A fabulous grey Australian holiday home

Smoke grey. It's broody, it's romantic, it's dramatic. And I love it. Swedish interior style queen Lotta Agaton has made no secret that grey is the colour of 2014. At first I wasn't sure but having already seen this home, and now this fantastic Australian home found on beautiful blog the Style Files, I'm totally sold, how about you? Ellis House is owned by Tracie Ellis founder of textile company Aura Home. Located in Kyneton, Australia, the renovation of the 1860's home was inspired by  'luxurious simplicity'. And the great news? It's available to rent (remember this Australian home too?) - when I finally make my dream trip to Australia I'm not going to be short of beautiful holiday homes to choose from! 

Tracie Ellis, Ellis House via Style Files

Could you spend your holiday padding around Ellis House?

I also love this Malmö apartment with dark grey floor, the home of a Swedish blogger, and a beautiful grey home in the Sussex countryside. 

For a quick fix - I absolutely love this dove grey bed linen which gets softer and softer the more you wash it, so luxurious! 

Are you a fan of the dark grey movement?

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Monday's home: shades of grey

Hello and happy Monday to you! I'm finally back in Sweden and despite the jet lag (although it's actually quite useful to be up at 4.30am!) it's lovely to be home. It's cold, grey and gloomy compared to Thailand and Singapore but sometimes that can be beautiful too. Take this apartment for example. Decorated in black, white and grey it's the oh so cool apartment of Josefin Hååg of 20 kvadrat photographed recently for Residence Magazine.

20 kvadrat, Lotta Agaton, Sara Mortensen. Photography: Kristofer Johnsson for Residence

I am loving that it has the real Lotta Agaton stamp (check out another styling project by Lotta here and her own home). Lotta is my absolute favourite stylist of the moment, she has such a unique personal style. She is also a firm believer that grey will be the go-to colour for interiors in 2014 like in the home featured here.

What do you love about this home?

Oh and I have some exciting news: the book featuring my house:  Design Bloggers at Home by Ellie Tennant launches in March. I can't wait to see a copy! I only hope there were no socks lurking under the sofa or something...!

And the second exciting thing is I'm holding a fab give-away here tomorrow so be sure to pop back for your chance to win.

Have a lovely Monday!

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Cool grey and brass in a Gothenburg home

I was overwhelmed with the popularity of the swedish apartment with a mid-century touch featured in Monday's post- especially on Facebook! This Gothenburg home channels a different trend: the combination of light grey and brass. It's a completely different style but very cool too. I've been coveting a brass faucet with a light grey marble kitchen surface in my kitchen, what do you think? I absolutely love the rest of the space too.

Alvhem

What do you think? Are you a fan of this look? Anything in particular you love about this home? I love it. I guess my only concern is that it could become outdated quickly.

For more brass-in-the-home inspiration it's definitely work checking out this oh so stunning home and this very cool Norwegian work space.

Have a lovely Wednesday!

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The dark side of decorating

The queen of Swedish interior design Lotta Agaton firmly believes dark coloured walls are the new white in 2014. This home mixes dark grey with dark floors and then brightens the space with a lick of white on the ceiling (love those wood beams and pillars!) and white rugs. I have to say the pictures on the wall really pop against the dark grey walls. I like it. 

Maison-Hand via Lotta Agaton

Could you go the dark side? Or perhaps you're there already?!

I spy the fab Knoll  platner side chairs and Knoll dining table (and they're both on sale too!). I think these are my favourite items of the moment.

If you haven't already, don't forget to enter the St.Valentine's Day give-away here, you've got until midnight tomorrow and you know I'd love you to win.

Have a lovely day. 

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A white and grey Malmö apartment

I hope you had a great weekend? It rained the entire two days here. Grrr! But we realised that the saying 'there's no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing' really rings true when you have frustrated pent-up kids at home. So we got our head to toe rain gear out and headed to the forest with a barbecue. Not only did we feel very virtuous but we had a lovely time too! Recently I've covered black, white, concrete, light wood and even green floors. So this week I thought I'd start with a Malmö apartment with grey floors. It's nicely balanced with the grey pendant light and bed linen and pastel shades seen in the rugs and cushions. What do you think, is a grey floor for you?

