It all started with a phonecall in June: ABN AMRO was looking for designers to come up with a sustainable solution for everyday situations, and if we could pitch an idea in July?

Since our House of Thol slogan is 'Durable products for easy green living' of course we had to participate!
We had a few ideas up our sleeve that could perhaps impact a marker like Earth Overshoot Day.

We took a close look at our own day-to-day and found plenty of things that we still can do better.
​One of the things that's a real problem, is food waste: with two young kids with fluctuating appetites in the house, we can't help but throw out food ever so often.
Such a waste! Not only because of the money, but also because of the resources we waste.

And this goes beyond our household: in the Netherlands we throw out 34 kilograms of food each per year, and globally one third of the food produced is wasted.
That's about 1.3 billion tons!
​
If we could save only a quarter of that amount, we could feed every hungry mouth in the world (source). 

Bringing it back to our own small household: what can we do to avoid food waste in our daily lives?
We noticed we often have trouble with fruits and vegetables: what is the best way to store them, so they stay fresh for longest and we don't have to throw out wrinkled bell peppers?

Turns out not every fruit and vegetable plays nice with others, so keeping them all together in one large fruit bowl might not be such a great idea: the ethylene coming from fruits like apples can negatively impact the taste or ripeness of other fruits in the bowl.
Anyway, learning about the best way to store fresh food involved a whole lot of research (spreadsheets, seriously) that deserves its own blog post soon.

Back to the process: We presented our plans in Amsterdam in July and the day after our meeting with the jurors we drove off to the Schwarzwald in a 42°c heat and two eager little boys in a car without airconditioning.

We spent two blissful weeks of summer break, and got the phonecall with the final go for our Poma/Olera project while en route.

These past months, ever since returning home from our break, have been all about Poma/Olera. 

The design changed somewhat from the first drafts and we created a series of round vessels specifically designed to store fruits and vegetables in a better way.

The making process involved a lot of sketching,computer drawing, 3d printing, mold making, clay casting, finishing, failing, doing it again, changing the molds, recasting, firing the kiln, glazing tests, new glazing tests, production, production, production.
​
Well, your typical design process, really.

We're super happy and proud to be able to showcase the first prototypes of our Poma/Olera series at the Game Changers Pavilion on the Ketelhuisplein during this Dutch Design Week.
We'd love to see you there!

Last weekend we spent 4 days in sunny The Hague at chique art/design festival 'Masterly The Hague' - Not only was the festival taking place in a beautiful setting, we were blessed with great weather and many enthusiastic and lovely visitors!

We were super happy with the great presentation of our work: the bathtub being flanked by this gorgeous 1930ties silk Kimono that was on loan from the Gemeentemuseum The Hague, and the over all high quality athmosphere at Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder.
Also not too bad to share a room with skillfull glass artist Geir Nustad and be a temporary direct neighbor of Orange or Red, Bibi Smit and Thed Konings.

And, lest i forget: we worked together with Ceramist Henriette Meijer to create a stylish floral setting at the entrance of Museum Bredius.

Since we were pretty much talking all the time, we didn't get to take that many photographs. 
Luckily plenty of others did!
Here's a few of the pictures we found online. All images link back to the photographer or account we found them.

Thank you Nicole Uniquole and the Masterly The Hague organisation for a lovely festival!  

This September will mark the second edition of Masterly Den Haag.
Masterly started out as a festival celebrating Dutch high craft in Amsterdam, and over the past years became a Dutch staple of the Fuori Salone programme during the furniture fair in Milan in April.

Nicole Uniquole, the initiator and driving force behind Masterly, has a love for things that are well made: both now and in history.
Situating contemporary Dutch Design in a classical environment creates an interesting tension between the 'now' and the 'then'.  The beautiful locations she uses as a backdrop are always worth your visit.

We're super happy to be part of the Masterly Festival this year, and proud to be coupled with the painting Jan van Ravesteyn made of Amalia van Somst.
​
Amalia came to Den Haag as a refugee at 17 and went on to marry Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik, thus becoming the original matriarch of our Dutch Royal family of Orange.
​In her married life, lady van Solms worked towards elevating the position of her husband and family.
​She showcased her collection of paintings and porcelain in refurbished or newly built grand houses and palaces with lush gardens.

In 1641, Amalia married her son Willem II to young Mary Henrietta Stuart, Princess Royal, making grandson Willem (William) III a true prince of Orange who would become monarch of England, Scotland and Wales in later life (but not without a battle).  

