Saturday, May 10, 2014

Vintage treasures for sale

I bought these two wooden crates in Bristol from a lovely shop in Clifton where we used to live when Mila was born. I've always loved their vintage and rustic look and over the years, I've used them as shelves, side table, storage for Mila's toys, props for my styling but now they can be yours...


















Mila is also selling her big Mister Bear and as she said to me this morning: "It should go, it's a very cool toy..."
Take her words for it :-)













Price for each crate is £35 + postage and Mister Bear is £20 + postage. All items can be collected from W6 or W3 or posted internationally. If interested, please leave a comment or email me to leblog@bodieandfou.com
See more items listed on ebay here. I will add a lot more over the weekend
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Thursday, May 8, 2014

5 very sleek, gorgeous and inspiring white kitchens

After almost a year of talking about plans, getting structural surveys done, seeking authorisations from the council, this is it! We are finally starting the renovations in our home...
I'm really really excited by our future, new kitchen. When we moved in 4 years ago, I quickly painted the old kitchen with blackboard paint to give it a new lease of life but I'm over the moon the time has finally come to have the white, sleek kitchen of my dreams.
Here are five, gorgeous white kitchens that inspired my Masterplan kitchen...
White Contemporary Kitchens http://blog.bodieandfou.com/



















Our old Kitchen featured here in Homestyle NZ magazine is up for a major revamp. The L shape is going to be replaced by the layout above: a long island facing a wall of units with heaps of storage, both visually leading to the garden.
The 80's window is going to be replaced by a large, architectural glass window floor to ceiling.
White Contemporary Kitchens http://blog.bodieandfou.com/

















Our tap is going to be replaced by one that has a boiling option (watch out for our kettle and old tap on Ebay :-)
White Contemporary Kitchens http://blog.bodieandfou.com/

















When it comes to kitchen, my pet hate are electricals so toaster & blender are going to be plugged in but hidden away in a cupboard/pantry and our stainless-steel worktop is going to be replaced by a gorgeous, smooth and tactile white Corian with a large moulded sink.
White Contemporary Kitchens http://blog.bodieandfou.com/















White Contemporary Kitchens http://blog.bodieandfou.com/

















Initially, I really wanted a polished concrete floor or large concrete tiles like in the Vipp flagship store but to avoid cracks, we needed to have at least 10 cm worth of depth in the grounds.
So we looked at other alternatives (rubber, wooden floors, tiles) and in the end, we found a very nice resin floor that looks sleek and contemporary.
To give an impression of space, we will run the resin floor throughout the ground floor and the B&W tiles from the hallway that many of you love (but me) and the oak wooden floor in the lounge.
I still have a tons of stuff to get rid off (so expect more things popping up on Instagram and Ebay). Which kitchen do you prefer??

// 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

The art of letting go...

I wish I had more time to post longer posts but we are crazy busy, getting ready for the BODIE pop-up store at the Vipp flagship store in Copenhagen and finalising our Debut print collection.





















So rather than getting completely stressed out, I've decided to 'let go' and do little updates until time is on my side.

One thing I really enjoyed reading last weekend and which I think you will enjoy too, was "How Mastering the Art of Letting Go will Change your life" by Leo Babauta.
Babauta says that we keep things (clutter) in our home for various reasons...they make us feel secure and safe, they give us comfort, memories and hopes for the future and I can see that.
Most of the things in my home are there for a reason and I suspect in yours too...and often there is an emotion/souvenir attached to it.
I wrote here how I was starting to let go of the idea of becoming a mother again but this weekend I found myself, storing a pregnancy book aside while putting all my decoration magazines & novels in bags for the charity shop...and I can see now how much emotion and hope are attached to this book so it is going too.
At the end of the day, it is just clutter. I don't need a book that I'm not going to open for a while and if I ever become pregnant again, I will probably download the bloody thing.
So if you're in the same frame of mind than me at the moment, have a look around and think about all the emotions attached to the things you keep, it's quite interesting and let me know what you managed to clear out :-)

// Cluster Light | Home is Where My Family Is print | Clare Vivier mini sac

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Friday, May 2, 2014

WHITES 06 | 2014

Gosh I love a Bank Holidays weekend!!
Besides the obvious 3-day weekend, I love the delightful, exciting feeling that we are skiving work on Monday and have an extra day to potter around our homes and do some creative things...

































And pottering around is definitively what I'm going to do this weekend.
We are finally starting the renovations in our home in 2 weeks (yeah!!!) so this weekend, the boys are taking our kitchen apart and I will clear our home further (expect a few things to pop up on Instagram and Ebay!)

