I'm in Amsterdam now, we wrapped up in Belgium which was a great shoot and here I am blogging from a cafe enjoying some quiet time before my appointment to meet with a designer at her atelier. I will interview her for the book and I am excited to meet up and see her place. I love the idea of doing in-person interviews so much more than the typical telephone or email chats that I usually have. If you have the chance to meet someone in their creative environment, on their turf, there can be that added layer of intimacy that chatting at a bistro just wouldn't give you... Agree? I think that if I interviewed celebrities for a living that I would insist on going to their home to meet them. After visiting all of the beautiful houses that I have been honored to be welcomed into over the past several months I know for a fact that people are so much more themselves within their own four walls. Getting a glimpse of that person in action is a real honor, I think. And so, in a moment, I'll be on my way to meet a talented lady on her turf here in lovely, inspiring Amsterdam.

In honor of being in Amsterdam today, I thought I'd post some photos from a home I saw recently on the 101Woonideeen blog. I met the editors of this magazine a few years ago, they showed up at a decor8 meet up in Amsterdam and passed out free issues of their magazine. They also regularly read decor8, in fact one of my friends in Hannover will be in their magazine because they tune in so frequently which is always nice to see -- I like when magazines find content on blogs because some people would be hard to locate otherwise so blogs feed magazines and magazines, in other ways, feed blogs which means both are needed and both create a sort of energy that keeps this creative cycle turning.

Anyway, these photos from 101 Woonideeen above show a look that always has Dutch style written all over it -- at least, to me. Of course there are many other ways the Dutch decorate their home that look nothing like this but I see this style as quite sweet and personal and very Dutch. It seems to be more about upcycling and recycling and less about designer pieces, doesn't it? Many cannot afford uber expensive things (like me!) or they do not want to own them with young children in the house. This is a relaxed home environment that gives you lots of options to customize, make do and as needed, mend. :)

(images: 101 Woonideeen)