On my travel wish-list...Bruxelles

I've always wanted to go to Bruxelles for a weekend. 

I would also like to go back to New-York for a week and Koh-Samui for 4 weeks....In fact, if you ask me, the list of places I would like to see is quite long. I've been suggesting a long weekend in Bruxelles to Steve but he's not really feeling the love yet and that is because we come from two different views. 

Steve thinks flight/queue/hassle/tootired/traveltoomuch/Europeanparliament/weather

I'm thinking inspiration/decoration/design/vintage/coolplacestosee and yes I could go there by myself like the big girl that I am but the truth is, I'm done travelling on my own. I don't enjoy it as much as I used to, mostly because I miss my little family as soon as I'm away 

So here is list of places I would like to see when we go there (because we will! :-)

ICI (photo 1) a lovely delicatessen launched by Saskia et Marine 

{35 Rue Darwin, 35 1050 Bruxelles Tél. : 02/343 88 57 You can follow them here}

The ALEXIS VANHOVE Gallery and SHOWROOM (photo 2): Dedicated to mid-century furniture, the first is a gallery with regular exhibitions, the latter is a space (and quite an amazing one!) where Alexis and his business partner Celine Blanc display their well-curated collection so you can see what the Pierre Paulin coffee table would look like at home.

{Gallery 61 rue Emile Bouilliot 1050 Brussels Tel +32 476 547 349 info@alexisvanhove.com | Showroom 311 Avenue Van Volxem 1190 Forest info@celineblanc.com}

VINTAGE ITEMS (photo 3) - A lovely shop two doors down from ICI to dig out some vintage treasures from the 60s to 80s.

{33 Rue Darwin, 35 1050 Bruxelles Tel 0479-43.05.65}

GUAPITO (photo 4) A cool concept store for kiddos set up by Justine (50kms away from Bruxelles but that wouldn't stop me ;-)

{Chaussée de Philippeville,44 6280 Loverval http://www.guapito.be}

Credits: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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An inspiring Sunday at Petersham Nurseries

I've mentioned Petersham Nurseries several times already but it is one of my favourite places in London and I love taking my mum there each time she comes over because I know it is the kind of place and aesthetics she appreciates. It was a lovely day...cold but sunny.
When I looked at the window this morning, it was frosty so I decided it was the perfect day to wear the boots I bought last year when we went skiing (bought them the last day of our ski holidays...as you do...and they've been keeping warm in their box since then). Mum and I had a lovely time, then we met Steve, Mila and Lucas in Richmond Park next to pick up some twigs to make a big star similar to this one, then we had lunch at High Road (another favourite place of mine and one I know Holly from Decor8 loves too) and a peek at The Old Cinema...perfect day in my book
So perfect, that I decided to make a pizza to end our Sunday on a high note.
Hope you had a great one too

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Sunday inspiration: Sukha Amsterdam

If you follow bodieandfou on Instagram, you may have seen that this week, I spent a bit of "me-time" flicking and getting inspiration from the VT Wonen decoration book my friend Desiree from Vosges Paris gave me two years ago and then I remembered her wonderful post on Sukha Amsterdam - a very beautiful concept store, she took me to last time I visited her in Amsterdam for the Meet The Blogger event.
Sukha Amsterdam holds a well-curated collection of handmade beauties from fashion to interiors. What I remember the most from my visit, was the feeling of well-being I got. Withs its white walls, large shop windows, light grey concrete floors and pieces displayed almost as pieces of art, it is the kind of shop you could hang out for hours just being.
Sadly (or maybe luckily for my wallet), I didn't find anything to buy as at the time as the display was more focused on handmade fashion pieces. However I do remember being very inspired. They do change their display regularly and each one of them is a great source of inspiration.
As I'm currently searching for new inspiring offices for BODIE and FOU, I'm also keeping my eyes on retail spaces and maybe, just maybe...if I find the right place, we will be able to open our first shop...will see.
No rush....we've done a lot already this year anyway as we have launched a new website, a new catalogue and a new collection. I'm very proud of each of them and they all have been very creative projects and very rewarding.