As lovers of Flowers, we're drawn to the beautifull embroidery lady van Solms is depicted wearing: showcasing the long love the Dutch Royal family has for flowers. 
A perfect match with our Flower Constellations!
Did you know descendant and namesake Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, has a tulip named after her?

Just a quick reminder that we'll be in Den Bosch these coming days.

We're not only bringing our Flower Constellations and Waterworks-sets, we'll also be trying out our very own line of plantable postcards and giftlabels as well as new seed-package labels.
I've had a lot of fun designing these, so i hope they'll be well-received. Fingers' crossed!

And that's not even all of it: Visitors to the fair will get a very first sneak peak pf the new Flower Constellations Helios (for pits and bulbs) and Ophiuchus (for larger vases and bigger stems)

​OBJECT Rotterdam has come and gone and it was super fun to be part of, and we met many wonderful people and sold quite a few Flower Constellations and Waterworks-sets and got great reactions in response to our ReCabinet and new Wren & Kiwi lamps, and we'll definitely be back next year, and we didn't take enough photo's but here are a few shots of the weekend, and you should have been there.

That's it.
​
​Bye.

Photographs by House of Thol, Roza Schous, Masha Bakker photography, Friso Wiersma

We participated in the MKB Export Award 2018 and are part of the Top 9!

The MKB Export Award is organised for the 6th year in a row by TNT Netherlands, The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) and Royal Organisation MKB-Nederland.
Of the more than 100 contestants, the Jury nominated us and 8 other companies. 
​
The winner will be revealed during the event 'Klaar voor de start? Export! ("Ready? Get set! Export!) on Tuesday March 19th 2019.

Who knows, we might be succeeding last years' winner Anne Pleun van Eijsden of 'On the Rocks' and go home with the prize: amongst others a transport cheque and business partner scan!

It all started with our participation in the Paris fair Maison&Objet last September, for which we applied for an Export Mission Voucher.

After the fair we got invited to join the MKB Export Award, and since we really think we can conquer the world with our Flower Constellations and can use a little boost to get us going, we applied.

In January we received a phonecall from the organization surprising us with the news we're on the shortlist!
Early February we got to show a small part of the jury around House of Thol headquarters, and tell them all about our designs, projects and plans for the future.
We had a lovely chat, as i'm sure they had with all other eight nominees.

Now all that's left to do is wait..... With our fingers crossed...
We'll keep you posted!

Only 1 (ONE) week to go before our presentation at Object Rotterdam should be ready to roll.
We're about to be starting prep on lighting and stands in just a minute.
Still quite a few final decisions to be made, i'm afraid.
But i'm sure we'll  make it work.

Before we head to our workshop however, i wanted to celebrate the Object PR-department for getting the expo out there.
We're super happy with our designs being part of some of the online press-coverage of Object Rotterdam.

Architectuur.nl wrote a lovely piece about Object and used a photograph of our reCabinet in their article.

Read the whole piece here (in Dutch)

Studio Perspective zoomed in on all sustainable designers at Object. 
We're ever so happy to be part of this list.

Check out their selection here (also: in Dutch)
​(ps. added bonus: you can win two tickets for the fair!)

​Alright now, time to get ourselves in the workshop and get things ready for Object.
Will we see you there?

After moving to our rural home in Overasselt two years ago, we (or i) immediately started fantasizing about our garden. 

I actually bought a permaculture book (bible) months before moving and started with big plans to turn our land into a lush and fertile eating forest.  
​With no prior gardening experience to speak of, you can guess how that went down the first year...

You guessed correctly: although we did have a decent strawberry and pumpkin harvest, our garden is not so much a fruit and veggie heaven yet.

However i have hopes that with a lot of time, practice and soily hands, we will get there eventually.
We made great strides last fall planting 16 fruit trees in the meadow. It will take them a couple of years to bear fruit, and i guess so do my gardening skills.  

However, gardening did become a new love of mine. 
And i'm definitely planning on freeing up more time this season to tend to my greenery. 

The TuinIdee ('garden Idea') fair in Den Bosch in late February is a brilliant place to start the season. 
And we'll actually be at the TuinIdee with our designs!

​Participating in the fair is kind of an experiment, and we have no idea how this will turn out. 

But even if our designs aren't a match with the visitors and we don't sell a thing, at least i'll be getting my fair share of gardening inspiration.

We'd love to see you there!

