Searching for inspiration

As you never stop learning and growing in life, you also never stop making a home a home, right? And, of course, while this is frowned upon by my other half - "you're always moving things around" - I find it a welcome exercise in creativity and self-expression.

Reading in bed ... one of the most relaxing thing one can do. 
Bed linens and throw are 100% cotton, if you like the herringbone throw,
it's so cheap on Amazon and they also have it in other colours, too.

Inspiration is the key to creativity - I'm pretty sure we agree on this! Pinterest, obviously, is a fantastic tool when it comes to finding ideas - but it can also be a black hole of perdition, i.e. wasted time on infinite scrolling (I'm so guilty). 

So, when I want a break from the digital noise I opt for a good book. Preferably one with the right amount of well-crafted text, and an avalanche of beautiful imagery to tickle my senses.

Almost a month ago now, I popped into my local Ikea with a friend. Aside from the fact that we entered the premises at 9.40 in the morning only to emerge 5 hours later - I was surprised to find a full shelf of interior design books! And that's not all... they were all discounted to 3 Euro... I mean, pure luck!  

Among the many (all published by Ikea itself, to my great surprise), I selected this hard-copy one about the work and life of Ingegerd Raman - Swedish craftswoman and designer with a taste for clean and minimal lines. What's there not to love...

I really like how she combines her functional and pure style with touches of warmth - have you noticed the red chairs in the first picture and the terracotta vases in the second one? 

Minimalism and maximalism have both their strong points, but, to be honest, I'm still not sure which way to go. When I'm scrolling on Instagram, for sure a nicely styled maximalist room, full of decor items, colours, and plants (there must be plants) wins above any minimalist photo. 

However, at home, I don't do well with clutter and need abundance of negative space around me. I think Ingegerd does well minimalism, but she's also able to retain a certain sense of "home"... you need to be good at what you do in order to accomplish this sort of balance, don't you!

After a good hour of emotional reading (that's how I call a reading session that completely draws you in and leaves you utterly inspired) I decided to scavenge the aged wooden trunk we inherited from The Venetian Apartment and finally found another of the many charm-filled "old things" that came with the house. I'm absolutely enchanted by this frame - it's broken and rickety but I particularly love the intensity of the colour and the way it goes with my monstera and a white wall ... 

I'm sold. 

Now, what should I put in it? The initial idea was to take a picture of my monstera leaves and use that as the art piece, but then some lovely friend over in Instagram sent me a link to a couple of prints that are really nice... I may purchase these two below, especially, regardless of whether I'll use them with this frame or not :)

Tropical Girl Art Print

Abstract Art Tropical Leaves

These are both from https://society6.com/ which I've never bought from but I'm told it's excellent! Do you have any experience with it? Let me know in the comments, or reach out on Instagram @the_venetian_apartment  - I'm always happy to chat. 

(and don't forget to share on Pinterest for future reference!)

Have a lovely day, 

Sinù

 

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