Vom Glück Mit Katzen zu Wohnen - A beautiful book and a giveaway!

Hello everyone, As a lot of you know, I am lucky enough to not only share my flat with my sweet daughter Ella and my great husband Mr. Love. I also live with Mr. Cheddar, the funniest and most curious cat on Earth. Living with a cat means having to make sacrifices; if you like interior design like me, you can for instance say goodbye to materials like velvet, as it is a cat hair magnet and some people like my friend Jodi from the blog Joelix have to be very careful with flowers and plants, as some cats love to eat them, even if they can be poisonous for them.
BUT... living with a cat also means a lot of joy and it can be really fun! The German editor Callwey just released a book about that topic and you can win it today on the blog!

The book, which is written in German, shows the home of several cat-loving families and proves that you can have both: a cat and style. The author Maike Grunwald is a journalist living in Hamburg with her family and her cats and the photographer Anja Hoelper is specialised in pet photography and you can really feel their love for cats through the pages of this great book. You will find a lot of inspiration about furniture that is cat-friendly and pretty.

I couldn't resist showing you a couple of pictures of my little fury friend, as it is a #catcontent blogpost anyway. So there you go, here is Mr. Chedds for you:

Here is how to join the giveaway:

• Leave a comment under this blogpost explaining why  living with your cat or dog makes a home happier.
• Like Callwey Verlag and madame-love on Facebook (if it's not already the case).
• The winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will be informed by e-mail.
• The giveaway is open worldwide (but keep in mind that the book is written in German) and closes on Sunday, November 17th, midnight CET.

Have a great day and good luck!
Elodie

+++++++++++++++++++++++UPDATE+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Frau Süd from the blog Nord & Süd is the happy winner from this lovely book and will receive it in the next few days!
Congratulations!

my favorite French online shops for babies

Hello everyone, there you go. I have another baby related post for you. I hope you don't get bored with it, but I am only a couple of days away from the delivery and getting a little obsessed... A friend asked me the other day for online shop tips for the decoration of the nursery. I have been online a lot, searching for inspiration and I thought I would share some of my favorite French online shops with you.

1. Smallable:

Smallable is my favorite one - I purchased the baby's bed on grey (which you can see below) as well as some very cute baby's clothes and toys. Smallable is a French shop but they also deliver in many European countries and the website is also available in many languages.

1. Grey cloud Mobile by the BUTTER FLYING | 2. Mobile Mr Magique by JALL AND TOFTA |  3. Cloud carpet by PILPOIL |  4. baby bed by COMBELLE | 5. Miffy light by PAPAMARIA

2. Petit Pan

Petit Pan is not only an online shop. It's a parisian decoration and fabric shop, with a lot of asian influence, vibrant colours and beautiful bamboo accessories. Their collection for babies (accessories and clothes) is really beautiful.

1. White animal head | 2. Mobile | 3. fabric banner | 4. plaid | 5. little blue dragonfly

3. Les enfants du design:

Les enfants du desig - is a great website if you want a stylish nursery. They have a great selection of brands such as the British Donna Wilson, or the designer Seventy tree.

1. Chinese paper lamp | 2. cushion by LUCKY BOY SUNDAY | 3. white pompom | 4. Squirrel by Donna Wilson | 5.Poster by seventytree  | 6. grey cushion by NUMERO 74 | 7. pigeon lamp by Thorsten Van Elten  | 8. cushion Liberty Betsy

I wish you a great afternoon!

xxx

Elodie

Antwerp #4 – Where to sleep

Hello everyone, I think nobody likes Mondays ... I think the best cure is to plan your next holiday and think back to your last holiday. While doing it, I realised I still wanted to give a last tip about Antwerp, where I spent a fabulous break last October. After telling you what to do in Antwerp by day and showing you the city by night, where to eat in Antwerp and where to shop, here comes my ultimate tip: where to sleep in Antwerp - and the answer is a beautiful Bed & Breakfast called Home @ FEEK. It is one of the most fantastic places I have stayed at in my life - it was the night of my birthday and it was definitely special!