21-24 February
10:00-18:00 daily
Brabanthallen Den Bosch
free shuttle-service from the train station

<Get your tickets online with a discount>

It took some organizational skill and a lot of family help to schedule ourselves kid-free and in the south of the country on Saturday and be able to take a day-trip to Paris.

​That's making it sound a lot more romantic than it was: What it came down to, was us spending 9 hours in the car for 5 hours at Parc Expositions Villepinte (+ a short joyful stop at a hypermarché).

It was all worth it.
We brought Champagne and cheese to officially celebrate the Wren and Kiwi launch and shared a festive toast with Ay Lin, Casper and the Ay Illuminate crew.

​Seeing our designs displayed in the Ay Illuminate booth and how well they fit in with the rest of the Ay Illuminate collection made it all come together, and it was wonderful to experience the response of the M&O public.

After enjoying the company at the booth for a while, we did a quick (three hour) round of the fair that was way too short to see anything yet left us both with sore feet (11.000+ steps according to my phone).

All in all this flying visit took us 14 hours, and i'm so happy we went.
​Below you'll find a few more snapshots of the booth and our trip. 

​Have you been to M&O?
​What did you like best?

Last year in January we were high on anticipation about starting the Driving Dutch Design masterclasses.
​
Fast forward 12 months, and we're proud DDD graduates.
It has been a super intense yet super fun experience during which we met so many wonderful people.

And it aint over yet!
The Driving Dutch Design 'graduation exhibition' from Dutch Design Week 2018 is now travelling and will be on display in Eindhoven at Yksi expo from now until March 31st.

So go check that out if you're in the neighbourhood. No entrance fee, the best coffee and designer gifts to be shopped!​

Yksi Expo
1/10/2019 - 3/31/2019

Torenallee 22-04 (Strijp S)
5617 BD Eindhoven

​Open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 - 17:30

A week into the New Year and i'm so happy to be back in normal mode.
Don't get me wrong, i love the Holidays, and had been looking forward to the festive season since summer ended.
Yet after months of anticipation followed with weeks of joyfilled familytime, social calls and everything being so very special, getting back into the routines of the day-to-day feels so very refreshing.

Getting back to it, also means 'getting on with it'.
And i love what we'll be doing the coming months.

We already told you about our participation in Object Rotterdam in February.
We'll also be at the Tuin Idee gardening themed expo later that month in Den Bosch.
And to top it up the Driving Dutch Design DDW expo has traveled to Yksi Expo for the coming months.

But what we're most excited about this month, is the launch of the Wren & Kiwi lamps that we designed for socially conscious lighting label Ay Illuminate.

10 Days to go before the sustainable lamps will premier at Maison & Objet in Paris, and we cant wait to show you what we've been working so hard on the past year.

We didn't just take on the design, but the complete product development, including coordination with and many trips to the social workplace in the Netherlands where the lamps are produced by people with a distance to the job market.

The design is still under embargo for a few more days, but we'll be back with sneak peaks as soon as we can.

More about Object:
​
​The OBJECT fair is a platform for the latest limited editions and one-offs from well-known and upcoming designers working in different design disciplines and with various materials.

OBJECT is thé place where the cutting edge between design, crafts, fashion, architecture and art becomes evident and it is a must-see for collectors, professionals and other design-minded people.

Location:
HAKA BUILDING 
​Vierhavensstraat 38-42 Rotterdam
(Find us at verdieping 2 / third floor)

Opening hours 
Friday 8, Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 February
From 11h – 19h

Entrance fee
12,50 euro / Children under 12 for free
- Tickets for sale at the HAKA building only, no online ticketing.

NB - FREE Shuttle service between Van Nelle, HAKA, Rotterdam centre.
​
PLEASE NOTE: Due to inoperative elevators the HAKA building is difficult to access for people with reduced mobility.

More information and the full list of participants can be found on the OBJECT website.

pssst... we might have a few free tickets available.
Get in touch to hear more!

See you in Rotterdam!

...The days are getting shorter and supermarkets start stocking up on Holiday chocolates... that can only mean one thing: the Dutch Design Week is around the corner.

Obviously we'll be in Eindhoven presenting our latest projects. And we won't be alone: 
This year we'll be part of the Driving Dutch Design group exhibition.

Driving Dutch Design is a 10-month programme by BNO, ABN AMRO and Dutch Design Foundation, aimed at young designers and design studio's ready to take their creative businesses to the next step.

Since January we've been enjoying the company of a lovely group of designers and creatives in monthly masterclasses and coaching-sessions helping us focus on the bigger picture and be more strategic about the way we work.

