'My Side of the Bed' .... by Caroline Runge

Hi everyone!

How was your weekend?

London has been wet, wet, wet 

 ... so to cheer you up this morning we are continuing with the series of 'My Side of the Bed' and today I have the pleasure of welcoming a German interior designer, Caroline Runge.

Caroline lives and works in London and writes the delightful blog Lime Loves Mud

I'm loving that gorgeously, cozy, fur blanket Caroline ... and the cool way that you hang your jewelery!

{all images by Caroline Runge}

"What's on my side of the bed ...

On the night table:  

Alarm clock, a gift for Christmas from my husband, and think it looks very stylish, however, I can't read the time at night. But then it is all about the look, isn't it?

There are always a couple of books that I have on the go. Right now a german one, together with another one about Yoga (The spiritual teachings of Yoga by Mark Forstater and Jo Manuel). 

Then the telephone - an old fashioned one as connected by cord - no mobiles or other electronic devices allowed in our bedroom.

Magnesium tablets, Lip cream and Nail oil,…..

All the other unsightly items are hidden in the drawer!

Also, I always have a stack of magazines and eventually more books on the bottom bit of the night table.

The little bear was a gift from my son for mothers-day a couple of years ago and it sits there ever since.

I also like to keep some of my fashion jewellery displayed on hooks or in glass boxes from Skandium."

Thank you Caroline for participating in 'My Side of the Bed'.

Next week I'll be featuring Caroline's holiday home in Sylt, Germany

... a real treat!

If you've missed the previous posts on this series click here, here, here, here and here.

DON'T FORGET IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS FUN SERIES, PLEASE SEND ME YOUR PHOTOS!

DON'T BE SHY.

xx

Sunday dinner ...

image via my instagram

This is what I'm trialing for tonight's dinner from 

Donna Hay's 10th birthday collectors edition magazine

crumbed veal cutlets with minted peas

Ingredients: 

2 cups (140g) fresh breadcrumbs

1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons finely grated lemon rind

4 x 250g veal cutlets, trimmed

Plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups (180g) frozen peas, blanched

1/4 cup mint leaves

1/4 cup chervil leaves

Sea salt and black pepper

Lemon wedges, to serve

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F). Place the breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic and lemon rind in a bowl and mix to combine. Dust the veal in flour, dip in the egg and press into the breadcrumb mixture.

2. Heat the oil in a non-stick ovenproof frying pan over medium heat and cook the veal for 2-3 minutes each side. Transfer pan to the oven and cook for a further 10-12 minutes or until cooked through.

3. Place the peas in a bowl and lightly crush with a fork. Add the mint, chervil, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Serve the veal with the peas and lemon. Serves 4.

I'll let you know what it's like!

Hope you're having a great Sunday

xx

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR THE 'MY SIDE OF THE BED' FEATURE!

Some favourite things ...

via

Edra Rose Chair 

Bloomingville clock


On my wish list ...

happy weekend to my readers


xx

40's Glam ... Frida Gustavsson

images via fashion gone rouge

I'm loving Frida Gustavsson wearing glamorous 40's inspired dresses from Miu Miu, Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs and others styled by fashion editor Linda Lindqwister.

Photography by Andreas Öhlund for Elle Sweden

xx

Sunset colours ...

image via look! pimp your room

I'm loving the earthy colours in this all white room, looking out into the sunset

... on this miserable grey, wet London morning.

xx

Property stalking ...

A little house stalking on the weekend and I stumbled on this gem ...

... drooling over this bathroom

 I could easily sit on the terrace with fabulous views of Sydney Harbour

 all images realestate.com.au

A little European glamour in my favourite suburb of Sydney, Australia ... Woollahra

It's currently on the market!

click here while it lasts

xx

'My Side of the Bed' ... By Vicki Archer

Most of you may already have heard of our next guest who is willing to open their bedroom door for us, but if not then let me introduce you to Vicki Archer.

Vicki is the very talented author of two books, My French Life and French Essence (which I own and can honestly say are beautifully written and photographed) and the author of the very popular blog French Essence.

