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Interior happiness

Interior Decoration at Casa Vita

Hi there,

Are you enjoying some good weather?

I am back home, and over here it is a perfect Spring day. Although I was not happy to leave Puglia, I feel very blessed to be back home. Over the last few months I realize even more how lucky we are to have a home, or a home country to return to, to feel safe and surrounded by family and friends.

Being at Casa Vita in April is always much fun. It is a beautiful time of year, everything is in bloom and the temperature is slowly rising. Just as the other years, we took our time to clean and freshen up the house and to add some interior objects. The last day before I left, I remembered I still had some velvet pinkish (more to the raspberry side) fabric I bought half a year ago. So I quickly made cushions and brought them over. How lucky! They were the same color as our two footstools.

Our sofa is dark brown leather. It can feel cold sometimes. So I put a cover on it, one I found on Zara Home on sale. Do you see the new cactus? We still had a pot left, and found a perfect one growing onto the stones in the brick wall. It wouldn’t have survived anyway, so we gave it a second chance. (To be honest, it was growing on Giovanni’s side of the wall, but I am sure he won’t mind).

For Christmas I got a few nice presents from the children, a chandelier and a decorative pineapple.

And I am still very happy with the antique closet we bought at an antique store in Ostuni last year. It fits nice in the kitchen.

Remember I asked for your advice last time I wrote about Casa Vita’s interior? I was looking for some rattan chairs back then. And look what we found.

This one is from Ikea

The cushion I had made and brought over last Summer. It matches well in the chair. What do you think?

In a local store we found a white rattan rocking chair. This one goes to the Claudia Cardinale room, where everything is white. A perfect spot to have a little nap when it is too cold or too hot outside.

While I love to restyle the interior, Hubbie is addicted to exploring the local plant stores.

We might buy and plant some palm trees one day. But this time we went for another cactus 😉

The cactuses outside are also doing so well. See their little sprouts?

This little one was growing in the yard – no, not Giovanni’s 😉 – and Hubbie put it in a pot.

Since we are in the yard already, one thing that I just need to show you. It is thé proof of Spring! Can you tell? Hubbie hung the swing on the big olive tree. Just in front of the house. I was so happy it could hang there again, because last year they this olive tree had been cut (olive trees have to be pruned once in a few years) and one of the big branches, where the swing usually hung, was accidentally cut too. But Hubbie found a solution.

All Fermob furniture is from Homepage Interior

So now the pool still needs to be refilled (after gluing some mosaic tiles that came off) and Casa Vita is ready to welcome our first guests of the season: Ola Lindeza and her team! Her interior objects would fit perfectly well at Casa Vita. And now she will start a clothing line. Guess where the first fashion shoot will be? Right! I am so curious to see their photos. More on that next time!

Ideal to read or wander off in the last sun rays of the day

Have a great sunny day!

Sophia

22 April 2019 by Sophia

Interior happiness, Stories

Thorn

Dear readers,

Last Monday was a beautiful day. It sounds contradictory because I had to have a little surgery done on my foot by a doctor an hour away from my home. Luckily a friend volunteered to drive me. She suggested we make it a whole day and visit the beautiful town of Thorn first, which was located only ten minutes from the medical office. A great idea!

A newborn in Thorn

Have you ever been in Thorn?

The little town of Thorn is located in the south of Holland in the province of Limburg. It used to be a tiny principality; today it is one of the ten must-visits in Holland. Thorn is known for its old white houses and monumental buildings.
The history of Thorn dates back to the 10th century. Over the course of time it developed into a miniature convent ruled by an abbess and twenty ladies of noble birth. It had its own jurisdiction and its own currency, but this came to an end in 1794 with the arrival of the French.

The white town

It’s called the white town–a funny coincidence, because Ostuni, in Puglia is called the white town too: la città bianca. This is the town where Casa Vita is located.

But back to Holland 😉
Why were the houses white?
After the aristocratic ladies had fled, the French imposed a tax based on the size of the windows. The locals were often poor people living in large properties that previously belonged to the rich. To reduce the amount of tax they had to pay, many of them bricked up the windows and then whitewashed their houses to conceal the signs of their renovation work (‘scars of poverty’).

