Collection | Embellishments

Flowers are to a door what butter is to a baguette. Does that make sense?

We found this little greenhouse in the garden of Chateau de la Rue in the Loire region. There were potted blooms in abundance around the Orangerie where we had the pleasure to spend a couple of nights.

From tamed bushes to roses gone wild.

Especially in dark alleys it pays off to hang some flowers by the door.

The geranium is one of the most popular flowers found around the house.

And when pots break, flowering herbs appear.

Then the mosses take over.

And the ferns start growing on the doorstep.

Collection | Green

Oops, I skipped a week. Which doesn't seem to matter, because nobody sees my blog anyway. But for my own sake I would like to keep browsing through my collection of doors and group them together. 

This week the theme is GREEN, reflecting the climate summit in Paris. I wish I would live more sustainable, but as it stands now we drive, we fly, we shower every day, we put our laundry in a dryer and produce a lot of waste. In the Summer we always go to France where we camp and try to reduce our footprint a little bit.

These doors have nothing to do with the climate, but they're so pretty.

Although they do show that when we don't take care of our home, they fall apart. 

I so hope this little boy - my lovely son - and his children will have a healthy earth to live on.

Collection | Details

Welcome!

Today I'll be sharing details of doors that I photographed in France over the past years.

At every brocante I am looking for a door knocker like this hand but no luck so far. Then I bumped into this ogre! Very welcoming. Not sure I would want it on my door...

Lovely crocheting on display in this door. I am still figuring out the pattern.

Detail of one of the many carved doors at Azay-le-Rideau.

I think my stepfather once told me these hands were chopped off disobedient girls. I found that not hard to believe at all. 

I thought I'd be at the end of my collection by now, but I actually have many more doors to share. Hope you enjoy.

Collection | French doors in blue

Some people were interested in more photos of French doors, so here you are. This time I chose only pictures with a lot of blue in it.

This one is a bit out of focus, yet I couldn't resist sharing it.

No blue doors here, but don't you love the fuchsia plastic flower garlands against the deep blue sky? It was very hot that day in August...

One of the many abandoned houses in the old city center of Montluçon (Allier, Auvergne).

I don't remember where I took this picture, but it was somewhere south of Paris and north of Marseilles. 

Next time I'll show you the rest of my door collection.

Collection | French doors

When in France, there are many thing I can't resist. For example a fresh baguette with salted butter. Or a provincial market with fresh produce. Honey, garlic and olive oil. Castles, ruines and churches. And doors... I can never walk past a door and not take a picture.

This little collection has been photographed in several regions of France in over a decade.

The Périgord is one of my favorite regions.

I love city doors as much as country doors.

But I love them especially with some flowers on the side.

Let me know if you would like to see more.

Inspiration comes in many shapes

Some of the things that inspire me - to be happy, to be satisfied, to create new things, to go to work or to just be - are the littlest things.

A big latte with some crackers and a book in my favorite spot in the garden.

The North Sea (or any sea or ocean for that matter - this one happens to be near by).

The smell of white laundry drying in the sun.

Coffee and cake with my love at Mandelahuisje overlooking Het IJ.

The sea of sunflowers on Museumplein. 

Watching my son playing with water in the beautiful garden of the Rijksmuseum. One of Amsterdam's best kept secrets...

What are the things that inspire you?

Four seasons in Vondelpark Amsterdam

Those of you who follow me on Instagram or Facebook will probably remember seeing these pictures before. You also might remember I am taking them to keep myself occupied while practising my daily walks. 

Today I realized I have been walking almost every workday for a whole year now.

I thought it would be fun to choose a landscape for every season.

Even though the Vondelpark is not a very big park, every season still offers totally different pictures. And now it's Spring again and nature is waking up. If you want to see it progress, follow me here or here.