Wednesday, 23 December 2015 by Irene Hoofs
Well it's taken a long time for us to get settled in and fix things up in this old black and white colonial home that my family and I now reside in but we think things are coming together pretty nicely.. of course there are many more things to change and add.. We had the kitchen renovated a couple of months after we moved in. Being the essence of a home, our kitchen was definitely a priority for us, making sure it suited my family's life style.. we do enjoy our food and family meals.
We're incredibly thankful to have Bosch as our official partner in our renovation projects for the kitchen. While we've had great experiences with many of their electrical appliances way before, the dishwasher has got to be one of the most well-loved appliances (next to the fridge of course!). Like the rest of their products, it's convenient, fast, reliable, and a little win for us on lazy days when we accidentally let the dishes pile up..
While we're still in midst of getting everything in the house just right, our trusty dishwasher definitely isn't going anywhere.. Well, my family wouldn't allow it anyway!
See how the kitchen looked like before! Brace yourselves..
How far it has come.. it's almost unrecognisable! This could be an entirely different house..
Stay tuned for more home renovation updates..
.. Official partner: Bosch
Wednesday, 2 September 2015 by Irene Hoofs
No. 1
Nope that's not a spelling error you spotted in the title.. we found one thing in common with all these amazing kitchens and it is their predominantly wooden appearance. With all types of wood and their different exposed grains, you can achieved very different looks to a kitchen space. We spend quite abit of time in the kitchen (especially if you are the food-maker of the household) so getting the kitchen to be just right, beautiful and functional at the same time is very important. Especially if you kitchen is also the place you dine in!
No. 2
Thursday, 15 May 2014 by Irene Hoofs
Welcome to our 8 Rodyk apartment in Singapore.... not that we are actually living there ... no we bought the place a long time ago but it became too small to live with a family of four so we are renting it out at the moment. I thought you might like to see what we have done with the space a couple of years ago to make the space look more modern and functional ... a little face lift today!
Rik and I wanted to open up the space so we could get more use out of the apartment. The apartment is about 98 square meters, which might sound big ( don't get me wrong i agree), but a big part of it is used for the balcony which is perfect for a warm weather country. Perfect apartment for a young couple with small kids! (Click here to see the kids room in the apartment and how I used vintage pieces to make the kids room feel more cosy)
This way to see perhaps the ugliest picture ever posted on Bloesem ..
The first thing we saw when we walked in was floor to ceiling glass panels that closed up the kitchen which is more suitable for hard core cooking which is very common in the Asian culture. The glass panels help keep the smoke and smells of cooking within the kitchen. Since neither Rik nor myself are hard core cooks, we decided there was no need for the glass panels. Removing the panels immediately opened up the flow from the door into the kitchen and then into the rest of the living room.
And this what the open kitchen looks like after our make-over. By putting plywood on the little wall below the window we created a small sitting area. Simply adding some pillows and ta-da ...
There also used to be a little outside patio which also acted as a laundry room to house the washing machine and dryer. Instead we decided to build plywood cabinets to house all the items we thought were slightly unattractive but still necessary. The plywood cabinets are a recurring feature in the apartment, we used it for storage as well as display in the kitchen and the living room too.
(probably the ugliest pic I have shared on Bloesem ever!)
And this is what you see now ... the garbage shoot and laundry machine hidden in this plywood cabinet ... don't you agree that looking at vintage ceramics make much more sense! A very tiny detail which you perhaps can't see very clearly but we used copper rings for the little holes in the doors, this gives it a quirky and nicer effect.
The kitchen being side by side with the living room makes the apartment a great place for hosting dinners and having guests over. You can still talk and interact while guests sit in the living room.
In the master bedroom, we took out a glass wall that looked directly into the bathroom ... built in a shelf that made the space feel much bigger with the light flowing through the bathroom and into the bedroom. The shelf also gave us extra space for decoration and display. Here I placed some vintage ceramics from the Netherlands.
Another detail i like is giving the walls a banner from the bottom up to half meter a off white color throughout the enitre house also the bedrooms ... it connects the rooms and gives a good flow!
I hope you liked our little tour today! Over at BloesemKids I'm sharing the boys bedroom from this apartment! Irene xoxo
If you have any questions about the interior styling or decoration just send me an email!
Image credit : Marjon Hoogervorst aka Vorstin
Tuesday, 4 March 2014 by Irene Hoofs
Welcome to Jonna's kitchen, not exactly her's but a kitchen she designed. If you think interior architect, Jonna Klumpenaar sounds familiar, it's because we have written about her own lovely home before. You can have a quick look over here before continuing with this kitchen.
The pictures below are of a kitchen Jonna has designed for a young family from Amsterdam. Working together with her clients, she tries to achieve the perfect atmosphere within the space. To her, being an architect means not only being the creative force but also being able to understand what the client wants and translating that into a design they will appreciate.
It's alot about feeling out who you are working with and getting what they want even if they aren't able to specifically express it. A fan of bright spaces, Jonna loves the energy and peace such spaces eminate. The yellow-painted floor with olive green and white basic kitchen tiles also give the room a young and fresh feel.
Perhaps you remember Jonna her own home with the gorgeous chairs :) right here in the Bloesem archives you can read a short interview with her.
.. Jonna Klumpenaar
Wednesday, 2 October 2013 by Irene Hoofs
The book you saw yesterday in Veronique her apartment is by publisher Luster ... it's about cool and interesting homes in Antwerp, Belgium. I haven't read the book myself but looking at some of the pictures makes me want to order it.
It's not the first time photographer Diane Hendrikx is working for Luster. A whole series of interior books have her name on it. Glad to be able to share some inspiring pictures today with you. They give me a mad men feel ... what about you? ps. not all the images here are from the same book ... the post is perhaps more an ode to the beautiful work of Diane.
Thursday, 26 September 2013 by Irene Hoofs
{1. String kitchen 2. via pinterest 3. Paul Raeside 4. Claudia's kitchen 5. Nordic feeling 6. via Coosje}
A little while ago I invited fiends and bloggers to be a guest pinner for one of my boards ... Christine from House Of C starts this new guest pin series ... she added some crazy good looking kitchens to Bloesem's Kitchen board ... here just a few of my favorites but there are more than 150 pics to get ideas from.
I'm so glad Christine found the String kitchen for me .. I am a big fan of String and never thought of creating a kitchen with it. Such a simple but great idea ... and probably one of the most affordable solutions for a kitchen! Another plus ... you can bring this kitchen along with you whenever you deside to move house ....
.. House Of C
.. Christine's pins
.. Bloesem at pinterest
