Object Rotterdam is always one of my favorite fairs to take part in, and in the first leg of new post-Covid possibilities, the athmosphere was absolutely radiant.

The work at show in the gorgeous HAKA building was all bright colors and positive attitude.
And with designers and artists excited to showcase their projects again, visitors were treated to the best cultural day trip in more than a year.

As always, Object Rotterdam was organized incredibly well and staffed with the sweetest hosts.
​Even though they had to be strict about walking routes this edition, everybody remained friendly at all times.

With a few remaining Covid rules in place, the flow of visitors was well regulated and people came up to our second floor in constant waves. 

We spent the whole fair on our feet talking about our House of Thol collection and easy green living, and were happy to notice that people remembered us from previous editions.

Visitors responded enthusiastically to our established collection with Helios and Flower Constellations. We even sold out our Waterworks-sets on Saturday, and people learning about the 95% circular ReCabinet were amazed by the heritage of our contemporary cupboard.
​
But the Poma/Olera series with both the Patera Magna and Patera Media (fresh out of the kiln ;-)) were front and centre, and the absolute showstopper of our presentation.
We explained our throats away about storing your fruits and vegetables in a better way and keeping them fresh for longer.

​Not surprisingly, we are both quite exhausted at this moment.
But boy, did we have a blast!

Also, move to the back of the manual, and there it is: House of Thol, Overasselt - The Netherlands.
A shout-out to the super tiny village we're happy to be based in. ​

Knowing that people all the way across the glode, in a country like the US for example, will see 'Overasselt' on there, gives me an inexplicable amount of joy.
Many Waterworks users might not even read the manual, let alone notice the village.
Yet, if i get only one person to ever google Overasselt, the Netherlands because of this, it's all worth it.

Read all about Waterworks <here> or buy <here>.

Did you know the people behing Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie also started a branch of gardening stores a while ago?

Terrain has garden centers across the US with a curated assortment of plants for all seasons, as well as inspired items for the home and garden.
Situated in luxurious indoor-outdoor environments, the on-site nurseries are each flanked by a cafe and garden terrace, providing the ideal environment to host events and workshops.
Aside from their larger centres, Terrain also has in-store locations at several Anthropologie shops.

We're quite proud that Terrain recently added Waterworks to their collection.
A new batch is about to be shipped overseas, so all US-based readers: order your Waterworks-set now!

<Click to order Waterworks on Terrain> / <Find Terrain locations here>

In many ways, this years' ShowUP (fall edition) couldn't have been scheduled at a better place or time: the forced venue-move to Brabanthallen Den Bosch meant many more professionals from Belgium and Germany braved the trip to the Netherlands. 
Whereas if ShowUP would've taken place in the normal location of Vijfhuizen, the international guests might have skipped the fair altogether to avoid the -at the time- Covid-red district around Amsterdam.

And, let's be clear: the fair took place just in time. And i mean JUST...
Thomas and i dismantled our display Monday evening while listening to the new Covid-measures by Prime Minister Rutte in the latest Corona press conference.
I'm not sure if ShowUP could've taken place had it been scheduled a week later.   

But it did: we got to go there and lots of people showed up and we got to meet so many interesting entrepreneurs and professionals!
Great to see so many people are not letting themselves get knocked down: Even in these trying times, many shops were ready and even eager to place orders for the gift-giving season that's ahead.
We will be updating our store locator soon!

Here you'll find a few images of the presentation we set up and the novelties we showcased.
We even had an Expo movie made to give you an idea of the athmosphere. It turned out a bit orange, and somehow Thomas managed to duck the camera, but at least you get an idea about the athmosphere.
Scroll down to check it out!

Couldn't make it to the fair and would love to learn more about wholesale possibilities of our designs, don't hesitate to get in touch!​

At House of Thol we always design and make the things we miss to make our everyday easier and greener.
Slowly and steadily we're building our collection, creating more solutions for a green daily life every year.
It's now gotten to a point where we've outgrown the three-fold folder and created the very first House of Thol catalogue.

We designed the catalogue specifically for ShowUP, the trade show for Home and Gift taking place September 27th and 28th (<click for more>).
Because we wanted to print on eco paper, we had to take a little extra lead time into account, and as a result the catalogues arrived with plenty of time to spare.

Check out the online preview via the link below, or send us an e-mail to request a hard copy of the catalogue.

