The House Whisperer

Archive for the ‘Housewhispering’ Category

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BEFORE AND AFTER.

In Decoration, Housewhispering on 12/05/2012 at 11:30

A living and dining room needed a make over and my client wanted a more minimal approach of her interior.The only new item that we bought are the 3 chauffeuses that we put together to make a large sofa. All the other furniture comes from other rooms or from their house at the seaside. As for example the Pierre Paulin chairs and the danish inspired coffee table.

LIVING ROOM.

DINING ROOM.

I had the walls painted in a light grey colour that is constantly changing with the different sources of light.

The Venitian blinds were removed and the Oriental carpets were rolled up and put in the attic together with the furniture we didn’t use anymore.

The antique parquet de Versailles is now visible in all his splendor  and the room breaths a contemporary air.

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Cushions

In Colours, Decoration, Housewhispering on 21/03/2012 at 00:18

Whilst in Ibiza last week, I was doing some shopping for the new bedroom in my friends house.

In a beautiful shop in Ibiza town I discovered these patterned and quite bold cushions and I wanted some for the house.

It is a change from the kelim pillows that are thrown to your head in every decoration shop.

And some went home on the new bed cover in the brand-new bedroom

Over this bedroom I show pics before and after in a later post.

Thanks for reading my post

Benoit.

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VACATION HOME IN IBIZA.

In Colours, Decoration, Housewhispering, I like on 20/03/2012 at 18:58

Since some years I spent a lot of holidays in this very pretty vacation home in the hills of Ibiza.My friends Miriam and Jan are perfect hosts and we are always on the run in antiques shops and markets to find objects that are Morrocan inspired and from ethnic origine.

I show here a selection of pictures that show the atmosphere of the house.

Morrocan pottery in the kitchen

Moroccan pottery in the kitchen.

Still life on the kitchen counter.

Entrance hall.

One of the bathrooms.

One of the colourful bedrooms.

MY WEBSITE.

In Housewhispering, Quick tips on 27/01/2012 at 19:21

At last, my website is online, as by miracle. I am proud of it as I did everything by my own without help, only a little bit from the helpdesk.

I have written the text mainly in Dutch and some English.As I intend to work most of the time in Belgium. A lot to declutter and rearrange in Flanders and elsewhere.

www.thehomewhisperer.com

House in Ibiza.

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CHANGE THE STUFF AROUND.

In Decoration, Housewhispering on 03/01/2012 at 18:39

My friend Cloo invited me for lunch a while ago and we began talking about houses, our common passion and, me always curious, I was looking around and thinking of eventual changes to make, I began mentally to put away objects, to import some from other rooms and to regroup in a more coherent way objects and furniture.

At dessert time she asked me some advice for little changes to do. Well, when someone asks me such a question I need and want to be honest and I asked her if she had a bit time to let me do a little creative work around the house and she had the sparkle in her eye and gave me carte blanche and a strong coffee,

I see immediately when entering a room what is wrong and what doesn’t work. It is quite easy for me to look with a fresh eye.

before

after, a branch in the vase is still missing.

I always have the general setting in my mind, but begin always to work from a corner of the room and complete the entire room bit by bit, What is absolute taboo is to put some object or whatever else in the already finished part. It is like a scratch on the canvas.

before

after

before

after

after

before

after

Well here you see some small interventions in the dining room.

In the next post I will show you pictures of some changes in the living room.

A bientôt. I need strong coffee.

The housewhisperer.

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House whispering.

In Housewhispering on 16/10/2011 at 23:40

 

just moved in a year ago

I really like to go into peoples houses and look around and think what I would change. It is funny that with the same things in one house you can make so many different decors. The best place to practise is my home. I like to work under stress and I create my own. The only one I, in fact that I enjoy.I need to have a clear head before working on an article or now making plans for the Classica Biennale. And a clear head means a clear surrounding. I know that this sounds crazy but it only sounds like that. I clean before I work. no I don’t scrub floors or do loads of washing, NOOOOO……. Je fais le menage around moi. Clean desk who for the moment is a large round table. I can not work on a round table,It is painted in a soft grey, I can not work on dark surfaces. and it is quite messy up here, I can not work in messy spaces, but I have to make an exception for once. It is preparation for the fair.  So in my head a valuable excuse. But my apartment is reduced to its maximum that I can bare.

spring

No colour, only whites and off whites,natural materials. some black but still no colour, in bedroom red carpet.and much black. and I still whisper around to chase the superflu. the things one really don’t need. John just bought me a microwave.thanks darling.I made space to put it ,but not in the kitchen. I emptied the kitchen cupboards to put all the visible things in it . So no more things on top, except a bit dust and breadcrumbs that the Dyson can’t reach.

a month ago

It is so wonderful to have place to sit and work on the tablet near the window as the light is so wonderful this time of year and especially now. low and a little pinkish, coming through the windows, reflected by neighbouring windows. It is everywhere. Such a warm light  me so happy, clean house , clean head et voila me writing as crazy.

tonight

 

And Cheryl Cole singing  in the background. The same 7 songs for hours. I enjoy my thoughts and writing. I have no pics of the kitchen, not really worth it, better in reality. And as I never cook I don’t want it to look to much as a kitchen too. Yes I eat, but I hate cooking. I have friends, Yes, they come for a drink and then I invite them in one of Bruges fritures, hahahaha. Yes Bruges has the best and most posh friture of Belgium.. CHEZ VINCENT. Or I take them also in restaurants. Bruges has so many good ones. Anyway I enjoy receiving my friends for a drink, but no cooking, no dirty dishes,no disagreable odours,no washing of pans and spots of spaghetti sauce on the floors and no endless waiting in front of the coffee machine till everyone is served with an expresso  except the one friend who wants an infusion ,but no place for the water cooker as all surfaces are taken by empty plates and dirty glasses, panic and sweating……

Some more pics of the Transition commode (new) that I would like to sell. 750 euro

mix and ... match it is all in feelings.

