A Family Home With a Breath-taking View of The Austrian Alps

Sometimes it's the home you fall in love with, other times it's the setting. I can imagine that for the Sperrer family, it was both! When blogger, PR consultant and portrait photographer Lisa Sperrer, her husband and  two daughters (7 and 15) went to view this 1970s bungalow in the foothills of the alps back in 2015, they were amazed by the views. They also saw that the house had huge potential - despite the 1970s wallpaper! They set about transforming it into the light and airy living space it is today. I chatted with Lisa to find out a little more about the renovation, the inspiration behind the neutral scheme and THAT breath-taking view!

What was the house like when you bought it?
It was fresh out of the 70s - with outdated wallpapers, carpets and furniture. Everything was in good condition, so we were able to sell a lot of it, keeping a few special things.

Did you need to make any bigger changes too?

We stripped the wallpaper and carpets, laid solid wood floorboards and renovated the bathroom and the rest room. The house was designed with huge windows, which we loved, but we replaced the existing windows with wooden ones. We're honestly not finished yet, and I don't think we ever will be - there's always something to do and I love that! This week, for example, we got new doors. 

Was it love at first sight?

When I first stepped into the house, we immediately fell in love with the view. We love our window seat - it's like an ever changing painting. The mountain in front of our house is called 'kremsmauer' - and we have a lot of other mountains nearby. We love to hike with our daughter (meanwhile the teenie has different hobbies!!), we also love mountain biking. 

What is important to you when it comes to decorating? 

My husband and I fortunately share the same taste. We love the combination of white and solid wood, and the mix of old and new. For the last few years I've been focusing a lot on sustainability - with regards to food, clothes lifestyle and furniture.  

What inspires you?

I get inspired by a lot of things! Firstly, nature! Most of my ideas come to me while out walking in the woods. I also love to travel and soak up the culture and style of other countries. I like to look at old interior books from the mid-century. And last but not least, Instagram and Pinterest - there are so many creative people out there! 

I spy lots of designer pieces in your home - do you have a favourite piece? 

We have some classics from Vitra, Iittala, Fritz Hansen and Thonet but also items from new designers. I really love my shelves from Konstantin Slawinski - they are modular, so you can easily arrange them however you like - perfect for interior lovers who always like to change everything in their homes! We also have some IKEA furniture - like our kitchen and the solid wood items in my daughter's bedroom. 

Thank you so much for inviting us into your home this Monday Lisa - those views are just incredible! 

If you'd like to see more of Lisa's lovely home hop on over to her instagram feed: @wohnprojekt and blog: Wohn Projekt (I see she's also shared a great star / snowflake DIY!). 

This isn't the first Austrian house I've shown - a quick check in the archives revealed this fabulous ski chalet (which makes me so excited about our ski trip to the Austrian Alps in February! Have you been to Austria? If not, it's definitely one for the bucket list! 

Have a great start to the week friends! 

Niki

PS Did you stop by for Christmas inspiration? If so, head on over the Christmas and Christmas decoration archives - there are so many inspiring ideas waiting for you! 

Photography: Lisa Sperrer

READ MORE...

9

Before and After: A Rundown Flat Becomes A Stylish London Pad

When you see pictures of a beautiful home it's hard to imagine the blood, sweat and tears behind the renovation - especially when the result exudes effortless charm. When Natasha Barry renovated House of Clay, a 3000 sq ft white stucco house in Islington, London not only was it a complete gut job, she also gave birth one month into the build! Imagine?! I'm pretty sure I was wondering around in a complete daze until my girls were at least 6 months old - I certainly wasn't working on projects of this magnitude! This one-bedroom flat occupies the House of Clay top floor and has been carefully restored to ensure original features such as the wood beams, floorboards and attic windows are intact and play a central role in the contemporary look and finish. I couldn't resist throwing in some 'before' and 'during' shots, so you can appreciate the total transformation!

Before

After



Tiles - Claybrook Studio, Tap - Devol Kitchens, Kitchen - Howdens, Handles - Buster & Punch 

The window frames have been painted in Studio Green from Farrow & Ball.