It is located in the old house of the harbour master and five minutes walk from the MAS (Museum aan de Stroom).

The place is run by product designer Frederik van Heereveld. Frederik is known worldwide for his collection with FEEK and new materials, which he integrates into his interior designs. All the furniture in the rooms can be bought. Even the lift is really funky.

The changing colour lamp in the bedroom was also a highlight.

Hone @ Feek Website: www.http://home.feek.be Oude Leeuwenrui 23, Antwerpen

My fake christmas tree

Hello everyone, This year my family are coming to Hamburg to celebrate Christmas and we are going to buy a proper Christmas tree on 24th December. In the meantime, I made myself my own fake Christmas tree, with some white branches and home-made ornaments.I used some German polymer clay called Fimo, with some organza ribbons. To personalise them, I used a Love stamp from the German designer bastisRIKE and the letters are from Muji. I decided to have a Christmas decoration all in black & white this year. It's very much like Coco Chanel!

Next week I am on holiday and I am so looking forward to it! I will take some time to prepare the celebration with my family and spend more time on the blog, working on future projects for 2013. So there you go, here are a couple of pictures of my fake, temporary Christmas tree. You can see more photos on my Facebook page. Next week I will be doing some more ornaments, but this time in black.

What about you? Which colours are you using for your christmas decoration? Have you got a proper tree?

Speak to to you soon. xxx Elodie

Emery & Cie - incredible decoration store in Belgium

Hello everyone,I have been wanting to post this for a little while. When I was in Antwerp in October, I discovered as I was walking in the city centre, the beautiful showroom of Emery & Cie. This is the decoration shop of the great Belgian architect Agnes Emery. You can find some incredible Moroccan inspired tiles, some fabulous lighting, tableware, paint and wallpaper. I was very lucky to be able to take pictures in this enchanting showroom. If I had to renovate a bath or a kitchen, I know where I would by my tiles. I am completely in love with the cement tiles. Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of this very atmospheric shop:

Website: Emery & Cie Shop in Antwerp: Reynders Straat, 202000 Antwerp Shop in Brussels: 78 Quai des Charbonnages, 1080 Brussels

The Human Empire - A design studio and a shop

Hello everyone, I have another shop presentation and another spot will be soon completing my little interior design map of Hamburg. The Human Empire is originally a design studio that turned into a shop in Hamburg. The shop is very well-known for the posters with their own design and designs from other designers which can be bought online too. They also sell a selection of items from very interesting designer, such as Donna Wilson and exclusive magazines such as Kinfolk Magazine *Kinfolk is a growing community of artists with a shared interest in small gatherings* and the magazine is really great, or the beautiful books from the Japanese editor Paumes as well as casual clothes for men and women. The TIGER print from my living room, that I presented there and there also comes from Human Empire. I wish you a wonderful and stress-free day and hope that this post will inspire you bit, maybe to redecorate your home a bit with a new print or find some original x-mas presents. xxx Elodie

Japanese interior books from édition PAUMES, animal plates from Donna Wilson, tea towels from Skinny laMinx, familien Matroschka from OMM Design, postcards from Human Empire Artist Series, wooden animals from Aeraware

Human Empire Schulterblatt 132 20357 Hamburg Mo. – Fr. : 12:00 – 19:00 Sat.            : 12:00 – 18:00

Eden Living - black, white and a bit of grey

Eden Living in Eppendorf is a very classic interior shop offering almost only black, white and grey furnitures and accessories, with a touch of neon of course.It is the perfect if you have a monochromatic interior and are looking for timeless, classic and natural design with a lot of wood. I am in love with their grey and black washi-tape. As I often say: keep it simple.