 

the squief wall is from the chimney. squief is schuin in het engels ;-)

 

marvellous light in the beginning of the afternoon with the house I live in the background, the one with the half round window.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

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House whispering.

In Housewhispering, Uncategorized on 16/10/2011 at 17:42

A client where I did the house for  about 15 years ago asked me to do some changings in her house without buying new items or redo completely.So I thought: lets HOUSE WHISPER this house and change bits and pieces to give it a fresher look. I began in the morning to run around in the house( 4 levels) and as I saw again all the rooms, ideas came to my mind how to do the rooms on the ground floor.

ELIMINATION.

It is in fact a crazy thing, but for years I have been buying and selling furniture for my clients and for myself and now I am in the state of mind that less is easy as well for the eye as for the head. I see immediately when coming in a room what should change and certainly what would go. From now on I will travel with a big container and empty ,eliminate in the houses of my clients and take everything to Charity shops or Krinkelwinkels. We have too much stuff. Things we never use, things we bought, because buying is a pleasant thing. Things we received from ……….. you know what I mean.

So I was in Line’s house and without any help and confining Line to the kitchen (a big one tough) I started to shuffle ,change, ELIMINATE and put objects and furniture in different places. I had some help at a certain moment from a handyman and then at the end of the day I released Line and she had an inspection and liked what I did, no big changes, but the house seemed so much lighter.

Entrance before

 

Entrance after

 

Entrance before

 

Entrance after

 

Library before

 

Library after

 

Library after

 

library before

 

Library after

 

Library after

Just some pics of the house.Whether the reader does like the house or not is not important for me. I just want to show that with subtle changes in a room the ambiance can feel better. It is not evident to show this through a microscopic lens when taking pics trying to show the reality that you see in front of you and you’re moving in. I will ask Santa Claus for a good camera that I will never have with me when I need it. Or Apple to enhance the quality of their Iphone. Or maybe me taking pictures quietly .

Ciao

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CLASSICA FAIR 2011

In Collecting, Fairs and Musea, Furniture, Housewhispering, I like on 16/09/2011 at 06:58

From 5 till 13 november 2011 the 4 edition of the Classica lifestyle , decoration fair will be held in the Xpo Halls in Kortrijk Belgium.

I will be a participant with my new concept THE HOUSEWHISPERER and share a booth with my partner John in COLLECTIONSOF.

The board of direction asked me to be in their commity and do the scenography of the exhibition around the theme of this year. THE CHAIR. So I am very busy in a creative way and try to visualise and explain what is that vision, visuality in my head. I have always had a passion for chairs and I have always bought and sold chairs from all origins. So of course I am honored and thrilled to show and most preferably, let feel to the public the connection that chairs from today have with chairs of the past.the way we look and should look at chairs. I would like to show that for designers it is very difficult to create something that is just new and has no value of references in the past. The use of different materials for a same shape throughout the centuries.

My favourite chair is without doubt the TULIP chair by Eero Saarinen. This for being the most elegant chair to look at and to be one of the most comfortable chair ever. In everything, the curves,material, colour white or black and the beautiful timeless fabrics,the finesse of this elegant chair reaches near perfection.

I invite you to share a moment of playfulness with me from the 5th till the 13th november.

thank you very much for reading me.

Benoit

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LA RENTREE

In Collecting, Decoration, Housewhispering, Objects on 13/09/2011 at 15:58

Time to start again working on my blog. It has been a nice and uncomplicated summer, holiday in Ibiza and I spend a lot of time at the seaside in Knokke Le Zoute and voila we are back and already half september.And back into business.

I started to take my new concept in practice and began to ”HOUSEWHISPER”  in some beautiful places throughout Flanders.Some friends were moving from one house to another and they asked me to choose the furniture and hang their collection of art and also to place their collections of objects. I went to their previous homes to make a choice of furniture, paintings and objets d’arts and then worked for 2 days alone with a helping hand to hang the paintings and place the furniture. I like to work alone and get the rhythm of the house listen to my favourite programs on the radio and not being disturbed not even by the telephone.

Here I Show you some quick pictures that I took with my Iphone, Bon not of the best quality but still good enough to give an idea.

The decoration of the house was done by my great friend Isabelle Reynders.

The beginning.

Mise en place.

In preparation, walls above fire place need to be painted in a soft shade.

Books need to be added yet.

 

Books will come soon.

 

Collection of mono chromatic Chinese porcelain.

Mix of styles in the dining room.

I still need a lamp above the table.

Work by Panamarenko.

 

 

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