Decoration Homes With Heart: Quirky and Collected Home

Hello everyone! It’s Holly Marder back this month with another gorgeous home for you to peek inside. This month, feast your eyes on the quirky and collected home of Marlous Snijder, the blogger behind Planet Fur and founder of Oh Marie! magazine. Filled with thrifted treasures and bold bursts of colour, this home tour is sure to leave you with a smile and have you heading for your nearest thrift shop, guaranteed!

Marlous and her husband Pim were looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and escape to the country when they first laid eyes on a semi-attached 150m2 house, built in the 80s, and all plans fell by the wayside. “We fell in love instantly, though it desperately needed to be modernized. The kitchen was brown, the brick walls in the living room were still brick coloured. There were outdated brown tiles on the hallway floor, but boy, it was love at first sight,” Marlous admits. The bright, spacious and promising space became theirs and renovations began swiftly, lasting 3 months. With the help of friends and family, the kitchen and floors were replaced, the walls were freshly painted, and huge amounts of outdated wallpaper were removed. 

“Located at the edge of our city, on one of its oldest roads that leads to the countryside, we now have best of both worlds: the advantages of the city, but the calm and quiet of the countryside too,” Marlous says. “I can’t exactly point out why, but this house gives us the ultimate feeling of being home. We love, love it. It’s got some kind of x-factor.”

With an eye for unique vintage finds and a penchant for creating a happy yet calming space, Marlous regards decorating her home as a way of life.  “Designing the interior isn’t just the thing I do to pass time with. It’s much, much more than that. Creating a still life that looks good and balanced is like oxygen to me,” she explains. “My home is my happy place, my safe zone. I look at my surroundings like a photographer that is about to take a picture: everything needs to be in place, the image needs to be right. I have a need to see the beauty in things, no matter how small. I suppose it’s a way of shielding myself against the ugliness in this world. Picking out ‘gestures of beauty’, no matter how small, makes me a happy person. So, interior design is more a way of life than just a hobby or a job.”

Decoration New Home Collection By The Novogratz

Want a little color in your home on a budget, a little zing for Fall, a little fun? I was recently in touch with the Novogratz family about a new line they’ve produced for the home – colorful, budget-friendly and perky… And we all love fun interiors bursting with personality, don’t we? They wanted me to review some of their new things but I was hesitant since I hadn’t seen any of it in person and 1) I don’t feel comfortable reviewing products unless I’ve experienced them and 2) I am so picky when it comes to soft furnishings because stuff close to my skin has to feel GOOD. That’s why I asked for 4 of my favorite pillows from their collection agreeing that if liked them I’d post and if I didn’t, I’d simply return to sender and move on.

Thankfully, they passed my critical eye and I’ll end up keeping at least one for my home (I’ll give the rest to my friends, I don’t have much space left in my house!). But the pillows really are great because they are priced between $15-20 bucks a piece and they look really good in person — you really can’t go wrong. You can buy them, along with matching bedding and other goodies, like shower curtains, right here. And yeah, okay, if they were more expensive, I would expect zip-cases and goose feather inserts, but for this price range you really have to appreciate the quality that you’re getting for such rock bottom prices. You can easily wipe them clean, they aren’t such an investment that if your kids ruin them you’re going to freak and they work in all sorts of rooms – the office, kid’s room, play area, living room – anywhere.

So let me quickly tell you about the Novogratz family shown pictured above. You can see their website for the full scoop, but they are a creative family of 9 (Yes, my jaw dropped too), first is Bob and Cortney Novogratz followed by their 7 children. YES, you heard me right. S E V E N. I have ONE and struggle at times with my schedule so to have 7 completely blows my mind. To be as cool as this family to run a design firm producing collections for huge stores (like Walmart, Macy’s, CB2), developing and designing property, writing books, designing interiors, living in the big city (Manhattan), it seems like a total dream slash fantasy life. I think they need a reality show because I’d tune into that just to get the scoop on how they balance everything. Very inspiring…

What We Do Prints + Faunascapes

Plywood is trending at the moment in home interiors, have you noticed? That’s why I have to show you something very cool that I came across called WhatWeDo in the online shop of Lys Vintage, which I frequent on a regular basis since first meeting Simone (the owner) many years ago. I love the style of her shop because her interiors taste is really great and current — I get excited to see what she’s stocking next.

That’s why when I came across Copenhagen-based multidisciplinary design studio and product agency, WhatWeDo, in her shop before I had Aidan well I had to learn more. So I wrote to WhatWeDo and placed an order so that I could experience their products for myself.

This design duo is Hanne & Tobias Scheel Mikkelsen, with backgrounds in both architecture and graphic design, which is super apparent the moment you see their work. I love their posters – I have “Now” shown a few images above — and they also do these great designs printed on plywood called Faunascapes, and I have the fox on the hexagon because my little son’s “animal” has always been a little fox since he was born. When I get them up in my new work studio, I’ll show you how they look. I think the fox will end up in his room eventually though…

I love interesting art and when I find something that feels fresh and unique I get goose bump-y even still after all of these years of writing about interiors and products for the home. I come across so many thousands of things that often the sameness gets on my nerves but WhatWeDo is an inspiration because prints like these aren’t being done on plywood by a million companies already. It’s nice to still be able to find products that feel different and stand out from the pack.