An Architect’s Little Black Cabin

Sometimes we need something more dynamic than pictures, right? That’s why I try to enrich the archive of video content on my blog. This might be a good reason to pour yourself a glass of wine, and start the weekend with some nice interiors.

I’m a big fan of the NEVER TOO SMALL YT channel. Whenever they share a new interior, they show us that small places do not necessarily mean limited living space, and with the right creativity, you have have a fully functional, cozy, homey interior.

The Little Black cabin is located in the Blue Mountains, 2 hours driving away from Sydney. It has only 28 sqm, and believe me, it’s a real charm from the bottom to the top. The owner is an architect that made the entire renovation and reconstruction more challenging. They actually wanted to restore the original shape of the cabin even, if this meant decreasing the living space. The reason for sharing this interior is that it’s close to nature, is built sustainably, is a minimalistic space, and the interior design, along with the color palette, is marvelous. The view from the kitchen/living room is simply breathtaking.

 

Video credits: NEVER TOO SMALL
Produced by New Mac Video Agency
Creator: Colin Chee
Director/Cinematographer: Nam Tran
Producer: Lindsay Barnard
Editor: Jessica Ruasol

Continue Reading

Nordic Easter decoration ideas

Finally, the long weekend is here. I was looking forward to it as in my country, Good Friday and the 1st Day of Easter (Monday) are public holidays. Yeah! I adore Christmas, but I prefer Easter over Xmas, holidays are nice, but somehow we’ve lost the essence (including me) of the beautiful December holiday by chasing gifts for the family and friends. Everything became so commercial. Easter is much simpler, eggs, bunnies, lamb roast, and that’s about it 🙂

Regardless of the holiday type, it’s important to get your home into the spirit of the holidays. Yes, I am the type who gets the Easter vibes by decorating our home with a lot of bunnies and eggs. To get you inspired, I collected a few Nordic decoration ideas, mostly simple DIY things, so you can create these if you get into the bunny mood. Let’s take a closer look.

#1 Easter Paper eggs

These paper eggs are simple and stylish almost everywhere in the house. You can find a tutorial on how to do this here or buy them from H&M Home 😉

#2 Egg candles

I love these candles for their minimalistic shape. There are many colors on the market, but I prefer pastel colors or white. If you live in Romania, you can buy these from here or from DM (physical shops, not online).

#3 Golden eggs and hand-made candles

This is a bit tricky, but not impossible to do it. It’s hard to find in my region this type of ultra-white egg, not sure why. But if you manage to find some, paint these in golden color and place them in a glass jar to let the color shine. The scented soy candles with natural Baltic amber stones can be found on Etsy.

#4 Mix and match different eggs

Buy all kinds of eggs, different colors, and sizes, and place them in a glass jar to boost the effect. You can paint them or let in their natural colors, either way, they will look gorgeous on the Easter festive table.

#5 Splodge patterns with black ink

This seems a bold idea, but I like it a lot. The same story, buy ultra-white eggs and use black ink to paint them. Try using a brush to get those stains effect.

#6 Wall or door wreath

This will require more creativity, but it’s not a complicated thing to do it. Buy wooden beads, black paper for the bunny, 2 wooden clothespins, and some greenery. You can hang it on your door or in the house almost anywhere, for sure it will look super nice.

#7 Black&white patterns with marker

This is such a simple idea, just take a black marker (preferable a water-resistant or permanent one) and some white eggs, and do some minimalistic patterns, like dots, lines, or points. When all these eggs get together, they will look so funny and minimalistic.

#8 Spring flowers in a glass pot

Last but not least, this is one of my decorations from last year 🙂 I got it as a present, and I was very pleased with it. Take a closer look to see that in the pot there is moss and the spring flowers are planted in this. It is a nice, natural way of bringing Spring into your home. You need 3 things: glass pot, moss, and flower bulbs. I love it for its transparency.

That’s it from me for this week. Feel free to come back next week when I’ll share another hygge Nordic interior.

For those who are celebrating Easter, I wish you Happy Easter Holidays!