Before

After



Abstract Cubism* - print, lamp - Soho Home, sofa - Arlo & Jacob

Bedroom before

After




Bed - Habitat, Light fixture - Wo & We





Before

After

Although there aren't many of them, the 'before' pictures are perfect for showing just how far this apartment has come (especially the kitchen being converted to a bedroom)! Quite incredible.

I particularly love the kitchen (the handles are amazing!) - and the bathroom.

I also feel like I have a whole new source book for London!

Is there anything that stood out to you?

See more pictures from House of Clay here - and good news if you're looking for somewhere to stay in London, it's available to rent through The Plum Guide.

If you love a before and after as much as I do, don't miss these transformations too:

A dated Georgia house gets the Scandi treatment
a 1950s danish house gets a fabulous make-over
A drab Cape Town interior becomes a warm and cosy cottage

Vi ses imorgon! 

Niki

Photography: Anna Stathaki 
Styling: Rebecca Wakefield 

READ MORE...

2

A Wonderful, Relaxed Family Home In the Heart Of the Beaujolais Wine Country

Sometimes I'm going about my business in Malmö as happy as Larry and then a home tour pops up that knocks me for six and has me dreaming about a total life change! This is one of those days! And once you see the pictures, I have a feeling you might just feel the same. Lysiane Marcel lives in a beautiful 18th century house in the wine-producing region of Beaujolais, France, with her husband Laurent, three children Léonce, Bertil and Colette and their cats and dog. Their home is an inspiring blend of vintage, antique and high street finds (I even spy some IKEA pieces!), giving the space a truly relaxed and personal touch. I briefly caught up with Lysiane, who runs a concept store in Villefranche, to find out a little more about her 'golden' house in the heart of the Pierres Dorées. 

Your house looks magnificent! How old is it and when did you move in?

It is an old vineyard house built in 1752 from pierres dorées, which is the golden stone of our region. We moved in when I was pregnant with Colette three years ago. 

What inspires your interior style?

I follow my heart and allow the house to guide me. 

I can imagine feeling very inspired by a house like this! Was it love at first sight? 

Yes, but we were afraid about all of the space because the house is very large, and we were living in an apartment in Lyon at the time!

Do you plan to decorate the entire house, or will you leave some of the rooms empty?

We plan to create a lot of guest bedrooms for our friends. They are empty during the week, but we often have friends to stay at the weekend. 

What do you love most about your house?

I love the space, the light, the floor and all the little details that come with an old house. 

And finally, do you have any tips for anyone who dreams of owning a similar property? 

It takes a lot of time to find a house like this. We visited 30 properties before we found it! it's all about following your heart, a home must make you feel good. 

What do you reckon, are you ready to enjoy croissants and a café au lit by the pool?! Or perhaps a glass of Beaujolais would be more apt?! 

Check out more of Lysiane's beautiful home over at @une_idee_entete. Lysiane also sells her family's lovely clothes second hand on instagram here. 

I've shown a few other wonderful French country homes (which I still dream about), including:

A relaxed family home in the French countryside

A charming family home in Normandy, France

Before and after: a vintage-inspired family home in Metz, France

Is anyone else feeling truly inspired now for a Monday?!

Have a great start to the week! 

Niki

Photography courtesy of @une_idee_entete, shared with kind permission

READ MORE...

8

The Soot House: A Beautiful Cabin Inspired By Rugged Landscape

What do you get if you combine a sculptor with a builder? The Soot House, that's what! Sculptor turned builder Anthony Esteves built the Soot House by hand, combining his learnings as a sculptor with newly acquired high-end building techniques. The charred black structure was inspired by the 'ghostly quality' of 17th century New England homes and the wild, craggy landscape of Spruce Head, Maine. Today Anthony, his wife Julie O'Rourke (founder of RudyJude kids clothes) enjoy the house and it's beautiful surroundings first hand. 

I've always been such a big fan of black houses. They're fairly common in Scandinavia (especially for summer houses / cabins). For this charred black structure, Anthony was inspired by the island's black spruce and lichens as well as the wild landscape. 

The table (which was picked up at a local secondhand shop) is so beautiful, don't you think? My Mother has a similar one which she bought at auction years ago- sadly the drawers mean that it's too low to fit a chair / your legs under the table (just a word of warning to measure up before you acquire one of these bad boys!). She uses hers as a side table, and it looks equally beautiful!

