Hello — Lori of automatism here, with a little home inspiration while Victoria is busy moving into her own new home.

Home is a reflection of who you are. The books you read, the music you listen to, the art and photos you love, even the meals you choose to prepare — all of these are aspects of your personality. This is why, when visiting the homes of friends, it’s the details of their everyday life — the family photos, the souvenirs from travels, a quirky collection of vintage objects — that I’m especially drawn to, because it gives me a deeper understanding of what’s important to them, just as I surround myself in my own home with things that are important to me.

The London house of Karine Kong, co-founder of the interior site BODIE and FOU, to me perfectly expresses the idea of a home that’s both individual and modern. The personalities of Karine, her husband Steve and their daughter Mila are all equally represented — Karine’s elegant taste throughout the interior, Steve’s New Zealand roots in the garden he created for the family, to the front door painted in Mila’s favourite colour of pink. Relaxed and friendly, it’s a space that reflects their warm and happy way of living — a feeling of home.

Source: milk magazine

Photo credit: Louise Desrosiers

Shop: BODIE and FOU

i’m trying to get back to basics, to purge unnecessary items i have piling up over here before i move to the new place. i just don’t need this stuff, you know? these images of natural elements and neutral decor inspire me to be ruthless while cleaning out closets and drawers packing for the new place. if it doesn’t have a reason for being, or can’t be re-purposed into something useful right now, away it goes. into the garage sale pile. oh yeah, if you didn’t hear, we’re having yet another yard sale this saturday – part deux, the finale!

honey pie living.

OLIVE & MANNA (above and below). love the ceramic egg crate for containing the odd bits and bobs.

bodie & fou.

wiksten.

bodie & fou.

remodelista.

• top images via home life.

happy friday everyone! it’s mother’s day this weekend, so to those of celebrating, i hope it’s a most-deserving special day for you! i posted some mother’s day decorating ideas over on babble, so maybe there’s some easy, last minute ideas there for you!

it’s my birthday tomorrow, so i’ll be celebrating myself with a much needed mani/pedi! have a great weekend, and i’ll see you back here on monday.

you can see a complete round up of my babble family style posts here.

•image via bodie and fou.

i popped over to bodie and fou to see what the stylish sisterly duo had new in their shop, and was delighted to see some lovely new homewares with a vintage-inspired and industrial twist. i love the trolley (excellent idea for a bar cart), the raft stool, and the the swiss cross medicine cabinets are quite cute, too! french sisters elodie (bodie) and karine (fou) know how to style up their products to give you loads of inspiration. theirs is a lovely combination of their french upbringing with a modern scandinavian feel, which one of the reasons live visiting bodie & fou. drop in to see what else is new!

Launched in 2005 by French sisters Elodie (BODIE) and Karine (FOU), BODIE and FOU is a haven of decor inspiration and creativity, with a beautiful selection of home accessories, lighting and furniture. and now the sisters have launched bodie and fou, the catalogue. the first copies of the BODIE and FOU catalogue landed in the UK on Friday and the E-version went LIVE yesterday. have a peek…just in time for holiday shopping.

i received an email from karine, partner in one of my favorite online shops, bodie and fou, sharing some wondering images of her family’s holiday home in France. it was recently featured in a few design magazines and since we all share the same aesthetic for beautiful things, she allowed me to share a few more of some extremely beautiful photos shot by Michael Paul for The Telegraph magazine, and Christopher Tubbs for Grand Designs magazine.

Karine and Elodie, french Sisters and founders of BODIE and FOU have the kind of accessible, but oh so casually chic aesthetic i think we all strive for, but seems to come effortlessly for the two. i could move into this home in like two seconds, should i be invited! and one of the the best ways to appreciate the BODIE and FOU look is to see more of Karine’s family holiday home in France.

Karine loved the idea of a home ‘having enough space for friends and family to hang out together’ and one summer while visiting her parents’ home in Cazaux on the south-western Atlantic coast, in a very spur of the moment decision, she and her partner Steve bought a seventies ‘maison de plaisance’ (literally a ‘pleasure house’ now used to mean a holiday villa) and set about thinking ‘how we could bring together our tastes to create a welcoming, child-friendly home.’

karine designed the home so that ‘everybody, friends and family, could feel free to do whatever they wanted’, so the couple knocked out the wall between the kitchen and dining room, creating a living space big enough for a dozen people. the result is a relaxed, cozy and enchanting home i think would be the envy of any family. for more styling tips and beautiful home decor furnishings and accessories, check out the bodie and fou blog, as well as their online shop.

* photos courtesy of Michael Paul for The Telegraph magazine; and Christopher Tubbs for Grand Designs magazine.