Eden Living Klosterallee 67 20144 Hamburg Mo. – Fr. : 10:00 – 19:00 Sat.            : 10:00 – 16:00

Lys Vintage - A classic among the interior shops

Follow my blog with Bloglovin You can't write about the loveliest Interior design shops in Hamburg, without talking about Lys Vintage. It is not a secret anymore, but if you are visiting Hamburg, it should definitely be on your list! Lys means light in Danish. The showroom in Hamburg is like a mini-design museum with furnitures, lamps and accessories  from normann copenhagen, Ferm Living, Hay and many more. The online shop is brilliant and I really like the blog part of the website, and the section "im echten Leben" (in real life), presenting the objects in the apartments of their new owners.

Lys Vintage Blog Facebook Fanpage Eppendorfer Weg 8 20259 Hamburg Mo. – Fr. : 11:00 – 19:00 Sat.            : 11:00 – 18:00

smukkeStore in Hamburg

Good morning,My quest to find the loveliest interior shop in Hamburg continues. Last week when I was on my scooter, I stopped by at a shop on the Eppendorfer Weg  and I really loved it:

It's called smukkeStore - home & fashion. Smukke means beautiful in Danish and you will only find Scandinavian brands in the shop

HOME: You will find some of the usual suspects of course, such as house doctor, Bloomingville  from Denmark but also some less famous brands like or House of Rym from Sweden or Rie Elise Lasen & lb Laursen, also from Denmark. In the shop, you will also find some young designers from Hamburg and some old pieces of furniture that have been restored in the workshop at the back of the shop.

FASHION: Among  the fashion brands, you will find Line of Oslo from Norway and Container & Ichi from Denmark. sameThe shop opened on June 15, 2012, and you should definitely pay a visit to the charming shopkeeper Miriam.

You can also find some LOVEly clothes in the shop:

And some antique furniture refurbished by Miriam:

A LOVEly reference to Sting in the  changing room!

If you go there in the coming weeks, you will be able to shop some lovely and not kitsch at all Christmas decoration.

smukkeStore Facebook Fanpage Eppendorfer Weg 174 20253 Hamburg Mo. – Fr. : 10:30 – 19:00 Sat.            : 10:30 – 16:00

lovely still life #1

Still life photography is the depiction of inanimate subject matter, most typically a small grouping of objects. Still life photography, gives the photographer more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition. This is the definition given by Wikipedia. In this series of photos, I only used ornamental apples, in a Japanese bowl I received as a gift for my engagement from my dear friend Fabienne.This is a first try, but this is the kind of photography I enjoy, I hope you like it too!

I found the little black stand at the hello handmade market  on Sunday in Hamburg. It is from the label 3PUNKTF. I visited the market with my Hamburg blogger crew: the lovely Clara from tastesheriff, Susanne from Serendipity and  Maria from villa ♥ stoff - and came without my camera, but all I was thinking about was my blog! and I found some pretty cool props for my photo shootings!

my living room or I'm not a minimalist

So here are some more photos from this week-end photo shooting with the wide-angle lens. I hope you like them: The lovely cat sitting in front of the lovely bookshelf Our bookshelf comes from the Scandinavian shop bolia. We have been researching a lot, before buying this one. For me it was very important, to have a bookshelf that can fit books, magazines and records. I also love the colour of the wood. The only problem is its weight, when you need to move...

The lovely grey wall We thought a lot about the right shade of grey for the wall. I think dark walls give a very intimate atmosphere to rooms and give you a very good background for displaying art and playing with light. The fabulous Tiger print on the wall is from the fantastic design shop in Hamburg Human Empire.

The lovely home cinema I really love not having a TV in the living room. I think that they just look pretty ugly, even the wide-screen, expensive ones. The beamer is still in the middle of the room, next to the sofa, but I think that you can much easily forget it than a big television.  If you have the possibility to hang your beamer in a corner of your room opposite to the screen, you want to project to, it is even better. It really transform the DVD nights in a cinema experience.

