MY INDUSTRIAL COTTAGE HOME

My boyfriend and I are planning on getting our own apartment. I've already pinned millions of pictures about my dream interior. There are some industrial elements in it and on the other hand some romantic cottage detailing. You could say that those styles won't match together but I'm here to prove you wrong. I'm calling it my industrial cottage home.

Modern industrial interior is about showing all that lies beneath. From rustic exposed finishes and  structural elements to industrial inspired lighting. This style emerged from people buying old or abandoned warehouses, factories and barns and turning them into modern homes, commercial spaces and office spaces. I'm truly in love with this style for all its details: exposed brick walls, steel columns, bare beams, worn painted metal, bare bulbs, earthy wood, concrete floors, vintage furniture,...

Even though i'm inspired by an industrial interior I sometimes feel that it's more appropriate for a commercial space or an office. A pure industrial home can be very manly and a bit cold. That's why I love to give it a more feminine vibe by adding romantic cottage detailing.

Cottage interior is all about the love for a cozy, family friendly and warm environment. It's a mixture of light colors, comfortable materials and soft fabrics. A cottage interior doesn't have to be an expensive interior, you can buy a second hand table or closet and repaint them in the typical cottage colors. When you think cottage colors you see sandy beiges, broken whites and of course a little bit of positively grey.

But yet again a pure cottage home is a bit too much for me. So that is why I'm opting for a combination of the two, an industrial cottage home. I'm taking the cottage colors and warmth and I'm mixing it up with structural and rustic elements. I hope you'll love it as much as I do.

WINTER AIN'T OVER

Even though I can't wait for spring to arrive, I'm enjoying the winter breeze that still chills the air. March is around the corner but I swear that yesterday I saw some snowflakes in Ghent! So I'm dedicating this blogpost to Mother Winter and those coats and jackets who aren't yet ready to be boxed and put in the back of our closets..

Fur jackets

By now you must know that I love a little bit of fluff. If it's a cosy bomber jacket, a jacket with some fluffy detailing or a full on fur coat, I love it! I really feel like a lot of girls stept out of their comfort zone this winter and bought a fur coat or jacket. Everywhere I went I saw a little fashionista making winter a bit fancier. 

Shearling coats 
But not only fur was hot this winter, a lot of fashionistas wore a shearling jacket. If you have one I'm sure you'll find it a great investment. Not only are they fashionable, they are also practical and comfy! Every time I see one it brings me back to an old picture of my mom in her twenties wearing a shearling coat. I wish I could get my hands on that one..

Oversized parka

Nobody can do wrong with a great parka. It's just so easy and perfect for Belgian weather. Especially the oversized parka's were a fashion hit this autumn/winter. After the Yeezy fashion show a lot of girls started wearing the camo oversized jacket. The trick to stay warm with an oversized parka is layers. You can pile on shirts and sweaters and still have enough room for movement.

GORGEOUS INSTAGRAMMERS SHARE THEIR SKI PICTURES

In a few days I'm going on a skitrip to La Plagne with 8 other girls. I've been so looking forward to this trip! All last week I've been scrolling through Instagram to get some inspiration on what to wear. There were so many gorgeous pictures I decided to share them on my blog. 

@lovelypepa

She is one of my favorite Instagrammers and is always so fashionable but at the same time very natural. Because she is my age I feel like she is very relatable. I really wish I had her closet! Here you can see the beautiful pictures she shared from her skitrip to GrandValira Soldeu.

@mija_mija

The pictures Mirjan Flatau shares are really my cup of tea. They're very artistic and inspiring. The landscape pictures she shared from her South Lake Tahoe trip made me daydream about my trip to La Plagne.

 @ninauc
Another Instagrammer I admire is Nina Urgell Cloquell. The dark haired beauty is just so flawless: all smiles and very natural. I love her style, it is very minimal chic. Here are some of my favorite winter pictures she posted on her Instagram page.

@yolandahfoster

I really look up to Yolandah Foster. Even though she is struggling with Lyme disease - just like my dad - she enjoys life and being with her family. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star is truly an inspirational woman and of course a brilliant mother to supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid. She always shares happy family memories and I like that. Here are some pictures of their latest skitrip. 

