All posts tagged: Interoir design

Snapshots from New York

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New York New York. I feel exited to be here at last. I have a hectic schedule while I’m here so I barely have time to land before I’m off to work. But how rewarding isn’t it? I meet wonderful people! And get to see amazing homes! I’m down in the subway in no time. I discover, since it’s Sunday, that this isn’t the best of days to travel by subway, because a lot of maintenance are made on weekends and therefore some of the lines are closed. Which leads to a general confusion, not only for me, on finding the best way to get to one’s destination. And the journey back home takes forever. Oh well, all the more time to people watch then. I people watch and people talk too, as I continue to strike up conversations with whoever I meet. This artist I observed while he was sketching some people on the train and we had a nice chat waiting for the next train. He is armed with his sketchbook, pencils and …

Mexico I – Condesa

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Hola Mexico! I’m so happy to be here at last. And I’m happy that my research proved me right, as I’m delighted to stay in the lovely tree lined area of Hippodrome Condesa. I love Mexico! I have opted to stay in a hotel for the duration of my stay, instead of changing locations for every photo shoot. For this I’m grateful. Not only because I thoroughly enjoy staying in the Boutique Hotel Nuevo Leon with it’s cool design and super friendly staff. Thanks especially to Christian and Alfredo. But also because I have nearly a photo shoot in a different location every day so it’s good to have one base. Love the details here especially the flooring! I enjoy being in the buzz of a city again, after my near monastic existence in San Marcos. From my grand bathroom in this smart Art Deco building I have a near 180 degree view, of all that’s going on the street outside the curved windows. A bath with a view! I relish eating in different cafes …

Guatemala II – Arriving at Lake Atitlán

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I’m on my way to lake Atitlán where I’m going to stay for nearly a month. My thought is to stay in one place and thus have the time to settle down to write and to work. I board a shuttle and we set of for the three hours drive to get to the shore of Panajachel. At lake Atitlán, the transports are made by small vessels darting to and fro between the small pueblos that are situated on the shores of this vast lake. It takes about forty-five minutes for my small boat to arrive to my destination San Marcos. Next stop San Marcos. It’s nice to arrive by boat to a new place. This boat ride reminds me a bit of the archipelago of Stockholm in my own country. The inhabitants of this small village consists of a Mayan population and of westerners, a lot of them spiritual seekers, who believe that there is a special spiritual energy here. The billboards are full of activities on offer such as meditation, yoga classes, Reiki, massage and chakra …

Buenos Aires I – Palermo in my heart

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Charming, bohemian and colourful, the barrio of Palermo in Buenos Aires went straight to my heart. I spent days endlessly walking the tree-lined streets and enjoying soaking in the very special ambience of this part of the city. Buenos Aires is called Paris of Latin America, due to the large amount of immigrants from Europe in the 19th century and the culture and building styles they brought with them. The leafy streets gives much needed shade and a sense of nature in this big city. The architecture in Buenos Aires a mix of styles, eclectic to say the least, with French and Italian neoclassical, colonial, art nouveau and art deco buildings as well as Italian and French Renaissance-style palaces and of course modern high-rises. Not only influenced by European building styles as I first thought, but also complete buildings were brought here, stone by stone, sometimes complete palaces, prefabricated in Europe. Impressive. Sometimes one is unaware that, because the trees are so dense that they almost form a roof, the city continues to spread upwards. I enjoyed …

Cape Town VII –Cool & colourful Bo Kaap

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My final week I moved to Bo Kaap that has it’s own flavour and feel. It’s known for it’s brightly coloured houses situated at the foot of Signal Hill. Many of the residents are descendants of slaves from Malaysia, Indonesia and other African country that were imported to the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch during the 16th and 17th centuries. The slaves were known as Cape Malays, and Bo Kaap is known as The Cape Malay Quarter. It’s the home of the Cape’s Muslim community and have several mosques here. First I stayed with fashion designer Olivia with her own brand Lalesso and her husband Wesley, a confirmed surfer, production manager for photo shoots and film production, and now co-owner of the new barista company Frothing. They have a lovely house in Bo Kaap and I spent a coupe of days in their home, with them and their Rhodesian Ridgeback Chesa. Olivia is from Kenya and Wes is from Cape Town. Here is Wes with his barista truck stationed at the corner of Buitensingle and …

