The beautiful Stockholm home of a Swedish creative

I hope you're having a great start to the week? It's the Swedish holidays here and I'm writing this from my husband's family's summer cottage (love being here, it's so great to get a change of scenery). I bought several magazines on my way up - The Way We Play (TWWP) - beautiful - and Elle Decoration Sweden (a long term favourite). Online, Swedish interior magazines often host a clutch of fab bloggers, of which Elle Decoration has a great line-up. Their latest recruit is DIY extroadinaire Helena Nord. By way of introduction Helena invited readers into her home in Stockholm, which she shares with her partner and two children. Helena is an artist and designer and partner of En Form av Nord which holds creative workshops in DIY and photography among other things.  Helena's beautiful home is pared-back with soft grey-green tones and a wonderful mix of textures, creating a rich contrast. Let's take a tour....

Source: photography Helena Nord, Elle Decoration.

A few items I love in Helena's home: sitting room - stonewashed white linen bedding, jute rug, I love this and this plant pot. Bedroom- rustic stool, white linen curtain (lovely!). Studio - Beni Ourain rug. Children's room: Helena shows how she created the wall here.

Three DIY tips from Helena (in Swedish but often with a picture guide):

Using newspaper clips for framed art.
DIY art
And one for the kids - how to make an elephant out of loo rolls.

You can also keep up to date with Helena's latest projects on instagram here. 

And a couple of my favourite, incredibly simple DIY ideas from the MSH archives: a cloud doormat, go dotty at home and update a wall in an instant!

What a great way to kick off the week?

PS I am looking for a couple of homes (apartments, houses, cabins) to photograph next week in West Norway and West Finland. If you have any tips at all I'd be so grateful if you could send me a mail - thank you soooo much!

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A Gothenburg home filled with treasures

You may remember the beautiful Artilleriet studio which I featured last week? Well, as part of interior store Artilleriet's 5 year anniversary, owners Christian and Björn have opened the doors of their Gothenburg home to Residence magazine. The delightful space has been doing the blog rounds over the last few days and I can totally understand why - it's simply stunning. The walls have been painted in earthy greys and greens and every surface is bursting with treasured finds and designer pieces. Large windows and free-standing mirrors flood the space with light creating a soft mood, which has been beautifully captured by photographer Kristofer Johnson. Let's take a tour...

Styling: Lotta Agaton / Photography: Kristofer Johnsson (shared with kind permission). Residence magazine. 

So beautiful! It reminds me a lot of the works of Danish painter - Hammershoi.

Check out Artillieriet online store for many of the items you see in Christian and Björn's home.

Other stunning homes captured by Kristofer Johnsson include this Stockholm pad with fab windows and touches of navy,  a sophisticated Swedish home in dark shades and a stockholm space with a mix of vintage and designer pieces. Can you spot the signature style?

And some link loving from around the web:

Check out this magical treehouse with a hot tub and skateboard ramp - *dreaming*

A charming industrial kitchen.

Plant styling that's so now.

A shower curtain that brings greenery indoors (or if you're lucky - a bath with a view).

Have a great day!

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Harmony and balance in a Swedish home with green accents

Green is known for balancing mental, emotional and physical energies (which is why it feels so great to walk in the countryside). This lovely Swedish home combines calming sage green and grey for a wonderful sense of harmony and balance. Imagine coming back here after a hectic day? It's like a true oasis in the heart of the city. Just what I need after a very long day on location here in Copenhagen!

 

Photos: Anders Bergstedt for Entrance. Post inspired by Dust Jacket with thanks.

 ......And relax!

A few items I know and love: this shop sells lovely linen bedding, grey pouf, butterfly chair (beautiful!). Try here for vintage suitcases. These boxing gloves. Rustic stool and vintage crates.

For a very, very light grey floor (or 'grey-white') floor I like 'Strong White' paint (which I've used on my bedroom floor). 

Other homes with a hint of calming green include this, this and this one.

I'll be on a photo shoot over the next couple of days without a minute to spare so I'm afaid I won't be posting again until Thursday.  Have a relaxed start to the week and see you then!

PS - where I'd rather be this morning....(beautiful feed for anyone who's getting married!). 

PPS I was excited to see an interview with me popping up in a Swedish newspaper over the weekend. 

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A magical artist's home full of the joys of spring!

Hello April! How wonderful to see you! It would be rude not to celebrate with an absolutely stunning artist's home that's full of the joys of spring! The house, featured on JJ Locations,  has been decorated throughout with accents of green - whether in the form of lush plants, furniture, textiles or accessories. Combine this with the fabulous architecture, light flooding through the windows, mix of designer and vintage finds and art for a truly magical oasis in the heart of Camberwell, South London. Enjoy!

JJ Locations - shared with kind permission. Initially found via Design Attractor with thanks.

