Our Little Cabin Kitchen (with an IKEA hack!)

Guess what? Our little cabin kitchen (or should I say kitchenette) is finally finished! The cabinets have been in for a while, but the devil is in the detail, and all the hooks and doorknobs are now in place too! I'm looking forward to sharing all the details with you today!  

(See all the design plans for our 30 m2 / 322 f2 cabin on the Swedish West coast here). 

Inspiration

I love everything about the kitchen above by Nordiska Kök -  the grey-beige tone, clean look, the stone and the open wood shelves. I was also keen to bring in some dark grey stone to match the dramatic rocky shoreline in this part of Sweden. 

Floorplan

The designated kitchen area is small and centred around a mid-height window (174 cm wide). Even so we had several criteria: we needed a sink, fridge, small freezer, plenty of food storage and a recycling area. Notice that I haven't mentioned a stove or oven. 

We learned early on that installing a stove would mean it would become a property in its own right and would have electricity / water bill implications (gaaaah!) so we decided we'd use the stove in the main cottage for now. However, there are several options moving forward which include a gas barbecue, outdoor kitchen or even one of IKEA's pop up stoves. We'll see! 

Design

We explored many different kitchen brands, but to be honest, we simply couldn't believe how much even the tiniest of kitchens cost (have you found this too?) and since this is our second (little) home, they were all over our budget, so we had to get creative instead! 

When you're on a tight budget, I think IKEA kitchens are great. I'm a big fan of using them for the basics and then pepping them up by splurging on the details like the tap, handles and worktop. This is what we did in the main cottage kitchen several years ago, and I've been so happy with it! 

I also think the free IKEA kitchen planning service is great (no, this isn't sponsored by the Swedish giant, I promise!)  However, I was hoping to add a few personal touches, so I turned to my dear friend and interior designer Helen Sturesson for advice on how to incorporate hand-built shelves etc. And she sketched the above design. 

Ready to take a look at the results and find out more about the details? 

Results

We chose the Veddinge kitchen and then had it professionally spray painted by Swiss Metod / Lackera Köksluckor (my absolute go-to guys in Malmö) in Blek Sand (NCS S2005-Y20R). 

Worktop

I'd have loved a real stone worktop, but again our budget didn't quite reach for that now. I was really happy to find this laminate worktop at Hornbach. One day, maybe we'll swap it out for real stone, but I love this one for now! 

I think a high quality, beautiful tap is one of the most essential elements of a kitchen. It makes such a difference to the overall experience! We opted for the CRISTINA Rubinetterie CRIKT501 under window kitchen mixer in brushed old brass to match the bathroom taps. I love the finish!  

The sink is HAVSEN from Ikea. 

Handles

I was so happy to find these Cabinet Knob Helix - with a modern industrial vibe by Beslag Online (they have a load of beautiful knobs, hooks and furniture legs in their collection and sell throughout Europe).  The antique bronze matches the tap perfectly too! 

Shelves 

The open shelves were built by hand with oak slabs from Hornbach. I have to say, despite the faff, these are my favourite part of the kitchen - and so handy for cups and glasses and other items we use all the time. 

If we had installed a stove to the right, we wouldn't have been able to have these shelves there as we'd have needed to add a fan (I just wanted to point this out in case you're planning to do something similar). Maybe in the future, if we decide to get a stove, we'll have to do away with the upper right ones (sniff, sniff!). 

Lighting

An essential element - good lighting! In the above picture you can catch a glimpse of the subtle, Strömlinje LED light from IKEA which is connected to the wall switch and also has a remote control. The lighting is excellent, I have to say! 

We made one mistake. And that is that I should have used one panel instead of two on the front of the fridge (lower-centre). I got myself into a bit of a pickle with door handles - and may have used some photoshop trickery with this to show you how the end result will look with the knobs! However, in the long term I think I'll swap the two drawer fronts out to a single unit. What do you think? 

A few other things: 

We do have a kettle (hence all the teapots etc) - it's just not in shot!

