2010-11-30 @ 08:00:00

Raw and natural Christmas

Yes, more Christmas inspiration! This time with a lot of wood elements, there are even some trees inside in this house. I have no idea how they got that small tree in the glass vase (third picture) to stand up straight though, could someone share that trick with me?

Source: Femina.dk
Foto: Mette Wotkjær

Permalink General Kommentarer (16) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-29 @ 15:16:27

Alcro White

Swedish paint company Alcro are coming out with a new color collection called ad.white developed in collaboration with decorator and designer Eva Lilja Löwenhielm. It's a range of white hues, perfect for the Scandinavian style.
I love the product shots!

Permalink General Kommentarer (9) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-29 @ 08:00:00

Moroccan Christmas in Sweden

I fell for these two photos from Hus & Hem, the first one is extremely simple, the second a lot busier but it still uses the same elements of wood, white, a tiny bit of black, metal, letters and candles.

Permalink General Kommentarer (3) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-27 @ 21:38:10

Saturday Sweets part 2

I just couldn't kill my darlings, I had to post these pics too! Also from Bo Bedre. If you like what you see, you can buy Bo Bedre's Christmas book, full of their best Xmas features.

Permalink General Kommentarer (7) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-27 @ 17:49:48

Saturday Sweets

I put together a pot-pourri of nice xmas decorating from Danish magazine Bo Bedre. If you can't find inspiration here, then I don't know... I tried to mix styles to satisfy all of you, both the ones going for a more traditional christmas, and the ones looking for more of a modern style. But you will never see the red, green, gold color scheme here.
I'm going to do my decorating in a natural style this year with lots of twigs, moss, pine, a few flowers, spices and a tiny bit of sparkle on top. Happy First Advent to you all!

Permalink Saturday Sweets Kommentarer (9) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-25 @ 15:47:04

Just a tad bit more Xmas

Are you all getting tired of all the Christmas inspiration I'm posting? Do you think it's too early? I know all of you US readers are celebrating Thanksgiving right now, but in Sweden, it's just about time to put up the first Christmas decorations as we celebrate Advent Sundays, and the first Advent is this Sunday.

This set of photos shot by Norwegian photographer Sandra Aslaksen shows some Christmas decor, but I think it's done right here, not overwhelming and "too much", just an added touch of sparkle and light. And that home office in the last photos? Awesome!

Permalink General Kommentarer (22) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-25 @ 13:50:03

Grettisborg Apartments, Reykjavík

From the last posts super luxe hotel to a smaller and more personal alternative for holiday living, Grettisborg Apartments in Reykjavík, Iceland. This is an apartment hotel run by couple Rósa and Snæbjörn who also has their own industrial design firm Hugdetta.

Personally, I love apartment hotels, they are so much more practical when travelling with children as you can stay in to make your own dinner instead of trying to get the kids to behave in fancy restaurants, you get to have breakfast in private where noone minds your grumpy morning face and messy hair and also separate bedrooms is a huge plus!

Grettisborg apartments are located in the centre of Reykjavík, just a few steps off the main shopping street, but in a calm and quiet back garden. All of the apartments have their own kitchens designed by Rósa and Snæbjörn, who of course did all of the decorating themselves too. The look is a mix of modern, paired down furniture and vintage details, which gives the look of a real home, so much nicer than the generic hotel interiors.

Thanks to Sari for the tip!

Permalink General Kommentarer (4) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-23 @ 14:37:40

Nobis Hotel

Yesterday I was at a press show for Stockholm's newest design hotel called Nobis Hotel, opening on December 1. Located in the city center with just a few minutes walk to the central station, and everything you need just around the corner (including Riche, one of my favorite restaurants in that area), and with a great view of the busy square in front of the hotel.

I had expected this luxury hotel designed by prominent design trio Claesson Koivisto Rune to be very sophisticated but also a bit boring and cold. It was sophisticated for sure, but also very warm and welcoming! The house is an old bank building from the late 1800's (actually this is the bank where the famous "Norrmalmstorgs robbery" was held in 1973 and so the birth place of the Stockholm Syndrome!) with loads of wonderful details like intricate stucco, wood panels and patterned ceilings, and the architects have managed to balance that with more modern and cleanlined furnishing, without making it clash. The rooms and corridors are all painted in matte warm grey hues, including the ceilings and trims, and curtains in the same hue, which produces a feeling of calmness and understated luxury.