​Driving Dutch Design is a masterclass program of ABN AMRO, Beroepsorganisatie Nederlandse Ontwerpers (BNO) and Dutch Design Foundation (DDF). It helps talented designers to professionalise their company within the world of entrepreneurship. 

As drivers, we are constantly looking to move forward, with a discerning eye. We share an ambition to professionalise our businesses, and to place our companies firmly on the map. 

This Dutch Design Week, we will not only present our new and popular Flower Constellations, we'll also debut the brand new circular ReCabinet.

We'd love to see you there and tell you all about our latest designs.

Dutch Design Week Eindhoven
October 20th-28th 2018

​Klokgebouw Hall 2, Strijp S 
Open daily 11:00 - 18:00

This years' Driving Dutch Design exhibition offers a varied group of designers in all lines of work: from interaction design and illustration to aesthetical concepts and industrial product design.

Find the full list to the right,
​check out Drivingdutchdesign.nl for more information.

Boyscout Designer - Conform Cox - Dorota Gazy - Family W - Fransje Gimbrère - House of Thol - Je Favoriete Ontwerpers - Julia van Leeuwen - Meike Fleskens - Mies Loogman - Olasol - Remortel - Roza Schous - Staalslagerij - Studio Doeke - 
Studio Gerjanne van Gink - Studio Mieke Lucia - Studio Mixtura - Studio Selma Hamstra - STUDIO THO - We Are - Wisse Trooster

When it comes to design fairs, it's hard to choose. Especially in the months of September and October there seem to be fairs and design weeks all over, with new design-oriented events popping up in cities all over the world every year.

Yet in the Netherlands there's one staple that has been around for ages: the 'Woonbeurs'.

​Aimed at consumers looking for new designs for their own living environment, the vtWonen&Designbeurs celebrated their 25th anniversary last year.

And we're very happy to participate in this years' fair at the Rai Amsterdam! 

Read more about the fair here.

VTWonen & Design beurs
2-7 October 2018
RAI Amsterdam Europaplein 1

Open on:
Tuesday 10:00 - 18:00
Wednesday 10.00 - 18:00
Thursday 10:00 - 18:00
Friday 10:00 - 21:00
Saturday 10:00 - 18:00
Sunday 10:00 - 18:00

<Click here for tickets>

<For an overview of upcoming events, click here>

This coming Weekend the Flower Constellations will have their national debut at Dutch tradefair ShowUP, which is by all means a great fair that definitely  attracts professionals from abroad as well as the Netherlands. 

A great way for us to test the waters before diving in the deep end: Maison & Objet in Paris.
THE international tradefair that takes place at Paris Nord Villepinte every 6 months and attracts business from across the planet.

​We actually visited the fair for the first time a year ago, back when Pols Potten chose Paris for the Thol lamps launch.
​At the time we were thoroughly overwhelmed by the magnitude of hall after hall of designs ready to hit the shelves from Texas to Jakarta.

We definitely did not think for a minute we'd be exhibiting our own products there anytime soon.

Yet we are!
Dutch Design Collections approached us in early spring to see if we would be interested in taking part in a joint presentation as one of three Dutch independent brands.
Seeing this would be the perfect timing for an international Flower Constellations launch, we happily agreed to participate.

We're super excited (and a bit scared) about this wonderful oppportunity to showcase our designs to shop owners and other professionals from all over the world. 
​
We'd love to see you there.
Visiting M&O? Let us know when, so we can meet!

Maison & Objet
Paris Nord Villepinte

Dutch Design Collections
Hall 4 - stand H.104

7-11 September 2018
Fri-Mon: 09:30 - 19:00
Tue: 09:30 - 18:00

<click for more information>

These last months have been all about getting the Flower Constellations ready in time for them to be shipped to our backers by the end of August. 

Well, the Flower Constellations are packed and will be sent to all early adapters this week.
Time for the next step: spreading the word.

Best place to start and nationally debut the Flower Constellations to stores, press, bloggers and other design loving professionals is undoubtedly ShowUP: trade show for home and gift.

So we're packing up our goodies and will be at the Expo Haarlemmermeer this coming Sunday and Monday (2+3 September).
​
Will we see you there?  

