Welcome to my home!

Hello, my name is Sas.

Today I am starting my blog and I am very happy and excited about it :)

I have worked as an interior designer but I couldn't find my way in combining creativity and commerce. For me decorating a house takes love and patience. You combine the different pieces like a jigsaw puzzle and in the end all the pieces united form a warm and welcoming home.

As individuals we should be able to create our own style and that is a journey. But it is a very interesting and creative journey which leads us through different styles and possibilities and finally to our own personal style.

I talk to a lot of people who claim that they don't have any idea how to start decorating. I believe that every one of us has his or her personal taste. Only most of us were never able to discover what was suitable for them. The trick is to start to really listen to yourself, what you consider to be beautiful. Where do you feel comfortable and which colours are appealing to you. Despite of what style is 'hot' or 'not' at that moment. Trends are to inspire not to restrict us.

So the reason that I am starting this blog is the desire to share my creative ideas with you. To provide some simple advice and ideas that may inspire you. Who knows.....?

I do hope that anyone who has questions about how to handle certain problems with decorating or choosing furniture and colours feels free to ask me. Or maybe you want to share your decorating journey or ideas. Anyway, I would be glad to hear from you :)
There is so much I want to share with you on decoration, colours, textures and my love to create that I don't know where to start. Perhaps it is an idea to show you my house first. So you can get an impression of my own personal style of decorating.

I live in a cute little house in the east of the Netherlands. The weather here is not very appealing to me although I was born here. It rains often and even after 35 years I am still not used to that.

So I decided to paint my house in the colours that remind me of the sun. And it worked, because now even when it is raining I am warm in my little pumpkin house :)

The floor was a beautiful gift from my house to me. I found it beneath the horrible old tapestry. It is the original floor. I just had to smooth and oil it, and now it looks warm and cosy.

The wooden boxes on the wall are furnished with fabric on the backside and I always burn candles in them. They look like small pictures of light.

When I am in the mood for something else I just change the colours of the fabric and the candles. A new pillow on the bench and it all looks completely different.
The living room had an uninspiring clean white wall covering. But it was too expensive for me to do it all over. Fortunately it was structured wallpaper! So I could paint it first and wash it with terracotta pigment. Now it looks like a very old wall.

I am fond of all kinds of strange stones, wood and leafs. This one is from a banana tree and I put a little light in it.

It took me quite a while to find a couch that was comfortable and not too expensive. Another problem was the size. I have a very small living room and I did not want the couch to be predominant. I loved this one from Ikea but it was still to expensive for me. I managed to find it second-hand on the internet! And now I 'm enjoying it every day.

There are lights behind the folding screen that give a wonderful accent to the woodwork.
The pillows are made of leather strips and I bought them in a second-hand shop. They match the couch perfectly. I love it when old and new furniture come togetheter.

A good investment were branches and leaves from all kinds of exotic trees and plants. Most of them I have for several years and they still look gorgeous. You can use them over and over again and apply for a still life as well to cover up something. That last one is my specialty ; )
Here some ideas for decorating with leaves, branches and flowers. I also like to use pomegranate or Cape Gooseberries (Physalis). Just above you see a walnut and a branch of a date palm.Now a days even at your local flower shop you can find the most beautiful exotic fruits and branches.

This mask is a house guardian from Indonesia and watches my back door. The old picture frame is stretched with casement cloth and disguises my washing machine. Guess what's in the two baskets :)

I don't find these big white machines very appealing, so I created a secret corner for them behind the mask. The bathroom has tiles in a strange green colour. But because I rent my house I am not allowed to change them. So I painted the bathroom terra and added some green Mexican masks. Now I feel at home in the green.

A collage from the shown pictures;

And here ends my first blog entry. I hope it has brought you some practical ideas or inspiration :)

Tomorrow I show you my kitchen together with some decorating ideas.