What can I say - sometimes life is a bit uneventful and sometimes you are just double booked for fun things to do. Counting back to last weekend there was the lovely Easter brunch and Easter egg hunts, there is two weekends in a row Finnish school for kids, miss Anaïs just had her first Chinese speech contest in the class (after a just year of studying or so - you go girl!) and the big contest with nearly 900 kids is on Saturday.

Add there the royal wedding - yes I am planning to take a peek in the middle of the night (not so much different from other nights this week as little twins have been sick and not sleeping), a black tie even (haven't been to one for so many years so got to do some nice shopping) and a Mayday party on Sunday.

Oh yes, and the twins celebrated a year with their nanny and I am attending the CERT training (Community Emergency Response Team) several nights - I felt it would be useful to be able to act and help others if the big earthquake or some other disaster struck here...

So lot of things to do and shopping to prepare!

Finally I managed to find some clotted cream for the cream tea to be enjoyed with the Royal wedding. But it is like the elixir of life here - this tiny container cost a fortune and will be probably good just for two scones or so! And I have never seen before clotted cream that did not require refridgeration, so I am slightly suspicious but hoping for the best...

And here's my lovely dress for the black tie event from the Max Mara spring collection (obviously worn here by a model. I love the dress and wish I would look as good in it too!). Still hunting for the shoes. Max had lovely peep toes that I might get still tomorrow...

 

Trophies for the little Chinese speech contestants...

Miss Anaïs managed to find time to bake goodies for the party following the speech contest too

Twins and their lovely nanny celebrated too. I am still wondering what could I get her as she is one lovely lady!!

I just loved this image when I saw it - the gigantic Oscan in the house. From the lovely FB site of Phillip Jeffries!

I guess this really is a one-off accessory, although I wonder if some movie starts have these in their house to psyche them to better performance and to reach their dreams - the same way athletes do...

image Phillip Jeffries

The felt designs of a young and up-and-coming artist Selina Rose are beautiful. There is the texture, colour and those patterns she cuts.

Soft and delicate-looking. Her wall panels are really innovative and create great artistic centrepieces in a room.

These felt rugs are just so cute

Cute flutterby pillows in lime, pink and orange

what about these custom-made wall panels

These Botanica coasters are so vibrant

images Selina Rose

Hard to believe that this is the dining room of a 250-year old farmhouse on New Jersey. What a fresh seaside-inspired decor - the room is filled with natural tones of whites and creams and light comes through these beautifully restored sash-windows.

A far cry from the little old farmhouses with low-beamed ceilings one often sees!

image Sharps Farm

This house is as modern as one can be - yet I still somehow find something old and romantic in its look. It is rare to find modern houses, or houses on the beach in England, so it is delight to see this one - the Harbour Hide in Dorset.

Whereas most of the houses in California are rather edgy, this one has lot of soft curves, both in the shape of the house, the interior fittings and the furnishing. Add there beautiful beach views and all the mod cons you can think of - including electronic photo chromatic glass and concealed heated swimming pool (for those cold and rainy days).

Final verdict - love it, although the fabric choices in furniture are not quite to my liking.

images Winkworth

Oh how I wish it was true - bubble chairs everywhere - at least in my house. There is something special about the Bubble Chair created by Eero Saarinen already few decades ago.

Despite its' age the design hasn't aged a bit, and it seems to suite in all kinds of decor seamlessly. Even as a napping place for a newborn (yes my dear friend in Switzerland, I love that chair, the snow-capped view of mountains behind it and the photo mentioned of your girl is the cutest ever).

I have collected some nice ideas how other people have used their bubble chairs in the decor. There are some pretty cool ones there!