CELEBRITIES AND THEIR CRAZY CHRISTMAS OUTFITS

You can say I'm Christmas obsessed. Even so that this year I organized a Christmas Birthday Party. It wasn't a fancy dress kind of party. Everybody went Bridget Jones crazy on their outfits. The crazier, the better! I wore a funny Christmas jumper and a Santa headband.

But I'm not the only one who loves this holiday. A lot of celebrities went Christmas crazy with me. I grouped some of my favorite Christmas looks!

Let's start with the Christmas Jumpsuits. The winner in this category was without a doubt Khloe Kardashian. The cute pictures of her and her niece and nephew in matching Christmas jumpsuits were a like bomb on Instagram. 

This year a lot of celebrities chose wacky accessories. As you can see I wore a funny Christmas Headband at my Christmas Birthday Party. Clearly celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Josje Coos got the same memo I got. 

A must in your Christmas closet is an Ugly Christmas Sweater. Your Christmas party wouldn't be the same without it! It's so sad that Miley Cyrus, The Osbournes, David Beckham and Kate Hudson couldn't make it to my Christmas Birthday Party because they clearly understood the dress code. 

Lucky for some celebrities it's impossible to be on the worst dressed list when it comes to Christmas outfits. This year some celebrities were on a higher Christmas note than I was. Let's call them the Cuckoo Christmas Outfits! Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor and Miley Cyrus felt like there were no limits to a Christmas look. At least they are feeling the Christmas spirit! 

Only during this holiday I'm positively colorful! 

Best wishes to you and your family!

OH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, LIGHT UP THE TREES

It's that time of the year again.. This weekend a lot of people decorated their Christmas trees. I wanted to be one of them but I had a dilemma: What type of Christmas tree do I want this year? So as usual I did a search on Pinterest for Christmas tree inspirations. Some ideas are so creative and beautiful that I decided to share them on my blog. 

Of course I had to start with a gorgeous Grey Christmas Tree. The grey-white ombre effect of this tree makes it a little bit kitschy but oh so special. If you have a real tree this effect is fairly easy to create with a grey and a white spray paint. 

A second series of trees that I want to share are what I call the Wooden Christmas Trees. You don't decorate a real tree but a wooden creation. With the right amount of Christmas ornaments and lights the wooden trees come to life. 

But what about the people who live in a small apartment and don't have the space to put a ginormous Christmas tree? The answer is: Christmas Wall Trees. You can decorate your wall with paper, pictures, flowers, ornaments, garlands and lights. By putting the decorations in the shape of a Christmas tree you create a very original and festive wall. 

All that remains for me to say is: Merry Christmas!!

IT’S SO FLUFFY I’M GONNA DIE

I’m hoping those rainy days will soon turn into cold winter days. Belgium is such a rainy country so at the moment the weather is depressing and the cheerful atmosphere of winter isn’t here yet. But hopefully I'll wake those weather gods with this blogpost.  

What’s not to love about winter: Christmas lights in the streets, a glass of cava at the Christmas market and cozying up to each other under a fluffy blanket.

Speaking of fluffy, I’m pulling all my fluffy jackets and cardigans out of my closet because this winter I’m going all in. The bigger the better! The fluffy jacket will be the masterpiece of my winter outfit. Underneath it I will wear a loose t-shirt and a skinny jeans. It slims your body down and doesn’t make you look like J. Sullivan from Monster & co. Put a sneaker underneath it et voila, you’ve got a remarkable winter look. 

I'M POSITIVELY GREY

Ladies and gentlemen, I took the plunge! The blog I was always too afraid to write, is now online..

As a student digital marketing and communications I finally got that extra push I needed to start this exciting project. What I didn’t realize beforehand is how difficult it is to find a silver lining for a blog. I knew I was going to write about fashion-beauty-lifestyle but how could I differentiate my blog from all those other blogs?

I started scrolling through my Pinterest and those of others. What triggered my attention was the amount of grey outfits, grey furniture, grey hair,.. I pinned on my boards. You name it, I have it in grey. Sadly a grey mouse has a negative connotation to it. I saw it as my mission to prove that a grey mouse isn’t necessarily a boring or indecisive person.

So in the end I choose for a grey lining instead of a silver one …

To show you the beauty grey beholds I share this mood board:

https://nl.pinterest.com/cherylkrekels/
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