An Australian, who has become a true Francophile and now spends most of her time living between London and her beautiful French farmhouse in St Rémy, Provence.

{image by Vicki Archer}

What’s on my bedside table…

What's on my bedside table changes constantly... maybe because it's not very large and it has to hold all my reading and watching material... All the beauty bits are left on my dressing table... otherwise there would be no space at all... I am a bit of a lounger in bed... and if I were to tell the truth... I could laze around all day, cozy and comfy, in my bed and read... read, read and then read some more... I have also taken up the iPad habit... I don't know if this is good or bad... but I do like watching a film or browsing the net under the covers...

We found this pair of bedside tables in L'Isle sur la Sorgue, a small town about 20 minutes away from St Rémy de Provence, when we were restoring our farmhouse... I would have preferred something more generous... but I fell in love with these consoles and their original paintwork and pretty shape... not to mention the embossed shell motif on the front...They just seemed perfect for our bedroom... 

What is on this bedside table of mine?

Always a pair of reading glasses... I'm lost without them...

A notebook to jot down ideas and thoughts...

My iPad and the cute animal print case that my daughter gave me for my birthday this year... Inside my Kindle is hiding...

Tissues in a white linen envelope…

An old glass jewelry box filled with sea pearls... and a porcelain saucer with the brooch and earrings I wore the night before...

Old frames with snaps of my children at varying ages...

A pewter mug with one of my eye masks... 

The books...

from Deyrolle in Paris...Leçons des Choses... for the old fashioned nature and the illustrations...

Madame Bovary’s Daughter by Linda Urbach... a creative follow up to the original Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert… a favorite French read of mine...

The classics...Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden and Alice in Wonderland... I am trying to re-visit some of my childhood reading...

And a bunch of lilac from the garden.... 

Thank you for indulging us with your beautiful collection of objects on your side of the bed Vicki!

I just love your marble topped side table.

If you love France and would love some insight into Vicki's favourite places to visit, interiors, fashion or moving to a foreign country click here to read her blog.

If you've missed the previous posts on this series click here, here, here and here.

DON'T FORGET IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS FUN SERIES, PLEASE SEND ME YOUR PHOTOS!

DON'T BE SHY.

xx

L'Wren Scott's side of the bed ...

{image via here}

I love this very elegant bedroom belonging to the gorgeous fashion designer L'Wren Scott.

Don't forget to tune in on Monday to see who my guest is on the new series

"My Side Of The Bed"

Have a great weekend ...

xx

Cross stitch: Charlotte Lancelot

 via Apartment Therapy

via

Sorry for the lack of posts, but my broadband internet has been down since Monday ... arrghh!!
We need a new router and might be lucky if I get it by the end of this week
... however I have tapped into my neighbours connection for a quick post!

Had to share this amazing cross stitch by Charlotte Lancelot, which she is currently exhibiting at the Milan I Saloni exhibition presented by GAN- Rugs

Who would have thought cross stitch could look this good!

xx

"My Side of The Bed" by Victoria Bibby

Yay ... it's Monday and it's become my favourite day of the week, because we get to peek around and see what other people keep on their side of the bed!

This gorgeous bedroom belongs to the ever so lovely graphic designer, Victoria Bibby

Victoria is the owner of the beautiful on-line homeware store Cush & Nooks, based in New Zealand and also the writer of the blog Cush & Nooks.

Enjoy reading what things are special to her ...

"I always have books next to my bed, as I love to read and I find it helps me to wind down after a busy day. I'm currently reading 'The Hunger Games' which my 12 year old nephew lent me. It's a fabulous book, and definitely not just for the kids.

If I'm lucky I might get a cup of tea brought to me in bed on the weekend. The cup & saucer pictured is part of a set that my lovely Mum bought me.

The bedside table is my beloved bone inlay table that I imported from India. I also have them stocked in my Cush & Nooks online store 

The lamp shade is also available from my shop.

My ceramic pear is from Jessie Lauren in Australia, and is perfect for storing all my jewels that I take off at the end of the day.

