Home Tour: Swiss Chalet

It is still wintertime and some of us might envisage a little ski trip to the cosmopolitan Swiss Alps. Well, if you do, I hope your accommodation will be as sophisticated and refined as this Swiss chalet - the stunning refuge of Belgian antique dealer and interior designer Axel Vervoordt. 

A symphony of wood and stone at the end of a winding and steep pathway to an alpine peak in Swiss winter resort Verbier combines traditional architecture with sublime interior design and thus redefines the notion of a winter chalet. 

The amazing fact here: This chalet was built ten years ago by local artisans to preserve the typical local architecture with stone and wood. This whole concept was transferred into the chalet's interior, too. And here you can see the owner's passion for antiques with valuable treasures set in scene within a quiet and laid-back interior. The reduction to the essentials plus the breathtaking location with a fantastic view over the Alps - what else can you wish for a wintery dream in a Swiss chalet?

Photography via Westwing Magazin

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From Place To Space: Marseille

With every new Monday I am more than happy to take you on a new, little voyage within my blog series 'From Place To Space'. Many of you have realized by now that France is one of my favorite countries to visit. So this time I've decided to take you to the Mediterranean metropolis Marseille in the country's south. 

This was a real last minute trip a few years ago. A friend and I decided on a Friday we need a little inspiring break over the weekend. So we packed our suitcases and went off to the airport on Saturday morning. We approached one of the travel agencies at the airport and had a little talk to the travel agent, flipped through a few city names on his screen and picked Marseille due to the best departure and return times. A few hours later we arrived on the shores of the Mediterranean. During the trip we booked a hotel via our phones and here we were: without a travel guide, without any special plans or ideas. And it was perfect. It was an ideal combination of relaxing and discovering a new city with all its charms. We took one of the open-top city tour buses and visited the main sights like the Vieux Port (Old Port) where we enjoyed a glass of the local Pastis (an anise liquor), the local fish market, the famous Notre-Dame de la Garde cathedral on a hill top. We set off to the close by island Ile d'If and visited the famous Chateau d'If with its prison. That's where Alexandre Dumas set the scenery for his novel 'The Count of Monte Cristo'.

To take you from place to space I researched the web for some inspiring interiors in Marseille, too. And I found two amazing examples. This 1950s inspired Marseille home of Emma François bursts with mid-century vintage finds and a typical 50s colour range. The big round hole in the living room connects the home with its porch and adds to the mid-century look and feel. 

The second interior is a light flooded home designed by Marseille based interior designer Maurice Padovani. It combines a rustic and modern feeling with natural hues and materials and many open spaces that let the unique Mediterranean light into this stylish home. I am drawn to this home with its interesting vibe set alive with vintage furniture combined with design classics such as the Eames chairs or the stunning Zettel'z chandelier by Ingo Maurer. 

Have you enjoyed this week's little trip? Hope to see you next Monday again!

Photography: Emma François home via Interior Design Files; Rustic and Modern Home via Maurice Padovani; all other pics by Igor Josifovic.  

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Home Tour: Scandinavian Gallery Home

After yesterday's trip to southern Europe, I am taking you today on a home tour up in the north. This Scandinavian home has caught my eye. This arty home does not showcase the typical cliché Scandinavian interior design with a dominance of white, airy spaces and a mix of mid-century and modern furniture. 

Here, I was drawn to the classic space (man, do I admire the height of the ceilings) and the eclectic mix of furniture and exposed art. An industrial desk lamp, pop art on the wall, and a crystal chandelier? Sounds weird? Yeah, but the outcome in this home is stunning. The refined combination of styles and materials demonstrates a very personal approach by juxtaposing art, gems, tchotchkes and furniture to a gallery kind of interior styling.  

Photography via Bo Bedre

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Trend: Wood In Interior Design

With Christmas approaching and wintery temperatures outside, I am totally drawn to natural materials. Especially to wood to be precise. I love the cosy and homey look of wood in interior design. Moreover, not only it's a sustainable material but it's also very versatile and can add a rustic as well as a modern look to interiors. With this in mind I browsed the internet on the search for something that could translate this idea into a real space and I was lucky - I found two amazing examples that exhibit the power of wood in interiors and showcase the individual ways of using it. By coincidence, both homes that I'd like to tour with you today are Dutch. 

The first home is a stunning example of a barn-turned-home: Wood is the dominating material and demonstrates its power of linking traditional, rustic feels, with modern design approaches. Pay attention to the extraordinary little wooden stools and industrial style lamps that add a very modern and functional touch to this traditional home. Isn't it super cool?

The second example is an Amsterdam based home that has a very modern kind of design approach with modular solutions made of wood. Here again, wood dominates the rooms but it's partly painted in whites and blacks to add drama and structure to the space. The geometric notches are an amazing example of the wood's versatility for interior design. I love how they conveyed this idea throughout the home - perfectly executed in the kitchen, where even the kitchen shelves have the geometric shapes. Thumbs up!

Photography via Marie Claire Maison

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Home Tour: Brooklyn Brownstone Gem

Via Martha Stewart

When it comes to architecture and facades in particular, I have a soft spot: I love brickwork. Thus, I fell instantaneously in love with this Brooklyn based brownstone building. Munich, the city I live in, lacks brownstone buildings. For lovely brickwork I need to travel to the country's north, to cities like Hamburg, Bremen, or Hannover, where Holly from Decor8 lives (one of my sources of inspiration).


In this amazing example, the owners managed to transform this house into a real family-oriented home and revamp its interiors with a tasteful mix of modern and classic furniture and home decor. Can you believe the big living space and kitchen were a parlor? 


I love the consistent colour theme with earthy browns and natural hues and how cool are the huge illustrations of the apple and the pear? There is another tiny little highlight for me: The wooden monkey figurine by Danish designer Kay Bojesen. Simply adorable! I love tiny details that catch my attention.

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