Talking about clearing, my sister sent me this article from Oprah Does this clutter make my butt look fat?
Being an emotional eater, it stroke a few chords with me but it also has some interesting points about how we hang onto things of the past and clutter our lives with old emotions.
It is true, isn't it!?
Since January, I have been clearing things we've accumulated for the past 9 years when Mila was born. Although I noticed that sometimes throwing stuff, was raising a great deal of emotions (and not always easy ones as you would suspect), most of the time it felt really good and liberating.
Once thing I was holding onto, was Mila's baby clothes for baby no 2 but the truth is, baby no 2 is not coming. We have been trying for two years and I have now decided to let go rather than hanging onto something that saddens me deeply.
At the end of the day I have a great family. I have an amazing child who makes me laugh on a daily basis. I have an amazing partner and I have decided to focus on what I have rather than what I don't have and Be Happy ;-)
On these words of wisdom, I wish you an amazing weekend whatever you do. Bises

// Labels | Cluster lightSuitcases | Be Happy print
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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Limited Edition BODIE and FOU Vipp bin

Finally something I can share with you and which I'm really excited about...
To celebrate the launch of BODIE and FOU's Debut B&W print collection out in May, we've designed a Limited Edition BODIE and FOU Vipp15 bin in collaboration with Vipp.
I'm really really excited by this because Vipp is one of my favourite design brands and as both Vipp and BODIE and FOU are family businesses, this Limited Edition bin will be printed with our Love, Life & Family print design...at the end of the day, that's all it matters, doesn't it!?
The Limited Edition BODIE and FOU Vipp15 bin will be exclusively available online at BODIE and FOU and during our pop-up store in Copenhagen at the Vipp's flagship store (another exciting thing I will tell you about when I'm back in London!).
Our new print collection will be online in May and also available during our pop-up store in Copenhagen.
I'll be there for about a week and I hope to meet some of you there! 

















I really hope you will love our new prints collection and th

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Friday, April 25, 2014

3 ways to create an inspiring cupboard for your kitchen

It has been raining for the past two days so while we are staying in our home in France, I have been keeping myself doing little creative things like getting the girls to paint this fab log in white, taking new photos of the house and creating a blue moodboard on my kitchen cupboard to freshen up the look below.
If you love a bit of DIY, here are three ways for you to create an inspiring and striking cupboard for your kitchen for very little cost...

1/ For a summery feel

I sourced this cupboard from a second-hand shop (from memory I paid around 20 euros) and gave it a new lease of life by painting the outside white and the inside blue grey.
To add a summery feel, I used inspiring blue & white images from my favourite decoration magazines and create a happy, holiday mood board.
Each time we open the cupboard now, we are welcome by this uplifting burst of colours in different shades of blue.

2/ For an industrial feel 
Vintage metal cabinets can be found easily on e-bay for little money if you are patient and with a fair amount of elbow grease and blackboard paint, you can transform it into something looking fabulous like this black cupboard and why not write a poem with chalk on the doors or let the kids do their own drawings...
3/ For a modern country look
An old cupboard with glass doors is a wonderful way to display your collection of ceramics and crockery especially if they all have similar hues.
To obtain the effect below, apply a first coat of paint in white, then a second coat in grey and sand gently when the paint is really dry to let patches of white paint coming through.

















// 1. My home in France photographed by Michael Paul | 2. Inside Out magazine | 3. Tine K 

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Thursday, April 17, 2014

WHITES 05 | 2014

We are at the beach...
I don't want to rub it in for those of you who are stuck in the city, but gosh it feels good to have a break and I really needed one.
I've only packed Summer stuff... white t-shirts, an old pair of converse, denim shorts, Mila's new denim jumpsuit and mine (to try to make a Mother/Daughter portrait in Denim) and my new Nutribullet (yes I know...I travel light...not but I wanted to carry on doing this 30 days smoothie challenge).
I really hope the weather is going to live to MY expectations for the next couple of weeks...

By the way...Saranza is having a flashsale on Birkenstock. Have a fab weekend! Bises

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

DESIGN FILES 01 | BATHROOM WITH POLISHED CONCRETE FLOOR

I've dreamt about this bathroom since this post on three bathrooms using concrete and I'm very grateful to Elisabeth for answering all my questions and allowing me to start this new series with her bathroom because I don't know if you've noticed but my blog has been re-designed by the talented Ana Degenaar and a new design calls for new series ;-)

The DESIGN FILES series is one that I wanted to do for a while because I've always felt it was one thing to look at nice, inspiring interiors and another, to really know how they did it, what materials they used, what challenges they encountered and with this bathroom, I had a lot of questions...
Natural basket Vipp Bin & Antique Elm stool
1/ Was your bathroom a renovation project or built from scratch as part of a new building?
It was a renovation project. We bought the house a year ago and when planning the bathroom, I realised it was far too small for a family with young children so we increased the space by taking a little bit from the rooms next to the bathroom. I changed the layout completely and designed a modern bathroom that now suits us perfectly.
To bring in more light we installed the skylights over the bathtub.
Design Files BODIE and FOU A stunning bathroom with concrete floor

2/ What is the surface of your bathroom ?
9 sqm

3/ How many people are using this bathroom?
My husband and I and our two children aged two and four.

