The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

Since at Christmas you pretty much want to eat everything… the Biscuiteers have it covered with their Iced Christmas Tins filled with ornately iced baubles, delicious snowmen, candy coloured presents, sugar coated wreaths and Christmas trees, sweet toy soldiers, sugary snowflakes and a whole array of other Christmassy shapes. I also like the idea of filling a crafty advent calender with biscuit treats.

Best though are the edible Christmas cards!

My name is Venka de Rooij. I’m the founder of Dutch By Design, which specialises in really cool, funky home accessories and gifts, perfect for anyone who loves design! I opened for business in 2003, and as the name suggests, all our pieces are designed by Dutch designers. We’re always talking with new and up-and-coming designers to add new product to the site. Our products range from tea pots with personalities to boho chic chandeliers to animal-shaped bags. I live in Greenwich, London with my three year-old daughter.

I collect… Butterflies – I love anything with a butterfly on it, I think they’re just beautiful.

I can’t live without… Coffee and chocolate – I can’t go without that daily caffeine and sugar fix!

My guilty pleasure is… Indulging in my shoe habit, I don’t want to think about how much I’ve spent on shoes over the years. Ebay is my best friend.

Our house is filled with… My three year-old-daughter’s toys, drawings and art work.

I treasure my… Friends and family.

Right now I can’t stop thinking about… Lunch, as I’ve been working on a photo shoot all morning! Apart from food, I’m also thinking about the new designers I’m meeting with soon, I’m very excited about the possibility of working with them and adding their collections to Dutch by Design.

Currently I am reading… White Teeth by Zadie Smith; I read it years ago and loved it, and found it again a few days ago.

My favourite item of clothing is… Definitely my sparkly Prada shoes, they were a big investment!

At the top of my furniture wish list is… Any of the chandeliers we sell at Dutch by Design – their designs combine the old and the new, and they look very stylish. But I live in a cottage, so the ceilings are too low to accommodate one. I’d need to buy another house.

The last thing that really inspired me was… Some beautiful and colourful flowers I saw on Exmoor at the weekend when I was hiking. The pinks and purples looked gorgeous against the grass.

My comfort food is… Chicken soup with noodles.

On my desk are… My laptop, my notebook, a photograph of my daughter and a bar of chocolate – although if
I’m away from my desk for much longer my business partner will probably have taken this!

This weekend I will… Be putting together my new wardrobes. I’m redecorating some of the rooms in my house,
including my bedroom. I’m not very good with building wardrobes – the last time I tried I dropped part of it on my friend’s head and on his foot – I had to take him out for dinner to apologies.

Tonight I must… Cheer up my friend with cocktails and sushi in Soho.

I love what I do because… I work with some fantastic designers, who produce some really creative and innovative designs. They make what I do fun and every day is enjoyable.

Dutch by Design is offering all readers a special 15% discount across the entire range until Sunday 31st December 2010 – simply type in the code “beat” at the checkout when placing your order.

Sweet Beech trinket boxes from Areaware. Created by NY based designer Karl Zahn. I love the clever way the boxes are designed to beautifully slide open and closed. The whale is my favourite of course!