What does your forever home look like? Is it OK to have a forever city home and a forever weekend country retreat?! A girl can dream, right?! If permitted, my forever city home would have bones just like this beautiful Swedish one. Think sky-high ceilings, stunning architraves, double 'spegel' doors and original parquet floors. Aren't they lovely?! Swedish visual merchandiser and design student Cajsa Berndtsdotter has worked with the colour and furnishings to make sure that they positively shine too.
The plant in the window of the dining room has been placed on a plinth to make it even taller and work with the height of the window.
Marshall speaker*, IKEA cabinet, Bistro chairs*
Tall upper cabinets use the full height of the room (which work fine if you store little-used items higher up).
One of the beauty of high ceilings is having the space for statement lighting (like this Pholc light*) which lower ceilings don't allow for.
A low almost invisible shelf painted in the same colour as the wall is ideal for magazines, plants speakers etc.
Painting walls a darker shade (these are 'neutral grey 6000) helps a room with high ceilings to feel cosier and also allow the cornicing to pop. I also love how Cajsa has used curtains in the same colour as the wall. Curtains really are a home's best friend - they help to dampen sound, reduce drafts and make the space look cosy (and they can hide a multitude of sins!) - total winner!
Source made-to-measure linen curtains online here*. The bench is from IKEA.
Barely there IVAR cabinets from IKEA have been painted in the same colour as the wall for a cleaner look and feel while the beautiful original door has been painted in a contrasting white for a spotlight affect.
Such an inspiring home! And although we might not have features like this to play with, there are still so many wonderful ideas to take away, don't you think?
Is there anything that stood out to you?
See more of Cajsa's home here.
I'm in a bit of a rush today as we're in the middle of a renovation (I'm sitting here amidst complete chaos and can barely breath for dust, plus I can only feel three of my fingers as we had to turn the heating off! But I haven't missed a weekday blog post since 2011 and not about to because of a little dirt, cold and chaos!). Oh and I need to pack for London - eeeeek! Hurry!
Have a lovely day friends, hope you're a little more comfy than I am today!
Niki
Photography: Cajsa Berndtsdotter
Love your blog, Niki!!
ReplyDeleteThat fabulous light is the Pholc Mobil 100. Would totally get it if I have the ceiling height for it.
https://www.finnishdesignshop.com/lighting-ceiling-lamps-pendant-lamps-mobil-100-pendant-black-p-15211.html
That's the one! Thank you so much Anh (and thank you for your kind words too!).
DeleteI love the colour of the walls in the living room. The bedroom is darker and you have it listed. It's not the same paint colour right? I just need the high ceilings now!
ReplyDeleteCorrect that they are not the same colour. I didn't have the code for the living room walls as Cajsa blended the paint herself. I would LOVE to have high ceilings like this too :)
DeleteNiki,
ReplyDeleteIt read your blog often and dream of having a beautiful space in my very small rented apartment that is only 450 sq. ft. The biggest problem is that I am a renter and I can't apply your ideas to my space most of the time unless I'm willing to not only pay for the change, but do the installations and fixes myself. I have had to do that for as long as I have lived here. The biggest question What is a person like me to do when you are a renter, your landlords are the stingiest people in the world, and you desire to be lagom in the biggest of ways, but I am always footing the bill for things I can't take with me. For instance, my biggest problem is the floor. I agree with the Swedish, carpet is disgusting, but it is all I have and it is beyond ugly. If you squint your eyes it's basically multicolored grey and brown sand and it's horrific to say the least and long over 21 years old which is as long as I have lived here. I went searching for the cheapest answer to my flooring problem and came up with a few quotes, the highest was for installed "fake" wood floor in the plainest of mid brown stained medium width "boards," padded with a good padding for noise control, and the estimate came to $1,500.00! I looked more and finally came up with a "snap in" medium brown stained boards that the seller said did not need padding, and we (as in my father and I who do all the upgrades around here) could do it ourselves, and with almost $10 off per box on sale, needing 20 boxes the total would come to $625. Now that was as cheap as it was going to get. I won't go through the dramatic details but I got home later that day after leaving the estimates and samples with my landlord and I got the voicemail saying the answer was no in no uncertain terms. Reason being they were low on money and had to get the roof completely redone soon so my change of flooring was put off indefinitely. Worst part of it that really drove me insane was that as soon as I was done listening to that message I went out to my small second level porch to try to relax and my very deaf and loud landlord, the husband was outside on his cell phone and I heard every word of his conversation with his bookie. He bet on 3 different athletic games which totaled just under $1,000.00. OK, now I was really upset, my offer of $625 for something which was needed was too much to ask them even with free installation and the hard work of my father and I but they did have enough to throw away a grand on his gambling habit. This after years of updating paint throughout everywhere, electrical, shelving, adding on to his small porch, buying my own air conditioner because his was full of mold and making me sick etc. etc... and free labor and extras for free. I have had to painfully give up on the flooring change. If I ever do get something I know them, it will be cheap flat carpeting similar to what I already have, no wood flooring and I simply refuse to do any work on the place any longer that is labor for free! Now what is a gal supposed to do when she comes home to a disaster of a floor and all she wants is to feel relaxed in her own space? What do you do when you live under someone else's rules and they are not only the cheapest people you will ever encounter, but when they do finally spring for something it is without mutual agreement of course since it is their home, and it is ugly as the day is long? HELP! I try so hard to make this place relaxed and beautiful and more simple and I have a huge roadblock regarding the flooring, one of the hugest things that you have to look at each and every day? I need some suggestions. I should say, I am on a budget since I am disabled and I can't afford to move elsewhere so although that would be a great answer, it simply isn't an option for me. What can I do about my ugly floors affecting my state of mind?
Hello! I can really feel your frustration! I am going to look into creating a blog post about high impact, low budget ways to update your rented home. I hope it will be helpful! Watch this space!
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