Waterworks @ Waterdrinker Aalsmeer

Waterdrinker  is a leading wholesale platform based in the epicentre of international flowertrade: Aalsmeer, the Netherlands. Their mission is to make plants and flowers available to everyone.
Waterdrinker has vast knowledge about everything concerning plants and flowers and has a strong focus on innovation. Aside from their larger trading business Waterdrinker runs a wholesale cash & carry that covers 12.000 square meters. It's an inspirational hotspot where flowershops and conceptstores from all over Europe buy their plants and greenery-inspired accessories. Innovation centre of the Cash & Carry is the 'Novelty square', and we're happy to let you know that Waterworks is now available at Waterdrinker and got a lovely spot on the novelty-square.

We'll be there for a meet&greet to tell all buyers about the irrigationn system we designed on Sunday October 2nd from 07:00 - 12:00 & Monday October 3rd 07:00 - 12:00.
Don't worry if you are not able to make it then, other meet & greets will be scheduled in the coming weeks.

photograph via Instagram

Waterworks in Urban Jungle paradise / Wildernis Amsterdam

photograph by Wildernis Amsterdam

Urban gardening is happening and Wildernis in Amsterdam is the absolute hot-spot for all interior and urban plant lovers in our Dutch capital city.
Wildernis opened about a year ago, and it didn't take long for the store to rise to cult-status among bloggers and urban jungle fans.

It isn't difficult to see why: the interior is stylish and green as well as welcoming and pleasantly chaotic. An impressive collection of houseplants is showcased in a variety of pots ranging from basic terra cotta to contemporary design and quirky vintage finds. The many (many!) hanging plants create an instant urban jungle vibe with their downward cascading leaves.

photograph by Urban Jungle Bloggers
click for full blogpost

All products sold at Wildernis have a link with greenery, albeit in the broadest sense of the word, which makes for a varied assortment and something on offer for anyone.

But Wildernis is more than just a store. Together with their team, owners Mila and Emma are on a mission to make Amsterdam greener.

Wildernis's goal is to showcase how easy it is to create more greenery in the city: in the (little) gardens, on your balcony, windowsill and inside your house. Collaborating with plantcare-professionals, Wildernis initiates projects, creates awareness and organizes workshops and courses to educate about plantcare.
Be sure to check out the workshop schedule on their website (-in Dutch- click).

photograph via Wildernis Amsterdam
click for overview of workshops (in Dutch)

photograph by Wildernis Amsterdam

We're very proud Wildernis Amsterdam is now selling Waterworks in their store!
Definitely a must-visit next time you're in town. (they serve coffee too :-))

Wildernis Amsterdam
Bilderdijkstraat 165F
1053 KP Amsterdam
www.wildernisamsterdam.nl

Open Tuesday to Sunday - check website for opening hours.

North of The Bridge at the meeting place for ideas - Form/Design Center

photograph by Christian Beiwinkel via Wikipedia

Last (and only) time we visited Malmö it was February, and it was rather cold and a bit dreary. Nothing at all like the photograph above, which i picked from Wikipedia.

Anyway, our very energetic local tour-guide friend didn't care for frozen toes and happily led us to all design hotspots in the city. One of the best things on the tour was drinking a nice and hot cup of coffee in a design center with shop located in an ancient building, to be entered through a courtyard: Form/Design Center.

Photograph via Lillatorg

Form/Design Center is not actually a shop per se, but an exhibition-/meetingspace, run by 'Svensk Form' (The Swedish Association of Craft and Design). Like they state on the Form/Design website: "Form/Design Center is a meeting place for ideas and projects in the field of design and architecture"
There are regular exhibitions, a programme of lectures, workshops and seminars. All with the goal to "engage and educate about design and show its importance in our surroundings and our everyday life".

And in this center there's also room for a café where they serve the best coffee and tea and you can spend hours going through the vast collection of international and Swedish books and magazines dedicated to design.
Since you're all full of design-inspiration by that time, it would only be fitting you get to take a little design home with you: Enter the Butik.

photograph by Form/Design Center

And here, in this bulwark (yes that's a word, i checked) of Swedish and Scandinavian design, you can now buy Waterworks.
Truthfully: this is making us pretty proud.

FORM/DESIGN CENTER
Lilla torg 9
211 34 Malmö
www.formdesigncenter.com

Martino Design - Innovation and style in the midst of Medieval beauty

photograph via Wikipedia

Ah, Bologna, historical city of music and study in Italy. I visited the city once, 11 years ago, and remember archways, medieval squares, cobble stones and courtyards.

