A place to lay your head

Home is the place you lay your head, relax and seek solace. I love to see the small details of a persons home that hint at an unknown part of their personality - whether it be a plastic cat on a mantelpiece, a post it reminder on the mirror, or a hand knitted collection of coat-hangers hanging in the wardrobe. Such small things make you feel honoured to enter a private space. Here you experience the intimate nooks and crannies, certain ways in which the light falls and of course, the individual smell of a dwelling. My friends apartment smells like chutney, hair shampoo, fabric softener and paint. It's a wonderful smell I associate with her alone, and nowhere else have I sniffed it. Seeing Mieke Ven Verbijlen's photographs is such a charming experience, and allows you to experience the intimacy of many a stranger's home and explore all their nooks and crannies. 

It can't hurt to dream, right?

Images: mark borthwick, yataro matsuura, muji, dreamcats, cultivate modesty, freunde von freunde, that girl lucy, and fewer shades.

I went to the Muji in Sendai last week and ahh, it got me house dreaming. I sat down on one of their ultra comfy couches and actually dozed off for about five minutes. I caught more than a few bemused Japanese people looking at me!

 I would love to be a purist and have a simple light dappled home with a few sparse but beautifully placed objects but alas, I am more of a hoarder and a thifter that leads to haphazard collections of bizarre things and a cluttering of my shelves. If I could have a dream house, I think it would look a little something like this (cats included!)

ps. I just booked tickets for Christmas. London, Pareeee, Amstredam, Singapore, here I come! I'm so excited.

Greenfinger

Above are images from my favourite ever issue of Ku:nel which came out last summer in Japan. I love the heavy incorporation of greenery into the home. When visiting Japanese homes, I have noticed there are a lot of pot plants. I have followed suit and kitted my apartment out with a lot of succulents and flowers. It makes everything so much more cheery. I particularly loved a section in the magazine (pictured above) on how to press flowers. My Dad and I used to press flowers together when I was younger so it brings back happy memories!

House hunt

I am on the hunt for a new place of residence, which in Japan can be somewhat daunting and confusing but also, very very fun. My boyfriend is arriving in a month and a half so I am trying to find somewhere with a big lounge and two bedrooms with lots of natural light. A tall order, but I think I can do it! These images from Come Home issue 23 are definitely getting me excited for decorating my new digs, although I think my palette may have to be a little more colourful!

Home is not where you live but where they understand you

Amanda De Vitto

The home of stylist Carline Van Oel at Konfetti Form

A table setting. Source unknown

Yimmys Yayo

May Roses at La Mignonette

Martin Pisottis space at Daydream Lily

Michael Wells

Source unknown

When I was younger my parents used to drag me around antique stores, furniture fairs and auctions and I always thought 'you poor things. your life is so boring'. To spend a weekend in the pursuit of further decoration for your home seemed ludicrous when you could be frolicking in the grass, launching a war upon the kids next door or fishing for cockabillies in the river. The life of an adult seemed stuffy, tedious and taxing. While my young self is still a cheerleader for this logic I can't help but swoon these days when I see 60's ceramic poodle pepper shakers or a fine piece of taxidermy. When things shifted I'm not exactly sure, but there is nothing like an inspiring space to spend ones time in.

Come home!

I was lucky enough to find a whole back catalogue of Come Home! magazine for a meagre pittance at a second hand bookstore. I love the Japanese interior aesthetics of the magazine. Lots of plants, natural light, basic items and kawaii craft. Sugoi ne!