Last night I unexpectedly found our Penthouse hosted in decor8, that I so much like to read and look though the amazing pictures.I had a big smile from one ear to the other! Having our house blogged is something that happens often lately, which on the one hand makes me very happy, on the other hand I 'm not used to. So I had the need to actually present myself to you, contrary to the fact that I have not much time for blogging today , as it is the day that I hold my Art Classes in English group.A few words about that...
I spend time with little angels aged 5 -7 ( in this group so far, there are only girls ), mostly crafting simple projects, listening to a cd while looking at the pictures and reading from a lovely story book, acting things out, learning about colours and much more and of course all these in English. I know that most of you have met me as an interior design oriented person, but my primary studies are on Psychology - I graduated, acquiring a B.A in Psychology from Deree - the American college of Greece, in1999. I have also completed my studies in English ( Cambridge Proficiency of English language ) which enabled me to have a teaching licence. I have spent most of my adult life teaching English, both privately and in my parents institute in Glyfada, Athens.
But where does design and decoration come in to the picture? Well, I guess since I was a very little girl...I adored architecture and always wanted to become an architect and/or interior designer, but somewhere on the way...I got lost and engaged in to different things. Eventhough my studies in Psychology were mostly an attemp to find myself, I benefited a lot from them in my interaction especially with children, but with people in general, too. To return to the design thing, needless to say that I was always the one behind the renovations and decorations of the classes at my parents' language institute. The children loooved it! The mothers, too. And then came comments, such as: how come you are not in to design - decoration? I 'd like to renovate my daughter's/ son's room, who's growing up...any ideas?
Then came the Art Classes in English concept ( 2001) and some of my students that were interested in further and more spontaneous use of the English language, plus being crafty at the same time joined in. We met every second Saturday morning for two to three hours. It was so much fun!
To go on with the design - decoration story, in 2003, I rented my first apartment, completely on my own ( before I lived together with a boyfriend of mine during my studies). And then my second bigger one in 2004....and people would come, friends, neighbours...and they all commented so positevely about my spaces layout and decoration. Some started asking for advice and a few actually hired me as a consultant, in order to make some bigger or smaller changes in their houses or working spaces. By 2006, I couldn' t manage it all, so I stopped teaching weekly at our institute and kept only some private lessons and the Saturday Art Classes, in order to have time to work on the design - decoration projects.
In 2007, I enrolled to weekly afternoon classes on interion design, back again to Deree, my beloved college. And in September 2007, I met my current boyfriend, who is German and with whom I 've been living since January 2008. After him flying to me every other weekend for three months, somebody had to take the decision, if this relationship was to go on, to move. And it was me! I gladly accepted the challenge! I must say though, that the first one year and a half was one of the toughest periods in my life.
And this brings me back to now, that things are slowly but accurately falling into the right place. I graduated from the German Volkhochschule at the end of June and am proudly holding my excellent Deutch Zertificat B1, after intensive ( 4 hours ), daily classes for a year. I am continuing with the language learning, on my own at the moment, planning to take the B2 certificate by the end of this school year or maybe earlier. I have been hosting again Art Classes in English for little German angels in a lovely attic of a beautiful home in Wiesbaden since April. New classes, this time to be hosted in the Penthouse, are being organised. And not to forget, parralel to that, I am preparing my Etsy shop, where favourite vintage items and things handmade from me be will be sold. Last but not least, I have so many things to learn about graphic design, so that I 'm able to make this blog look the way I 'd really like it to.
Lost in to " talking " , in my attemp to fully present my self to you, I meant this post to be about a big THANK YOU to wonderful, talented blogger, writer and interior design consultant Holly from decor8 for having our Penthouse and me in her lovely blog pages.Now if you 'll excuse me, I have today's crafts and lesson to prepare and pack....Happy Tuesday to all...Aufwiedersehen und Aufwiederhoeren!