Even Paris Hilton had one in her house (image MLS)

Lovely modern corner with views to die for - relaxing ball chair to sip wine, listen to the music and look at the city lights

image Homedesigndecorating.com

Fits well in a more eco-styled house too - just a change of cushions does the trick

image Cool and modern furniture

Classic use here with all modern furniture and paintings

image Daring idea

Bubble chairs and what looks like bubbles coming out of the wall. Interesting but a bit psychedelic too

image Houzz

So much height in this room - the bubble here certainly breaks the feel of emptiness

image Home desing decorating

Feeling more romantic here and the bubble still fits the picture

image Elle Decor/ Lisbett Wedendahl

Very bare and minimal, great use of bubbles as they are transparent and don't block the view or the access to the balcony

image Houzz

Great positioning here, fills the hallway space, yet is not on the way. And the symmetry fits with the bubble wall

image Houzz

Lovely outdoor use. Really bubbles everywhere!

image Designer seating

Another bubble places to enjoy the big blue sea

image Johannes Mann

Perfect fit for this black, white and chrome room

image Manhattan Home Design

Cool image, but makes me think of spaceships...

image Marctimes

Another modern setup, yet the accessories and rug give it a more feminine feel

image Manhattan Home Design

Contemporary take on barn cum loft living, again the bubble is great to breaking the monotony in terms of room height

image Yoo

If you ignore the nearly naked lady, this Insa&Rousseau collaboration of the bubble is pretty cool - especially in the nighttime

image Insaland

And I just could not resist this lounge filled with ball chairs, the "cousins" of the bubbles...

image m-furniture

The global fever on the royal wedding in the United Kingdom seems to warming up, and I just might join the party. The Royal Wedding channel on Youtube will start broadcasting at 10 am local time, which equals 2pm here on the US West Coast.

image Foundation DNB

If you are in really high spirits,  this could be a great cake challenge to tackle...

image Fine Art America

image Hurriyet Daily News

And who could go wrong with some bunting, even London streets have been dressed for the event, and this certainly spruces up the otherwise rather grey views.

Keeping that in mind it is too early to enjoy a typical English breakfast the perfect solution seems to be a cream tea party as it's never bad time to have a cup of tea and baked goodies - fresh scones, clotted cream, you name it!

image kenwick-park.co.uk

 

Today's inspiration reflects the "big royal event" of the year. How cute is this wedding dressing corner with the royal crown wallpaper?

This kind of room certainly should set the mood right for any bride and help her to feel like the princess for the day!

image Style at Home

When the babies are little the parents often celebrate those little milestones of 1 month, 3months and so on. Since my little twins will be soon two, this little blog is the "newcomer" in the family, and today we are celebrating 3-month anniversary of house of anaïs!

The very first day I had three visitors and by far there has been 22 000 unique visitors, so thank you all for that! It has been great getting feedback comments and being retweeted and mentioned on other blogs.

You can also follow House of Anaïs on twitter @houseofanais or like us on Facebook at House of Anaïs.

How cute is this bling birthday cake - clearly outside my skill set except maybe sticking some bling in my own creations (normally I do the best a fresh strawberry cream cake with fruit filling). image Piece-a-cake

But today I'll let Anaïs pick something from her books to create...

And I wanted to take a look back these three months to see what has been best liked. These are the blogs most liked by the OnSugar network...

This post was about our kids growing and decorating the traditional Easter grass from plain grass seeds (link here)

A lovely kitchen from my daily morning inspiration normally filed under interior (link here)

The amazing transformation of this Swedish house exterior - before and after shots (link here)

Another post from the daily inspirational ones- an eclectic living room of a world traveller (link here)

Most commented post ever as may people wanted to know where to get these little cuties we used to create goody bags for Anaïs birthday (link here)

One of those lovely houses I managed to find, this time in Thailand. Just magnificent! (link here)

A peek into glittery luxury house interior in London created by SHH (link here)

 

Surprisingly, the most popular blog post has been the Real Housewives OC star Alexis Bellino's house - it must be because the Housewive seasons are kicking off again. That house had such a pretty frontage! (link here).

I am happy to see that our renovations have been of great interest too and I will be posting more of those memories soon (here link to our stable conversion).

Lastly comes my favourite post - the very first one! I am really happy I started blogging, but it took some time before I actually took that first step...

LInk to Welcome to the house of Anaïs

 

 

 

 

 

This time of the year it is hard not to think about beaches and seaside decor - especially as all these cute accessories keep coming up.