And in the midst of all that ancient beauty in an old Jewish neighbourhood, you can find Martino Design: a store dedicated to sustainable interior design, style and innovation. 

We're proud and happy Martino Design is the first Italian store to sell Waterworks.
Here are a few photographs Martino Design kindly sent us from Waterworks in their store.

For more information, check out Martino Designs' website and Facebook page, or this blogpost by UrbanMirrors about the designstore, and make sure to visit the shop next time you're in Bologna.

MARTINO DESIGN
Via Canonica 1/a
40126 Bologna
www.martinodesign.it

Click here for a full list of shops selling House of Thol products.
Photographs in this blogpost via Martino Design.

In the Clouds / Planes - Crowdyhouse premiere starting soon!

In the Clouds / Planes
photograph by House of Thol

It's been a couple of months since we first launched our original 'In the Clouds'-series during ShowUP. (Back then, i wrote this blog about the heritage of the clouds and birds as a porcelain print.)
In August, the initial pieces were received with great enthusiasm, and even more so in October, when we presented the first extension of the series: the In the Clouds bowls, during the Dutch Design Week.

In the Clouds / Planes - porcelain cups
photograph by House of Thol

And then... well, we didn't put any effort in getting the porcelain pieces out there.
Truth is: we had made the range of variations within the series too large for us to produce in the quantities needed.
This made us hesitant to approach stores and resellers in fear of orders that would be wildly inefficient to make.

production original In the Clouds-series
photograph by House of Thol

Well... we made a few minor adjustments in the design and are now launching a new In the Clouds series.
And this time we're keeping ourselves in check: Instead of offering 24 variations to start with, we're relaunching the In the Clouds cups in one size: medium, two versions: birds and planes, and three possible colours: white, greyish white and light-blue. All cups have a glazed finish.
Still plenty to choose from!

In the Clouds cups in light-blue and greyish white
photograph by House of Thol

To give ourselves the much-needed time to produce a little supply, we're launching the new In the Clouds / Planes cups as a Crowdyhouse premiere: From April 4th onwards, the In the Clouds/Planes cups will be available exclusively via Crowdyhouse for three weeks.
After this launch-period, the cups will be more widely available and we'll keep you posted about new points of sale.

In the Clouds cups
photograph by House of Thol

To be the first to own the new In the Clouds / Planes, check out our campaign on Crowdyhouse.

Interested in reselling these cups? Get in touch!

New Confetti & Fireworks & why we have jewelry in our collection in the first place

Confetti necklace | brass, enamel, gilt steel | 2016
photograph by House of Thol

Aside from interior products and design-solutions for the day-to-day, House of Thol designs jewelry.
Random, right?
Maybe i shouldn't actually say 'House of Thol designs it', since jewelry is really my (Jana's) background, and what i focused on when working under company name 'World of Driftwood'.

Confetti & Fireworks necklaces | brass, enamel, gilt steel | 2016
photograph by House of Thol

Taking the step to work together with Thomas meant that part of my 'World of Driftwood' projects would have to be put on the side-burner for a while. Which i didn't have a problem with at all.
But jewelry ideas kept popping up, and although we still haven't quite figured out how it fits in with everything, we decided to incorporate some of my jewelry designs into our House of Thol collection.

Short answer: There's jewelry in our collection because i couldn't help designing it. (saving possible unconscious significance for retrospection)

Right.
Glad we got that covered.
Now let's talk about the new Confetti & Fireworks necklaces...

Animated preview of the Confetti & Fireworks necklaces by House of Thol

ABOUT CONFETTI & FIREWORKS

Confetti & Fireworks is a new series of contemporary brass and enamel necklaces, similar to the Neotribal collection.
The speckled finish, bright colors and geometric shapes make Confetti & Fireworks a perfect modern accessory, both for the everyday as for a dressy special occasion.

Brighten up your day with the light and bright Confetti-necklace, or go for mysterious chique with the darkblue speckled Fireworks.

Fireworks necklace | brass, enamel, gilt steel | 2016
photograph by House of Thol

All Confetti & Fireworks necklaces are handmade with care in our studio in Zandvoort, at the Dutch seaside.

Each necklace comes in a sturdy cardboard giftbox and has a lengthy gilt ballchain that slips on easily.

A bit of a 'salesy' text? 

