One morning over breakfast late last year, I suggested to French Boy that I’d like to renovate the (blog)house. With his usual enthusiasm for my inevitably painstaking & arduous projects, he raised an eyebrow, smiled and shouted in his beautiful accent, “let’s do it!!!”
Many weekends, late nights and long days later (is it normal for a couple to spend ridiculous amounts of hours on a computer rather than do like, other stuff?!), here we are, standing at the freshly painted front door, ready to cut the ribbon and cross the threshold. I’m so excited!
Today’s post is a little impromptu housewarming invitation for each of you.
Please take a glass of bubbly or your favourite celebratory beverage, and enjoy a stroll through the newly improved (blog)house at your leisure. Click on things and see where they take you. Stay as long as you like and visit as often as you like, I adore your company and wanted to give you even more reasons to stop by.
And I really wanted to keep. it. simple. as I know many of you have expressed to me that you like the (blog)house for it’s simplicity and calmness. So you’ll notice it’s really not that different to before, just easier to navigate to your favourite categories, with a few personal touches added because well, you know I can’t help but doodle all over a nice clean white page!
Shall I give you a little tour?
Okay, well first up you’ll notice the tabs at the top of the page. Each room in the (blog)house is easy to access from there. You can also access these rooms by clicking on the little home in the right side bar.
The sound studio, library, kitchen and the guest quarters will now be active blogs! I will be quietly reviewing the books I read in the library, while the sound studio will be filled with my new musical compositions, music inspirations and soundscapes. And each month or so I will feature new guests in both the kitchen and guest quarters – each week they will post something special just for you. My kitchen guest is already cooking up a storm – I am so happy to welcome my dear friend & food stylist Yvette van Boven! Go and see what she is up to in there if you can’t already smell the delicious aromas. My new guest in the guest quarters will be arriving first thing in the morning. I can’t wait!
my mystery guest is on her way! this is your only clue.
I have created a separate page for my very special blogroll so that I can add more and more of my favourite blogs to the list. And here on the main page you’ll notice an ‘in the spotlight’ section in the right side bar where I will feature blogs each week that I just can’t get enough of. Take a look at who is in the spotlight this week!
Now what else can I tell you. Oh yes, I’ve been gathering some stella post subjects over the past months, saving them for this new improved backdrop, and I’m so pleased to be able to share them all with you now. So watch this space in coming weeks, you will not want to miss a thing! Or better still, subscribe. And please tell ALL your friends to come by too, everyone and anyone is welcome here at the (blog)house, the more the merrier.
Thank you everyone, for your enthusiasm and support in my creative endeavours. I do hope you are happy here and please let me know if you notice any flaws or if there are things you find don’t work – there will no doubt be a few creases to iron out and I would absolutely love your feedback.
And I’d just like to take this opportunity to shout out a very special thank you to French Boy. He has been an integral part in helping to create what I envisioned for the (blog)house, having the incredible talent to be able to talk to computers in their own language. So merci beaucoup mon amour, for all your hard work and dedication.
Okay that’s it, I’ll let you wander around, and i’ll be back here in the morning to introduce you to our new guest.
xx
love it
March 20th, 2009 | #
Pia Jane! Oh my gosh. I’m already clicking through all your lovely rooms. Everything is amazing. That drawing of the (blog)house is beautiful. Just perfect.
And I am so flattered to be ‘in the spotlight’ along with some other amazing bloggers.
I love love love what you’ve done with the place. Nice work.
March 20th, 2009 | #
For those of us who read via RSS feed, its nice to click through occasionally and see some good design without the blogger bloat.
March 20th, 2009 | #
I love it! As if I could love your site even more! You are so creative and amazing! Congrats on your fabulous new Blog house, no wait…home 🙂
xoxox
Judith~
March 20th, 2009 | #
Oh dear…I could spend hours exploring the new blog house. Must pull myself away before I buy half the books in your library on Amazon! : ) Well done, Pia and French Boy! The new blog house is oh so lovely and quite addictive.
March 20th, 2009 | #
yowza! this is fantastic. i love the welcome screen, the main entrance and of course, the sweet hostess.
March 20th, 2009 | #
Your renovation turned out beautiful. Congratulations and cheers! This champagne is tasty …
March 20th, 2009 | #
oohhh, love what you’ve done with the place! well done, pia and french boy! i’ve brought a bottle of rosé as a housewarming gift. the way your portfolio is displayed is so clever and stylish; it stands out but fits in with the aesthetic of the (blog)house. and i’m so honored and flattered to be put in the spotlight. merci beaucoup!
March 20th, 2009 | #
Wonderful Pia!! such a lovely new home you and french boy have created!!
March 20th, 2009 | #
Simple. Beautiful. lovely. Clean and clear. What else is needed? Congratulations.
March 20th, 2009 | #
hey! you are so, so cute! i just saw what you look like on the design for mankind dialogues…melt my heart!
March 20th, 2009 | #
Oooh, a lovely new look!! No time to click around now, but I’ll be back on Sunday 🙂 Happy Weekend, you two!
March 20th, 2009 | #
It is really great! Well done. And I can’t wait to see who the mystery guest is. Love the picture!!!!!
March 20th, 2009 | #
Oh I am loving this new look. Clean, beautiful and perfect!
Have a beautiful day!
March 20th, 2009 | #
I love surprises. your bloghouse is beautiful, well done!
March 20th, 2009 | #
Pia, this is fantastic!
March 20th, 2009 | #
it’s lovely. what an amazingly creative revamp!
xo
kelly
March 20th, 2009 | #
Loving the renno, Pia! Just in time for Spring, the Amsterdam way. The sun is smiling too!
March 20th, 2009 | #
Congratulations! Now, this is going to take a while to explore the whole bloghouse! Yay!
March 20th, 2009 | #
I love it. I have visited each section glass of wine in hand. Such a beautiful place to spend my evening.
March 21st, 2009 | #
I’ve toyed for months with the idea of putting you on my blogroll but I am so impressed with your new site I entered you right away.
I use phrases like “the Library” “the kitchen” “the music room” on my humble blogger site too, which is nothing in comparison with yours.
Congratulations, world traveler
March 21st, 2009 | #
pia!!! the new bloghouse is the darlingest. i’m so excited to explore it… run around its’ halls and peek inside its’ doors. xo
March 21st, 2009 | #
Love the new look Pia!
March 21st, 2009 | #
Congratulations on your new house, it’s beautiful – which is no surprise =)
March 21st, 2009 | #
Very pretty and clean. Looking forward to exploring!
March 21st, 2009 | #
aaahhhh absolutely lovely dear pia!!
March 22nd, 2009 | #
Yum chickadee!!
it looks just as it should….all whimsy, with one foot in that which is real life.. (the other where we all keep our left foot, in dreamland…yum)
Well done…i have spent the last month with my new webdesigner, and these spaces are just like redesigning our loungerooms, our studios, our physical lives..sigh! Such an extension or our wee selves….
Divine ms Pia xx
March 22nd, 2009 | #
tasteful delightful yummy – just like you!
March 22nd, 2009 | #
Pia! Stunning as ever!
March 22nd, 2009 | #
amazing. looking forward to everything:)
March 23rd, 2009 | #
Great. I like the renovation and decoration of your blog house so much.
Marsu Barbara
PS I can understand that you spend time with your ‘amour’ in front the computer to renovate the blog 🙂 It’s great to realize ideas, to see them grow.
March 24th, 2009 | #