Beautiful, don't you think?! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Get the look: Dining area:  Tulip table,  Eames chairs, source rattan chairs here and spray paint in shades of green.  Bedroom: Tom Dixon beat light, bertoia chair, rustic stool as a bedside table. Landing: This industrial pendant is similar, Beni Ourain rugs.

If you haven't discovered JJ locations before I can recommend pouring yourself a coffee and taking a look around their website this weekend.  Based in Shoreditch, the agency represents a select portfolio of professional photographic and film locations across London, the UK and abroad. See more pictures of this lovely home here.


Other homes with a splash of spring green include this Gothenburg home, and a Skåne home with a vintage touch.
 
More links from around the web to enjoy this weekend:

How to style a credenza.

What a lovely kitchen?!  I've got my eye on these wonderful industrial bar stools similar to the one seen.

I love this funky Finnish children's bedroom inspiration.

My latest Tumblr find.

If you do one thing this weekend - bring in some pretty cherry blossom to divide between vases.

Books stored with their pages facing outwards look lovely but aren't entirely practical. And then someone told me on instagram that this is exactly what they used to do in the national library to preserve the jackets. Could this be the excuse I needed?! Loving the 'casual pile' too!

I was sad to hear the news of architect Dame Zaha Hadid, the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2004). Here are the 10 magnificent 'curvy' buildings she will be remembered for.

And finally....the night and morning routines of successful women including Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Anna Wintour- and guess what? It doesn't say that much about getting up early (I read about an entrepreneur who gets up at 3am everyday - I mean, really?!).

So that's it from me. Have a wonderful, *sunny* and relaxing weekend! 

PS Oh and I'm holding a fab give-away this weekend so make sure you pop by to enter!

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A sophisticated Swedish home in dark shades

This lovely Swedish home captures the essence of 'dark broody' interiors perfectly. It's been artfully decorated in shades of dark grey and a spectrum of greens from olive to emerald. The result is a truly sophisticated and elegant space captured by one of my favourite Swedish photographers - Kristofer Johnsson. Let's take a look around....

Photography: Kristofer Johnsson. Stylist: Alexandra Ogonowski. Featured in Residence magazine. Found via Coco Lapine with thanks.

So beautiful don't you think?

Get the look: tolix chairs,  sheepskin rug, Kånken children's rucksack, dark grey linen bedding. I can just see one of my favourite lamps - the Flos Copycat peeping into the corner of the picture in the bedroom too! For similar paint colours try Farrow & Ball darks.

Jennfier Hagler's fab wishlist captures these tones perfectly!

I also love this dark grey, blue and green Swedish home, the dramatic stairwell in Marie Olsson Nylander's home, and an elegant black and navy home also captured by Kristofer.

It's enough to make me want to dabble in a few dark walls and pieces! - do you have any in your home?

Other links I love today include:

My eldest daughter is moving into her own bedroom and we're having loads of fun picking out a moodboard. This colour scheme is spot on! So pretty don't you think?

Love the idea of bringing rainy days indoors.

Colour block navy with crisp white in the bedroom.

Take me away to this pretty red cabin in the snow.

Have a lovely day!

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A charming norwegian home in green, grey and cognac

Hello Friday! There's just time to squeeze in one more fabulous home tour this week - that of Henriette Amlie Kalbekken and her two children in Oslo, Norway. Henriette is a freelance interior designer and stylist as well as an avid painter. She also drives the award winning Norwegian blog Designlykke (which is written in english - yay!). Henriette's home is in a state of constant change (no exaggeration - this is how her home looked this time last year). Right now her home is a beautiful blend of greys, greens and white with a delightful cognac touch. Look closely for lots of innovative and inspiring ideas too....

Photography: Henriette Amlie Kalbekken shared with kind permission.

What a wonderful home, don't you think?!

Loving how an old leather handbag has been used as a plant pot! Great idea...

Here's a round-up of where items are from: the paint in the kitchen is 'dark lyon' from Nordsjø. Sitting room: vintage sofa by Erik Jørgensen, side table by Bolia. Hallway: Muuto dots. Hay bag. Bedroom: AJ lamp, linen bedding.   Children's room: the green colour is 'intense paris', shelf from Elfa. FYI there's a charming vintage school bench for sale here  - hurry though, they only have one! Others available here.

Impeccable style clearly runs in the family as her sister also has a lovely home - check out a tour of her sitting room here.

In case you feel like taking it a little easy today - after all it is POETS day right?!...Here are some links I love from around the web:

Would you dare to go bold on your walls like this?!

 I love rue magazine's list of favourite breast cancer awareness products (that rug?!).

I spent a good few minutes trying to work this picture out - is it the entire neighbourhood that's at an angle - or the girl?

I don't know about you but I'd quite like to kick off the weekend with a 'Harvest Sparkle'?! And then I might just tuck into some yummy pumpkin soup followed by a chocolate cake or dark chocolate and peppermint pie. Mmmmm! Fancy joining me?!

Back tomorrow with an exciting new book review which includes a home tour of one of my favourite Danish artists! See you then!

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