eye candy...

from Ariadne at Home

...I thought I'd share with you spotted in the magazines I bought in Amsterdam and Frankfurt (we had a stopover at the Frankfurt airport on the way home). August issues of Dutch magazines, Vtwonen and Ariadne at Home, and German magazines, We Love Living and Lantliv, are the ones that I brought home with me. As far as I know, these magazines are unavailable in Canada which is such a pity, because magazines such as Vtwonen offer what I think is a much fresher take on home interiors (less of a very coordinated, "matchy-matchy", professionally-decorated look where color is used so much more liberally) than a lot of North American publications. Take a look for yourself...

 

from Vtwonen

from Vtwonen

These two photos above are my favorites; the first one is a room in a little cottage surrounded by a very pretty green garden and the second one is a room in what appears to be a second home/summer cottage nestled in a lovely green forest. I am in love with the "sofa" in the second photo and would love to recreate something similar in my home -- luckily I have a husband who is very handy with power tools!

from Ariadne at Home

from Ariadne at Home

from Vtwonen

I love the quirkiness of the vignette in the first photo and the upholstered patchwork look of the other two -- another project on my to-do list!

from We Love Living

As soon as I flipped through a few pages of German We Love Living, I quickly grabbed it because of its fresh look, beautiful layout and gorgeous photography...

from Ariadne at Home

from Ariadne at Home

from Ariadne at Home

And look at all the goodies in the last three photos from the likes of House Doctor and Hema (which are sadly impossible to find in Canada... sigh!)...

from Lantliv

from Lantliv

Oh, and I love the simple loveliness of the two living spaces above, one indoor and the other outdoor -- I dream of having a greenhouse in my garden... some day...

from FRYD + DESIGN

Now, if this is not enough magazine eye candy for you, I suggest you browse through this most beautiful e-magazine, FRYD + DESIGN magazine, which in my opinion is even more beautiful and inspiring than any of the magazine photos above. The talented lady behind this e-mag is Jeanette Lunde who pens the gorgeous blog FRYD + DESIGN which I first stumbled upon around the time when she bought a couple of my pillowcases. The beautiful photo above is of her bedroom (with one of the Daisy Fresh pillowcases she purchased from me... Yay!) which she entered into a blogger bedroom contest here... and guess what?...she won! There seems to be such simple beauty in all she does... in her photography, in her blog design, in the way she decorates her house... I do believe that she also mentioned that she is planning another issue of her e-mag -- I absolutely cannot wait, but in the meantime I will take some photos of my own to show you what I've been up to lately... See you soon!

Comments

[Karen]

Thanks for sharing all the great decor mags. They definitely have a fresh, real-life unmatchiness quality. I'm inspired!

[Allison]

oooh!! Having just moved to Amsterdam (from Montreal) this year, I'm really enjoying hearing about the things you discovered. I've been treating myself to the occasional British Country Living, but I'll have to go find some of the Dutch interiors magazines too!

[marian]

Hi,
don't know if you got my email asking if I could put a translation in dutch of your tutorial for the 'crochet flower square pattern' on my blog. Since I didn't get an answer, I'm asking you this way.
http://flowersandhome.blogspot.com is my blog, you can leave a message there if you want to.
I know those dutch magazines you're talking about of course, they're great indeed.
Bye,
Marian

[JuicyFIg]

I LOVE sofa's and chairs covered in patchwork - I have wanted to do my own for years, I have the arm chair ready, the wool blankets in glorious shades, and no confidence to get on with it and have a go!!!!

Lovely pic's - thanks for sharing!
Kath
x

[Into Vintage]

Beautiful! I especially love that second photo of the nook with the big buck draped across the back of the sofa. I agree with you about the matchy-matchy too -- these photos are wonderful -- than you for sharing.

[Barbara]

A post brimming with gorgeousness, thank you from down here in Melbourne, Australia

ps May I link to this post for my readers later this week?

[Emily]

I think Lantliv is Swedish as it translates to 'country' and 'life'. I agree, it's a lovely mag and subscribe :)

[Revlie]

how fun to see my favorite Dutch magazines here :D