All pictures copyright Jeltje Janmaat 

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Happy to see you...

Penelope has been designing beautiful handmade dolls for a while.
She even dresses them up with gorgeous clothes using Liberty fabric and patterns from Citronille which by the way, I highly recommend if you want to sew gorgeous French outfits for your kids.
And now Penelope has opened her first workshop/boutique and like everything she does, it is simply beautiful so if you are in France near Les Sables d'Olonne, make sure you pay her a visit

109 route du Chateau d’Olonne, 85100 Les Sables d’Olonne

Horaires d’été :

du mardi au samedi de 10h à 12h et de 14h à 19h.

Et sur rendez-vous au 06 86 45 93 68.

 Welcome sticker from here | Linen scarves from there

Cela fait quelques années déja que Pénélope crée de jolies poupées.
Elle leur fait meme de tres jolis habits en tissu Liberty et utilisant les patrons de Citronille - une marque que je recommende chaudement si vous souhaitez coudre de beaux habits pour vos enfants. 
Et maintenant Pénélope a ouvert son premier atelier/boutique et comme tout ce qu'elle fait, c'est simplement magnifique. Si vous passez dans la région des Sables d'Olonne, ne manquez pas d'aller lui dire bonjour.

109 route du Chateau d’Olonne, 85100 Les Sables d’Olonne

Horaires d’été :

du mardi au samedi de 10h à 12h et de 14h à 19h.

Et sur rendez-vous au 06 86 45 93 68.

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Off to Amsterdam...

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm flying to Amsterdam to attend the Meet The Blogger conference (see this little interview they kindly did with me) so I may be catching up with a few of you on Saturday.
I really enjoyed last year's trip because it was very inspiring on many levels...I got to meet lots of interesting & inspiring women who I have stayed in touch with since then (merci Twitter and Facebook), Holly was launching her first book Decorate which we know now, became a HUGE success and I got to see a fair amount of inspiring places and shops thanks to Desiree from Vosges Paris. Of course, I came back with a few souvenirs including this very heavy but beautiful wooden chopping board and a white stool, that British Airways almost prevented from taking on board.
I love Amsterdam. I think it is a very inspiring, creative city and I can't wait to immerse myself in the Dutch way of life for the next three days, sharing creative ideas with Desiree, reading her old copies of VT Wonen and eating her homemade raviolis.
This year, I'm even more excited by it because Desiree has made some amazing changes to her home so I'll be working from this gorgeous workspace below on Friday morning and in the afternoon, we will work together and style a few shots....A weekend in heaven, I'm telling you!

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Paris | New Catalogue | ♥

I'm off to Paris this afternoon to attend Maison & Objet and of course I'm very excited because I haven't seen my sister and my mum since the last one in September and I know that Saturday we will do our usual shopping trip to MERCI and Zadig & Voltaire in Le Marais and Sunday, I'm catching up with my two best friends but at the show, between meetings, I'm also going to meet up with fellow bloggers like Lau, Cristine, and Carine which should be great fun!

As I working on our new homepage this morning, I could help thinking how much I enjoyed styling some of these shots below* for our first mail order catalogue and given how successful our catalogue was, we have decided that not only we will produce a bigger one for Christmas 2012 but we will also send out a mini (but SO inspiring and beautiful) Summer one.

You can still receive the Winter one by requesting a free copy here until the end of February and we will mail you the Summer one when it's ready, which should be in May.

Have a great week!

*the one in the top right hand corner was styled by VosgesParis

Je pars à Paris cet après-midi pour aller à Maison & Objet et bien sur, je suis excitée comme une puce. Je n'ai pas vu ma soeur et ma mère depuis le dernier salon en Septembre et je sais que samedi, nous ferons notre sempiternel tour chez MERCI et Zadig & Voltaire dans Le Marais. Dimanche sera réservé à mes deux cop's et au salon, je vais aussi retrouver des copines bloggueuses: Lau, Cristine, and Carine, ce qui je pense va être très sympa!

