Yesterday me and my mother changed the layout of the living/dining room. It's always amazing to me how a place can be improved just by changing the sofa wall or the position of the dinner table. Even my dad liked it and he is not a fan of changes:P

I'm totally tired because we also moved the books and magazines but it was worth it!

Yesterday, I also sent my CV to ikea here in Portugal. They were asking for an interior designer but sice ikea is such a succsess here I doubt they'll call me, I must have really good competition;)

And...
This week I'll go to CasaDecor, an event thar also took place in italy and... spain I believe. Portuguese interior designers and decorators are invited to trasnform a room of the Santa Catarina palace, in Lisbon. Each room has its own style according to its decorator.

I'll show the pictutres later***

Light Bathroom

Bathrooms can say a lot about a house, but are somewhat forgotten maybe because of the costs involved in renovating it. Although it is a valuable investment, not only because it lasts but also because it will change the way you live that space radically.

In my opinion light does a room. It doesn't matter wich area of the house, if it has nice natural light coming trough the windows, the space will always look better and you'll feel better inside that space too. The lamps do the same at night, specially when you do things that need more detail attention like makeup.

Bathrooms are quite different from the rest of the rooms: they are normally small, have small windows - privacy matters quite important, should be practical while using it and cleaning it and in there you deal with water and humidity constantely. In bathrooms we shower, do - you know what, have our beauty routines but most of the times we don't feel that bathroom is in our level (of beauty - oh yeah ladies:P). So, bathrooms don't have to be cold and ugly!

Practical and beautiful? It is possible if you take time considering your space options, decide on what's important and forget what's not. Choose the colors and try to stay with the lighter ones.

This images show a light bathroom where you balance the water and white effect with wood and the lime on walls, and that will give a natural and comfortable feeling.
And don't forget the plant. Some species do really well with humidity.
(pics from wohnidee.de)

Kitchen shelves

Do you know those cozy kitchens that seem to be more like a livingroom?
Kitchens don't have to be cold, nowadays it is ok to have books, plants, flowers, kids draws on walls or decorative objects.
Families live in them and it is very common to use the kitchen to much more than cooking. You eat, you work, kids do the homework... And if you live in a loft or have an open kitchen, it it nice to mix things a little bit turning the kitchen into a livig space conected with the living room.
The next pictures are examples of nice kitchen shelves.

Flowers

Flowers look good wherever you put them. While looking at the pictures doesn't feel like going to the flower shop? :D (pictures from german magazine wohnidee)

Feminine London house

The romantic and bucolic style of decoration needs pink. But you can use it without fear mixing nice fabrics and objects in this color and its different shades while using the white to balance the color scheme.
The result it's a feminine space very flowery and detailed.

Delight youself with this pictures from a portuguese magazine: Maxima Interiores.
The owner of this house is Sarah O’Keefe, who has an interior design shop in London.

Plants in Interior Design

Using plants in rooms it's a way to add visual interest points. It's an alive beeing and just that makes it a fresh "accessorie" to any space.

You can use to soften corners in the house, to limit open spaces and divide zones or eaven to occupy an empty and uninteresting zone of the house.

With smaller plants, a desk, small endtable or nightstand will be more interesting. But be careful with plants in bedrooms or small spaces, be sure there's new air coming in:P


As you can see in both pictures those zones you normally don't use can get some life:) Just don't forget to water them:P

Everyday home office

I admire an organized and colorful work desk. That's something I wish I could do, but normally I end only with the colorful:P

The solutions are very easy to reproduce and give a nice feeling for work. If work is a headache sometimes, at least have a headache with style;)

The 1st one is my favourite because I believe plants make a huge difference in a place. They are fresh and alive and that gives a good vibe.

ZaraHome passion - sexy interiors

I have a thing for ZaraHome, the homeware shop of Zara. They sell interesting and most of the times affordable objects (not like IKEA of course). It has an ethnic flavor with really nice fabrics, patterns and decorating objects like candles, boxes, mirrors... You name it.

In Portugal it is a big success and I was told that the Colombo store (a lisbon shopping mall) is the european store that has the best sales. I don't know excatly what this says about portuguese people (good taste maybe:P) but it is a sign that there is a big interest in home decorating.

One of the best things of this store are the Basics. Simple towals and sheets with a variety of colours, good foundations for any house decoration.

Here are some examples of ZaraHome style. Hope you enjoy it:)

How long does it take to decorate a house?

I thought of it after seeing a tv show on VH1 showing a family moving to a new house. What took my attention was that they went to the house without preparing it for their arrival (family with two teenagers and dogs). And they wanted to decorate it in one week.

I believe houses should grow with people. If you're not hiring an interior designer (wich you can if you know excatly what you want or need advice) and adventure yourself in decorating a place you shouldn't get to anxious to "get it done" as soon as possible because you might regret it later.

Sometimes a decorating temporary solution becames interesting enought to stay as permanent - look to the nightstand in pictures - other times you feel the need to add objects while living in the house like specific needs related to that house particulary (the light, noise from neighbours...).
If you rush into buying what seems apropriate not only you'll miss the oportunity to be creative and risk yourself to feel that that solution doesn't really fit the place or funtion.


Another reason to be patient: if you take time to look for special items you can find real pearls, eaven in the garbage! What is garbage for someone can be a potencial diamond for others. And these special objects are not available when we want, you have to keep an open eye because it can appear when you least expect. Although pay attention to christmas time, 'cause people tend to buy new furniture and throw the old one to the garbage on november, december months.

For me, decorating a house is always a work in progress, because the house changes while we change too.