 

Photo credits: #1. thegentlejournal.com, #2. nordichouse.co.uk, #3. Etsy.com, #4. ladydecluttered.com, #5. archzine.net, #6. lavendelblog.de, #7. blog.drummondhouseplans.com, #8. focalpoint.ro IG

Continue Reading

Cabin ANNA, the perfect solution to be in sync with nature

It’s been one year since I launched my blog. In this time, I had the chance to show you some really nice interiors thanks to the generous people I contacted for allowing me to take a peek inside their homes. I’m more than grateful for this. Thank you for enriching my small blog with your beautiful interiors 🙂

This time I found a treasure in the real sense of the word. I feel that this cabin idea is in perfect sync with me and the way I feel about being in harmony with nature. No wonder why my husband and I bought a house next to the forest.

Cabin ANNA is an idea born out of a personal project of building a small garden house in the backyard of Caspar Schols’ mother, the Dutch designer, and architect who developed this cottage idea in 2016. Since then, this cabin has become a award winning architectural masterpiece winning The Project of the Year at the 2021 Architizer A+Awards’ Architecture. What makes this small cabin so special is that it’s built on a structure with two flexible shells as external walls, supported on rails. Depending on your mood or weather, you can move the shells as you like, either turning the bedroom into an outdoor terrace or a spa spot with a hot tub under the sky, or leaving the shells closed and enjoying the natural light coming in if the weather is chilly. What a genius idea to be in perfect sync with nature!

The ANNA Meet is a slightly different idea then the one from above, the ANNA Stay. This second model, the Meet, has 4 flexible shells allowing you to move 4 external walls as per your needs. This cabin is for family gatherings, small weddings, business meet-ups (if your company is aiming for a natural environment) or even office space. I would say it’s a perfect solution for all kind of group activities, being so close to nature it’s only a booster for your productivity and creativity.

If you are in The Netherlands and would like to try one of their cabins, you can book a stay on Holenberg.com by choosing one of the ANNA experiences. In case you would need more information on pricing, models, materials or transport, do not hesitate to contact the Cabin ANNA team here. For further pictures feel free to check their IG feed, I can assure you that it’s full of magical moments.

 

Photo credits: Tõnu Tunnel and Jorrit ‘t Hoen – shared with the cordial permission of Cabin Anna

Continue Reading

The Charming cottage in the Carpathian Mountains

It’s been a while since my last blog post about a Local Treasure from Romania. When I’m looking for inspiration, I pay great attention to avoid kitsch, I rather go back to basics instead of presenting something that hardly fits into my “interior principles”. When I found this “Charming cottage in the Carpathian Mountains” (literally this is its name, how lovely, isn’t it?), I knew that this should be my next local treasure, especially that it’s located in a region from where I’ve never posted any interior, more precisely in Dâmbovița county, in Râu Alb de Sus, a small border village between Transylvania and Muntenia.

The owners, Cristina, and his French husband are living in Bucharest with their children keeping this as their own vacation retreat place. The country cottage consists of 3 small houses on a 15,000 sqm land, all 3 being separated with individual bathrooms, having a common, fully equipped kitchen and a hygge living room. In total there are 4 bedrooms, and the cottage can be rented on Airbnb.

The most beautiful part of this place is that once purchased, the owners made a huge effort to recondition the old wooden elements, windows, doors, beams, and porch. They bought pieces from demolished houses and recycled old doors here and there, some of these doors are used as wall decorations instead of paintings.

Originally the living room was the barn where grain was stored in old times. The couches in the living room are from Ikea, the rugs and textiles are all specific to this region. Wooden decorations on the wall are objects from the original house kept by the owners.

The tiles from the stove are hand-painted by a craftsman from Sibiu, who seems to be the last Mohican in creating these types of handcrafted tiles. I also know Teracota Mediaș, a company specialized in handmade terracotta tiles that are beyond being beautiful.

The beds from the bedrooms are the Leirvik models from Ikea available also in Romania. The walls are whitewashed and painted with ecological paints, keeping the authenticity of their surface.

The kitchen is furnished from Ikea, having a very original dining area, you know, those types that our grandparents had back then. So, if you are looking for some nostalgia, this is the place you need to be.

The main bathroom is fully functional, turned into a bathroom from the original kitchen, that is why the stove is there. By the way, this can be very handy during cold winters, listening to the fire cracking while you take a shower might be priceless.

