Advent inspo by An-Magritt
For more inspiration on Advent decorations, visit An-Magritt!
Slow Fashion House Xmas magazine
If you are like me and prefer the more low key, toned down version of Christmas, then this e-magazine will put you in the right mood for the coming weekend of Advent decorating.
Introducing the 2012 Advent Calendar!
Christmas is getting closer, and this coming Sunday is the first Advent, which means it's time for this year's Advent Calendar! I have changed the form from last year, so now there will be four competitions, one each Advent, with big prizes collected from several companies, instead of smaller competitions every day like last year. Each competition will be open for one week. Below are some of the participating companies who are generously sponsoring the calendar with great prizes. A few more might be added last minute, so if you have any special wishes, write them in the comments below and I will consider adding them.
Thanks for following my blog, this is my way of giving a little something back to all of you!
Studio Bakker, a study in gray
Dutch stylist, interior designer and art director Stef Bakker's pictures suits today gray and gloomy weather just perfectly. Although Stef's grays aren't gloomy, they are just beautiful.
Inside by Klein & Koné
A new feature in the "Inside" series that Yvonne Koné and Line Klein makes together just came up on Yvonne's blog. I love all these details!
Pictures from Höst
As promised, here are some of the pictures that Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen and I made together at the new restaurant Höst in Copenhagen. You can see more on Norm's new blog, New Norm, which is all about their new dinnerware.
Sara Woodrow lives here!
As I was browsing Sara Woodrow's blog SMÄM looking for some new art prints (she is an illustrator and sells her prints here) I fell over the top photo here with the blue feather duster. I think it looks great, so I went looking for more photos from her home. Below are some favorites:
Michelle Wentworth's new site
Are you all familiar with designer Michelle Wentworth? Does the name Mo+Mo Living ring a bell? If not, you have missed something great. Michelle has written a great description of the blog:
"Mo+Mo Living combines the pared back aesthetic of modern minimalism with a considered way of living. By sharing ideas, design, and resources we hope to inspire our readers to live more simply and to create and find beauty in the everyday. We believe in considered living and that the everyday experience is enhanced by thoughtful choices; having fewer things, investing in well-made products, simplifying our environment, surrounding ourselves with beauty, eating clean and fair food."
Curious? Jump on over to the freshly designed site where you will find her updated portfolio.
Milk lamp giveaway winners:
Fargebarn, Lila Wolff and Kristina Sørensen! Please contact me so we can send you the lamps!
Two weeks 'til Advent
I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in Scandinavia we have a long run-up to Christmas, celebrating Advent every sunday in December. It's nothing big, we just light candles and perhaps have some glögg and gingerbread cookies, but it's very cozy. And I just realized today that it's only two weeks until the first Advent sunday. So perhaps it's time to start posting some Christmas inspiration? I'm starting softly with these pictures by German photographer Gudrun Arndt. Enjoy!
Norm + Menu + Cofoco = Höst, a new restaurant in Copenhagen
The reason I went to Copenhagen this week was to style a few pictures for a new restaurant, and this is the story behind it:
Norm Architects designed a dinner service named New Norm together with Menu, a Danish design company. And now they are making a whole restaurant around the concept, called Höst (Autumn in Swedish). The restaurant will be a part of Cofoco, a hugely popular restaurant group in Copenhagen, who already runs nine restaurants, each with its own distinct style and menu. The focus at Höst will be on organic, locally produced New Nordic cuisine. Something I got to see for myself when I stepped into the kitchen and found a chef preparing some dish using a pine tree! And in the basement, instead of the traditional wine cellar, there is a jam/preserves cellar. I loved their concept and ideas and will tell you more soon when I get the final photos that Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen and I made together.
Right now I can't wait to show you some behind the scenes snapshots that I made. What you can't really see here in the photos is that the space was only half ready, the renovations still going on everywhere, with builders and staff running around trying to get everything ready. You might spot a painting ladder here or a broom there, but trust me, it was quite chaotic really... I'm sure they'll manage to get it all together for the big opening night though!
I'm getting to like my new EOS M camera more and more, and my favorite feature this far is the fact that you can set it to shoot in your own personal settings. So instead of using one of the built in scenes like sunset, sports or landscape, I created my own "scene" to suit my taste in photography, with added contrast and sharpness and less saturation than the automatic mode.
STAY Copenhagen
While in Copenhagen, I had the pleasure of staying at STAY Copenhagen, a design hotel who only offers apartment suites, all in a very minimalistic style furnished with HAY products. My apartment was huge, 130 sqm, with three balconies with sea views, what a luxury! The hotel doesn't have their own restaurant, but located in the same building are an organic bakery, a supermarket, a sushi bar, an italian restaurant and a takeaway place, so you won't have to go hungry for that reason.
This time, when I wasn't so stressed out, I think my photos turned out a little better...
Patric Öhlund lives here!
I've been following Patric Öhlund online for a while because I love his style, so I was very excited when Amelia posted on Instagram that she was shooting his apartment for Lovely Life. Now the pictures are up, and it looks awesome! I love all the skulls, the photo art on the walls, and his collection of great magazines and books. And his ink, man I wish I had the guts to do that! But I'm way too much of a minimalistic/chicken to do that, so my next tat will probably just be a straight line.
