03 décembre 2018

Thought of the Day: On Happiness

Hello Lovelies,

photo (c) Beautymist

Here's to wishing you all a happy weekend!

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
—
Nathaniel Hawthorne

-Beautymist

30 septembre 2018

A Highly Recommended Read

Hello Lovelies,

(Image credit: Nancy Mitchell)

This article published on the apartment therapy blog about "How to Fall in Love with the Home You Live In Right Now" has been my daily read for the last past months and it has been a life-saver. so full of helpful tips! Of course, these tips and piece of advice only work if you actually DO and act upon them. Taking baby steps, applying each tip one week at a time (or at your own pace) can do wonder for your daily life.

At least, it has worked for me, so I wanted to share.

The basic and simple (and effective!) idea here is that overwhelming states of clutter and chaos at home can be avoided by tidying/cleaning a little bit everyday, making this into a mindful habit. The power of small baby steps!

Other similar articles I found helpful when needing to declutter/organize a small space:

How To Make Your Home Look 10 Times Better in 10 Minutes Or Less (again, on the AT blog)

As well as as a bunch of great articles on this new (to me) website called "One Good Thing". This one article is a fave : "33 of Our Best Organizing Tips and FREE Printable Planners!"

Happy reading!

-Beautymist

19 février 2018

About Me: Read the Matchbook Questionnaire

Hey Lovelies,

I have decided to answer the questions Matchbook magazine is asking his fave designers! Here goes:

Tea or coffee? tea, of course!

image source: samovartea.com

I collect: art, vintage perfme bottles, ceramics & teaware.

Photo, my own. Beautymist (c) 2011-2018. 

Favourite city: the one I haven't visited yet. Lisbon, anyone?

Spring or Fall: Fall of the Patriarchy.

Bloom of choice: I find Peonies timeless.

Photo, my own. Beautymist (c) 2005-2018.

Style Icon: Lee Miller.

solarized portrait of Lee Miller by Man Ray.

China Pattern: I prefer plain white, with abstract/geometric patterns on the napkins.

I'm lusting after: ...some quiet "me" time.

Don't forget to add your own answers in the comments section below! I would love to hear from you.

-Beautymist

09 janvier 2018

The Beauty of Winter

03 novembre 2017

Inspiration: Dark Walls

Hello Lovelies,

It's been a while since I posted here... LIfe's been busy.Which is a good thing!

So... back to my timeless love for dark, dramatic places.

I found this beautiful space shared by a couple of creative people on the French IKEA website (they have a great "inspirational ideas" page):

I like that it's set in the city of Berlin, and that two bloggers/artists live there. Kind of reminds me of Sandra Juto... Would love to visit Berlin someday...

The design*sponge blog has published a great piece on the power of dark walls in small spaces...

I've moved to a place where the walls are white with dark grey wall-to-wall carpeting: a classic combo for renters. I would love warm grey or dark chocolate walls in my place instead. And I'm gathering inspirational images before trying it out at leaqst on one accent wall.

Just like designer Åsa Dyberg says, "I'm growing tired of white walls (and find brown ones much more sophisticated"). Here's a design project Asa did that is drool worthy:

Let's paint it black!

-beautymist

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11 août 2017

Just breathe

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10 juin 2017

Chiyogami Paper is Wonderful!

Need a nice patterned paper for a craft project?
Go check the chiyogami amazing Japanese patterns at Canon's Creative Park! There are pages of them there... Yum!

Jusy go to Canon's website, click, click on the "Art" scrolldown menu, then select "chiyogami" and... voilà!

You can use chiyogami for many projects, for example:

found via the How About Orange blog. Thanks Jessica!

enjoy!
-Beautymist.

18 juin 2014

My Feelings, Exactly

Hello Lovelies,

Maybe I will go back to this blog, or merge it with my new one, I'm still thinking about how to do things right. Anyway, I've been browsing a lot of tumblr blogs lately and found this em that expresses my feelings with exactitute:

A house... and a home.

My best,

Beautymist.

21 avril 2013

Spring is finally here: a wishlist for me and my new rental. (Part I : a new perfume for me).

Hello Lovelies,

So yes, i recently mentioned that i had moved to a (slightly) bigger and (much) better place. Nown wnat do I do next? How do i decorate the place so it feel like home?