Details

The ethnic/romantic/hippie chic style (never know hoe to call it) can be really warm and transmits an original and rich combination of textures and colors. I also love it because nothing it's too perfect and it seems that people really use the spaces.
Details are essencial to dress the spaces; it's like a subtil seduction for our eyes.
For the ones less brave but still with good taste there's an example of it using white with color and details.
See how interesting textures like the ones in the mirror, boxes and cushions can absolutelly give the space a feeling of... hum Well, call it what you want, but for me it's a good feeling:P


See how the interesting mirror "does" the place? Sometimes the investiment of an different object transforms a space. The use of touches of purple also gives the romantic tone.
The last pictute gives te same idea but with frames. Different and original. I love it:)




Click on pictures to see the source.

Chicken wire original idea

Flickr is a wonderfull place to be inspired. There are so many original solutions from people who like to try different things.

This one is an inspiration board made with chicken wire! How good is that hum? Cheap and functional. You can use to leave messages, exhibit collections like postcards for example, draws, you name it.
This is an idea from whimsy studios on Flickr.

My tarot experience

Helloooooo:)

In one of my latest posts I talked about going to a tarot session and said I was going to tell you about it later. Here I go...

The tarologist (I think this is the name in English) was extremely nice and SO GAY loool
The man was a charm and we had a huge empaty since the beginning of the session. I was not nervous but open to it and felt quite relaxed actually. Maybe because i didn't had huge expectations. I didn't had a list with questions, I just went with the flow.

If I had any doubts about the truth of tarot, they ended quickly because he talked about me going to another country and that I didn't knew myself and also mecioned that he didn't saw me working in adverstisind or marketing, my degree. Oh god, so true! And I said nothing, I was just listening to him and he was indeed talking about my life, my family and I never had to adapt what he said, 'cause I didn't needed to, he was so right about every single comment. Quite creepy actually.

In a resume it seems I don't have a portuguese soul, I'll find my love of life possibly in Italy (uhhhh:P), but there's for sure an international flavor to it. I'll have professional success (yeahh!); my parents love me a lot and will do everything for me. The bad thing and my reason to go there was my huge sense of responsability. I have pain of an 80 year old, he told me:O

So, I souldn't take myself so seriously or suffer for other's pains... I know... But in the end it seems I'm quite fantastic LOL His words, not mine:P

He said he told me more than he should because he liked me, and that I have all doors open, just need to be more free and less guilty about things. But, the way things happen are in my hands, the way I deal with what happens in life will influence the better or worse results. There's free will and responsability.

And that's it. Believe it or not but keep an open mind to it. It was worth it fo me:D

Kiss kiss (bang bang - couldn't resist):P*

Love this deco solutions

As a big fan of small spaces and small spaces deco tips I findpictures always interesting to ispire.

While looking for apartments in Florence I've noticed that in cities where the arquitecture of buildings is generous on the height of the ceilings, it is very common to build mezzanines. The potencial of the normally small apartments is easily seen with this picture. (Click on picture to view from where I took it).

Guilty pleasure

The last Britney Spears single, "Womanizer".

I know, you can hit me now:P
(But I'll still dance in my livingroom)

*

Tarot

Today I have a tarot session.

I do like esoteric subjects, but always thought tarot was a different thing and didn't really believed it. But a friend asked me to go with her one day and finally I've surrended to it. More than that, it really helped her to overcome some issues in her life.

It's my time now. I've been suffering from depression since entered college and nothing seems to really help me in a way to make me less susceptible to it. Maybe I just need to hear some things I already know from a stranger.

I'll just give it a try and hope it helps me to work things out inside of me.

And later I'll tell how it went:)

*

Sounds fo silence

From my attic window I see the dark blue sky, listen to the birds in the morning and the cats at night.
When it rains the crispy sound of the water on the tiles makes feel comfortable because I'm not outside.

Silence.
...

The lovely sounds of silence.

Realstate dreamer

By answering to another blog I started to think of one of my favourite things. I know I'm crazy, but I LOVE to look trough remax and era websites looking for houses with potencial.

Too much free time? Maybe:P

I look at the house plans and photos and imagine wich walls would come down, the wood floors (my houses always have wood floor eaven in kitchens and wc), the kitchen kabinets, colors...

There are really special places waiting for someone to see in them that charm. That's why I believe in love at first site with houses. It's like they are talking to us. They're living spaces before we get there, but that's when we recognize in them that potencial in our lifes that a great love starts...

Obama and chocolat ;)

The world is in crisis and people can't stop talking about that and... Obama.

I assume, I'm not american but yesterday I cried:P

Why is that? How can someone conquer our hearts and hope when everything seems to run into the opposite direction? Carisma I guess and... despair.

Lets wait and see.

Today I've eaten one tablet of chocolat all by myself:D (This counts, doesn't it?:P)

Lipstick Jungle

I don't know since then it is on the air in the EUA, but arrived now at Portugal and I love it:D

That's not my generation, but it feels more real than "sex and the city". More... Normal?
I don't know but I never bought that kind of image they tried to sell in the show and there was too much sex. I'm not a prude it's just that too much it's just too much.

But Lipstick Jungle... This show is so sexy! It's not totally revealing, it suggests. And that's sexy indeed:)

There was one scene where the young guy after making out with the woman (older) writes his cell number on the woman's thigh. I don't know why the hell he had a pen like that with him, but I don't care:P

What have I done? That's not of your business:P

The first of many...

Most of times, when we start some projects we don't really know will they grow. That's what I feel.

I hope visitors find this blog somewhat interesting, if not, don't worry, if that's the case I won't stay for long:P

Today I've done this blog and... slept 'till noon! hihihi