Frama's new shop
As you might have read, I started the week in Copenhagen. From the airport I went straight to Frama's new shop that opened last week. For those of you who haven't heard of Frama, they are both a design company and an agency, so they sell their own collection and things from other brands like Established & Sons and Diamond Lights halogen bulbs.
At the shop, I ran into photographer Heidi Lerkenfeldt and her assistant, who were also there to shoot the store. They were both very nice, but having such a great photographer there while trying to get some pictures of my own was quite intimidating as you can probably imagine. I mostly tried to stay out of the way of Heidi's camera, and quickly snapped some photos and then ran away... :)
As this was also the first time I actually used my new Eos M for something other than playing around at home, the pictures didn't turn out that great. I mean, the camera did a great job, but I didn't take the time to make good compositions. Also, I think something happened to the photos when I edited them in Pixlr, because the sharpness disappeared and everything looks a bit pixelated... Here are my snapshots from the store, which was lovely with rough wooden floors, high ceilings and plywood details, and well worth a visit.
New work by stylist Saša Antić
The latest photos from Swedish stylist Saša Antić are just amazing. So pure and simple. And the bottom photos. Wow. I can't believe they were actually published in a Swedish magazine, as the interior mags here are all playing it very safe at the moment and aren't exactly keen on taking in anything experimental or edgy. Great work Saša!
Ps. I am so happy to see that you liked my t-shirt design! Thank you everyone for your sweet comments, blog posts and fb shout outs!
Sponsored post: New camera, new directions
This post is sponsored by Canon but the words and opinions are my own.
This is my desk this morning. On top of the pile of unread magazines is my new camera from Canon, the EOS M which is their first mirrorless compact system camera, meaning it's small like a compact point-and-shoot but the picture quality is equal to bigger DSLR cameras. It comes with two lenses, a pancake and a zoom lense, but is of course compatible with other Canon EOS lenses as well (using an adapter).
I was invited to Canon's office yesterday for a product briefing, and after going through all the features and doing some test shooting, I can definitely see that this camera will change the way this blog is made. I can now take my own pictures, with a quality that meets the standards for what I want to show here. I'm not a photographer, but this camera makes it super easy to take good photos. So from now on I can take you with me when I go to fun events, or travel to exciting places, or just see something nice!
For obvious reasons, the photo below is NOT taken with the EOS M. I used my iphone, and the light is crappy here today. But from now on, I'll be able to show you good photos! I'm beginning next week with a trip to Copenhagen, and I know there will be lots of great stuff to share from there.
My t-shirt against breast cancer!
One of my projects this autumn was to design a t-shirt in cooperation with Kellogg's Special K to raise money for breast cancer research. The t-shirt is finished now and from today you can get it here or at NK department store in Stockholm. I hope you like it and want to support the fight against cancer! All proceeds goes to Cancerfonden's breast cancer research.
My thought behind the design was to make something that I would want to wear, something far from the Pink Ribbon logo, with a more edgy feeling. I wanted the message of the design to be clear if you know about the campaign, but I didn't want something that says "boobs" or "cancer" in a very obvious way if you know what I mean... So this is the result:
Photographer Marcus Lawett
Today I want to lead you to the portfolio of Swedish photographer Marcus Lawett. I have shown some of his work before; here and here but I'm happy to say that there is so much more great stuff on his site! He has worked for all the big Swedish deco mags and some abroad as well, like VT Wonen and Elle Decoration.
These are a few of my favorites, enjoy!
Huge old vicarage for sale
This big (420 sqm) vicarage built in 1904 in southern Sweden has gone through a complete renovation, turning it into a very airy modern home. And now it's for sale, here. Perfect for a big family, or perhaps an art gallery or shop?
Found via La maison d'Anna G.
Giveaway: Three new Milk Black lamps from &Tradition!
Update! This giveaway is closed and the winners will be announced soon!
Let's end the week with a nice giveaway! Danish brand &Tradition just launched a new version of their modern classic Milk lamp, with cool black legs. Now they are generously giving away 3 Milk Black lamps to three lucky readers!
To enter the competition, just do these two simple things:
1. Like &Tradition on Facebook
2. Answer this question: Where would you put your black Milk lamp and what other things would you match it with? Write your answer in the comment field below.
This competition will be open for one week (until Nov 9) and the winners will be announced in this post. Good luck everyone!
Miss'Opo Guest House in Porto, Portugal
Right now I'm dreaming of visiting this guest house in Porto that I just found on Remodelista. It's a place welcoming all people interested in culture and creativity, and besides being a hotel, there are lots of things going on there like workshops and exhibitions. The interiors are purposely left raw to make space for flexibility and fantasies... How great does that sound?!
The images below are mainly from the renovations of the building, but if you want to see more of what it looks like now, just visit Miss'Opo's site or this post on Yatzer.
Photo: Shanna Jones + the hotel's own
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