Pretty Wallpaper Inspired by Swedish Nature

What's your experience of patterned wallpaper? As a child in London I recall people covering lots of their home in a pattern of some kind (often DIY - which of course sometimes resulted in entire rooms of upside down roses!). I'm excited to see wallpaper steadily growing in popularity again (it makes me feel nostalgic, and done right it can look really pretty). So, imagine how happy I was when an invitation arrived from Sandberg wallpaper for the launch of their spring summer collection Arboretum at the beautiful Holmanäs Gård in Trelleborg. Small side note: if you're looking to get married in Southern Sweden, this place is your gig. It's so beautiful! I love everything Sandberg does so I knew I'd be in for a treat. Here's a sneak peak of the new wallpaper and some behind the scenes from the prettiest of evenings....

“This spring, we want verdant and patterned wallpaper on the walls. We have moved on from four white walls and we are much more adventurous in both pattern and colour. In our new collection, Arboretum, you can find everything from crisp to more dramatic colours which create a soft and fresh ambience in the home."

"We are leaning towards wallpapering the whole room. but there is absolutely nothing wrong with just papering one or two walls to give more life to the room." 

Wallpaper in order of appearance: 1. Harsyra 2. Harsyra 3. Hassel 4. Ek 5. Notebooks 6. Arboret 

Do you have a favourite? Being a softer tone kind of girl, my heart is set on the last one (Arboretet) -  it would look so pretty in one of my daughters rooms, don't you think?

The party was styled by the Sandberg team, led by creative director Katrin Bååth - who's studio I once featured (I sat next to Katrin on the night and she's so much fun too!). The food was created by the amazingly talented Diana Dontsova (AKA Diadonna) - such a treat!

Thank you so much to Sandberg for a wonderful evening!

(If you're feeling inspired and looking for more wallpaper ideas - there's lots in this archive. If this pops up first just scroll past!). Tempted?

Have a lovely day! 

Photography: Wallpapers styled by Sarah Widman and captured by Kristofer Johnsson courtesy of Sandberg. Party courtesy of Katrin Bååth. 

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Shades of grey and white in a Stockholm space

Grey really has been the er, hot interior colour this year. Whether it's an entire apartment painted in a striking charcoal grey like this one or light nuances of grey like this one. This apartment designed by Moodhouse follows the latter trend. 'Brohuset' is a new 16 story high glass fronted apartment building overlooking Stockholm (wow!). The apartment has been painted in shades of white and grey and then softened with sheepskin throws and other textiles. I love the half painted grey wall in the hall with the matching chair - definitely an idea to steal! All in all its such a serene space don't you think?

Photography; Kristofer Johnsson. Interior: Moodhouse. Styling Marie Ramse.

Do you like the mix of whites with greys?

I'm not sure where this lovely Stockholm poster is from (anyone know?) but I came across some similar graphic city posters here. My collection of favourite grey items include these napkins. a super soft grey and white blanket, luxury charcoal linen bedding and this 'fading lake lady' painting (don't you think this print would look lovely in this space?!).

More gorgeous grey interiors here, here and here...

I'm so happy to be in London with my girls for a few days visiting family and re-charging my batteries, are you up to anything fun for half-term?

Have a lovely day!

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A lovely Norwegian home decorated for Christmas

When do you start bringing a touch of Christmas into your home? When I grew up in England we'd wait until a few days before Christmas. Here in Sweden however, the first of advent is a big day and it's not unusual to catch a glimmer of stars and advent candles in the windows and fairy lights in trees by 1st December. The decorations are usually beautifully simple and fuss-free and draw heavily on nature. This home in Bergen, Norway from the 1800's belonging to Per Olav Sølvberg, an interior stylist and blogger for Residence, wife Ragnhild, four children and two dogs is a fine example of this. Mini fir trees and fir tree branches, hyacinths and naked branches from the trees outside adorn the space for a lovely Christmas feel.

 Home owner: Per Olav Sølvberg. Photography: Kristofer Johnsson. Residence. Found via Elvs with thanks.

So pretty! I can almost smell the lovely scent from the fresh pine needles and hyacinths, how about you?

