Brussels Calling!

I'll soon be off again to Brussels in Belgium for a few days. I have a interesting meeting in the recently renovated Square meeting center. In the evenings I will live life to the max in this wonderful city. I'm exited because this trip will also give me inspiration and I will meet a lot of people that will be able to help me to develop Urban Style Vibes* to the next level.

If you'd like to drop some tips here I'd really appreciate it and I know others who also appreciate your ideas too! Thank you so much!

And the winner is...

My sweethearts I'm so happy that I can announce the winner of the Urban Style Vibes* Give away. The number I got from the random number generator is 8. This means that Veee from Houstan Texas  is the winner of the lovely Tine K Home Rotan Bag. She noticed that she is having her birthday in July so I hope this yelow present will be in time. Please take a look at her lovely blog here


Thanks to Tine K Home I will publish a new give-away on Tuesday. I hope you will like it.

Casa Camper

Good Morning lovelies,  I'm an early bird today since the weather is so beautiful I decided to wake up early and enjoy as much of the day as possible. Today we travel to Berlin. Berlin is a vibrant and cultural city with even more lovely places than you can imagine. I posted earlier about lovely places in Berlin here. Today I would love to share a new find. Casa Camper is the new and affordable hotel from the Spanish Shoe Design Brand. The hotel is located in the popular Mitte area. This boutique hotel breaths simplicity and urban vibes. And the good thing is they also have a hotel in Barcelona if you change your travel mind;-)

A little bit of Luck

My sweethearts. Do you dream about a little home for yourself? Imagine a little hunting home in the middle of the forest. This week the New York Times reported about a lovely lady called Sandra Foster. She turned a Catskills hunting cabin into the romantic Victorian cottage she had always wanted, using vintage columns, flooring and wavy glass windows, and doing the carpentry herself. Read the full story here. She also has a beautiful blog here.

Have a lucky weeekend!!

Inspiration from Sweden

Hello lovelies, today I would love to give you some inspiration from Sweden. Browsing the web for the best inspiration I stumbled upon this gorgeous apartment in Sweden. This apartment is for sale at Skepsholmen. For more images click here

Q. Are you a fan of Swedish homes?

Urban Rooftop Garden

Today I'm inspired by photographer Bob O'Connor. I found these lovely images via Desire To Inspire. What do you think? Would you like to have such a rooftop garden?

NEW: IKEA 2011 trends

Last week I posted here about the new IKEA 2011 collection items. In addition I would like to share this video from Cote Maison with you. Unfortunately it's in French. I hope you will understand it.

Blue & White Inspiration

Now the summer is here I just can't get enough of the color turqoise. If you don't mind I take you on a trip to the Maldives today.

Set amidst sensational sandy beaches and lush tropical foliage, Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa Maldives is a unique all-villa Maldives resort property located in a spacious, boutique-style environment. Accommodations include private ocean retreats and tropical tree house villas making it a premiere Maldives luxury resort, while a selection of fine-dining choices and innovative spa treatments have been carefully designed to stimulate the senses.

I just love the sophisticated styling with the turqoise accents, reflecting the azur blue sea in the interior.

Urban summer style

Yesterday we all (across the globe) celebrated the longest day of the year and the official start of the summer. In the midst of the world's most commercial and frentic place a huge Yoga event was held on Time Square in NYC.

Q. What did you do yesterday to celebrate the summer? What is typical in your country? I would love to hear your stories!

Sneak preview: IKEA Catalogue 2011

My sweeties, are you ready for the weekend? I bet you are! I'm still at work but I'm dreaming of this weekend. Tonight I will pick up my Danish friend from the airport. It's been a year since we met so we will have lots to talk about when she arrives. But before I go I would love to share some sneak peaks of the new IKEA 2011 collection. Here are my favourites so far.

Q. What are your favourite items for 2011? Click here for more inspiration.

Tomorrow we have our Bubbles & Bites party planned! We have ordered some delicious portugese food and some Champagne bubbles, we have an iPod full of good music so I guess we have all the ingredients together for a terrific party. Will tell you more about this party (including images) next week.

Have a spectacular weekend!!!!

Happy Birthday Give Away!

My sweetest readers. Today it is the official 1st birthday of Urban Style Vibes* and I am so happy to celebrate this with you my lovely friends! This birthday give away bag from the lovely Danish homewear brand Tine K Home. This give-away is available for all readers across the globe:-)

How to apply for this give-away?