4/ Is it located on the ground or upper floor? (I'm asking this because sometimes concrete floors are an issue on upper floors, at least in English houses due to the weight of the floor)
It is located on the upper floor. The construction of Norwegian houses is strong enough to bear the weight of an concrete floor.

5/ How long did it take to be completed?
It would have normally be finished within two months, but we renovated the whole house at the same time and everything was done in three months. Some work was left to do in the bathroom when we moved in, but my husband completed it during the summer holidays.

6/ Did you use an Architect/Interior Designer or draw the plans yourselves?
I am an interior designer so I designed everything myself.

7/ Do you remember how much you had planned to spend and how much it cost in the end?
I am not sure what this bathroom would have costed if we had not been able to do as much work as we have ourselves (my husband is a carpenter).
Without all the individual effort it would probably have costed around £35,000

8/ Favourite details?
The floor and the hidden storage (personally I'm loving all the Aesop and Dyptique goodies!)
Antique Elm wooden stool & Dyptique candle

9/ Underfloor heating, pros and cons if any?
No cons really - it would have been freezing cold without it! The underfloor heating makes the concrete feel kind of soft walking on.

10/ Tell us about the concrete floor...How thick it is? Are pipes running underneath? Are you happy with it? Did you consider other options?
The floor is seven cm thick and pipes are running underneath but the pipes are situated in the soffit and over the soffit, we've added some fiber boards with a PVC membrane. Then we fitted the underfloor heating and poured concrete on top of it.
I am very happy with the floor. It feels warm and soft, and I love the atmosphere in the room that feels so natural.
I had the concrete floor on top on my wish list, so I didn't spend too much time looking at other options :-)

11/ Most challenging thing to get done?
The floor because in Norway, very few companies do concrete floors for residential projects. Most companies have expertise in doing large, commercial projects but we managed to convince the person who did the concrete basin for us to do the floors too.

12/ Talking of which...this concrete basin is gorgeous!
I designed it and Gudbrand Kaas, a craftsman who specialises in concrete basins, countertops and furniture made it for us. He also made the concrete worktop in our kitchen.
Design Files BODIE and FOU | bathroom with concrete floor
13/ Where are your taps from?
Hansgrohe

14/ On which feature did you spend the most money?
The floor, again ; )

15/ Best money-saving trick if any?
Do as much as you can yourself. Outsource plumbing and electricity if you can't do it yourself but see what other things you can do yourself like the painting and tiling for example.

16/ Tell us about storage
I wanted clean surfaces an lines, and therefore I designed built-in cabinets which we made ourselves. Over the basin there is three cabinets with mirror doors. Each of them are only 12 cm deep but we can actually store quite a lot.
Design Files BODIE and FOU | bathroom with concrete floor
Right next to the toilet we store towels, children's clothes, diapers etc - also in a cabinet we've built in.

17/ Is not having skirting boards an issue?
No (good! Because that's exactly the look I want for our bathroom)
18/ What would you differently if you had to do your bathroom again and why?
Nothing, I am very happy with the bathroom and I would not have done anything differently.
Design Files BODIE and FOU | bathroom with concrete floor

19/ What did you put on the wall in the wet areas (shower/bath)
In the shower area we have tiles on the walls (bathroom tiles can be found here), in the rest of the room we have painted the walls. Underneath the paint and tiles, we used Litex which are membrane panels specifically designed for bathrooms and wet rooms and ideal to build watertight bathrooms.

20/ Have you got a plan of your bathroom?
 Design Files BODIE and FOU | bathroom with concrete floor


So what do you think of this bathroom? 
I think it's one of the best bathrooms I've seen and exactly the kind of contemporary look I'm aiming to achieve with our bathroom so I'm sending a link of my post to Steve right now!

// Photography: Elisabeth Heier-Werner with thanks! To read her blog or hire her as a Stylist or Interior Designer, click HERE
Aesop and Dyptique candles can be found at Liberty and you will find similar grey and white bath towels from The White Company.