The town is so well preserved, the cobble stone roads, the roofs, the lanterns… We were there on a Monday, and it was very quiet. I suppose that during the summer it is filled with tourists. This was a good day, just one terrace was open for lunch, but that is enough. The only disadvantage was that the museums were closed too. They open as of April 1st. If you would like to go deeper into Thorn’s history, you better visit later in spring.

The Abbey Church was mainly built in the 14th century.

Walking here felt like being in another era. It made me feel calm and at peace. Of course, I’d better not think of the horrific things happening in medieval times. Well, I would have preferred having been one of the twenty noble ladies who had the whole town to themselves. I could perfectly picture myself and my friends here! “Noble” could be replaced by funny, creative, intelligent and a bit bold :-). Would you have joined me?

Cheers, Sophie

28 February 2019 by Sophia

Interior happiness, Stories

Paris

Bonjour,

Can you imagine? A day in Paris, too short of course, but just wonderful. I had the opportunity to hop in the car with a friend who was visiting her daughter. The daughter studies in Paris. Another friend came along. So it was the three of us. We left in the morning and were just in time for lunch in Paris.

My friend booked a cozy little hotel, somewhere in between the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. A perfect location for a short stay.

In the afternoon we walked across the Seine and between les Tuileries and on to the Louvre.

We had a cup of delicious tea in the lobby of the Brighton Hotel. Oh, these great color combinations in the velvet upholstery of the little chairs and stools.

When we walked back, it was late afternoon already. But what great views, Paris by sunset.

By the time we arrived in the area of the hotel, we decided not to enter, but to have a cocktail first. My friend knew the perfect place! We stepped into the Fitzgerald, and took a place at the bar of the restaurant. Then the owner asked us whether we might prefer to go into “Le Bar Secret.” Well, sure we wanted to see the secret bar. Doors were opened and this was the perfect place: velvet chairs in all colors, many cocktails to choose and top of it all, wallpaper with Flamingos.

After a quick freshening up at the hotel, we only had to do a short walk into the direction of the Eiffel Tower. Dinner was served at Les Fables de la Fontaine. It is a small and fancy restaurant in the 7ième Arrondissement of Paris. The dishes (we all took two first courses) were a treat to the eye and taste! We even managed to chose a perfect Argentinian white wine that wasn’t outrageous in price, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

The next morning we took breakfast at the hotel. For Valentine’s Day they served a beautiful cake with a heart in the middle, so cute. We were thrilled with this gorgeous weather still and decided to walk to Le Petit Palais. The outside and inside of this museum are remarkably beautiful. And you must not forget to look at the ceiling and the floor. Currently there is an exhibition of Fernand Khnopff.

The little courtyard is amazing too. A tropical garden, and look, my Fermob furniture, the same color we have at Casa Vita.

It was a perfect day, and many fashion shooters thought the same. A lot of them could be found on the bridge. Can you blame them with this gorgeous background?

It inspired us to do some shopping too, in the area near the hotel. Well, we managed to still buy some items on sale 😉
We hopped back in the car with a lot of special memories.

Au-revoir! A la prochaine,

Sophie

21 February 2019 by Sophia

Interior happiness, Puglia

Interior happiness at Casa Vita

Dear readers,

One of the things I love to do is decorating, redecorating, making a place cozy and pretty.

At Casa Vita we started with a fully furnished house, mostly by Ikea. The former owners were great in reshaping and rebuilding the two old trullis and in making a beautiful yard. But I guess for the interior of the house, they preferred the simplicity of Ikea. Could be a practical side to it too, renting out a house brings along a big risk of damage.

We rent the house out as well. But if we stay at Casa Vita, we don’t want to live in an Ikea showroom 🙂 And so far, our guests have appreciated a more personal approach too.