Just lovely centrepieces for side tables or coffee tables... All these cuties are found in the selection of just one store, the Z Gallerie.

Seashell candle rings

Extra large clam shell

Shell branch

 

Shell spheres

Shell gift bags

Faux fossilised shell

Glass oyster shell bowl

Shells in glass jars

Food cover with shells

 

..or something bit less traditional - an electric shell print

images Z Gallerie

How cool is this Miami house owned by Lil Wayne? He only bought it last year for $14 M and it is now on the market for $12.9 - sounds like another Nicholas Cage type of deal, although the loss in this case might be only around 10% or so. According to Zillow Lil Wayne owes several millions is taxes, and that could be the reason for the property going on the market.

This La gorge Island property neighbours with many other celebrities and boasts of 9 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and a separate guest house totalling 15101 sq ft (or 1400m2). And there is also a glass elevator and plenty of seaside frontage for the little yacht and other toys. Pretty grand indeed!

I like especially the cream polished floors and the all-chrome kitchen (but am thinking all those fingerprints one needs to wipe...). The views are amazing, but what is it with the toilet and shower areas - clear glass windows to bedrooms. That does not seem like a great choice to me. Nevertheless, if this was my house I would be sad to have to let it go...

source Zillow

What a beautiful and engaging space this entrance hall is. So often one sees grand entrances, which are just too empty and feel like a waste of space, but that is not the case here. This Hamptons house, decorated by Alexa Hampton is just so inviting and the colours are soft.

The panelling is amazing and I like the way the rug repeats the same pattern, but in a bit darker tone.

image Architectural Digest

Paris Hilton might have sold this house in 2007, but the current owner, who put the house on the rental market for $20000 a month, seems to like looking at these "Parisian" views. The interior is a mix of faux French style combined with some animal prints and a lot of black and white combined with glitter and mirrors - also called the Hollywood Glamour style.

Certainly not as eclectic as the Christina Aquilera house, but not your standard cozy pad either. It actually reminds me a bit of those ANTM houses as there are the "winner's portraits" scattered around. Still, compared to my rental house I would take this in a second if the price was lower and, well, location closer to me...

images Zillow/agent Mauricio Umansky

 

Fresh and airy describes best this country dining room created by designer Joel Snayd. I love the pale colour palette and how the window mullions have been painted a few shades darker to create some depth.

Combined with dark floor planks and some greenery in the room, the modern country feeling is definitely there. Very charming ensemble!

image Joel Snayd/HGTV

Happy Easter everyone! It is time for us to head for a lovely brunch and we have been cooking and baking some treats this morning.

In preparation we organised our own Easter egg hunt at home, and are packing the goodies and heading off the door. Even the sun is occasionally coming out and showing the trees and flowers in full bloom. Feels great!

Getting ready to hide the eggs at home

Rewards for little hunters

Goodies for little ones as desserts

Treats Anaïs made from her new cook book

Anaïs marshmallow pops ready to go - easy recipe as she was able to do pretty much all by herself bar melting the chocolate

How fresh is this room! One can clearly spot some Mediterranean inspirations there with the ached doorways, exposed beam ceiling and whitewashed walls, but some modern accents have been successfully blended in the mix. The red built-in display cases in the back wall are a great idea, and with the mirror-fronted fireplace it is quite clear where the focal point of the room is.

The room has been cleverly organised in two seating areas, where the smaller one next to the fireplace seems like the casual place to be in the evening when the fire is crackling.

To my taste there is maybe a tad too much repeated symmetry in the room with the lamps and position of the chairs - and whereas I like the red coral I would have just used one on the coffee table and added few different accessories of different shape/texture - or even some coffee table books...

Nevertheless, the room is still lovely and those built-in red display cases are just marvelous!

image Houzz

One thing that comes with having kids is the opportunity for new experiences. Anaïs' school participated today in the Family Spring Parade (I have never even seen one before) and since it started almost next door we though we would at least go and watch it. But somehow we ended up participating as a whole family in the parade and the children seemed to enjoy it.

