Wow.  I just read all about Tulu, a gorgeous shop in Istanbul owned by a American antique textile dealer, Elizabeth Hewitt, who moved there since she married a Turkish man. Ah, love -- it takes us to so many places sometimes, doesn't it? It's not always a state of the heart, but can change your entire life -- including your country! Elizabeth's taste is gorgeous and I owe a big thanks to interiors stylust Raina Kattelson for telling me about it because Turkey has been on my mind a lot lately. Tomorrow I'll show you why. :)

As I was saying, Raina visited this exotic city recently and her photos really inspired me. Istanbul is 2 hours by plane so I'm thinking of visiting because the idea of seeing Turkey when I lived back in New Hampshire felt a bit far off to me. But 2 hours is nothing so why not visit. Plus friends tell me I'll love it and now Raina is blogging about how great it is there. I love Turkish people, I'm making friends here who are Turkish, and have you ever had their cooking? Yum. Yet I know so little about Istanbul outside of the history - I know nothing about modern day living there.

This shop inspires me because I love the ethnic prints and patterns and the gorgeous colors - they're so vivid and positive, I imagine any of these pillows brightening up a home. I'm seeing a lot of bedding that I'd like to own too, don't you? It was interesting, as I did some more digging online, to find more information about the owner of Tulu, you can read all about Elizabeth here.

Have you ever been to Istanbul? What did you think? Any tips?

(Images: tulu)