Something old, something new, something pretty, what inspires you?

Having come back from a nice long weekend away with friends and four young children, I feel refreshed and only a tiny little tired...! So following my first post last week, I am ready for the next one and start working on my homework assignment for Decor8's Blog Your Way Bootcamp course that I've signed up for.

In last week's post I talked a little about what I'd like to achieve with my blog and that for me, it is a means to share what inspires me. Part of the homework assignment is to blog about what inspires you and why. But thinking about what really inspires me and why is actually quite a difficult question! Do you have a clear idea already??

Image by Furococo

Your eye catches something that you visually adore and makes you think, inspires you. But what is that? For me this can be can be something old, a piece of art, some sort of ingenious product design, a person or simply a space, it can be many things, but what they all seem to have in common is a story behind them. An old piece of furniture that is made of a beautiful, tactile material that shows the signs of the times it has survived, the emotions captured in a painting, a personality rather than just a pretty face, a space that is lived in including its imperfections, the thinking outside the box, and perhaps a little pleasant surprise, that is what inspires me.

Image by Pale & Interesting from Atlanta Bartlett

I love homes that represent the personality of the people who live in it and I'm certainly someone who can appreciate many different styles from classic to contemporary, but above all a home needs to feel homely for me, so bring on those candles for the darker days! Some people strive for maximum minimalism, or for the perfect colour styling, but I could never be that disciplined, because I get attached to certain items that carry memories or stories that are important to me. And so one and another just has to fit in, but in a pretty way and I can be really inspired by people who do this very cleverly!

What inspires you? Do you also find it a little tricky to put that down into words and images when it comes down to it?

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!

For a long time I've wanted to start a blog, but the lack of time with the set up of my webshop www.nordicrose.co.uk, a busy family life with two young children and also a little bit the feeling of the unknown have withheld me so far. But now I've signed up for Holly Becker's BYW course, who's an amazing example with her Decor8 blog and I'm so excited! I've heard such great things about the course and my good friend Anna from Mischief Flapjacks Pantone & Me convinced me it is time to take the jump and I've decided to JUST DO IT! 

One of the requirements is a basic knowledge of blogging and so I'm trying to get myself up to speed in time before the course starts on 5th October (eeekkhh!). I've been thinking about my goals, what I want to achieve with my blog and although my blog will be linked to my webshop, I see it as a way to express and share my inspiration, my creativity, a reflection of the person I am behind the webshop, rather than just a tool to increase traffic to the website. I've always loved design and interiors, making a space look homely, as well as crafts such as sewing, embroidery and crochet and the blog will be a great tool to collect, share and learn about what I love.

Everybody who loves design & interiors tends to be visually orientated and pictures speak more than words. So I wanted to introduce myself by means of a picture: 

Image by VTwonen via Pinterest

Isn't that a cosy and inviting place?!? The open fire just fits so nicely with the Autumn feeling, really makes a home feel homely and I love the mix of old and modern design. A bit of everything and anything, which is what I have too in my house. Although slightly different, my personal style is very much mixing antiques with modern classic design pieces. I am a farmer's daughter and so the pig above the mantel piece made me smile! 

I will be giving you a peek into my own home as I get more confident with taking pictures, so please bear with me. I guess the thing you'll see especially more in my own home is the importance of light. Being Dutch and coming from a country with a climate of many grey and rainy days, letting light in and the use of white is key for me. 

Love,
Trinske
xx