Stylist Annelijne from Gojungle.nl loves plants and can help you surround yourself with as much lush greenery as you like in either your home or your business. 
Not such a great plant carer yourself? She even offers maintenance contracts and will make sure the right plants are at the right spot.

Always on the look-out for green inspired products, Annelijne came across our Waterworks-set and really wanted to try it out.
So we sent Annelijne a set and she made a purrfect unboxing video of it. Check out the video on her Instagram and make sure to follow het account @gojungle.nl for a regular dose of green inspiration.

Thank you for making and sharing this lovely video Annelijne!

For a while there we were hoping we could just hold tight for a few months and everything would be back to normal...
By now we are well aware this will take a bit longer to overcome, but we're not deterred in our international mission and signed right up for the Salone Del Mobile in Milan next year.

We are setting our sights to a new spring when the world will be slowly getting back to -what we hope will be a greener and more sustainable- new reality.

So hang in there.
We're looking forward to seeing you at the Palazzo in April 2021! 

As House of Thol we design the things we need: durable products that help us with a sustainable and green daily life. 
We're super excited that products so close to our own heart receive such an enthusiastic response from all over the world. 

These past years we've expanded our portfolio and purposely created products that are functional, durable, affordable, gift-worthy and ready to ship all over the world.

​Slowly but steadily our reputation for easy green design is growing, both within the Netherlands as well as beyond our country's borders.
​We're ready to accelerate that growth by purposely setting our sights to our neighbouring country: Germany.

We've had a great German test-run during Passagen Cologne this January. It was the enthusiastic responses of the Cologne crowd that made us decide to participate in the MKB Export Award 2019: an extra push would come at the perfect time!

The winner of the MKB export Award will not only receive a year long membership of MKB Nederland and a RVO business scan, but also a €15.000,- export cheque by TNT Netherlands and a language course at the 'nuns of Vught': language institute Regina Coeli.   ​

From the 125 submissions we made it to the last 9, and after a visit at the House of Thol headquarters of a small committee, we are now part of the top 3!

The winner of the award will be anounced at the 'Klaar voor de start? Export!'-event in Vught on March 19th.
​We'll be keeping our fingers crossed... and keep you updated!

Waterworks is the first official House of Thol product, and pretty much what got us started. 
After a successful Crowdfunding campaign on Dutch Design Starter, we launched the product back in 2014, and ever since, the design kept spreading, up to the point where it's sold in shops all over the world.

And now we're about to take the next step: we made two changes to the design in order to re-launch it ready for true world domination.
An added bonus: the system will be easier to hack, and the set costs less than it did!
Read on to learn about the changes we made.

Probably the most eye-catching difference: no more cork.
We added it back in the first design to make it easier to clean the glass bulb, but we noticed two things:
1. the reservoir is easy to clean with a bottle cleaning brush with or without the hole.
2. it was difficult to explain the hole was not designed to fill the reservoir. In fact it needs to be shut air tight at all times to keep the vacuum in place and avoid the reservoir draining too fast.

We thought long and hard about it, but decided to skip the hole and the cork, which is better for the function of the system all together.
Added bonus: since we're using fewer materials, we can lower the price of a Waterworks set to €27,50 incl VAT.

Waterworks is a stylish solution to keep your plants happy and watered all the time. But when you have a lot of plants to care for, it can take quite a budget to buy full Waterworks-sets for all of them.
That's why we slightly altered the diameter of the terra-cotta cones. The cones now fit most smaller bottles, meaning you can use any bottle on top of your cone to keep your plants happy.
And if, after a while, you want to add the stylish reservoir, that's possible too: the reservoir is now also available in the webshop separately. 

The new Waterworks-sets are now available in our webshop.
Please note: the official new Waterworks-boxes are scheduled to arrive in mid-March, but we still have the old Waterworks boxes that we don't want to go to waste.

That's why the first series of new Waterworks-sets will be packaged in the -slightly altered- original boxes, and only be available directly via us.
Meaning: by ordering online in our webshop, or buying a set at Object Rotterdam (click) 

Passagen Interior Design Week Cologne is Germany's largest design event. It's pretty much the 'Fuori Salone' event of the huge IMM furnishings fair that takes place in the Koelnmesse in the same week.