I love how the textures - such as stone and wood - have been carefully selected to mirror the craggy surrounding landscape.

A small stove resting on a vintage chest-of-drawers serves as somewhere to cook evening meals (in a back-to-basics kinda way!).

Rails made from copper pipes and ropes are used as clothes hangers in the bedroom.

Wow! So striking, personal and unique! You can really sense the connection that the house has with its surroundings.

The interior would look equally at home on the rugged Swedish Baltic island of Gotland.

And the exterior reminds me a lot of this incredible black house by the sea in rural Iceland which I'm totally planning on renting one day! 

Are you a fan of black facades too?  

Niki

Photography Greta Rybus, found via Remodelista with thanks. 

READ MORE...

4

The Fabulous Sydney Home of A Photographic Interior Stylist

G'day! It's been a while! We were actually meant to be back in Sweden today, but Allie picked up a tummy bug in London a couple of days ago (poor little thing!) - so only half the family made it back! Guh! Has that ever happened to you? Hopefully we can head home this afternoon. ANYHOW, I thought I'd kick off November with a very special tour of the home of Australian interior stylist Kerrie-Ann Jones. Kerrie-Ann began her home decor career working for glossy interior magazines including Real Living. Today she works as a photographic interior stylist and creative director, counting some of Australia's leading furniture, art and homeware brands as her clients. Based on this intro, you can kind of guess that her own home - a Sydney terrace house in Darlinghurst - is pretty fabulous, and you wouldn't be wrong! The earthy, light-filled living space has been artfully curated using a blend of mid-century, contemporary vintage, art and handmade pieces against a cool back drop of polished concrete and white walls. Come and take a peek inside!

A series of skylights flood the open plan kitchen with great shafts of light - one of the reasons Kerrie-Ann fell in love with the house in the first place!

Peel back the layers and you'll find a cool polished concrete floor and whitewashed walls.

I do love a polished concrete floor - but they certainly need a lot of cosying up (especially in Sweden). This large, striped rug in the second living room does the trick, plus it's very pretty too!

I spotted a rattan chair like this one in the corner of Kerrie-Ann's daughter's room in the Swedish shop Granit the other day - isn't it fabulous? I also love the wooden bookshelves in the corner of the room - laying children's books flat against the room makes it so much easier for them to pick out their favourite books (usually the longest ones....!). 

Kerrie-Ann has decorated her own room with layers of texture in earthy hues and a simple rust accent. The guest bedroom is a little more vibrant with salmon pink linen bedding (what a difference a little coloured linen can make - source similar here*!). 

If you're thinking of renovating your bathroom - take heed! It can be pretty expensive to make-over a space like this so, in MHO it's way better to go for something timeless like a grey and white theme and then bring in the latest trends with accessories - just like Kerrie-Ann has done. The same goes for cushions in the sitting room, dishcloths in the kitchen etc. 

Love the bust! 

What did you think? Planning a complete overhaul of your own home? Or maybe just scouring second-hand rug* sites (like I am!)? 

I LOVED the gallery wall in the first picture (in case you missed them, scroll on up and take a look at the items on the rattan side-table too - each piece is like a work of art)! 

Is there anything that stood out to you? 

You can see more of Kerrie-Ann's home and latest work on her instagram feed (warning, you could be stuck there for hours). You can also read a full interview with Karrie-Ann on Bed Threads and Domino. 

Shall we stick to Australia this bright and sunny Monday? I think it feels kind of apt - plus many of the homes I've featured from the land Down Under have been among my favourites! I'm loving this sleek bachelor pad with a rustic touch, a dreamy waterside home (that view!) and a vibrant, mid-century inspired family home (I remember the artwork caused some controversy when I posted this one!). 

Have a fabulous start to the week friends!

Niki

PS I'm so excited about tomorrow's post, there are just so many ideas to steal! See you then!  

Photography: Maree Homer

*Affiliate links (I earn a very tiny amount of money if you click and buy the item - probably enough for a biscuit to go with my coffee - it's the little things in life!). 

READ MORE...

5