1. Leave a comment below
2. Tell us which color you prefer
3. Join Urban Style Vibes* as a follower

The winner of this give-away will be announced end of June 2010.

image via: Lille Lykke

Nice Rice

Today I'm inspired by the lovely Danish homewear brand Rice. They offer the cutest and mostly affordable homewear with style I've ever seen. In addition they help people in need while selling these beautiful homewear items. Need I say more? Please check out their website and decide for yourself. Here in Holland we also have an affordable homewear brand called HEMA but I asume Rice is even better and more sophisticated. 

Click here to view the Autumn Winter 2010 Magazine 

Q. Do you know Rice and HEMA? Please share your experiences below.

1st Anniversary Urban Style Vibes*

My sweet readers, This week it will be the first birthday of Urban Style Vibes*! On June 16, 2009 I started this blog. And we will celebrate this! Later this week I will give you the opportunity to win a very nice give-away. So please stay tuned!

Oh my gosh time flies when travelling and having fun. And I'm so proud that I made it through the first year. When I started Urban Style Vibes* it was just a trial and I didn't had a clue how to develop a blog, attrack readers and find the best content. I really had some writers blocks in the first months and it's always hard when nobody is giving you a comment (you know we bloggers love comments;-). I've raised many questions in the winter months. Is this really what I want? Am I good enough to continue this blog and will readers get back to me? If you're a blogger yourself you know how that feels but still I have a dream to build this blog and become a worldwide resource when it comes to travel, (home) design and style.  The first year brought me a lot of new friends (worldwide), inspiration and travel ideas. It's been an honour to have you as a valued reader every day. Thanks you so much!!! I hope I can give you some travel, design and style food for thought in year 2 again!


Q. What are you experiences when you started blogging?

image via MyDeco

A touch of green

It's June now and nature is just awesome here in Holland, the fresh green leaves inspired me today. Adding a touch of green to your interior or even your garden makes me feel attached to nature. I found these lovely images via my sponsor Tine K Home. Although these images do not reflect her latest collection these images are still a beauty for the eye.

Would you like to see more about Tine K's latest collection, please click here or here.

images via Tine K Home

Barcelona on a budget

Today it's time for a trip to Barcelona. Barcelona is one of my favourite cities in the world. Do you know why? Barcelona has the perfect mix: a metropole with a touch of sea, culture and a lot of Spanish vibes. And by the way Barcelona has some great design hotels under EUR 100. Together with my new sponsor Escapio and with the help of my Twitter friends I selected some of my favourites. Here is my top 5.

1. Hotel Praktik Rambla

2. Hotel Omm

3. BCN Apartments

4. ABAC Hotel & Restaurant

5. Hotel Vincci Maritimo

If you know any good Design hotels on a budget in Barcelona, please let me know and I will add them to this shortlist.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

City prints

As a real 'travelista' I just love these creative prints from the city of Paris and New York. I love the idea to have a wall with all the cities visited. These images are available in the lovely webshop of Jen Ramos

Made by Girl. At this moment Paris(image below) and New York (above) are already available in her lovely webshop.

Q. Jen: when will Tokyo, Moscow, Reykjavik, Cape Town,  Amsterdam and even Rotterdam (my home-town) be available? I would looooove to see them all:-) This is such a cute idea!

PS. I just received an e-mail from Jen in which she announced that the designers are working on some other city prints. Good news Jen and thanks for the update!

Q. Which city would you like to have included in this list?

A room with a (sea) view

Hello ladies and gents! Today we continue our travel to South Africa. We are in Cape Town now and this retreat is real eye catcher.

a serene athmosphere to relax, love the natural floor by the way.

Huge windows give a spacious athmosphere

imagine a bedroom like this, jump out of bed in the water...

small kitchen by the way... or?

Q. Dream on, what a treat for the eye is this casa. What do you like about this dream home??

Hello Yellow

Today I'm inspired by the color yellow! So fresh, it feels like summer already:-)

Traditionally worn by Village Chiefs in the Cameroon region of central Africa, Juju hats (image above) have since gained popularity with interior designers, and are often used as an eye-catching accessory for the home. Beautiful bird feathers are painstakingly hand sewn onto a raffia fiber base/basket that splays out into a huge circle. Feathers are considered rare objects of beauty and a symbol of prosperity and wealth associated with the positive qualities of birds. When not in use, the Juju hat can be neatly folded in on itself for easy storage (as shown). A perfect example of fine, unique and skillful weaving from Central West Africa, Juju hats are available via the lovely webshop from blogger and entrepreneur Louise form Table Tonic. She even sells lovely morrocan pouffs and bedspreads to name a few.

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and what about these handwoven cushions with a touch of yellow?

All items are availabe in the Table Tonic store

Q. Which one would you choose?

images via Table Tonic