SUNDAZE_ Lies Mertens

sundaze - lies mertens - hannelore veelaert for au pays des merveilles-17

Sundaze is all about that Sunday feeling, with no obligations, only endless possibilities.  Whether your day off is on an actual Sunday or any other day of the week: everybody knows and loves that feeling.  In this topic, I document inspirational people on their day off.  How we spend the day is up to them, no obligations, remember?  Through this topic, I intend to see the city through their eyes, but also find out a little bit more about what drives this person in their daily life.  The first person to offer a peek into her life, is Lies Mertens, a 25 year old graphic designer and leather accessory designer located in Antwerp, but with a lot of love for travel.

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FRAGMENTS_ Montjuic

FRAGMENTS_ Montjuic by Hannelore Veelaert for Au Pays Des Merveilles
In November I made a short trip to Barcelona with my friend and textile designer Ella De Vos.  We both visited the city a couple of times already, so our plan was to do absolutely nothing but relax.  We needed a few days to escape our busy lives in Antwerp and a few days where nothing was planned but drinking coffee or wine and eating tapas seemed perfect to us.

One particular day, we decided to be a little more adventurous, so we followed this book‘s advice and rented bikes to ride up to Montjuic.  Maybe Definitely a little too ambitious for someone who doesn’t work out regularly (the hill is really steep), so we decided to make stops on the way up instead of on the way down, like our city guide recommended.   This still is quite an effort, but the views you get along the way definitely make up for it.

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PRETTY THINGS: go green

pretty things: go green via au pays des merveilles

Since the Belgian weather isn’t really co-operating on giving us some spring, we have to do it ourselves, by bringing some green into our homes for instance.

  1. I love this ‘living wall’ created by urban landscaper Kari Elwell Katzander of Mingo Design.  Gives you some green, some light and some privacy.  Perfect.  More photos of this house here.
  2. These concrete planters seem like an easy DIY, but if you’re a bit lazy: you can also buy them at Joanna Wojtkowiak’s etsy.
  3. Jeremie Egry and Aurelien Arbet did a series called Underground, consisting of plants growing in the most unlikely places, such as these books, a cap and a jean jacket.
  4. You can use this mobile prism as is, but it is also the perfect size to hold air plants.  I’m kind of confused about what exactly air plants might be (or more exactly, what they live from), but it looks really pretty.  You can buy this ‘Himmeli’ (referring to the finish tradition of celebrating the winter solstice and serving as a means of good fortune for the future, Himmeli is swedish for sky, or heaven) here.
  5. Textile designer Isabel Wilson lives in a gorgeous home filled with plants, and -as they always do- freunde von freunden captured it beautifully.  More here.
  6. Beautiful hanging vases by textile and fashion designer Jurgen Lehl.
  7. These hanging copper and brass vases by The Workshop Gallery are handcrafted.  So beautiful.
  8. What about these wonderful concrete and steel vases that do a pretty good job keeping your single flower straight?

More ideas can be found in this and this old post, or in my pinterest.

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TAPADA DAS NECESSIDADES

Tapada das necessidades is where during september outjazz took place.  I’ve showed you this park when it was filled with people, music and a wonderful atmosphere, but when there’s no festival going on, it’s a place-to-be as well.  In some places you feel like you’re in a jungle, and then there’s that old greenhouse and other abandoned buildings waiting for you to be discovered.

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PRETTY THINGS: go green

  1. AlissaRose sells gorgeous succulent cork magnets on etsy for a very fair price.  Too bad she only ships within America!  (source)
  2. Bart & Pieter, two garden architects, show their gorgeous home, overflowing with plants, on coffeeklatch.
  3. Succulents in cute color blocked pots, an easy DIY if you ask me.  (source)
  4. Clara Balaguer, who is a design thinker, lives in a wonderful home in Manila, The Philippines. “ I took all the dying plants from the garden downstairs, no one really goes there because it’s so full of mosquitoes. And I put them upstairs next to my mom’s old Jesus statues, so they’d actually have something to pray about.”  (source)
  5. Hanging test tube vases, available here.  (source)
  6. Outdoor shower in doug aitken’s home.  (source)
  7. Floral wall at a café, spotted by Geneva from a pair and a spair.
  8. A vertical garden made from recycled pallets.  (source)
  9. Lily‘s home, where plants are carefully protected.  (source)

Take a look here for the first edition of ‘PRETTY THINGS: go green’.

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PRETTY THINGS: go green

If you’re following me on facebook, you’ve probably already seen this photo of the view I had from behind my desk while studying.  The lovely weather we had a few weeks ago inspired me to add some fresh flowers from the garden next to my hyacinth (a gift from a friend) and my sanseveria cilindricum (bought in ikea).  (The red glass and pot on the right are also from ikea, the mug is from our local thrift shop and the glass jar was found in the kitchen.)  Because I love this green view so much, I figured I’d gather all of the interior decoration featuring plants I have been collecting over time.  Here they are!

  1. Herbs in colorful marimekko mugs at the home of weekday carnival.
  2. Cute cacti, as seen on goesting.
  3. Super pretty terrarium, available here.
  4. Fellow fellow‘s diy planters.
  5. Lucy and Stephen’s wonderful glasshouse.
  6. Most beautiful matches I could ever imagine, designed by Karou Mende and found through jokemijn.
  7. Wallflower vases by  Gitta Gschwendtner, as seen on dezeen.
  8. I might not be the biggest neon fan, but this plant hanger stole my heart.
  9. Coral vase.
  10. A pair and a spare gathered many indoor plant ideas, including these framed plants.

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