This is not an anniversary post

This is not an anniversary post - yet it could be one - almost.

It is almost three years of blogging (wow!) and almost my 200th post (yes, I am into slow blogging)!

The Holiday Season is around the corner and I know, I am not going to make the 200th post on time to match my three years anniversary of blogging. I started on December 31, 2006 here.

It's the swine flu's fault and the other virus and bacteria that followed on top. It is unbelievable how many weeks it took and still takes us to recover. To ensure the food supply for the family was core - writing or reading posts was absolutely not possible.

Therefore, I am glad to see that even some new readers dropped in! 

I promise to be back with inspiring posts before the New Year from Northern Italy where we will visit our Italian family.

Until then, all the best - especially HEALTH to all my readers and your beloved ones !

 

Cheers

Suzie / Susan

 

 

photo: il palazzo e la chiesa del Carmine in Pizzo

 

My husband loves antique shopping

A while ago, when we still lived in China, my husband was on a business trip to Europe. Over the weekend he went to see his parents in Venice, Italy. One of their favorite activities is "antique shopping". Sometimes they just stop by their friend's restoration warehouse in the industrial zone of Mestre to say hello and check the "new" arrivals and lately restored furniture. And sometimes they would drive to one of the monthly antique markets in the area.

Anyway, while I was not around, my husband found antique chairs and beds for the "palazzo". He bought four chairs which his father wants to refurbish himself. The "beds" were only header and footer for one or two beds.

Well, not a bad habit, isn't it ?!

To preserve : the green room

The green room of the palazzo was the only room that was not over coated with white paint when we first inspected the house. We have not changed the green colour, but we have changed the layout of the room. Since the old kitchen was too small we had to sacrifice the old bathroom which space today belongs to the (future) kitchen. Hence, in need of a new bathroom the green room had to give away part of its space. The other part remains side entrance area.

the arch in the middle, with no function, had to go

the green room divided

remaining side entrance area (right) and wall with glass bricks for additional light in the new bathroom (left)

And since I want to preserve or restore as much as possible of the old atmosphere (that however I have never experienced myself) I thought we will colour the future bathroom that was part of the former green room in the same green shades. Although green is not our favorite colour the house is big enough to give different rooms different touches.

The colors for the new bathroom could be these:

(colours via Farrow&Ball)

maybe the ceiling needs an additional touch of light rose to go with the green paint and the white stucco

Inspired by Living in Argentina

It is not Italy, but maybe the South American country with the most European touch. Many Italians came here to live and you can feel the influence.

walls : grey, floor : black, column : gold, lamps : 6, accent colour : coral

wow ! what a glamorous eclectic mix !

Buenos Aires, the Paris of South America

curtains used as closet door and room divider

countryside house in Argentina (reminds me of a "maison de campagne" around Fontainebleau)

All above beautiful images and many more can be found in this book :

available via :

Amazon.com (19.79 USD)

or

Amazon.de (19,99 Euro)

I browsed this book online here because my blogger friend N. was so excited about Buenos Aires after she spent a couple of weeks in Argentina. And I heard other people saying that Buenos Aires is a mix of Paris and Barcelona. So I got curious and checked this book by Taschen (language: German, English, French) which of course is not a travel book but purely about interiors. However, these eye-candies make me want to travel to Argentina right away.

And that's what the editor says: Argentina considers itself the most European of South American countries as Argentineans have a strong connection to the old world. When it comes to decorating, they have a great talent for bringing together the old and the new, with subtle touches of color and rich textiles.

FYI : in case you order this book or any other product via my amazon links I receive about 5% commission through their associate program. In this case about 50 cent ... so if you order 10 copies, it would buy me a coffee !! (ha ha! thanks !)

Photo source: Taschen

Creative Tuesday

this morning I saw colours ... of course, when you have followed my last posts, no wonder ... 3 bold fundamental colours (red, blue and yellow) and 4 complementary colours (red-green, orange-blue) on my dining table ! Of course I had to take out my camera. This could be a motif to paint:

My painting class was right after (I am doing water colour every Tuesday morning with my neighbour architect, his friends and an art teacher). But we paint what the teacher proposes. Today we had to paint a frozen lake near our town. She, the artist, always brings a photograph and one or two versions she already has painted. Then she paints in front of us showing her technique and how we could compose the picture - and then its our turn. It is always interesting to see all the different results. Here is mine:

And after this post I can say, that I have been really creative today (photograph, painting, writing) !