The kids were happy as so much was happening around them and they got balloons, bubbles and little toys from the wheel of fortune. Parents seemed to enjoy the event too as the weather was rather warm and sunny. I think we will going to see other parades in the future too in the neighbouring cities as we have heard of others including pets, old cars and so on.

How pretty and relaxing is this wine country retreat in St. Helena, California. Schneider Design Associates transformed a dated ranch into a contemporary farmhouse which required extensive remodeling of the existing and addition as well as a new guest/pool house.

Lovely surroundings including views of wines and rolling hills. Combine that with a somewhat New England style house filled with whites, light greys, ceiling panelling and built-in furniture, and the more modern dark-wood floors - and the result is very uplifting and relaxing.

A somewhat tired before view...

...and the lovely after photos

images Schneider Design Associates/ Contemporist

I have been subscribing to Architectural Digest for quite a while and only recently I was lured to order few more magazines as the offers were really good. As the Coastal Living, Elle Decor and AD happened to arrive within a week, I have been reading them all and sort of comparing which was the most interesting this month. So here goes my recommendation.

Of the covers I found the Coastal Living most appealing - the colourful cushions and turquoise sea view giving a promise of something great to come. However, the contents of the magazine were quite light and I did not find too much to read there. I liked the best this feature of a colourful house project in Florida - the design was base don their visits to Caribbean boutique hotels and emphasised large entertainment and common areas. I thought the green tones in the kitchen pictures were so fresh.

The most appealing Elle Decor feature was this Brasilian beach home in Bahia by designer Sig Bergamin - their view of a casual home is an eclectic mix of styles, colours and materials, which has produced some very interesting spaces.

Architectural Digest, once again, did not let me down. More than twice the pages of Coastal Living there were plenty of house features, and I just loved this weekend retreat in the Catskills by architect Joel Sanders. Simplicity, open spaces and contrast coupled with amazing river views.

I would choose the "winner" of the month to be AD as it gave me twice as much reading and had lot of great features. We'll see if I differently next month when my Dwell subscription should also start. Happy reading to everyone!

This dining room is such a great example of how to do the classic 50s style with some unusual and eclectic accessories. The room itself is just a great shell - a contrast of cream walls and stained-looking lacquered floorboards, which could accommodate pretty much any style. Fresh and inspiration space indeed!

image Style at Home

If you still haven't decided what your Easter table will look like here are some nice ones to get ideas from. So many flowers, bunnies, colours and decorations to choose from. Seeing all these lovely tables actually makes it hard to choose own tables.

I am grateful that we have been invited for Easter brunch this year - I just need to think of some nice flowers and treats for the hostess,a little nice dish, bubbly and kids Easter baskets for the event, and then I can sit into a lovely Easter table filled with treats.

image Daily Mail

image Toriejayne

image Country Living

image Martha Stewart

image Martha Stewart

image HGTV

image Epicurious

image Simplified Bee

image Alison Reid Style

image Attractive Home Designs for Less

image The Cake Blog

image Country Living Fair

I find these lighthouse torches by Danish designer Christian Bjørn from CBD just irresistible. This collection called the Lighthouse Outdoor Torch isn't just good-looking but also very functional.

Whereas many torches just produce a little flame, these torches burn like a fantastic bonfire even in windy conditions - a great alternative to the often-seen tiki torches. The patented oil burner can be filled with standard lamp oil or citronella (to keep the mosquitoes away).

image Design Within Reach

Miss Anaïs class party was a success and did they get to tuck in all sorts of treats. I wanted to share this particular marshmallow and brownie bite tray, as it was the cutest ever - and a great idea I might use for the twins upcoming birthday...

Today is the 41st global Earth Day and our family pledged an activity towards the "Billion Acts of Green" on the official site. Since we already recycle, freecycle and try to save water and walk as much as possible to run local errands, we found a suitable pledge for us - to plant something green in the garden today.

Inspired by our recent success in the garden - our lettuce, herbs and peas are springing up, just the cantaloupes are yet to give a sign - the kids will plant a bit more so we can share with the friends also. How are you celebrating the Earth Day today?