The extendable table and chairs are from Danish brand Skovby (see my post about them here) and the ladder - which can be moved across to the kitchen, was built by a local carpenter. You can find all the information about the wood floor and panelling (by Norrlands Trä) in my post here. 

I hope you like our little kitchen as much as we do! 

If you have any questions, please give me a shout in the comments below and I'd be happy to help. 

Have a great weekend all, see you Monday! 

Niki

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Back Again! (Plus Our Summer Cottage kitchen Renovation)

Why hello there! I hope you've had a wonderful couple of weeks. Per, the girls and I have just arrived back home to Malmö with a bump after a couple of weeks up at the cottage. How I miss that place, we had such a magical time. I might just have to go back up with the specific aim to write a guide - I have so many tips to share with you in case you're ever on the beautiful 'Bjärehalvön' in Northwest Skåne! It's an area not to be missed if you're visiting Sweden! It would also give me the perfect excuse to return! I also spent a little time thinking about the tiny cabin we're building this autumn in the cottage garden and so looking forward to sharing more of our plans with you later this week (thank you for so much for sharing your thoughts on the windows and windows and doors, I can't tell you how helpful it was!).

In the meantime, here's a throwback to the time Per and I renovated and installed the cottage kitchen by hand. It was a true labour of love - and I appreciate it all the more as a result! Thank you so much to Christina AKA 'Farmor' for entrusting us with your kitchen! 

We stripped out the 1970s kitchen - which included a plastic Lino floor, before sanding, plastering and painting the space. Best find: a perfect size mouse hole under the kitchen counters. We'd been wondering how they were getting in! 

Per was in charge (he's a bit of a dab hand when it comes to DIY), and I was his 'sous chef'. It was really hard work, but surprisingly therapeutic! And for once, I was actually quite good at taking instructions from him! 

One of my jobs was to put together all the IKEA kitchen cabinets. If there's one thing I've learnt, it's to follow the instructions by the letter and never miss a step! By the end, I never wanted to see a flat pack ever again! 

Installing the cabinets was the trickiest part of all - and required help from YouTube and multiple calls to the IKEA help line (it was surprisingly easy to get hold of someone!). The main issue was that they have to be exactly in line - no easy feat when you're working with crooked walls from 1936! But we got there in the end! 

You can read about all the details in my final reveal post here. 

Other than the tiny cabin, I'd really love to renovate the girl's bedroom up there. Although now that I know how much work even the smallest room can entail, I'm dragging my feet a little. 

Have you carried out any renovations recently? Or perhaps you're about to embark on one? I'd love to hear more about it below! 

Now that I'm back, I'm so looking forward to posting regularly again. As always, I'll be posting every other day until the girls go back to school - and then daily from 1st September.  Thank you for stopping by! 

Niki

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Our Wood Floor Update: It's Finished!

You might recall back in the spring, Per and I realised that the wood floor in our open-plan living area had finally bitten the dust. No amount of sanding, waxing and glue could rescue it. I was so grateful to hear all your thoughts on which style of wood floor to go for (it's a minefield as the options are endless!). After A LOT of deliberation, we finally chose Cured Oak LYBY wide plank (28cm) with a rustic, white matte lacquer finish from Swedish brand Bjelin. The reason: most of all, we fell in love with this particular wood floor. But also, it's easy to install (see my post of us in action here), really hard-wearing (with a messy family of five this was essential!) and made of renewable raw materials.  

Originally, it was a toss up between parquet flooring and wide planks - I've always loved both styles but in the end, we opted for the wide planks since I knew they would fit with the contemporary feel of our home and bring an element of calm to the living space (trust me, an open-plan living space with three kids around can get pretty hectic!).  We also chose a light wood as it's a pretty dark room, especially in the winter and I have to say, the white lacquer finish has given the room an instant lift! 

We're so thrilled with it! The only problem is, that decorating always seems to have a knock-on effect: update one thing in your home and then other things beside it start to look dated! Do you find the same? Don't tell Per though - he's only just recovered from the installation!

