today’s special sneak peek comes to us from dutch lawyer-turned-designer/artist, marieke berghuis leewens. you probably know her best from her beautiful journal entries she blogs on treats & treasures. i first met marieke on a trip to amsterdam, but today she is lucky enough to find herself living in paris, while studying design. you can click here for more, full-sized images of her charming parisian place, and stay tuned for the next edition of the regional roundup: paris at 10am! [merci beaucoup, marieke!] -anne
[Above: We just moved a few months ago from Amsterdam to Paris, to an apartment in the Marais area. The first thing we fell for was the location. There are so many interesting shops around here to peruse. And it's very lively around here with restaurants and bars, even though the street we live in is very calm. I keep finding new treasures to draw around here. . . A little detail we liked from the pictures the estate agent posted, are the blue embellishments everywhere. I would never come up with that myself! But I do like it and it suits the apartment.]
The walls are a bit too white for my taste but it was just done before we moved in, so we didn’t bother to paint. I am glad that the floor is so warm of color to balance it a bit. Another favoriete piece of furniture is the sofa, which is the perfect size. It’s by Danca, which is a Dutch brand too I believe. The work hanging on the wall is by my father. Guy Bourdin and Paris photography books on the glass table.
I love handlettering and this box is kind of perfect I think! Besides something nice to look at, it contains a lot of stuff and it’s the place to look out of the window from, a well loved activity around here.
One of the most difficult pieces of furniture to find, were the dining room chairs. Everything I saw was either beautiful and uncomfortable or comfortable yet ugly. In the end we found these leather chairs by a Dutch brand called Nomada. The table was already in the apartment and I quite like the combination of the old and new, dark and light. The artwork on the wall is a silk fabric appliqué by my mother.
It’s the first apartment I’ve live in with a fireplace. Definitely the second thing we fell for. On top all kinds of photos and small things I like to keep like my old french knitting mushroom and gifts we got for our wedding. . . One of my favorite pieces of furniture is the A1-cabinet for paper. It used to be in my father’s studio and now it holds my archive and all kinds of pieces of paper. On top, I have a bit of working space. Another treasured gift is the fabric box that used to belong to my great grandmother. The first work leaning against the wall is by Christine Thouzeau and is aptly titled “En automne”. The second leaning work is a gift from my blogger friend Gracia Haby. I love the title of Gracia’s work: “A blue faced female black-naped Monarch whispers the secrets of the world to me but I am unimpressed.” The third print you just see a little of, is by Abigail Percy. The big cabinet comes from my parents. The suitcase on top is a vintage find on a fleamarket in Amsterdam.
This apartment is about half the size I was used to in Amsterdam, so quite a lot of books had to move to storage. I am not quite sure yet about the order though, and whether to keep literature and art/design separate or not… I keep changing my mind. It is clear though that there is not much space for purchasing! Difficult with so many great bookstores here in Paris, like the bookstore in Centre Pompidou. The books are guarded by Artis de Partis, the charming mascot of the Amsterdam zoo.
My desk is an old table that is also coming from my parents’ house. On there is besides some Apple equipment, a journal from Muji, an El Casco stapler, and a mug and a plate by Le Petit Atelier de Paris.