As you can tell, I am a huge fan of colour and pattern, and love to mix them up. And there's nothing better than fresh flowers to greet you at the start of the day."

I just adore Victoria's love of colour and mix of fabrics, which is evident if you follow her on her blog ... and her eclectic style!
Thank you so much Victoria for opening your door for us into your bedroom ...

If you've missed the previous posts on this series click here, here and here

DON'T FORGET IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS FUN SERIES, PLEASE SEND ME YOUR PHOTOS!

DON'T BE SHY.

xx

Industrial lamps ...

Vintage industrial lamps seem to be all the rage at the moment.

Around the corner from the hotel we were staying in Amsterdam, I stumbled upon 360Volt, a lighting store that had an amazing collection of unique industrial objects.

I was annoyed that I didn't have my camera with me at the time, so these images are from their website.

Isn't the 5kw filmspot (4th image) that was used in the Dutch film industry amazing!

They ship worldwide and you can even rent them for props (but I guess you need to live in Amsterdam to make it feasible)

360volt.com

Prinsengracht 397, 1016 HL

Amsterdam

Happy Friday the 13th!

Hope you have a fab weekend and welcome to my newest followers!

xx

Amsterdam Boathouse

One of my readers said she would love a peek inside one of those cool Amsterdam boathouses ... and so would I!
Well it happens that I came across one while perusing one of my favourite blogs Desire to Inspire ...

all photos by Jansje Klazinga

This boathouse belongs to a dutch interior designer (which you can just see in the photo).

I love how bright and modern it all looks ... and especially loving the bathroom.

It really is interesting to see how people live!

I know someone else who once lived on a house boat in Amsterdam

... the Australian stylist, Pia Jane Bijkerk

If you still can't get enough, click here to see it.

xx

Travel Destination: Amsterdam

I'm back from a lovely four day weekend in Amsterdam and it has taken me twice as long to download all our photographs!

Amsterdam is an amazing city, even though I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I should have, as I was feeling quite poorly with a bad case of laryngitis and a very sore throat. The cold weather didn't help, but luckily the sun was out and the rain arrived on our last day.

It's not much fun being a tourist in a city which requires a lot of walking (or cycling) in the rain!

'I amsterdam' letters at the Museumplein, in front of the Rijksmuseum

Originally 'I amsterdam' began as a marketing campaign of the area, but soon became the collective catch-phrase of it's citizens.

Amsterdam is not only famous for it UNESCO World Heritage Listed 17th-century canal ring, an icon of urban planning and architecture ...

... it's also famous for its tulips, windmills, cheeses and clogs, not to mention its red light district and legal drugs

Blue and white delftware was only available to the rich until the late 16th-century, but in the early 1600s the Dutch became acquainted with porcelain from China (which became very popular) and they imitated it to become Delftware.

I ♥ the dutch street -style

Bicycles are the best way to see the city. Amsterdam doesn't have car park stations, but multi-storey bike park stations, or they are chained up wherever you can find a spot!

art or a disused bicycle?

Amsterdam is also known for its numerous houseboats ...

amazing light shop see here for website

... and it's amazing museums, showcasing the famous Dutch masters like Rembrandt and Vincent Van Gogh to name but a few.

 the beautiful Rijksmuseum

The area is also famous for its characteristic canal-side estates and numerous monuments

... and its inspirational street art (graffiti)

Hotel Pulitzer

We stayed at the Hotel Pulitzer, twenty-five restored 17th and 18th century canal houses that have been harmoniously integrated to create a truly unique hotel. The location was perfect, all within easy walking distance to the major sites. I always try to choose a hotel that is within easy reach of the major places I want to visit, when I am only staying for a short time in a European city.

Our rooms were a little on the small side, but the Easter weekend is always a very busy one in any of the major European cities and we were unable to upgrade to a larger space ... however they were beautifully furnished in a modern style for it's traditional buildings.

I hope you enjoyed this little trip with me to the 'Venice of the North"

xx

{all images belong to Iced VoVos}