I hope you like our new wood floor as much as we do! 

You can find more details about it here - and see how our room looked before the renovation here. In case you're curious about laying a wood floor yourself, read Per's best tips!

I'll be back tomorrow with a very exciting home tour - please do pop back as I'd hate for you to miss it. In the meantime, I'm sending sunny weather vibes from Sweden! 

Niki

Thank you so much to Bjelin for partnering with us in this project, it made the whole renovation so seamless. All words are my own and I only ever work with brands I absolutely love! 

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Our Kitchen Update: Got A Feeling This Will Be One Good Sunday Roast!

Paid partnership with Samsung

Our fridge and freezer have been on blink for a while now. I was therefore super grateful to Samsung for approaching me to participate in their 'Sunday Evenings' series which meant replacing our existing fridge and freezer with much needed new ones. Thanks for coming to the rescue Samsung! I was also happy because Sunday evenings mean Sunday roasts in our house - and Sunday roast is my middle name! Full disclosure: I'm admittedly, not much of a cook as you know - but Sunday roasts I can do! Are they a typically British thing - or do you also enjoy them in your country too? It's one of the few traditions I brought with me - as in my mind, there's no better way to end a weekend than gather round the table with the entire family! 

So first, the appliances. Which ones did I choose and why? After a lot of research, I opted for the Samsung Refrigerator RR39M73657F/EE and Samsung Freezer RZ32M71357F - both of which have won 'best in test' at Swedish store Elgiganten for three years in a row! 

We loved that the insulation is really streamlined, which means you get more space for food (great for a family with three children who are getting bigger by the day!). We also liked that the freezer has a special Metal Cooling functionality which means you get an even temperature throughout (no more semi-frozen vegetables at the back!).  

And the vegetable drawer has a Humidity Control setting, which helps to ensure that our veggies stay fresher for longer - so less food waste, and an even better Sunday roast! In the words of the Swedes: Hurrah! 

Oh, and the fridge also comes with a water dispenser. It's a little luxury that I've been coveting for a while. Since we don't have any plumbing on that side of the kitchen, I was relieved to finally find a fridge that has a water dispenser that doesn't require any plumbing. The freezer also has a really nifty ice machine which hardly takes up any space.

After all, making a Sunday roast is thirsty work, right?!

This week I'm making roast chicken with roasted vegetables (and all the trimmings) - the girls are going to be so disappointed that this means no Yorkshire puddings, which is why I'm throwing in a pudding too! 

Do you have a special Sunday evening tradition in your home too? if so, I'd love to hear about it! 

Wishing you a lovely Sunday friends! 

Niki

PS I've learnt that there's a great second-hand market for old fridges and freezers. The ones we had might no longer have been efficient enough for daily family life, but they've gone to a great home!

A big thank you to Helen Sturesson for styling / interior design guidance. 

This is a paid collaboration with Samsung. However, all words are my own and I only ever work with brands and products I love and can truly recommend. Thank you for supporting the businesses that make My Scandinavian Home possible. 

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My Summer Cottage Kitchen Final Reveal (+ Get The Look)!

In paid partnership with Bosch:
I can't believe we've finished our summer cottage kitchen! For a mini, 8 m2 / 86 sq. ft. kitchen, it sure was a whole lot of work! Thank goodness for You Tube and all your wonderful tips and words of encouragement along the way. There certainly wouldn't be a kitchen to enjoy without either of these ingredients! It seems a lifetime ago that I shared the before pictures, design plans - and a few nasty surprises along the way - so without further ado, here is the final reveal!



A little background
Our wooden cottage is located on the West coast of Sweden and was built by my husband's grandfather in the 1930s. It isn't insulated, so we're only there on weekends and school holidays between April and October. Life at the cottage is simple and involves a routine of eat, swim, sleep, repeat! It's somewhere we go to escape the city, kick back and enjoy everything the Swedish summer has to offer with no flights to catch and no schedules to keep. I was keen for the kitchen to reflect this back to basics way of life and create something simple, understated and comfortable.