Items I know and love: Dining area / sitting room Z1 pendant light, IKEA PS 2012 chair, Muuto wood table lamp, Flos 265 wall light, R print. Kitchen Le Creuset pot, stools, vintage chopping boards. Workspace: Light box, this lovely rustic milking stool is similar.

I also love this inspiration for a 'simple and delicate' Scandinavian Christmas. And a welcoming understated bouquet of eucalyptus on a guest bed.

How cute are these DIY Cranberry wreath placecards? So pretty!

More Scandinavian Christmas inspiration found here (scroll down passed the first home as it will be this one) and here.

Have a lovely day!

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A beautiful Stockholm apartment with mid-century touches

Sometimes, when you're in need of a little interior design inspiration the best place to turn is the estate agents. Especially Swedish ones like Fantastic Frank. And that's where this beautiful home in Vasastan, Stockholm is for sale. It is oh so Scandinavian, with the beautiful light wood floors, white and pale grey hues and the stark contrast of the wooden mid-century furniture. Such a perfect balance.

Photography:Styling: Sofie GanevaPhoto: Kristofer Johnsson Styling: Sofia Ganeva for Fantastic Frank via Emma's Design Blog

Ooooo what a wonderful home, I don't know how they can bear to part with it. And such beautiful light! What d'you think?

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments about my home dining space yesterday. Tomorrow I thought I'd show a few more snaps from another part of our open plan living space, so pop back if you get the chance!

Hej då!

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A black, beige and pink Stockholm apartment

Hello! I hope you had a great weekend? I thought I'd start the week with this very cool apartment in Stockholm designed by Pella Hedeby and Marie Ramse  (you must check out their blogs!) for JM. The clean lines and black, grey and a hint of beige /light pink colour palette have been used to highlight the beautiful architecture (by Gert Wingårdh) and create a serene feel. I particularly love the colour on the walls in the sitting room and in the children's bedroom, how about you? And what do you think of the black walls in the bedroom? I think they're kind of striking.

Interior: Pella Hedeby & Marie Ramse. Architecture: Gert Wingårdh. Photography: Kristofer Johnsson. 

The children's bedroom palette reminds me a lot of a top from Stockholm based brand Mini Rodini my little girl tried on at the weekend (so cute!).

Could you live here?

This weekend my family and I visited Kungsbygget which is about an hour's drive away here in Southern Sweden. The countryside was stunning (there's a pic of our bbq spot on instagram). Kungsbygget has a 1 km zipline (terrifying but so much fun!!) and a summer bobsled run which my girls absolutely loved. If you're ever in this area I can highly recommend it, it's such a fun place. In the winter it's open for skiing too. Do you have anything like that near where you live?

Have a wonderful Monday! 

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The fab industrial style atelier of a creative

Good morning! I do love the middle of the week, although I've got so much to left to do before the weekend. How about you?! Speaking of graft, I'm often thinking about how important my work environment is.  I'd absolutely love to sit in an uber cool creative studio.  This industrial style studio bathed in light, belongs to Sara Bergman, children's book illustrator and creative force behind online shop and interior styling company Love Warriors in Stockholm. Exposed brick work,  vintage industrial finds, concrete flooring and rustic wood  combine to make up a space a space in which Sara can create.  

Sara N Bergman of Love Warriors. Residence magazine. Photographer: Kristofer Johnsson. Post inspired by Coco Lapine with thanks. 

Could you work here? I most definitely could! What a space?

Interestingly while the space is teeming with vintage finds, the desk space is made up of a few pieces from IKEA including the ALEX draw unit and FORSÅ desk light (which I also have in my home office). Etsy is one of my favourite sources for vintage industrial lighting (it's where I found my treasured scissor light). For pendant lights I like the black E27 suspension light from Muuto.

For more studio / office space inspiration I'm loving this, this and this one. Or if you have a small home office I love this work space of a Finnish blogger.

Before I shoot off I also wanted to introduce you to ReStyle Shop on Etsy. If you love Scandinavian mid-century or geometric prints you'll love this online shop selling art created by Czech Republic graphic designer Jan Skácelik. I especially love this one and this one.

I think it's definitely time for some Christmas inspiration tomorrow don't you? Pop back for some very cool Scandinavian inspired festive decorating ideas! See you then!

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