Sweetness and Light

This wonderful room (the home office of Spanish interior stylist Maria Muro) has been making the blog rounds lately, but it's so lovely that I can't resist sharing it with you here. Love.


(photo by Pablo Zuloaga from french by design via this pretty space)

Buffet

This week's links. Enjoy.

Top 10 Female Detectives
Norwegian crime novelist Anne Holt chooses her favourite 10 female detectives in fiction, ranging from Miss Marple to Modesty Blaise.

On His Majesty's Secret Service
Seems that James Bond's glamorous lifestyle was not so implausible after all — Domenic Sandbrook reviews The Secret History of MI6 by Keith Jeffery. This may become a Christmas present for someone I know ...

An Abandoned Club Building is Now a Home
Check out the extraordinary Selma, Alabama home of David Hurlbut — originally built in 1909 as a social club, it was then abandoned for nearly 40 years. After 10 years of work that he mostly did himself, it's now an amazing space with an aesthetic that David describes as “neo-Gilded Age steampunk.”

The Gift of Life Skills
Stumped about what to get that someone who has everything (or says they don't need anything)? Re-Nest has a fantastic idea — give them life skills. Check out their list of 10 suggestions for possible courses to gift, such as upholstery, cheese making, wood working and sewing.

Stopping the World
From Kottke: "Someone took a high-speed camera and instead of pointing it at something fast, they put it on a fast-moving train and shot footage of the platform moving by." The result is mesmerizing and oddly dreamlike.

The Ministry of Food
The Imperial War Museum in London has an interesting exhibition on right now about how the British people adapted to food shortages during and immediately after WWII. Have a look at this slideshow of posters produced by the Ministry of Food at the time, too.

Hallelujah Flash Mob
Feeling like a Grinch about the holiday season? This fun short video of a flash mob singing Hallelujah in a mall food court will cheer you right up.

Healthy Holiday Cocktails
Recipes for lighter holiday cocktails that are not only delicious, but have health benefits too — thanks to traditional ingredients such as pomegranate, cranberry, and cinnamon.


(photo via shilobyrd by way of pinterest)

Handmade Holidays

A pretty little gift wrapped with simple and natural materials, by Amy Merrick. More of her inspired ideas here, too. From Design*Sponge via Pinterest.