The Colours
The house is a few hundred metres from the shores of the Kattegat sea where off-white sands meet cool, grey-blue waters. A pine forest leads down to the shoreline - and offers a perfect place to forage for berries and mushrooms. I opted for soft,  muted, subtle greys and whites with touches of lush greenery to reflect the lovely surroundings.




THE CABINETS
We chose simple veddinge cabinets from IKEA which I had spray painted by the fab guys at Swiss Metod in Malmö. We completed the look with bagganäs brass knobs (thank you for your help deciding these in my instagram stories poll!).

Above: While we tend to lead a back-to-basics life at the cottage, we still delight in a few modern comforts, and a dishwasher is one of them! We were going to go for a compact / slimmed down size but in the end went for the standard size Dishwasher Series 6 SBE46CX05E so we wouldn't be constantly emptying and refilling it! Since it's a small kitchen we integrated it behind the cabinets for a seamless look. It's also dead silent, so you'd never know it was there! 
 
I felt it was important to inject some of the original features. The original Bakelight fittings had been swapped out for white plastic fittings in the 70s and I felt it would be nice to reinstall replicas from this time. My Mother-in-law thought this was very amusing: "I still remember the day we installed the new light switches. They felt very state-of-the-art.". I wonder what the next generation will do?!





The worktop
If you've been following this journey, you'll know we went backwards and forwards on the worktop for weeks (thank you for all your words of wisdom!). Since it's not our permanent home we wanted something inexpensive, durable and practical. In the end we chose Ekbacken white marble effect as it covered all basics. I am super happy with how it looks and can highly recommend it. However, the 'purist' in me is pining for a natural surface so one day I might just swap it out for wood or stone, we'll see!

Oven, induction hob and fan
Having had Bosch appliances in our home for over ten years and knowing they can be integrated seamlessly into IKEA kitchens, it made sense to go for Bosch goods in our summer cottage too. I'm so happy with our Oven Series 8 HBG872DS1S and Induction Hob Series 6 PXE611FC1E, they're super sleek and state-of-the-art! We're also pleased with the fan, which is tucked into the cabinet above (allowing for more storage space above). You can read more about why I chose these appliances here.

I registered my appliances at My Bosch which allows me to test the appliances for 100 days and return them if I'm not satisfied - how helpful is that?! I also receive recipes, first insight into promotions, and a customer service VIP number - well worth signing up for!

Chopping boards!

I can't tell you how many wooden chopping boards I have (my husband has placed a ban on me acquiring anymore (along with the cushion embargo!). Fortunately, I had enough at home to donate to the cottage!).  I love that they are both practical and add instant texture and warmth to a kitchen - plus they only get better with age. Do you have wood chopping boards too?

Sink area
I think this area is my favourite. Since the house is quite old, the window height isn't standardised, so we hung a linen curtain (which my Mother-in-law found at a flea market) behind the sink to stop things falling down behind the countertop and add a hint of traditional Swedish cottage style. The sink is the porcelain Havsen from IKEA and the tap - which I LOVE - is by Tapwell (see the get the look below). The latter was a little bit more of an investment, but I completely fell in love with the rich patina and love the feel of it when in use - and am so happy I went all out with the it.



The details
Although a white and light grey colour combination helps to make a smaller kitchen appear larger, I was aware that it can also feel quite cold. I therefore added a load of natural textures in the form of linen, stone, wool and wood in order to add depth and warmth as well as draw nature indoors.

I picked up the stone vases at a local nursery (Trädgårdspalleten) in Malmö. I love the rough, imperfect nature of the surface. It's perfect for wildflowers too! Brass items with a subtle patina like the tap and nautical lamp also help to add interest to the room.

Soap dish (of sorts!)
My younger daughter brought this pebble back from the nearby beach, it makes a perfect soap dish!
 
