
Inspired by Nature
"Warm, natural materials fit my home the best. As the forest is our favourite place to be, outside of our home, I really like to create that natural vibe in our house too."
Interior Blogger and Stylist Milou Nieuwenhuis lives in the Netherlands with her family. In our Home Story, the interior expert tells us where she finds inspiration for her home, and what she looks for when choosing furniture and accessories for her dog Beer.
Design, Scandinavian, Atmospheric.
My interior choices are mostly based on intuition. I like to create an environment where I can totally feel at home. For me, that’s a feeling I try to create by only selecting products I truly love. And that can be very small things, too. I usually choose muted colours, warm materials and carefully selected design items. I also like to stay updated on interior trends, but only apply them when they fit my style.
I use Pinterest as a platform to gather my inspiration. Over the years I’ve selected a lot of images over there and every now and then I create a new mood board based on the pins I gathered over a certain time period. In that way I can see which colours and materials speak to me and if I want to apply them in our home.
Warm, natural materials fit my home the best. As the forest is our favourite place to be, outside of our home, I really like to create that natural vibe in our house too. Therefore, I’ve chosen a few items made from oak and beech wood, such as our wooden floor, TV-cabinet and the chairs around our table.
As for colours, I’m into earthy tones, like rusty reds, pinks and (warm) greys. But I also like the dark green wall we have in our bedroom. Mostly, I want to keep rooms light and airy, but also atmospheric, by creating a good balance in the use of different colours.
"Warm, natural materials fit my home the best. As the forest is our favourite place to be, outside of our home, I really like to create that natural vibe in our house too."
"If something looks comfortable and well designed, I think our dog Beer will love it too."
Comfort is the first thing that comes to my mind. If something looks comfortable and well designed, I think our dog Beer will love it too. And, of course, the aesthetic is important, too. The colours and design of accessories for our dog should be a good match with the other items in our house.
For instance, a dog needs a comfortable bed to sleep on, but I think it doesn’t have to clash with your interior. At MiaCara I found the Stella dog pouffe, which Beer sleeps on every day. It comes in a few different colours and the taupe version fits our muted colour palette the best. It looks like it belongs in our living room and it even happens that our friends and family mistake the dog pouffe for a piece of furniture. We often have kids visiting us and they want to sleep or play on it.
Also, as a dog owner you have to have bowls for food and water standing in your house. In our case, we have the Desco dog feeder, which is beautifully designed. And since we use this item, Beer eats much more quiet and drinks better. A good combination of usefulness and design!
During the day, Beer loves to spend most of his time in the living room, lying on his Stella pouffe. It is quite big, so he has lots of room to lie around on it in different positions (and his favourite position is when he’s lying on his back, which is when he is most relaxed).
On warm days, Beer prefers the hallway. Because we live in an old house, there’s lots of draft over there, so he can cool down. During the night he sleeps there as well – on his Duo cushion. The big advantage, for us, is that we can place this cushion upright against the wall in our hallway. Because this space is quite narrow, Beer’s cushion does not take up too much space when he’s not using it during the day. And he’s taught himself how to throw the pillow down, when he wants to sleep on it. Such a funny sight – and he’s always proud when he shows us this trick.
I think the products I’ve mentioned before are our favourites, especially the Stella pouffe and the Desco feeder. But actually, all of the items from MiaCara we have, we use with lots of pleasure. That’s because we’ve experienced that, even though we use them daily, the products stay good over time. The maintenance is easy and they are made from very decent materials. And on top of that, they are timeless as well.
And if I speak on Beer’s behalf, I think I must add one more product to the list of favourites: the Duo dog bone. He loves it, and everyday after dinner, like clockwork, he picks it up and challenges us to play with him. So cute!
Milou Nieuwenhuis is an Interior Blogger from the Netherlands. She shares her passion for design on her Blog, on Instagram and on Pinterest.