ShowUP
Trade fair for home and gift

Expo Haarlemmermeer
Stelling 1
2141 SB Vijfhuizen

Sunday September 2 2018, 10:00 - 18:00
Monday September 3 2018, 10:00 - 18:00

Only accessible for professionals
​Free entrance after registration

<Click here for more information about the fair>

In the Netherlands, the name of this zodiac sign is 'Kreeft': which translates to lobster.
That's why it's pretty confusing for most Dutch people to see a crab instead of a lobster on the Cancer packaging. 
I did try to work both crustaceans into the artwork., but since the entire rest of the world apparently agreed we're dealing with a crab here, i gave up after having difficulties finding the right angle.

Cancers' birthflowers are not just rosehip, wild rose, lotus and magnolia: all white flowers are associated with the star sign.
I'm looking forward to setting up a bouquet consisting of gorgeous white flowers with the Cancer Flower Constellations.
​Which white flowers do you like most?

Have you seen our Aries, Taurus and Gemini packaging? Leo will follow soon! 

Dit weekend (2&3 juni) doen we mee aan Kunstroute Heumen en is iedereen van harte welkom te komen kijken in onze ontwerpstudio en te zien hoe we werken.

​We laten onze nieuwste ontwerpen zien en nemen je mee in ons ontwerpproces.
​
De 3d-printer gaat aan om te laten zien hoe we prototypes maken, en we demonstreren hoe we kopjes en kandelaars maken van porselein.

Er is ook iets te doen! 
​In een zelfgemaakte mal, gieten we met gips een eigen natuur-amulet.

Doe je mee? Het is geschikt voor kinderen vanaf 4 jaar, en nog steeds leuk voor volwassenen.
​
Een natuur-amulet maken kost ongeveer 15-30 minuten en is gratis (vrijwillige bijdrage).

Fan van bloemen?
Met ons nieuwste product Flower Constellations, schik je heel eenvoudig een mooi boeket met je sterrenbeeld.

Probeer het zelf uit met de prototypes die we hebben gemaakt.
We vertellen je graag alles over onze succesvolle crowdfunding op Kickstarter, de productie en de geplande lancering.

Tijdens de Atelierdagen is het natuurlijk mogelijk om House of Thol producten te kopen.
Sterker nog: we hebben een sample sale in voorbereiding, waarin je voor een klein prijsje unieke Dutch Design stukken kunt scoren! (pinnen mogelijk)

Zaterdag 2 & Zondag 3 juni
11:00 - 18:00
Parksesteeg 8, Overasselt

Meer over de kunstroute

Since 2014 Nijmegen has a new creative Hotspot, just outside the city centre, close to the river: the Honigcomplex.

The former industrial factory is brought back to live by an array of creative entrepreneurs, ranging from trampoline-halls and artisan burger joints to hipster bike-shops and workshops for all kinds of designers and makers.
Oh, and there's a chocolate bar and a micro-brewery and a gallery and plenty of other creative businesses  that i'm forgetting about now. 

Once a year the entire complex opens its doors: the brewery presenting their latest beer, the designers showcasing the way they work and bars and artisan icecream-shops welcoming all visitors with specials and the best snacks. 

The Honig Complex also houses C-More Conceptstore.
In their large industrial showroom, C-More offers a stylish collection of design from independent labels and design studio's from the Netherlands and beyond. 

We're very happy to be part of the C-More collection, and this Sunday we'll be there demonstrating our Flower Constellations as part of Expeditie Honig.  

​Will we see you there?

Every year in April, pretty much the complete Dutch Design Community packs up and moves their newest designs to Milan for the International Furniture Fair.

With our International Crowdfunding campaign running on Kickstarter, a presence in Milan would definitely help our cause.

Luckily, one of our friends in designerland, Wisse Trooster, could use a little floral touch in the style room he created for Dutch sustainable label Cartoni Design.
​We were -of course- more than happy to lend Wisse a few Flower Constellation prototypes.

About Cartoni Design

Cartoni Design creates unique furniture collections from reclaimed, recycled and sustainable materials, working with different young Dutch Designers like, amongst others, Wisse Trooster.

It's a win/win: Cartoni Design brightens up their lovely exhibition with a stylish tool for a floral touch, and we're very happy with a little extra international exposure for our Flower Constellations.
​
If you're in Milan, make sure to visit the Cartoni Design Style room at Masterly and get a glimpse of our Flower Constellations in real life.

Masterly / The Dutch in Milan
Palazzo Francesco Turati
Via Meravigli 7, Milano

​more information on Fuori-salone site (+map)

Want to stay updated about Cartoni Design?
Best thing to do is follow their Instagram account, or, for your daily dose of design inspiration, follow Wisse Trooster on Instagram.