olga bennett’s photography = perfection. quiet perfection.

luci everett’s home as shown above = utterly charming. so is her blog.

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found via upon a fold.

…the home of Valentin Loellmann in Maastricht (as photographed by his brother Jonas Loellmann, featured on Bloesem’s lets get personal column).

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…pacific north west, as captured by jennifer from field & sea (which is also a quiet space I love to visit regularly).

…watermelons, in the larder room, on a hot day. yes, please. (photo from this post).

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…tattes bakery as captured by nadia from la porte rouge. dreamy.

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Lately I’m craving quiet spaces, quiet moments, quiet thoughts.

…nikole’s gorgeous home recently featured on design*sponge (you already know how much I adore nikole’s blog and her spoons, I can never get enough of her beautiful work)…

… marie’s stunning necklaces – which she is kindly offering one as a giveaway on her blog, le voyage créatif! Make sure you write a comment on her giveaway post here.

…and fanny’s inspiring world, complete with pissenlits, poisson d’avril, and voiles d’été. Her blog, les contours du silence is one of my “blogs in the spotlight” this past week.

Enjoy!

xx

“We are weighed down by our possessions.  The pursuit of modern values, consumerism and personal development in order to achieve happiness has isolated us from everything that is reflected in Stratis’ photos. Tranquility, simplicity, humbleness, no bragging or arrogance, emerge from Stratis’s photographic world, thus conveying to us a message, which is crystal clear.” Giorgos Pittas.

Photographer Stratis Vogiatzis’ book “Inner World” contains 54 images of inner spaces at the mastic villages of Chios, part of the beautiful Greek islands. I have tried to find out if this book is available to purchase but cannot find any further information about it except what is written here and here.  I am fascinated, intrigued, and immensely inspired by this project and feel a similitude to Stratis’ approach to photography.  I’m also incredibly moved by the colour in these spaces, and how layers of time are so evident, intensifying each shade.

There is a wonderful article about Stratis’ work on Yazter, right here. And although the images speak for themselves, I highly recommend you read this. It’s all wonderful, wonderful stuff.

(would you like to know how I came across these incredible images? Follow my path to here, then here, and finally here. Enjoy the wander!)

Once upon a time when I was a retail shop owner, I visited design & gift trade fairs throughout each year in Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong (which I only went to once, that was enough for one lifetime!). Each fair takes days to explore and after my third or fourth visit to a trade fair (i.e. year 2 of my business), I was over it. There was just too much stuff, too many people, the fluorescent lights hurt your eyes after a few hours (so you can imagine how they feel after a few days), and your feet hate you forever. I don’t know why I went in the first place, I suppose because everyone else was and apparently that was the thing to do and lets face it, I was only 21, fresh out of Uni  – I had no idea. I soon realised that I didn’t want what everyone else had in their shops anyway, so I instead searched out local artisans,  craftspeople, and designers + importers who cared about the environment and their artisans.

So today, when someone mentions the phrase ‘design fair’ to me, I shudder. And being here in Holland where design is ‘the thing’, there is a lot of peer pressure to go to the fairs. Well, forget it. I am just not interested. And these days, I am less likely to do what someone expects of me than when I was a 21 year old impressionable entrepreneur.

Having said all of that, I have thoroughly enjoyed perusing the recent blog posts of stylist Imke Klee and  designer Kristina Klarin, who have both managed to capture the best during the recent Milan design fair with little or no explanation, just pictures: perfect! Granted, the stuff that I like looks as though it’s not even in the main fair but instead at spazio rossana orlandi. Which means if I ever want to go back to Milan (I lived in a little village not far from there when I was a teenager), then I will look this special place up and take a wander.

Above are a selection of Imke’s gorgeous images, take a look at her blog for even more beauty. And below are a few of Kristina’s, check out her inspiring blog for more…

It’s Monday! I have some great posts for you this week. Well I may even post all the great ones today, just because I’m feeling in a posty mood. Today is the day to be visiting the (blog)house, come one, come all!

xx