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A Contemporary Swedish Ski Chalet With a Wonderful Window Seat!

Hej friends, I hope you had a lovely weekend! Do you ever find that you really look forward to December and all the festive things you'll do and then it arrives and you feel completely overwhelmed? I was feeling like that on Friday so I planned a day of cross country skiing with a dear friend of mine. We headed out to the Skåne countryside and spent the day gliding (occasionally ungracefully!) through the glistening snow. And I came home feeling like a new person. It was with this in mind that I chose today's home tour: a magnificent contemporary ski chalet in Vemsdalen, Sweden. Read on to feel inspired, and feel a sense of  calm a world away from the Christmas chaos! 


The dreamy contemporary ski chalet is a stripped back version of the usual long cabin - with pitched ceilings and waxed birch plywood walls. The focus is on the surrounding a nature, and a window seat makes an inviting spot from which to watch skier whizz by! 

Darker colours help to add contrast and add a cosy touch. 


A ladder leads up to a loftbed. 


Imagine waking up here and watching the slow fall! I'd be tempted to stay there all day with a book, how about you? 


A warm sauna awaits after a day of alpine skiing, snowmobiling, cross country or dog sledding in the snowy surroundings. 



How heavenly. I'd quite happily spend my winter here, how about you? 

Dream about more Scandinavian inspired cabins and ski chalets today.


Would you like to see a couple of pictures from my cross country skiing in the South of Sweden yesterday? Here are a couple of snaps I took with my phone, it was a rare gems of a day!



Above you can see my friend Ullis, over the barbecue just behind the tracks!

Wishing you all a great start to the week! 

Niki

Ski chalet photos courtesy of 212 Property

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Cabin Escape: A Dreamy Scandi Inspired Ski chalet in Whitefish

The whole of Sweden is blanketed in snow right now - and the temperatures are well below minus for the foreseeable future (at least according to the 10-day weather forecast). In Malmö, everyone is breathing a sigh of relief and the children are rushing out with their sleds. For the first time in quite few years, we're being treated to 'a real winter'.  This calls for a snowy cabin, don't you think? And The Nooq fits the bill perfectly. Described on Airbnb (yes, this beauty is available to rent!) as a 'Scandinavian minimalist ski chalet', the Nook is a ski in / walk out retreat on the slopes of Whitefish Mountain Resort, Montana, USA. I could totally imagine skiing in - all rosy cheeked from the fresh mountain air - enjoying a casserole by the fire before a long soak in the bath looking out over the forest. 'Walking out' would be a different story. I mean, would you ever want to leave? 










Heaven! 

Could you imagine checking-in here? 

I miss the mountains so much - do you? Or perhaps like Swede Bettina Kapare you're lucky enough to live somewhere like The Alps? 

If you're feeling the snowy cabin love today - here are a few others to feast your eyes on:


Wishing you all a relaxing day! Stay warm fellow Swedes and everyone else feeling the chill right now! 

Niki

Photography courtesy of The Nooq - shared with kind permission. 

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Life Change: A Swedish Family Home In The French Alps

We can all agree it's been one crazy year. Never has the home been so important. It presents a safe haven (although I am aware that sadly this is not the case for everyone) in which we can relax and be ourselves. Living in quarantine / isolation - or simply being at home more - has meant taking stock of where we live, and while there are some who are thrilled with where they live, there are others that will no doubt thinking about making some life changes in the near future! 

For Swedish interior designer Bettina Kapare, her husband and two year old son, it wasn't the pandemic that led to a move abroad - but a search for a more meaningful way of life. In 2019, Bettina and her family left their home in Luxembourg after ten years and moved to a small village in the foothills of the French Alps, just outside Chamonix. Today, they enjoy a slower pace surrounded by nature. I caught up with Bettina to find out how they chose their new location, some of the challenges involved with moving, and how she created a home which merges her Scandinavian heritage with traditional Alpine style. Her story is truly inspiring! 

When did you move to the Alps? 
We moved here from Luxembourg in December last year. I guess you can say we made a complete life change. We left Luxembourg after 10 years. At the same time, I quit my job as a business developer in private banking and started working as an interior designer. It's something I'd been dreaming about and had been studying on the side for some years. 


How did you choose the French Alps? 
We owned a small ski apartment in the Chamonix valley and had been spending countless weekends on vacation here skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. When our son was born, we decided to spend part of our parental leave here and it was during that period we started talking about the possibility of moving here. 

How did you make your move happen? 
At first, it all felt like a farfetched dream. Leaving an organised life and a career in Luxembourg, to go and live in the French Alps. But the more we talked about it, the more we realised that it was what we wanted; for our son grow up in the mountains and change to, what we felt would be, a more meaningful lifestyle, with more family time, more skiing and closer to nature. As the saying goes "create a life you don't need a vacation from".