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BRIGHT BAZAAR BY WILL TAYLOR | INSPIRING BOOKS

We are off to France tomorrow afternoon.
A part of me is super excited because my sister and best-friend are both coming down to spend a few days with us at the beach (+ Côté Ouest magazine is coming to shoot the house). The other part is disappointed that I will not be able to attend Will's book launch of Bright Bazaar.
I know it's going to be packed and I really wish I could be there so this is for Will and to show him I'm thinking of him.






























A METEORITE IN MOTION...
I started reading Bright Bazaar around 2011 and while Will's posts, his home and tastes are waaay more colourful than mine, I've always loved the sense of positivity and happiness they have but more than anything I love the guy behind Bright Bazaar.
Back then, Will was only 24 years old and I say only because you could see from his posts, that there were already a huge amount of talent brewing there already. I felt he was like a meteorite in motion in the blogosphere and big things would happen for him. It was obvious even back then!
I remember him vividly interviewing Holly Becker when she launched her first book at Anthropologie and thinking to myself "You're SO the next one with a book deal".
Will always went the extra mile, doing things differently, creatively speaking.
The video to announce his book was fantastic!
His weekly 10 things I learnt and loved this weekend are fab.
His snapshots from his travels are inspiring so is his book any good?! hahaha of course it is.

RISE AND SHINE...


HARD-WORK, PASSION AND VISION...
Warm, kind, respectful, funny, humble, Will is the same online and offline and when I think of him, there is two things that comes to mind...

The first one is what I wrote this morning on Instagram: "There is room for everyone, no need to copy, steal, just be yourself, tap into your creativity and be the best" and this one which we see regularly on Pinterest "Good things come to those who work their asses off and never give up".
Yes there is talent but there is also consistency and hard work and knowing what it takes to create a brand from scratch with no backers or investors, just hard-work, passion and vision, I'm over the moon for Will because he deserves all the good things that are coming his way.










So my post doesn't tell you a lot about his book, does it!? And it feels more like a Will's review than a book review hahaha
The thing is if you are a budding designer or if you have kids at Uni, I really want you to get how inspiring this guy is.
As a blogger, as a Creative and as a human being and because of his age, I think it's always good to show the new and old generation a good role model and Will is one of them.

Bright Bazaar: Embracing Colour For Make You Smile Style is out now
The UK book launch is tomorrow at West Elm and Will will then embark on the US Book tour in May. Give him a big kiss for me tomorrow ;-)

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Sunday, April 13, 2014

DENIM + BLUE SHIRT | OUTFIT PERFECTION

Totally loving this look (minus the cigarette)...
I gave up two years ago after saying goodbye to her one more time and never looked back and between changing my eating habits, drinking water and not smoking, my skin is looking a LOT better...for a 40 something.
I wish I could stop sugar as easily as I gave up smoking...
Come on! Hands up, who gave up smoking and is proud of it!?
I love wearing blue & denim during the Summer, don't you?
Like with interiors, blue is very much a Summer Holidays colour which feels carefree and uplifting.
I got myself a great pair of boyfriend jeans from Hush a while back but I need (note the absolute necessity!) a nice shirt to go with it...

Here is what I have on my wish-list...
1/ This fitted shirt from Boden is a classic. Simple, sexy and inexpensive, I would wear it with a pair of denim & à la Emmanuelle Alt (Editor of French Vogue). Definitively, one of my favourite looks.
2/ I'm loving mais alors loving this mid-blue denim shirt by Current/Elliott and their washed out sweatshirt.
3/ We are heading to the beach in France in 2 days, so I would love to have this Denim duffle bag by Herschel Supply
They've done a fantastic collaboration with Liberty this year and have launched several new designs incuding the Deerfield backpack, the Lonsdale duffle and the Tote bag. Each item was crafted in the Bad Hills Workshop, a creative vicinity free from all rules and guidelines, and features acid wash denim panelling. As usual, Herschel has incorporated a fusion of materials to maintain its aesthetic, and the durability and functionality of the bags. 
4/ Talking of collab, another great one worth mentioning is the Nike X Liberty Collection which selling out super fast! They've used three beautiful prints from the collection: Anoosha, a 30's print featuring blossom and bell flowers, Lora a print based on a 70's version of William Morris' Willow pattern and Crown, a design based on paisley block prints during the late 19th to early 20th Century (what a legacy this brand has...). View what's left in the Nike X Liberty collection here



4/ An outfit perfection wouldn't be one without a nice clutch! I have a few, beautiful leather ones from Clare Vivier but recently, I have been drawn to clutches with textures like this Whistles Black & White clutch
I can't remember on who's Instagram I spotted them but check out the clutches from Primecutbags in Portland. I think they are gorgeous.

You may also like...
// Clémence Poesy's sexy hair + Black Clutch
\\ The Jumpsuit | Outfit perfection
// Elodie's boyfriend jeans

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