisa & Trish!
    It is wonderful reading your comments on this post. It means a lot :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. I enjoyed each and every sentence in this post, Ivy!

    "......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..." ♥

    So thrilled to find out a new friendship developing between you and the future occupant of the penthouse... beautiful!

    Miss Ivy blanket!! How appropriate! Clever Ilaria!! Beautiful shot of her in the pretty blue kimono! :-)

    Have a darling of a day, Ivy xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh and ...."I love you"..... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful post. poetic and heartwarming as usual. love the Ilaria's blanket and crochet garland! So so lovely. Wishing you lots of happiness and peace in the transition to your new home xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm more than happy about all these lovely words and all these comments, they mean a lot for me..I'm really flattered, Iro has the precious gift to use the heart when she writes, and the Ivy Blanket it's a reflection of her: shining, glowing, pure.

    ReplyDelete
  9. .....and a good friend at any time! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi,

    Lovely styling and wonderful photos. It looks like a perfect place to live.



    .w

    ReplyDelete
  11. I thought my beautiful illaria looked familiar! I love your blog iro. Tempted by your natural set of prints in the shop too ^_^ what are the tall flowers in vases? X

    ReplyDelete