What do you think? Do you like grey in general and grey walls in particular too? Do you also hate televisions? What do you think about my wide-angle lens? the room looks huge doesn't it? I am sure that estate agent use that type of lens when they do pictures of a flat to make it bigger!

Speak to you soon!

Elodie

Minibibo - mini white sculptures from Hamburg

Tonight I writing a post, I have been wanting to write for ages. Do you remember the white dinner in Hamburg?  I discovered the Minibibo during the white dinner as they were decorating the big table just next to mine. The "Minibibo Miniaturen" are a creation of Sylke Fischöder alias dekofysch. These white sculptures are kept under a cloche and illuminated with LED and the light intensity can be controlled by a remote control. This one is calles "Scene to eat"  This one is called "Speisenaufzug" (Food Elevator)

and this one is my favorite one: It is called the "Hamburger Kessel" (Hamburg Kettel). It just looks cute and poetic with all the animals, but it is based on a true story. Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations. It involves the formation of large  cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely prevented from leaving. During a demonstration by anti-nuclear protestors in Hamburg on 8 May 1986, Hamburg Police cordoned approximately 800 people into a "kettle" for several hours. The sculpture is a poetic reference to this political event.

If you like this sculpture, you can get in touch with Sylke, through her Facebook Fanpage: Minibibo on Facebook

toc-toc-toc! or why curiosity is wonderful sometimes.

Do you know the French magazine toc-toc-toc! ? toc-toc-toc! is the French way of saying knock knock and it also a new French magazine from Sophie Denux, exploring the interior of creative people.I received lately the 6th issue of the magazine from the online shop Line+Liv, the only retailer in Germany. Don't worry if you can't speak French: The magazine comes with a little booklet with the translated interviews in English. I love the size of the magazine (17 x 24 cm) and the beautiful photos inside. The idea is not new, I have been a fan for a long from the publications of the Japanese editor Paumes, showing the interior of creative people or family in different countries of the world. Online I also love The Selby and the German FvF. But let's have a look at toc-toc-toc! tonight!

In this issue, there is a portrait of

• the French stylist Aurélie Lécuyer and her home in the countryside next to Nantes.

• Valérie Gentil from the French online grocery shop beau et bon
• Charlotte Desmullier & Elise Durand Wallon from the French label Rockmafia
• The dutch label TAS-KA

Photography: Sophie Denux

Morgenthau - absolutely beautiful shop!

Morgenthau is one of the lovely lovely interior design shops in Hamburg that madame love is in love with! The shop owner used to work as a stylist for the advertising industry - and she definitely has a sharp eye for what works and what doesn't. This shop is just cinematographic, and each corner tells a story.I love the atmosphere inside the shop and the beautiful dark colour of the walls. At Morgenthau, you will find some expensive as well as some affordable design pieces, furniture, interior accessories and lamps. The style of the shop makes me think of the brilliant British interior designer Abigail Ahern and her love for dark backgrounds. You should go to Morgenthau if you are looking for something unusual for your interior. One thing I can assure you: you will not think that you have seen the things in the shop in 50 other interior design shops before. When I visited the shop on Saturday, I had a very nice talk with the shop owner who had just come back from Paris where she visited the biggest interior design fair "maison & objet" and she told me that she ordered some pretty cool stuff there, and I should come back to visit the shop again with the new decoration - and I can tell you: I can't wait. This shop is like a film set - it tells a story one day, and a completely different one on the next day.

Morgenthau Facebook Fanpage Weidenalle 4 20357 Hamburg Mo. - Fr. : 11:00 - 19:00 Sat.            : 11:00 - 16:00

red carnation trio

So - now I am back from my short stay in France. I stayed in Lyon and visited some dear friends and my cousin and spent the weekend in the Auvergne for the wedding of my oldest friend. It was really nice!The first thing I did when I came back was buying flowers. You know me! I think that a flat always looks a bit sad when you come back from a holiday and flowers are the best antidote against sadness! I used the pretty vases I bought in the lovely Lieblingszimmer shop and decorated one of them with some washi tape. I am usually not a big fan of carnations but I really got inspired by the intensity of their colours and I used the wonderful French fabric from Petit Pan as a backdrop for my pictures.

