This week, we’re zoning in on a day in the life of Scandinavian photographer and blogger, Marrit de Lang from Done By Myself...
Marrit lives in the Netherlands with her husband and daughter, Mia, and focuses primarily on interior projects and a love of modern and vintage style. Here she shares a typical day with us. Editor: Marisa Remond | Go to www.donebymyself.nl
I do the nightshifts with our daughter so I usually get to lie in bed a little longer after my husband and/or Mia wakes up….
I get up when he leaves for work. It really depends on the season whether I wake up easily or not – I have a lot of trouble with it during the winter and when it’s still dark outside, but I get up very easily and a lot earlier during spring and summer time. The first thing I do when I wake up is check my phone and see my new push notifications and what happened in the world, after that I open social media and see what happened there. I really want to spend less time on social media, but it’s proven to be hard for me to cut back. I usually need an hour to get ready in the morning, but because of my work as a freelancer, I almost never have to get up early and get out the door for an appointment. In the shower, I use coconut oil to clean my skin, and that’s about it. After the shower, I apply my makeup which is basically foundation and mascara. I am a hassle-free kind of girl. I really love fashion, but it has to be practical and mummy-proof. So usually I go with high-waisted jeans (love those!) and a shirt or sweater. At the moment (it’s winter here now), I am really loving my black ankle boots with a slight heel. They make every outfit look a bit more dressed up and are very comfortable. But I prefer dressing during summer time, I dress up more in dresses and more colours. Oh and somehow there’s always a leopard print in my outfit somewhere. Whether it’s a belt or a sock, I love leopard print. Apart from running after our daughter, I don’t exercise at all, and I usually eat a typical Dutch meal for breakfast – bread. In the morning I try to catch up on some work as well, but it depends on the day if Mia agrees on that ha! Time usually flies by in the morning and before I know it it’s time for lunch already. I really hate being late and having to hurry, so my tip is to get up early enough so you can wake up and take time to get ready.
I don’t have a household schedule, I do chores when necessary or when I feel like it...
My husband and I take care of the household chores together, we are both not the best at it but together we manage. During the day our living room is Mia’s playground, I don’t tidy then. I want her to be able to play with whatever she wants. When she sleeps in the evening we clean up after her and love that the living room is ours again. Our interior style is mostly Scandinavian, but with a little more edge. I am in love with items designed during the 50’s, like Eames, so we have a lot of those at our house. At the moment I am really experimenting with combining colours and I really love that. The key to a cosy home for me is mixing old and new together. I love items that have a story behind them. I really want to eat healthier and eat a lot fewer snacks. I could eat all day but I am trying to focus on better food. I’ve discovered some new recipes that I really love, like healthy Bounties or stuffed dates. I don’t drink coffee and after my morning tea, time usually flies by and before I know it it’s noon already. I do however stop for a tea or smoothie in the afternoon, Mia and I have a little moment there. For lunch, I love things like avocado or hummus on bread.
Before I was a mum I answered emails right away, but that’s not realistic anymore...
Too many unread emails make me stressed, so I try to take a few moments a day to check my inbox. A new trick I learned recently is to mark the emails I have to do something with as unread. This way I know that the number of unread emails is the number I have to work with. I receive a lot of spam and I need to remove those because they make me restless. I usually answer emails while our daughter is sleeping during the day or in the evening. I feel at the moment a lot of good things are happening and I’m so grateful for that. Our house will be featured in some magazines and books this year, which is a great way for me to promote my business. My goal for 2018 is spending more time photographing and I’ve already had some really great shoots. I am slowly turning my blog from an interior blog to a lifestyle blog, and I love finding new content for that. Everything on my blog will still be my own photography – but a bit less restricted to interiors only.
Mia and I usually get a little tired in the afternoon so we go out the door...
I carry her in an Artipoppe wrap and we walk into the city centre, have a drink together or something like that. I love carrying her and it’s a really nice way to bond and for her to relax. I love my job and working for myself, so I kinda work all day long. Whenever I have a moment to myself I work on some emails, new photos for my blog or Instagram, etc. I usually work a bit in the evening and then go to bed, where I check social media for one last time. If I want to be there for Mia during the day, I need to work in the evenings to keep up. I don’t mind though! I consider myself very lucky that I can be around her this often.
I love pasta, so we eat that a lot (or any other Italian food) for dinner...
I love wraps as well and since I am trying to eat healthier I try to focus my meals around vegetables a lot more. I love (love!) sweet potato fries. I love – and need – to be alone from time to time. I love being around the house to do stuff on my own. Whether it’s tidying up, changing the interiors or simply reading on the couch, I really love that alone time. I am very lazy when it comes to skincare. I have a makeup remover 2-in-1 from Clinique, so I take off my makeup using that and that’s about it. A while ago we removed the TV from the living room and I am really loving that. I’ve been reading more books since we did that – I love reading. It felt like such a waste to spend every evening in front of the TV so we ditched it. I do however use Netflix from time to time, but not too much. Every day I say to myself I should go to bed early, but in reality, I get lost on my phone and go to sleep around 11 or 12pm.