We didn’t want to throw anything away, nor did we want to buy expensive things, so this is what we mainly did:

we had two big grayish Ikea armchairs which were comfortable, so we had them upholstered with dark green velvet
a few dark wood racks and side tables I painted white
we added some old antique furniture from my parents’ home (a coincidence, when we bought Casa Vita, we had to empty my parental home at around the same period), that otherwise would have had to be given away
we bought a few things: a new carpet (Sanderson) and Fermob furniture that we use indoors as well as outdoors
I regularly check Zara Home for sales, and buy sheets and covers to bring in colors
I made a lot of outdoor and indoor cushions myself
I adapted some pictures (of Sofia Loren and Claudia Cardinale) in photoshop and had them printed.
recently we added the two pink tabourets and golden side table
we chose dark green and pink as main colors for the living room and kitchen
all the outdoor cushions were also redone in dark green
with some help, I used leftover wallpaper (remember my wallpaper addiction?) and designed a new screen

We did do a big renovation. The kitchen is totally redone, in Puglian style. I searched through a lot of books with old Puglian kitchens, and we had the kitchen made by a local carpenter. We are very pleased with the result! For the custom made tiles we also stuck to green and raspberry pink. The countertop is from pietra di Trani, a local stone. The floor was also made from the same stone. By the way, Trani is a beautiful town a little further north in Puglia.

But let me show you in several pictures:
the armchair with old fabric:

Upholstered with good quality velvet fabric. The screen you see here is from Maison du Monde, I found it attracted a bit too much attention

So I designed a new screen, with leftover wallpaper from home

And we put the other screen in one of the trulli

Here you see the pictures I redesigned. And the old dark side tables I repainted white.

Cushions I made and the new carpet – tropical style 😉

The old Ikea kitchen and the new one in Puglian style

The dark green comes back in the cushions in the outdoor areas

Can you give me advice?

In each room I have a Fermob chair to put some clothing on. I want to use these chairs for the outdoor table now. What do you think of these rattan ones instead? Other suggestions? Let me know!

On the left, you also see an old closet and a little mirror from my parents home. And you can see that this trullo room is made on the rocks of Puglian ground.

Some white rotan chairs

Thanks for your help!

Ciao, ciao, Sophia

Most of the photos are by Marie Bouly Photography and Mable Photography

18 January 2019 by Sophia

Interior happiness

Christmas Flowers

Hi there,

I hope you are all well, and looking forward to Christmas. I am not a huge Christmas fan, too much glitter, food and parties. Last week I went to a workshop, making a Christmas floral arrangement. It was here in my hometown, so I continue in Dutch. But if you look at the photos, you might find some inspiration. Have fun!

Eerlijkheidshalve kan ik meteen zeggen dat ik geen grote fan ben van bloemstukken. Boeketten wel! Ik heb bijna altijd bloemen in huis, op dit moment tulpen. Vorige week had ik een amusante film gezien: Tulip Fever, een historisch romantisch drama. Het speelt zich af in Amsterdam in de 17de eeuw. Het drama was overdreven en slecht geacteerd. Toch was het heerlijk, die kostuums, al de soorten tulpen en het vergezochte maar grappige complot. Meer vertel ik niet. In elk geval, de nacht erop droomde ik dus over tulpen en heb ik ineens een groot boeket gekocht. In Nederland, natuurlijk.

Wie is er handig in bloemstukken maken? Ik niet echt. Ik ben creatief in het bedenken van combinaties maar het ineen frutselen van al die takjes lukte minder goed. Maar geen nood, er was voldoende hulp van Thérèse. Zij organiseert workshops om boeketten of bloemstukken te maken in een bepaald thema. Très Fleur is haar website.

Thérèse maakte eerst zelf een bloemstuk als voorbeeld en nadien mochten wij aan de slag. Gezellig bijbabbelen en intussen concentreren op wat je wil gedaan krijgen. De bolletjes met mos bekleden vond ik het minst makkelijk. Grappig was dat iedereen – we waren met een tiental – een heel ander bloemstuk tevoorschijn toverde. Iets letterlijk namaken is ook niet leuk, vind ik zelf, het fijne is er je eigen inbreng aan geven. Bij mij was dat niet altijd bewust 😉 maar ik ben toch heel blij met het resultaat.

Een stappenplan ga ik je niet geven. De foto’s zullen je zeker een creatieve boost geven, en dan kan je zelf aan de slag of een workshop volgen bij Très Fleur. Thérèse had enorm veel materiaal bij: dennenappels, schors, gekleurde draad, kerstballen op stokjes en keuze te over aan groen, mossen en bloemen.

Ik geef je graag de verschillende planten- en mossoorten mee: