thrifty chic. Interior style on a shoestring is a book by Liz Bauwens and Alexandra Campbell. Unlike this spring’s fresh new book Undecorate, Thrifty Chic has been around for a while, both as a book (from 2009) and as a (partly overridden) concept. This beautiful book is packed with re-ideas. It shows you how to “reuse and restore, revive and revamp, and recycle and reclaim”, in order to create a stylish yet individual home without spending a small fortune.

As you can see already by the cover, the overall style is relaxed country – and vintage charm is all around. The concept of thrifty chic (and same meaning related concepts) is highly sustainable. Inspiration on how to paint up a tatty old chest, cut old curtains into cushions or give an old chair new life by means of some fabric – will never grow old and mossy. Reusing, restoring, reviving and revamping are things creative people have practiced for centuries and that – nicely enough – will contribute to less consumption and environmental destruction as it includes being cautious with both money and property. As if that weren’t enough, this book is pure beautifulness. It’s friendly written with lots of insider advices. This is one of my favourite photos from the book (photography by Simon Brown):

Gorgeous. All these furniture and stuff came from auctions, thrift stores and local sales.

The book has a feature on colour in hallways I found really interesting too (p.34-35), and some beyond lovely photos of thrifty bathrooms. See p. 118-127 for more pics and great advices on 2nd hand sanitaryware, etc.

It’s a must-have in the design book collection!

August 25th, a really cool auction is opening its display at Swedish auction house Bukowskis. It’s called Eclectic and presents a wide range of objects inspired by the decades around 1900, the golden era of great adventure and when the old world transformed into the new industrialism.

As my sample below shows, this auction contains a daring mix of old and new, mahogany and steel, handicrafts and industry. The border between the centuries is blurred and the line between what is considered beautiful and ugly is questioned. Because, this auction wants to inspire cross-border decor or might I say, out-of-the-box decor. Through the themes conservatory, industrial and adventure Bukowskis aims to capture the contemporary dualism and ruined romanticism as well as industrial exploration and progress.

Browse the full auction here. If you happened to fall in love with any of the pieces featured above and want to know how the estimation on how big the hole in your wallet will be, a link list of featured items can be found if you

50′s interior design style is burning hot right now! It has crept up slowly with just the odd 50s design classic here and there, like the string bookshelves and the Eames rocker for example, but now the interior design world appears to have fully embraced this decade as a source of inspiration. Here at Trendey we see more and more room designs with strong influences from the 50s (such as the pic above). 50s style is characterised by clean simple lines, rounded edges and a celebration of form as the focus of design. Some of my favourite 50s style items would be a simple teak drinks trolley with smooth curves, a cuddly radio set (so retro cool it hurts) and above all the super chic PH lamp (if only these ph-antastic lamps were cheaper! :))

A trend line that is very pervasive right now is “the new old“. The new old is a mix of revival and update. Different ways to reimagine the past—its colors, its style, its artifacts—toward fresh and exciting ends. The NeoVictorian is a part of this. The Victorian Era of the UK was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837-1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people and the British Empire: An era of abundance and beauty. It’s a style with eclectic mood, based on the revival of older styles, often in new combinations. The Victorian age was the age of imitation and reproduction: the heavily upholstered furniture, the masculine (gothic) preserves such as libraries and billiard rooms, the feminine rococo style, the Oriental influence…And this – all this! – can be updated and neo-revived:

We both love the eighties—the 1880s, says fashion designer Anthony Malat and photographer Jamie Isaia in NY Magazine. In particular, film has inspired this couple’s fab interiors. The office interiors of the film Downfall were a big influence on their coulor palette. And in general, it was a mixture of Flowers in the Attic, Pretty Baby, The City of Lost Children and Spaceballs that inspired these fascinating decor choices.

All photos by Todd Selby/The Selby.