Nautical pendant lamp
I am so pleased with this nautical-style pendant over the sink (from Rowen & Wren) - I got the idea from Jeska Hearne's kitchen! When lit, it looks really cosy and brings a subtle nautical touch to the room; I can imagine every kitchen window in the fishing village had a lamp like this at some point.



Fridge-freezer
In a small kitchen, it's vital to make use of every inch - which is why we opted for a Fridge-Freezer Series 4 KIN86VS30 and installed it behind the cabinet doors (read more about the fridge-freezer here). Not only does it make the kitchen feel less cluttered, it also allowed for more storage (and plenty of space for our summer wine and cheese!).
 



The floor
When we started the floor was covered in a plastic laminate which we ripped out. The wood floor beneath was fairly low quality so we decided to sand it down and paint it with hard wearing floor paint in white (take a peek here!). The walls have also been painted in a simple, matt white to create a light and airy feel.

The Curtain
Since the house isn't very well insulated, a linen curtain helps to keep out drafts by the back door, and adds a softness to the overall look. The stripes are another subtle nod to the coastal vibe, and I love how it billows in the breeze.



Open storage
If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know I love a row of hooks (I'm pretty sure Per will put an embargo on buying more of these soon, too)! But they're soooo handy and also add a cosy feel. I actually picked up these mango wood ones at H&M Home - such a find as they have a slightly aged look. I placed three side by side. The ones nearest the door are reserved for 'hallway' stuff like shopping baskets and outdoor items, while the hooks towards the centre of the room are for more kitchen-based items.








And that's it!

I hope you enjoyed the tour and like the result as much as we do!

The space feels extra special having done it all ourselves (save for a little plumbing and electrics).

In case you're curious on where items are from, here's the complete low down:

GET THE LOOK

1. Nordal Carpet with Fringes
2. IKEA VEDDINGE cabinets
3. HUBSCH Barstool
4. IKEA Brass Door Knobs
5. Byggfabriken White Photo Lamp
6. NCS Colour S 2002-Y
7. IKEA Natural Net Bag
8. Tapwell EVO184 Kitchen Faucet
9. IKEA White Marble Effect Countertop
10. Redecker Wooden Handheld Dish Brush
11. Byggfabriken Vipp Grounded Outlet
12. Byggfabriken Vipp Switch Trapp
13. IKEA Beige Curtains
14. Woven Finds Co. Straw Bag with Long Tan Leather Handles
15. Bergs Potter Helena Rose Tree Pot and Saucer Grey
16. Bergs Potter Helena Rose Tree Pot and Antique Rosa
17. Medium Hammam Towel With Fringes
18. IKEA Beige Dishtowel
19. H&M Round Straw Tray
20. Iris Hantverk Dustpan & Brush Set Black
21. Rowen and Wren Fowey Pendant
22. TOWA Workshop Japanese Tetsubin Tea Kettle
23. Nordal Chopping Board


APPLIANCES


1. Bosch Hood Series 4 DFM064A51
2. Bosch Dishwasher Series 6 SBE46CX05E
3. Bosch Oven Series 8 HBG872DS1S
4. Bosch Fridge Freezer Series 4 KIN86VS30
5. Bosch Induction Hob Series 6 PXE611FC1E

Did I miss anything? If you're wondering about any of the details, just give me a shout below and I'll do my best to help!

I am so looking forward to chilling out in the summer cottage garden in a few week's time, what do you say?! Not before baking an apple pie first, of course!

Niki

Thank you to: 
The wonderful team at Bosch who made this renovation series possible, the interior design guys at My Scandinavian Home Studio, Per for being my partner in crime and our children who spent HOURS on the trampoline while we worked! I'd also like to say a huge thanks to Sofie Lawett for looking over my ideas, my dear friends Jess Forsberg and Ullis Sjöström and the fab guys at Swiss Metod and Geijersgatan 53. 

*This series is in paid collaboration with Bosch. However, all words and pictures are my own and I only ever work with brands I love and think you will too.

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