With that in mind, we started thinking about everything that needed to be put in place. We had to find a house, organise work etc. We thought it was going to be a 5-year plan, but once we'd set our minds to it, the move took less than a year. Somehow everything just fell into place. 

What was one of the biggest challenges with moving to the French Alps? 
One of the most difficult things turned out to be finding a house. There weren't a lot of options that were within budget. I had dreamt of a renovation project involving an old farmhouse with a huge garden. Instead, we bought a traditional style chalet built in 2008. It has an open-plan living room and kitchen on the ground floor and three bedrooms upstairs. It also has a large basement which we use as a home office and studio. 

How did you approach the chalet interior?
I faced a challenge merging our furniture and my style into the traditional chalet style. For me, interior design is not about following trends and constantly buying new stuff, it's about creating a space for the people who live there. Incorporating functional aspects with a personal style and a homely feel.  

Since we're living here all year round, I didn't want our home to have a traditional 'ski holiday' chalet feel. I wanted to turn it into a home where we would feel at home every day of the year.


How have you merged your Scandinavian design heritage with the Alpine style? 
Being Swedish, I believe the Scandinavian style is in my nature. When we moved, I felt that I wanted to incorporate the Scandinavian style. Both the Scandinavian and traditional Alpine style use furniture with simple but elegant craftsmanship - something I always feel inspired by. But the Scandinavian style has a lighter feel than the traditional Alpine style. In our home, I've brought in a lot of solid wood furniture, but with a light white finish instead of the traditional darker one. My Norrgavel coffee table is a fine example of this. 

Where did you source your furniture? 
We actually brought most of it with us from Luxembourg - including many Scandinavian design pieces. It's a blend of items we have inherited and second-hand treasures that I have been collecting over the years. I'm happy that we brought them with us, because it made us feel instantly at home. And with everything that has been happening in the world lately and the past few months of lockdown and isolation - our house has turned into our comfort zone. 


What do you love most about your new home?
Almost every evening I have been cuddling up on the sofa or on the bed, and looking up at the mountains outside the windows feeling grateful for our new home. I love the closeness to nature and I'm so happy we dared to make the life change. We haven't regretted moving one single day, on the contrary, our life choice feels more meaningful than ever. I have never felt happier.  


Thank you so much for telling us about your move and your beautiful home in the Alps Bettina - your story is truly inspiring! 

***

I'd love to hear about how you feel about your home - is it somewhere you can always imagine living, or has your perspective changed this year? 

If you've always dreamed of moving abroad, I hope Bettina's story has inspired you. Your big move might be more tangible than you first thought! 

You can see more picture of her beautiful home over at @chez_kapare and find out more about her interior design service Kapare Interiors

Fancy taking a peek at other Scandi homes abroad? 


Ahhhh, I love seeing the Scandinavian design heritage merged with other cultures / styles, how about you? 

Ha det så fint! 

Niki

Photography courtesy of Bettina Kapare / @chez_kapare with kind permission.

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A magnificent chalet in the Austrian Alps

A few weeks ago I was invited to visit the Bernd Gruber studio and workshop in Kitzbühel, in the Tyrol region of The Alps, Austria (imagine the little dance I did when it dropped into my mail box). Bernd Gruber is a carpentry and interior design business working with clients all over the world to create bespoke homes. Not only are the team passionate about incredible craftsmanship, honest materials and attention to detail (the fittings and furniture are created in their workshop in the quiet countryside of the Stuhlfelden region), the occupants are central to everything they do. 'The things we surround ourselves with know far more about us than we think: we are not the same person in each room. This knowledge allows us to create rooms that suit the character of their inhabitants – by telling a story about that character, ' says Bernd Gruber, who took over the business from his Father in 1992. Located a few kilometres from Kitzbühel, Chalet Jochberg was completed in 2015 and is a fine example of their work. The interior is both modern and timeless in equal measure and beautifully crafted down to every last detail. I could just imagine returning here every afternoon after a day in the mountains, how about you?!














All photography by Alexander van Berge.

What an incredible space?! The natural materials, the warmth of the wood, the incredible finish - and of course that view! I can just see myself sitting amongst those cushions with a good book and a glass of Gluehwein, how about you?

Is there anything that catches your eye?

Thank you Bernd Gruber for a fabulous weekend in Kitzbühel. I hope one day you're able to design my mountain chalet (I just need to to acquire one first......eh hem......anyone want to go in with me?!).

It's been a while since I've been in The Alps and there's no way I could leave without hitting the slopes! I had such a magical day skiing, taking in the scenery, snapping inspiring log cabins, enjoying the fresh air and of course, picking myself up from the odd wipe-out!  Have you ever been skiing in Austria? If not, I can highly recommend it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

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