I have started a pinterest board for random stuff i want/need for me and my new rental. I also have a secret board for my Sppring 2013 Wishlist. Finally, i have a board dedicated to finding the perfect pendant/chandelier for my high-ceilings living-room. One of my fave (and affordable) option is this chandelier by Habitat:

This move has been quite traumatic for me to tell you the truth. I had stayed 9 years in my previous place and accumulated way too much useless stuff. It was really awful to sort it all out and throw away so much. And i feel i still have too much. For instance, my living-room, 6 months after my move, is still filled with unopened boxes. Yay, it's that bad. So now i am trying real hard to keep Simplicity in mind and stick to the essentials (without sacrificing beauty). This book helps me a lot.

image found on a blog that reviews said book.

Spring is finally here, and I am slowly starting to feel better about my new place. It is not pêrfect, but i begin to actually like it. Spring is also the time of year when I itch to get a new, lighter perfume for myself. I am a huge fan of the Fragrantica site and its great community. Being a part of it has helped me a lot in reducing down choices.

In an ideal world, I would go for a bottle of Guerlain's "Après l'ondée". But all I could find online was a huge bottle (too big for me, as i like to switch perfumes often). Plus the bottle's deign put me off. It looks like this:

I'd much rather get a smaller bottle, with the original 1906 design which looks like this:

Unfortunately, it can only be purchased at guerlain's boutique in Paris. So what is a woman to do?

I've considered many options, and rethought my relationship with the Jo Malone fragrances. I have ordered last spring a bottle of French Lime Blossom. It was a blind buy, based on a few info and tips, and it was a huge disappointement for me. It's not a bad perfume, it's just that's it doesn't smell like what I thought would be some sort of citrus blossom. It smell of linden blossom. And I sneeze any time i spray it, so I may be allergic to it, on top of that.

Fortunately, the Jo Malone brand is very generous with samples, and I got quite a lot of them with my French Lime Blossom pruchase. Among the samples I think I found the "one" for me: Orange Blossom cologne. Yay! great summer/spring fragrance, beautiful geometric bottle, affordable price... What's not to love?

Now about my rental... First, I want to tackle the living-room. (to be continued).

-Beautymist

Adding The Finshing Touches To Get the Perfect Place: How to create a home.

Hello Lovelies,

Muriel Cibot's cute little nook she uses as a home office. Notice the egg-shaped desk lamp, the lovely dark grey desk and the custom-made woof shelving behind desk. That chair is good-looking, but probably not very comfortable, though...

Two days ago, I gave you a small glimpse at Muriel Cibot's place in Paris. She is a French interior decorator. The photo I posted of her living-room was OK-ish but might seem bland. A bit minimal and yes, bare. something was missing. I'd say, the finisqhing touches, such as a rug under the sofa, some extra sitting beside said narrow sofa, artwork that is actually hung on the walls, extra shelves for storage, and draperies around the windows.

"le journal de la maison" - the cover. via

The good news is; Muriel Cibot recently did just all of that! In the latest issue of "Le journal de la maison", a French decor mag, we can see (and enjoy) how the finishing touches, especially the use of textiles, can add warmth and depth to a place than can now be rightfully called "home".

Last but not least, her living-room displays one my fave color scheme, the contrast between bright yellow and soft grey.

And now it is time that I scan at least one page from "Le journal de la maison" for you to see.... Stay tuned!

I apologize foe the very red photos below (sorry, bad lighting) - will rescan those asap:

This is a view of Muriel's living-room. Notice the art finally hung on the wall? The pillow and throw on sofa, adding softness? The great rug and knitted pouf? Sheer draperies on windows and two modern shelves stacked one on top of the other. Swon!

Another view of living room, with sliding door made of reclaimed wood. Also, the lampshade and the window treatment echo eaxh other with a silimar pattern of bare branches:

One thing, though, I don't like her bedroom, either in the 2011 or 2013 version. Something's missing. And the Jieldé vintage lamps on either side of the bed are too big for the space and are visually aggressive. I do love Jieldé lamps in other settings, though.

Her bathroom is not photographed in the 2013 version. In the 2011, we see very little of it. It looks, white, very clean, inviting, OK-ish, but not so special.

Maybe Muriel should do something about that! ;-)

Final note: Muriel has a lovely open kitchen. Will add a photo soon, with a better quality i promise.

See also: AT's "Love Where You Live: 4 Ways to Make the Most of Your Rental" by Apartment Therapy.

-Beautymist