A few weeks ago we spent a good part of the day with the lovely folk of Renault life, shooting an episode for their Renault TV Youtube series focussing on sustainable innovations and design.

We had so much fun working with the professional crew and experiencing an official film shoot including clip-on microphones, lighting set up and (more than a few) retakes.
Our self-consciousness about being in front of a camera quickly faded while working with the skilled and friendly team. (thank you David, Tom & Vincent!)

Us working through the night getting the studio cleaned up and film-ready was definitely worth it.
​Although if you look closely it did result in a few bags under our eyes while filming.

Not being used to seeing ourselves on film, you can imagine we had no idea what the final result would be and we kept pretty silent about the whole thing in eager anticipation of the premiere.

Well, the time has come: This afternoon 'our' Renault life episode premiered on Youtube!

We love the beautiful images of our workspace and green surroundings the Renault team shot,  and how they did not only catch our story but also made us look pretty comfortable in front of a camera, just being ourselves.

Check out the full episode below and let me know what you think!

Want to know more about the projects in the video?
Check out Waterworks here (or buy here), and read all about the Flower Constellations on this page (pre-order here).

Renault life made more episodes with sustainable and innovative designers that are definitely worth checking out. 
Find their official YouTube channel here and make sure to give this video a thumb's up while you're at it.

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.
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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

The World Packaging Design Society runs an influential packaging design blog featuring contemporary packaging designs from around the world.

We're very happy we made it onto their feed with our Waterworks box! 
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Definitely worth checking out on Instagram.

We're very happy to be featured in one of the Netherlands' biggest magazines: Libelle.

The Libelle Tuinspecial is definitely worth a read, and i'm not just saying that because Waterworks is in there: i'm in love with the relaxed gardening style and lush green gardens the magazine showcases.

​Anyway, here's a close-up of the publication: 

A -rough- translation of the text:
​
"Forgot to water your house plants again? This funny Water reservoir solves the problem (and your feeling of guilt). It's called Waterworks and does what it's made for: gradually distributing water and preventing the soil from drying out." 

​Click here for a pdf of the publication

Dutch website Tuin&Balkon is full of tips for urban gardening.
A while ago they wrote a lovely piece about our design Waterworks (click -in dutch) 

And now they wrote this very sweet piece about our new Flower Constellations. - Thank you Mathieu!
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​Check it our here (in dutch)

We might be all about the flowers these days, the love for our houseplants did not diminish one bit. 
With the weather looking up and the days stretching, our domestic greenery can use a little extra love.
And water.
​They also usually like water. 

To celebrate the new growing season (and make up for lack of attention), we've installed a 10% Waterworks discount for as long as the Crowdfunding campaign lasts.
Simply use discountcode 'crowdfunding' at check-out, and save an instant 10%!

​When we first showed a little sneak peak of our Flower Constellations on Instagram a few weeks ago, the design immediately caught the eye of Lossebloemen.nl, a Dutch blog dedicated to celibrating the beauty of (single) flowers

We got in touch about our project and ended up prominently featuring a quote of blogger Chelan in our Flower Constellations project description.  
Turned out she had been following us already, and has been a happy owner of a Waterworks-set for a while.

Three days into our campaign and i'm finally finding the time to tell you a bit more about our Flower Constellations and their back story.

I'll be posting other updates about aspects of our design and production-process in the future, but for now, let me tell you a bit about the journey preceding our Flower Constellations crowdfunding campaign.

After designing and successfully crowdfunding Waterworks, bringing our natural watering system to market turned out to be less straightforward than we had hoped.

We learned a great deal about running a business that first year and started to craft a strategy about the way we would develop House of Thol further.

Working best while coming up with solutions in our own living environment, we focus on keeping our designs close to ourselves.
We aim to create durable products that add value to our daily lives and help us maintain a green lifestyle.

Four years on, we have established a worldwide network of supporters and shops, and have sold almost 5000 Waterworks-sets.
​
We are ready for a new green product to add to our House of Thol collection.

​A large Dutch Garden center opted to produce it, but ran into management-issues and production stalled.
​Last year we took matters back into our own hands and developed the Flower Constellations: based on the same flat-pack multi-fit principle, but for flowers and with an improved design. ​

A perfect fit, not because we're into astrology that much, but because we love that millenia ago, people tried to make sense of the skies and created the constellations as some kind of memory aid. 
Telling each other stories so their order of things would not be forgotten.

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a global society of plant lovers, at least that's what's stated on the Urban Jungle Bloggers website.

The website is a mix between a blog and a platform and was founded in 2013 by Igor Josifovic (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith de Graaff (JOELIX.com) with the idea of bringing more green into homes and blogs.

Judith and Igor are now head of an enthusiastic army of green-interior-lovers hashtagging away with #urbanjunglebloggers from all parts of the planet. (Check it our on Instagram)

It was only a matter of time before these two would turn their blog into something less digital, and indeed: in 2016 their first book, aptly named 'Urban Jungle', was published in both English and German.
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The book showcases beautiful green interiors from around Europe and offers loads of ideas and information to help you create your own urban jungle.

And two languages wasn't enough: last fall the book came out in French, Czech and Dutch as well.  

And we're in it!!!

Well, not 'we' exactly, but Waterworks is!
And not with an actual photograph, but in the text (fast forward to p. 168 <Dutch version>).
And we're pretty damn happy with that.

It's a gorgeous green publication, and to have our Waterworks adviced as a handy tool to water your plants (which it undeniably is), is making our week.
​
Thanks Urban Jungle Bloggers!