My perfect Sunday

Last weekend I made a discovery that I want to share with you. I met Wiebke and discovered her lovely shop in the Isestrasse 86 in Hamburg, Eppendorf: My perfect Sunday. She asked herself: what makes a perfect Sunday? It can be a trip to the countryside, time with your family or time for yourself. Sunday is a day that tells stories about yourself. Sunday is all about taking a break.

My perfect Sunday in Hamburg has understood this concept and offers a range of objects from all over Europe and overseas that help you tell your story of your perfect Sunday and make your home more homely and cosy.

Wiebke also sells her own home and nightwear collection “crisp” in her shop, with dresses, trousers, shirts, coats and boleros. The soft colours: white, powder or light grey are beautiful and they are made of a very soft organic cotton.

As I am French, I was attracted first by products from French brands such as “La cerise sur le gâteau” from the French designer Anne Hubert. She knows how to combine lovely toile de jouy print or Liberty fabric with neon screenprinting.

You can also find products from British designer Abigael Ahern, such as her famous bulldog lamp that I also saw for the first time in Germany.

So if you are looking for selective and exclusive design and homewear fashion, My perfect Sunday is definitely a place you should visit while in Hamburg.  In the coming weeks there will be some very cool give-aways from “My perfect Sunday” to win on my blog, so stay tuned!

My Perfect Sunday Isestrasse 86 20149 Hamburg

Sneak peek - purple beauties

Hello,Today is such a lovely sunny morning in Hamburg! I wanted to post my new flower arrangement, in the new beautiful vases I bought last week at "Lieblingszimmer" and at Palais XIII- but I am running out of time and I still need time to prepare the pictures. So here you can get a glimpse of these purple beauties, and maybe guess which flowers I used... Speak to you soon.

My favourite room

Lieblingszimmer (favourite room) is a fantastic furniture shop in Hamburg Eppendorf. It is a bit hidden from the main road on the Ludolfstrasse 60. The shop sells antic furnitures and accessoires in pastel colours. From gustavian grey to pale green in the provencal style. You almost have the impression to be in the middle of a french vintage patisserie surrounded by beautiful macarons.The antic furnitures either have kept their original patina or have been renovated in the workshop. The total surface of the shop is 170 m2 and you can find almost every kind of furnitures - from bedside tables to cupboards or vintage vases. I especially like the vintage kitchen table. It is the perfect place to go if you want some furnitures with a soul but still at an affordable price.

red roses and balkan music

I transformed my kitchen in a studio again this week end.I seam to be going through a rose phase at the moment. I found some very pretty dark red roses on my way home on Friday and I think they just look gorgeous. What do you think? I also pretty excited, because I am going to see two of my favorite bands tonight: Boban i Marko Markovic and Fanfare Ciacorlia - during the Balkan Brass Battle at the Museum der Arbeit open air. Maybe, this will bring you in the balkan mood too:

Nordlys - scandinavian design in Hamburg

You know I like Hamburg because it is so design orientated. I also like it because it has a lot of Scandinavian influences. In some small shops like Nordlys, I have got the impression to be in the city centre of Copenhagen! This very pretty shop is situated in the Görnerstrasse 4, in Hamburg, Eppdendorf.They sell some  pretty brands such as Bloomingville, Green Gate , Liv or Rice. You can also find a large selection of ribbans - that are really gorgeous as well aa a selection of pretty clothes. You can also drink a a nice Milchkaffee in the shop. The good thing is that the shop is also open on the Sunday. You can't miss the danish flag at the entrance

When you go - you have to have a look at the back of the shop to see the two beautiful cats of the shop owner having a nap in their wooden basket through the window

Görnerstrasse 4