Alors que je travaillais sur notre page d'accueil ce matin, je me disais à quel point j'avais adoré styler certaines de ces photos ci-dessous* pour notre premier catalogue et étant donné que ce fut un vrai succès, nous avons décidé cette année de non seulement produire un catalogue pour la fin de l'année qui sera un plus étoffé que le premier mais nous allons aussi sortir un mini (mais tellement BEAU et inspirant) catalogue pour cet été. 

Vous pouvez toujours recevoir celui d'hiver en demandant une copie gratuite ici jusqu'à la fin du mois de Février et nous vous enverrons celui de cet été quand il sera prêt, ce qui devrait être aux alentours de Mai. 

Je vous souhaite une bonne semaine!

*la photo en haut a droite est de VosgesParis

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Moodboard inspired by Paris...

In about 30min, I will head off to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar and go back to London. I had such a cool time. The weather was fab, I caught up with lots of friends at the weekend and still managed to run 3 times with Elodie early in the morning which makes me very happy but usually, I can't be bothered doing anything when I'm travelling. 

M&O was tiring, it's a massive show and you spent a lot of time walking but I have found some really gems, some beautiful things for kids that give me butterflies, a gorgeous bag for men and lots of ideas. Until I see you on the other side of the Channel, here is a little mood board inspired by Paris...

 

1. Paris map print 2. Decorative hearts 3. Industrial clip on light 4. Birds clothes pegs used as paper clips

Dans 30min, je vais aller a la Gare du Nord pour prendre mon train direction London. J'ai passé 4 jours géniaux. Il a fait super beau, j'ai vu mes cops' pendant le WE et Elodie et moi avons réussi a bouger nos fesses 3 fois pour aller courir, ce qui me rend tres contente de moi. Le salon était fatiguant, c'est tellement grand et on passe beaucoup de temps a marcher mais j'ai trouvé pleins de petits trésors, des choses magnifiques pour les enfants, un sac absolument canon pour nos hommes et plein d'idées. En attendant de vous retrouver de l'autre coté, voici un petit moodboard inspiré by Paris...

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Un Samedi a Paris...

Of course, we went to MERCI on Saturday and we found the concept store celebrating Japan with gorgeous packaging, calligraphy like the Japanese know how, celebrating simple, utilitarian objects, beautiful to look at. 

I kept graviting around their corner for the men, soft, industrial...how I like them, with cashmere jumpers, beautiful leather bags that will last a lifetime and of course the linen corner upstairs that keeps me dreaming and where little by little I'm building my linen collection for our home in London...

To finish our inspiring shopping trip, Elodie and I had a drink at MERCI's cafe, watching people coming in and out of the shop, then a quick visit to Bonton and we ended up running to Zadig & Voltaire's outlet in Le Marais before closing time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Paris I love you

I'm so excited to be in Paris!
I have been longing for this trip since my last one with Mila...4 months without seeing my sis' seems a bit long but I woke up this morning feeling really happy. Elodie and I went for a 6.30am run through the Parc Monceau which felt magical and this weekend, I'm planning to hang out in a lovely flat which has an amazing view on St Marie des Batignolles Church (it will be featured in IKEA Family Live magazine as they did a feature on Lily's bedroom), a few inspiring shopping trips to MERCI, Bonton and all the little independent boutiques in her area and seeing my friends.
So armed with my converse, my camera and a bottle of water, I'm now ready to pace M&O (which is a MASSIVE trade show), catch up with a few of my designer friends and tonight, I'll end the day on a positive note with a drink with Lau before she heads back to Lille.
I leave you with this gorgeous Parisian loft that belongs to Isabelle Puech and Benoit Jamin. I'm totally in love with this gorgeous industrial space that feels so warm and friendly at the same time. The kind of inspiring workspaces we always try to achieve....Have a great Friday!

(C) Source: Marie Claire Maison

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