Cape Town V –Design & delight in Gardens

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I moved to Gardens next, to the wonderful family home of Doreen and Meyer. I loved staying here! Doreen is fantastic and interesting woman. She has worked as an editor and stylist at Elle Decoration amongst other interesting jobs, and now she now runs her hospitality business InAweStays.  Their house is the old vicarage that belonged to the next-door church and it’s absolutely beautiful. As are all the charming and tasteful cottages that are on the premises, all done up with Doreen’s skilful eye for design. I loved my new home, an L-shaped loft with magnificent views through the glassed facade towards the Table Mountain. It was not only the stylish design. Or the beautiful setting of this home. The attention to detail here was amazing. A blackboard with a welcoming message. Handmade toiletries on the bathroom shelves in InAweStays own brand. Masses of thick and fluffy towels changed on a daily basis. Wonderful treats in the shape of trays with all kinds of delicious nibbles and goodies, appeared like magic when I needed them the …

Cape Town II – Green Point & other stories

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My first home was with Carin in Green Point. When I arrived from a hectic month in Asia, I had tons of photos I needed to take care of and blog posts to write. But none of that for Carin. – Come on, you have to see this…let’s go… And off we went. She went over and beyond to show me amazing places that I would never have found myself. So my first thanks is to you Carin. Thank you for showing me both hidden and not so hidden gems. And also for showing me some great contemporary African design. And of course for your lovely company! Carin’s home is itself wildly and wonderfully creative. It’s a veritable cascade of colours and made me feel that yes, I’m in Africa now. A small Victorian house, it has been opened up and felt spacious with it’s high ceiling, loft and large glass doors leading out to a very private courtyard, where the sound of water pouring in a small wall fountain was relaxing to listen to. …

Singapore III

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This year 2015 Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence. And it’s also been acclaimed as the world’s best country to visit due to it’s excellent shopping, rich cultural life and food culture. I skipped the shopping on Orchard road completely to focus on for me a much more important thing – the food, which was fantastic. Eating out is everyone’s favourite pastime here. Singapore is a hotpot of cuisines. Influences from the Chinese, Malayan and Indian cuisine of course as well as other Asian countries, the Middle East cuisine and pretty much from all over the world as a result from the country’s history with immigrants from many countries. There is an endless variety to choose from. From really good and affordable street food found in the hawker food stalls, food courts to high end restaurants. My first night I went to a hawker food court just up the road and sought out the stall which had the most customers and had a big bowl of tasty soup for nearly nothing. As I’m a soup …

Singapore part II

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Of course I had to visit Raffles Hotel. Not only to sample the obligatory Singapore Sling, which I did. But the building of this iconic hotel is truly beautiful. Now it’s surrounded on all sides by the modern life of high-rises and busy roads. But it also sits in a garden that somehow keeps the outside world at bay giving it a serene splendour. This however is slightly taken away by the fact that it’s also swarming with tourists, well that’s includes me too I guess. On a spur I felt like I wanted to have afternoon tea here but that was a no go as one has to book that one week in advance! You get the picture. Oh well there’s always a place in the bar so I went there and had a Singapore Sling instead. This classic cocktail was invented by the bartender Ngiam Tong Boon in 1915. At this time women were not allowed to consume alcohol in public. But he cleverly thought out a way to create a cocktail that …

Singapore part I

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Singapore is a city, an island and a country. Small in size but with a population of 5 million people. I found Singapore very green, humid and…unfortunately very hazy. But also with striking architecture, old colonial houses and the sometimes surreal new buildings and stunning structures such as the Supertree Grove in the Gardens by the Bay. As the haze was so prominent during my visit I have to mention this issue. I stayed at first with Joe and his friends and his flat that has this amazing view over looking the Gardens by the Bay. This huge recreational park area created from a vision Singapore had, to transit from “A city with a garden” to become “A garden with a city” opened in 2011. I had envisioned sitting on the balcony looking out over all this splendour, but unfortunately the haze was so bad that most days we couldn’t even have the doors to the balcony open. The haze is seasonal apparently and is the smoke that drifts in from, mostly illegal, slash-and-burn fires …