...But during the Dutch Design Week the very sweet folks behind Urban Jungle Bloggers dropped by our exhibition at Piet Hein Eek and took some photographs.

We had a lovely little chat and Judith and Igor were kind enough to give us a shout-out on Instagram.

Somehow we only just stumbled across the blogpost they wrote about their Dutch Design Week trip this week. 

Better late than never, i suppose.
We're proud to be part of a lovely green round-up and happy to get to share it here.

For the full round-up:
Read "Plant trends from Dutch Design Week 2017" here.

A few of the other green high-lights:

ps. in the post it's mentioned that Waterworks is featured in the Urban Jungle Book.

Urban jungle rooms fill the pages of magazines while Green concept stores and Urban Gardening shops are popping up everywhere.

But aside from them being all the rage right now, there are more reasons to fill your house with living greenery. 

Photosynthesis.
Remember from your first year of biology? 
​
A very (very) basic explanation: the plant uses sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to grow and releases oxygen while doing that.

Which is obviously great, since we use that oxygen to breathe.

To really get into the technical biological stuff, read this Wikipedia article.

      Pollutants like benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene are being emited by furniture, upholstery, cleaning products and other (factory-made) items in our house.
​      In a place lacking decent ventilation, those pollutants build up and can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and eye, ear and nose irritation.

      Some people say the reason we feel better when we're surrounded by plants is because we do well when surrounded by nature.

      Something to do with human beings living in nature for millions of years, only to retreat into a world of concrete in the last century.
​​
​Again: makes sense.

      As humans we feel best in a humidity-level ranging from 40%-60%. 
     Most rooms and offices however, have a humidity level of 25% (especially in winter, when the heater's on) and it's not uncommon to have a humidifier in a room or office to help create the right humidity.
​Such a waste of space and electricity. 

A pretty obvious reason, and enough for me to start building an indoor garden.

Don't take my word for it, look at these beauties.
And there are so many many more.

      Not so confident or your abilities to keep your urban jungle thriving? 
​
      We've got you covered: Here's a helpful blogpost for those amongst us who feel like they can use a bit of help in the botanical department (like me)
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      Need a little help watering your plants? Get your Waterworks-set here.

We'd love to hear what your reasons are for more greenery inside your house, leave your reply in the comment-section.

      As House of Thol we love working for brands and designing custom solutions for companies and public space.
​
      Yet beside our commissioned work we have a growing collection of independent House of Thol products that we mainly produce in-house.  

​      Keeping a large part of the production in our own hands, means we're flexible when it comes to custom orders and smaller quantities.

​      With that in mind, we created a House of Thol starter-kit for stores, making it easy for smaller shops and concept stores to try out various of our House of Thol products without having to order a full box of one or the other.

     The kit contains 4 Waterworks-sets, 2 Tension candlesticks and 6 In the Clouds cups (3xL + 3xM) and is available now!
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      Please note: first come, first serve so order now and receive the House of Thol starter-kit just in time for Christmas-shopping.

ps. please get in touch for jewelry starter-kit options.

Since we launched Waterworks, we've had many questions about how to use the system in the best possible way.
We dedicated a FAQ-section in our webshop to it, (click) but still have questions coming in by e-mail.

We totally get it: the importance of the air-tight closure and vacuum can easily be underestimated. YES: making sure the top hole of the reservoir is closed air-tight is really THAT important.

  British interior design Sir Terence Conran is one of the worlds' most well-known designers. He started his design practice in 1956, founded Habitat in the sixties and has written over 50 books on interior design in the last 5 decades.

The women in this photograph are Maria Larsson and Helena Arola, the driving forces behind Swedish garden design studio / shop Trädgårdsinteriör in Gävle, near Stockholm.

We're always happy with stores selling our designs, but extra happy when the store-owners are experts in greenery and design.

Trädgårdsinteriör is located in a lovely old building and open on Thursdays and Saturdays. 

Address:
Strömsbrovägen 45
803 09 Gävle​

www.tradgardsinterior.se

Need help with the Greenery in your home?
Here’s Homify's guide to help you get your home botanically beautiful in no time.

Read the full article -in which they feature Waterworks- right here.

We have owner Paul Wijkmeijer of flowershop Klavertje Vijf in Haarlem to thank for this lovely publication in this months' VT wonen. The author mentions him running after her with our design after she had already left the store.

We're feeling the love Paul, Thank you!!

Check out this lovely Designer Q&A by Milou Daniels published on Interior Junkie. We had a very nice chat with Milou who really took the time to interview us and took some gorgeous photographs in the process.

For the full publication, click here (in Dutch).

Klavertje Vijf is a lovely plant and flower shop in Haarlem, one of the nicest cities in the Netherlands.
The store is known for its lovely flower work by ​skilled and enthusiastic urban jungle entrepreneur Paul and his staff

What sets Klavertje Vijf apart is not only its contemporary rustique atmosphere and high standard, but also the stores' commitment to working with greenery that was cultivated with love and care and often comes with an eco-label.  ​

Klavertje Vijf is not only a go to address for special plants and flowers for the home, but also offers flower- and plant-service for businesses, bridal bouquets and memorial arrangements as well as a wide range of greenery-inspired products.

We're very happy Waterworks is now for sale at Klavertje Vijf.
​They've made sure they're stocked for the holidays, so visit them in the Breestraat if you're looking for an eco-inspired gift the coming months.