Bo-laget Via Do you Fancy This with thanks

I'm totally into linen bedding at the moment ....and it only gets softer and softer the more you wash it - perfect for a Monday morning lie in (dream on....!).

For more grey inspiration you could always take a scroll through my 'decorating with grey' label.

Since Christmas (wait...did someone just say the c word?!)  is only 6 weeks away (eeeek) it's time to start planning (mentally anyway). Which is why my new sponsor Self Packaging couldn't have arrived at a better time! The idea behind Self Packaging is to apply the DIY concept to the world of packaging, demonstrating that making your own gift boxes is not only easy and cheap but fun too!  I'm loving their Christmas collection including this very cool make your own advent calendar kit and little cardboard decorations.

Have a great start to the week!

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Norwegian meets Danish in this very cool work space

Since it's the middle of the working week for many of us I thought a little office / work space inspiration could come in handy! If you're anything like me, the work environment is extremely important for inspiration, creativity and general well being (this is my home office space). This office space has been styled by Nina Hoist of Norwegian interior blog Stylizimo in collaboration with Danish brand Ferm Living. I could work here could you?! 

Nina Hoist, Stylizimo, with kind permission. 

I particularly love the mix of grey, white, light wood and brass how about you?

You can pick up some beautiful Ferm Living items as well as the wishbone chair here. Or pop over to Stylizimo for more info.

How would you describe your work space?

PS Can't help but notice a trend in black and white homes right now. What does this, this and this stunning home have in common?! The must-have lamp of the moment in the monochrome Scandinavian home: Jielde Signal ZigZag Floor Lamp (a nice little addition to this work space perhaps?!). I'm on it!

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An apartment in Stockholm with a happy glow

It's Friday - woohooo! Up to anything great this weekend? I think I'll be doing a lot of lazing around with my family in the last of the summer sun and enjoying long breakfasts like the one seen in these inspiring images. It's amazing what a difference pops of yellow do to a space, the colour instantly adds warmth and happiness. I love the way it's used as an accent against the soft pastels and greys too.

Fantastic Frank via Feel inspired 

This home makes me feel happy, how about you?

If you feel like seeing more work from Fantastic Frank check out the homes here and here. And if it's a spot of of yellow you're after, there's a whole host of homes using a pop of yellow here!

I hope you have a fantastic weekend full of long breakfasts and little rays of sunshine!

See you Monday!

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A serene Swedish apartment

When I look at the home of one of Sweden's most renowned glass designers Ingegerd Råman, I think....'and breathe'. It's so clean, and uncluttered it makes me feel instantly calm and relaxed! If only my own home could look like this! The decor has been kept really simple with white, grey, and black hues while the wooden furniture adds warmth. Oh how I could spend a few days here padding around on my own...

Gabriella Dahlman( with kind permission) for Sköna Hem via Riazzoli

What I love most about this apartment is how they have invested in a few key scandinavian design pieces such as the Thonet B9 and Artek K65 (15% discount with code MYSCAN), BestLite BL3 Floor Lamp, Louis Poulsen AJ Floor Lamp, AJ Desk Lamp and the Butterfly Chair. Beautiful!

Could you see yourself padding around here?

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Whites and greys in a Swedish apartment

I woke up this morning to a thunderstorm. I love thunderstorms as long as I'm tucked up all cosy indoors. I once sat playing cards with with my family in a summer cottage while a thunderstorm raged outside and it was so cosy! What are your thoughts on thunder and lightening - exciting or frightening?! Do you have any happy memories from one? I hope the weather gets better though as it's actually a four day holiday here in Sweden so we're off for the weekend soon - yoohoo! Before I head off I wanted to leave you with this little gem of an apartment in Gothenburg which has been styled by Alvhem. It's so beautifully arranged and home to so many lovely pieces.

Alvhem makleri

I absolutely love the Flos 365 wall light. I was keen to have it in my sitting room and then I saw it in real life and realised it's actually really big! Perfect if you have a lot of wall space and looking to make a bold statement.

I also love the clothes rail. I've been thinking about buying one from Annaleena's shop for our guest bedroom. She has a lovely blog too.

Anything that catches your eye?

So guys, lots to do before I head off - hurry hurry hurry! I hope you all have a fab weekend and I'll see you Monday!

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