I could write a whole lot more, going on and on about the restaurants with Stockholm's top chefs, the hi-tech solutions that are hidden everywhere in the hotel, the amazing service levels that will be offered to guests, and so on and so on. But I won't. This blog is more about pictures and feelings, so if you want more hard facts, just click over to the Nobis Hotel site.

Stockholm's smallest museum, the clock room, with an old mechanical clock from the 1800's. An amazing room, I loved seeing all the little brass wheels, pistons and other mechanical parts still doing their job. This clock is actually rather special because it's not a pendular clock, but a circular one, meaning the pointers on the clock move in a smooth motion instead of ticking minute by minute.

The ceiling of the atrium is just one example of the great meetings between old and modern.

One of the rooms, with grey walls, ceilings and curtains. I might be modern and cleanlined, but I promise, it felt very warm and welcoming in person.

The bedroom of the Nobis Suite. Super luxury and lots of shiny surfaces, without feeling bling.

Permalink Guide to Stockholm Kommentarer (12) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-22 @ 20:12:52

Christmas by vtwonen

I found these incredibly inspiring Christmas pictures on Dutch magazine vtwonen's site. They all show very simple DIY settings, made with just some white paint, newspapers, candles, sheets and string. And takeaway boxes as tea light holders, very cool and clever! All the other things you see are things that most of us already have at home, like cardboard boxes, a stool, a ladder, chairs and a big mirror. You just have to style them correctly, and they will help your christmas spirits right along.

Permalink General Kommentarer (3) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-22 @ 10:21:00

Villa Vals, or a hole in the mountain

I found Villa Vals in the latest issue of RUM, and had to google it to find some pictures online that I could share with you. Villa Vals is far from your ordinary Swiss alp cabin, this is something completely different! Architect group SeARCH worked together with Christian Müller Architects and asked themselves "Shouldn’t it be possible to conceal a house in an Alpine slope while still exploiting the wonderful views and allowing light to enter the building?". I would say the answer is YES!
Villa Vals was originally built as a private holiday home, but now you can book a vacation for yourself in this hole in the wall, mountain wall that is, and enjoy skiing and thermal baths in the Alps while staying in this amazing house.

Permalink General Kommentarer (20) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-20 @ 12:53:31

Ikea's Christmas blog

Ikea just started a Christmas blogg called Gilla Julen (=Like Christmas), and judging by the first post it looks like it's going to be great! I love the messy styling in this picture styled by Hans Blomquist, it feels very relaxed and welcoming, and a bit chaotic which is how Christmas usually is with my family. We also do the improvised seating thing every year since we are so many that there just isn't enough chairs for everyone. Here they have solved it by putting a cushion on a pile of books. I believe the big centrepiece with the silver baubles is made of this KALLT Decoration, and if it's not you can make something similar of it anyway.

Have a great weekend everyone! Perhaps it's time to start decorating for Xmas at your place?

Permalink General Kommentarer (14) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-18 @ 18:22:13

Photographer Manolo Yllera

Do you remember the post about the Delfin & Postigo house I wrote back in January? The photos spread like fire over the internet, and I believe photographer Manolo Yllera had quite a peak in the visitor stats of his portfolio in the weeks following that post. Well, yesterday I was reminded about Yllera by a post on the Love Nordic design blog, and decided to pay him a visit again. Here is what I found:

Permalink Photographers Kommentarer (10) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-18 @ 00:14:16

Villa Stoor

Maliin Stoor is a Swedish blogger and decorator who in my eyes has a great sense of style. Her own house, Villa Stoor, is often featured on her blog, and gives me lots of inspiration for both big and small projects in my own house. Maliin is very handy and innovative, so although her house is decorated in a modern style and kept in the colours black and white, it is still very personal and has lots of stylish and clever solutions. I'd like to give you some examples here:

Maliins bedroom with a black ceiling, concrete wall, white painted pallets used as a bed frame and naked bulbs.

The en-suite bathroom with a mix of vintage mirrors above the washbasin and a light made from an old funnel, with a string of lights adorning the wire. you also get a glimpse of the concrete floors that run throughout the entire house.

The open plan kitchen and dining space, with a mix of whitepainted wooden chairs around the Bruno Mathsson table and a branch with a string of fairy lights as a ceiling light.

Maliin free-hand painted this "rug" on their concrete deck.

More pallets, used here as a table in the garden. Notice the log sculptures in the background.