That's possible, part of it is taken from Crowdyhouse, where Confetti & Fireworks will premier this Monday. - CHECK IT OUT

Get in touch for prices, high-resolution images and retail-information.

Flowery loveliness in the not-so-wild west of Rotterdam

 
These lovely bouquets are all made by Susanne from Niche Flowershop in Rotterdam,
Aside from beautiful flower arrangements and greenery of all kind, the store offers a large collection of gifts, many of them botanically- or florally-themed.

And, -well, you probably figured that out by now- we're pretty happy to let you know Niche also sells Waterworks!

Worth a mention: Niche has the best Instagram account, all photographs in this post were taken from it.
Follow them for more gorgeous bouquets and flower-themed photographs (lovely close-ups as well!).

Visit the website for more information about the shop, their floral work and the flowery workshops they offer.

This shop is definitely worth a visit next time you're in Rotterdam, they're open Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 - 18:00.

NICHE
Nieuwe Binnenweg 235a
3021 GC Rotterdam
www.nicherotterdam.nl

For a full list of our stockists click here.

Kokino: Waterworks & the Flower City

photograph by Johan Martens for Goesting Magazine Oost Vlaanderen

Apparently the Belgium city of Ghent is also known as the 'Flower City' (because the largest part of the Belgium Flower trade is located in the area), how very fitting that Ghent shop Kokino is now selling Waterworks.
Kokino might not be located in the city centre, but that's not a problem for the shop: last December they celebrated their 20 year anniversary!

photographs by Kokino

For more about the shop, check out their website, like the Kokino Facebookpage to stay updated on current events.

KOKINO
Kortrijksesteenweg 1092
9051 Gent - St Denijs Westrem
www.kokino.be/

Click here for a full list of House of Thol stockists.

Not to miss: Ceramix @ Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht

Ceramix - Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht until January 31st

Last Weekend i got to flip through the catalogue of the beautiful exhibition 'Ceramix' that's currently on show at the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht.
Looking through the book made me realise i almost forgot to mention that House of Thol is a tiny bit part of the show: For the duration of the Ceramix exhibition, our porcelain tableware 'In the Clouds' is part of the collection of the gift shop of the Bonnefantenmuseum.

Ceramix exhibition at the Bonnefantenmuseum, with work by Ai Wei Wei
photograph by Jeroen van der Wielen

Sadly we didn't have a chance to visit the exhibition ourselves yet, but i hope to be able to schedule a trip to Maastricht somewhere in the next weeks.

With the catalogue in mind i'd advice anyone with a love for ceramics and art to visit Ceramix before the end of this month.
The exhibition will travel to France later this year: first to Paris this spring, and after that to Sevres.

Bita Fayyazi, Cockroaches, 1998-1999
By courtesy of Isabelle van den Eynde Gallery, Dubai

Thomas Schutte, Basler Maske, 2014

In the Clouds tableware - temporarily part of the collection of the Bonnefantenmuseum gift shop

Geschenketipps by Das Rote Paket

photograph by Das Rote Paket

Das Rote Paket in Leipzig sent out this last-minute gift guide last weekend, with this first chapter 'fur Gartenfreunde' (for garden friends).

Thought i'd share the lovely styled photography they made especially for the newsletter. - Also: great tips!

Read the full gift guide here.

The Duke's Forest - OAK Den Bosch

photograph courtesy of OAK Den Bosch

Den Bosch might just be one of the most overlooked beautiful historical city's in the Netherlands, full of little streets with plenty of shopping-gems.
One of those gems is OAK, at the Snellestraat. A little shop with the coolest paper origami in the window, handmade by the owners.

We're proud that this lovely concept store has now added Waterworks to their collection.
Definitely worth a visit next time you're in the Duke's town.

OAK Den Bosch
Snellestraat 45
5211 EM Den Bosch
www.oakdenbosch.nl

Baking corks and firing kilns against the clock / DDW prep

Only a little time left before the Dutch Design Week officially kicks off in Eindhoven. And although we thought we were on schedule, this final week before the show always seems to have about three days too few.

We'll probably make it.
In the end.

Anyway...
Right now we're fighting the clock newsletter writing, cork making, cone casting, waterworks packaging, cold battling, porcelain producing, exhibition building and (especially) kiln firing.

Come check out the results of all our hard work at the Design Perron in Eindhoven next week.
We'll be there every day and would love to see you.

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All square images are from our Instagram account.