The guests have a free pass to the garden full of seasonable vegetables and fruits, the breakfast is included in the price, and it consists of local goodies like cheese, bacon, bread, fresh milk, etc. Isn’t this a lovely “back to basics” place? The owners have my deepest respect for their great effort in keeping the place’s authenticity. Thank you, Cristina for letting us into your lovely country cottage 🙂

 

Photo credits: @Charming cottage in the Carpathian Mountains – shared with kind permission

Continue Reading

Fairytale Villa in Maramureș

It has been some time since I posted a local treasure on my blog. This week’s interior is from one of the most beautiful regions of Romania, Maramureș…, especially in the autumn. If you ever visit my country, make sure you visit Maramureș.

So the story of how I found this Fairytale Villa is simple. For Christmas in 2019, we gifted, my parents and my parents in law, a trip to this nice region having the accommodation arrangements in this villa. The plan was to go there in March 2020, but then the Coronavirus did its magical entrance and the rest you know, it’s history.

I was happy when the owners, Ana and Edina, the twin sisters, confirmed that I can share the photos on my blog, as I’m in love with the interior, no wonder why I’ve chosen this place for the family trip. The girls are renting out this place since 2016. The living room with its stove it’s simply magical in all seasons, the typical Romanian traditional style is combined with subtle Scandi elements and this gives such a nice vibe to the villa. Imagine having a glass of wine next to the crackling fire on a long winter night, or on a hot summer night. The traditional rug, the sitting area, and the ceramics, here and there, are exactly enough to create a hygge interior. The big windows allow natural light to flow in, but at the same time, you have a full view of the woodsy surroundings.

 

The kitchen is nest to the open space living room, having a dining area too. It’s fully equipped, so cooking a good meal has no boundaries here.

My favorite sport in the villa is the relaxation corner from the top floor. The rug is beyond beautiful. The traditional pillows and the duvet make you remember that you are in the Maramureș region.

Lake Friza is close to the place, it’s only 300-meter distance, so in a few mins walk you can have this gorgeous view or a good swim.

What a pity that we could not have that trip. Anyhow this place is bookmarked on my Airbnb maybe one day we’ll actually get there. If you like this place, do not hesitate to book a trip on Airbnb and send my greetings to the girls if you’ll meet them.

 

Photo credits: @Fairytale Villa – shared with kind permission

Continue Reading

A lake house in a non-digital environment

For 3 weeks in a row, I continue to be in a holiday mood and dreaming about a countryside life. Last week’s treehouse made me realized how wonderful can simple things be. Sitting in front of my laptop all day due to my work, sometimes I aspire to non-digital environments, no social media, no nothing. And I think today’s interior would be a perfect match for this.

Only for 1-hour drive from Stockholm, in the region of Katrineholm Municipality, there is this tiny, magical lake house with basic facilities, no internet, household electricity available only with solar cells, no tap water or sewerage. The place is simply magical with its view to a lake, being in the middle of pure farmland without any neighbors. This interior is simply teaching you to spend time without any digital device or tool, take a book, a puzzle, a magazine…start having long night talks with your loved ones. 🙂

The living room has 3 windows with a lot of natural light coming in. During winter this stove is a perfect heating source, and it’s also a guarantee for a hygge feeling.

The kitchen is full of ceramic treasures exposed on the open shelving. It’s a real farmhouse kitchen that has recently been painted with linseed oil paint using olive and wheat gray colors.

Since there is no tap water in the lake house, the water supply inside the house is assured by these water tanks, which I found like some masterpieces from previous centuries. It seems that it can also serve as a cooler for freshwater during hot summers.

The stairs take you to the upper level where 2 bedrooms can be found. The attic is gorgeous thanks to the visible beams all over the place.

The view from this window is to the lake and sitting out in the summer, far from the noise of the city, can make you discover new sounds of nature during magical sunsets and starry nights.

This lake house is for sale, so if you are in Sweden, maybe close to Stockholm, do not hesitate to book a view at Historika Hem.

Care to see other summer holiday inspirations? Check out the Transylvania Loft Treehouse or La Belle Vue – a perfect place to start the summer articles. Going back to nature and spend some time without your mobile phone or laptop can be a real treat for your soul.

 

Photo credits: thank you Historika Hem for letting my share these pictures.

Continue Reading