A few years ago we met sweet Claudia Schaaf during the Dutch Design Week and she invited us to showcase our work in her lovely Salon Zwei during Passagen 2016, as part of the Ehrenfeld Design Parcours. 
​
With a taste for Dutch Design, Claudia presented a different Dutch Designer in her shop during Passagen every year for the past 6 years, and now it's time to bring it together.

For this years' Passagen, Claudia teamed up with Buro Sabine Voggenreiter to curate an exhibition about Dutch Design at the Designers Fair at the Pattenhalle in Ehrenfeld. 
We're super happy to be part of the line-up that also includes Studio Lorier, Foekje Fleur, Nord Interior Design and Mo Man Tai​.

But that's not all! Our designs will also be part of the colorful 'We love Dutch Design' presentation at Claudia's homebase Salon Zwei. 
And from Passagen onward, Salon Zwei will be a House of Thol vendor!

Dutch Design Cologne revisited
Passagen Designers Fair @ Pattenhalle
Christianstrasse 82
50825 Koeln - Ehrenfeld

Open 13 - 19 January
Mon-Wed: 12:00 - 20:00
Thursday: 12:00 - 23:00 - drinks from 18:00
Fri-Sat: 12:00 - 20:00
Sunday: 12:00 - 18:00

6 years Dutch Design
Salon Zwei
Gutenbergstrasse 2
50823 Koeln - Ehrenfeld

Open 13 - 19 January
Mon-Fri: 12:00 - 19:00
Sat-Sun: 12:00 - 16:00
NB drinks on Thursday 16.1 from 18:00

It's almost December and Sinterklaas is in the country!
With our boys being 4 and (just) 7, our household is all about the Saint and his nimble associates.

With just a few weeks to go till Pakjesavond we know the struggle of having to find gifts for all your loved ones while steering clear of the socks, chocolate & shower gel clichés.
Look no further: 
The brass Flower Constellations are a great personal gift for any flower lover (and who doesn't love flowers?); Waterworks makes it super easy for anyone to care for their houseplants; and growth constellation
Helios is perfect for anyone who'd love to watch a plant grow from an otherwise discarded avocado pit.

To help you along, you can now choose to have your order wrapped in Sinterklaas-themed wrapping paper!

After weeks of summer adventures and waking up without an alarm clock, we brushed the boys' hair this morning and dropped them off at school with suntanned faces eager for a fresh year.

Recharged and with our hands freed again, we're ready to take on the coming months.
We might as well... there's loads to be done!

To get the new season off to a running start, we've set up a Back to School discount of 10%!

So get your Waterworks sets now and keep those plants alive, start growing your avocado tree, get yourself a Flower Constellation to stylishly arrange the cut flowers from your garden (even the ones with thicker stems) or simply stock up on presents for upcoming birthdays!

To receive the 10% discount, use code 'BacktoSchool19' at check-out and ten percent will be deducted from the total amount of your order.

The discount code is valid on all products up to September 8th.

Father's Day is around the corner! 
And although it might seem all fathers need new Americana accessories for their BBQ, we know for a fact many dads love to let things grow.

That's why we busted our behinds to get the Helios out there in time: the new durable tool to help you grow your pits, bulbs and cuttings on water.
Read all about our Helios Constellation here.

Is your dad more of a houseplant fan?
Why not gift him a Waterworks-set to help keep his indoor greenery happy and healthy.

But that's not actually what this post is about: As a little something extra, we added a few new Father/Family-themed Growing Cards to our collection.

With these cards, you're not only sending your dad a sweet message, you'll also give him something to grow.

The cards have been printed on Growing paper that contains wildflower seeds.
To germinate the seeds, lay the paper in moist soil, place in a sunny spot, cover with a thin layer of earth and keep moist. 
Depending on the kind of seed in the paper, you'll see the first tiny green leaves pop out of the earth after about ten days.

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)

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>

Fleur Magazine is the Belgian professional florists journal and is packed with great advice for anyone running a florist shop as well as pages filled with inspiration, new designs and background information about plants and flowers.

Personally i was pretty impressed with the overall look of the magazine and the articles, that are fun and interesting to read, even for non-florist me.
​
I love how the magazine provides the floral entrepreneurs with hooks and stories that can help sell more flowers and plants.

We are over the moon to be featured in this lovely publication with not only one, but two products. Check it out!
When clicked, the images should enlarge in a lightbox so you can read the actual (Dutch) text.