A big cluster of work lights welcomes the visitors.

Permalink Blog tips Kommentarer (47) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-13 @ 16:05:36

Saturday Sweets

Hi all, I hope you are having a great weekend!
I'm just about to pack away everything in our living room, because we have a painter coming on monday. It feels great to finally get this room in order, because as it is now, it looks horrible. As some of you know, I moved into my boyfriend's house when we were expecting Lo, and all of my stuff has been in storage ever since. So we have been living in this old bachelor pad of a house for almost two years now, and by bachelor pad I don't mean the cool luxurios kind, no I mean the messy unrenovated house of someone who don't care the slightest what things look like... I'll show you a before picture later. But now I'm looking forward to decorating this room! Below are some of the pictures I've been inspired by. Hopefully I can achieve something at least half as nice, but as we have no budget, it might take a while to get there. Luckily, there is always Ikea, and I have a sweet mother-in-law who can help me with anything fabric related!

Permalink Saturday Sweets Kommentarer (19) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-12 @ 17:54:46

More cowbell!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Some nice product shots from Toast, they always make such cozy catalogues.

Have a great weekend!

Permalink General Kommentarer (8) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-12 @ 17:47:40

And the winner is...

The winner of the luxurious Baronessa silk throw from Estride is... *drumrolls* Line from Copenhagen! Congratulations! I will contact you via email.

Permalink General Kommentarer (1) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-12 @ 01:41:13

White Christmas

Simple white christmas decorations using what you already have at home in your kitchen and garden. Just perfect!
Photographs by Icelandic photographer Rakel Ósk Sigurðardóttir. Styling by Ólöf Jakobína for Icelandic magazine Gestgjafinn.

Permalink General Kommentarer (6) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-10 @ 16:21:29

Photographer Mark Eden Schooley

Found via Lotta Agaton's blog, Paris based American photographer Mark Eden Schooley. You have probably seen his work before in Marie Claire Maison, Selvedge, Elle Decor Italy or Bloom.

Permalink Photographers Kommentarer (7) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-08 @ 07:52:00

More whites...

Desiree from the excellent blog Vosges Paris whished for more white photos here when she read the latest all white Saturday Sweets post here. And who am I to say no to that? Of course you can have more white, I don't think you can ever have too much white!
Below are some very white photos, all shot by Swedish photographer Per Gunnarsson. Enjoy!

Permalink General Kommentarer (21) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-06 @ 17:40:55

Saturday Sweets

With the interview I posted last week in mind, I'm giving you an all white Saturday Sweets post today. What do you think, which of these rooms are "white done right" and which are not?

Permalink Saturday Sweets Kommentarer (12) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-06 @ 16:55:19

Giveaway: Win a silk throw from Estride

Yes, a new giveaway! This time the prize is an exclusive silk velvet throw from Estride.
Luxury label Estride has teamed up with the talented Swedish designer Lisa Bengtsson to create the limited silk velvet throw collection “Baronessa”. Now you can escape chilly days by snuggling up on the sofa with at darling throw – filled with soft mulberry silk to warm you up.

All you have to do to have a chance to win a Baronessa throw (worth appr. €330) is answer the questions below. Send your answer to emmasdesignblogg@gmail.com and write "Baronessa" in the subject line. I will draw a winner here on Friday Nov 12.

1. The silkworms are fed with leaves from a particular tree, which tree is that?

2. Which country does silk originally come from?

Permalink General Kommentarer (0) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-04 @ 00:54:25

Modern and cozy Norwegian mountain cabin

This is one of the best decorated ski cabins (or "hytte" as they say in Norway) I have ever seen. The owners really brought nature in and used the traditional "ski lodge accessories" like antlers, wood staples, sheepskin throws etc in a more stylish way by combining them with tougher industrial elements like concrete, metal shelving and lights, and reclaimed weathered wood. The walls and floors are in many different materials and colors, but they are all held together nicely by keeping the color range to white, grey and black with some natural unpainted wood added to the mix.

Source: Sköna Hem

Permalink General Kommentarer (27) Trackbacks ()

2010-11-01 @ 21:58:22

Introducing Der Kleine Salon

Today I'm introducing my latest sponsor; childrens lifestyle shop Der Kleine Salon! Founded by three friends and full of stylish gear both for dressing and decorating, by some great brands like Ferm Living, Bobo Choses, Mini Rodini and Imps & Elfs. Here are a few of my favorites: