A relaxed monochrome apartment in Malmö

It's the weekend! Yaaaaay! To celebrate I've chosen an apartment close to home. This space feels so familiar as many of my friends have lived in similar pads in Malmö. There's something beautiful about the high ceilings, original wood flooring and double doors thrown open between each room. I also love the relaxed style and monochrome theme....if you're thinking of moving to Malmö it's for sale here!

Bo-laget

Do you go for black and white or do you prefer flashes of colour? Or perhaps pastels?

Some of my favourite black and white homes to date are this one in Helsinki, this beautiful Copenhagen apartment and this cosy Malmö home. Perfect monochrome inspiration!

Are you up to anything cool this weekend? I'm in Berlin today (such a fantastic city, I've never been before!) and heading home to see my little family in Sweden shortly -can't wait!  Hopefully I'll arrive before my 5 year old loses her first tooth. Hurry!

Have a fantastic weekend and see you Monday!

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My home captured by Karin: dressing room

As promised, today I'm introducing the first in a mini weekly series called 'my home captured by Karin'. While we were away recently my photographer friend Karin Björklund (who also took my profile picture) spent the day in our home and took lots of lovely pictures. It's fascinating to see how someone else sees your home. I call this room 'my dressing room' since this is where I have my dressing table, keep all my clothes and like to swan about, wafting perfume, reading magazines and generally acting like the movie star I am not! But the rest of my family call it the guest room or TV room....:)

Karin Björklund for My Scandinavian Home

As a guest room it looks like this (it used to be our bedroom). One day the floor will be white.....

Eeek, what do you think? Do you have a versatile room like this in your home?

Here's a bit of a guide on where things are from: wallpaper - Designers Guild, Around Coffee Table - Muuto,  Finnish hemp textile cushion - Saaana ja Olli, mirror - Graham & Green, perfume and apothecary bottles - vintage, tribal gold necklace -Whistles.

For more sitting room inspiration check out these lovely rooms and for dressing room inspiration you could try my Pinterest board here. 

PS Merci Beaucoup to Clémence who listed my scandinavian home in your top 5 interior design blogs on Tuesday in Paulette Magazine, such an honour!

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White, cognac and blue in a Swedish apartment

When I look at this apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden I think fresh, relaxed and warm.  I'm also a long term fan of the colour scheme blue, white and cognac and not many do it better than stylists and estate agents Alvhem. I could certainly see my self padding around here and reading a book in one of the pools of light, couldn't you?

Alvhem via 79 ideas

The 'Kakelugn' or tiled fireplace is another element I could imagine having in my dream cottage but it would need to be in addition to the wood burning stove!

For more fabulous Swedish apartment inspiration with a kakelugn try here and here and for an incredible danish one here.

I'm starting to feel I can no longer live without a fireplace, hmmmm what to do?! Perhaps you can help me figure out where to put one from the first part in my mini weekly series 'my home captured by Karin' tomorrow? A little nervous about showing my home, as always!

Have a lovely day!

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A rustic retreat on Sweden's west coast

This converted barn and tower in Korslid, near Bottna, on Sweden's west coast is the country home of writer and journalist Kenneth Kauppi, gardener Catherine Thelander and their family. Recently featured in Lantliv, the family have lovingly renovated the farm buildings over 25 years to create a beautiful rustic open living space and studio. The family love to stay in the summer to relax, swim and kayak in the archipelago, explore the great open spaces that surround the house and generally take some downtime. I can certainly see why!

Photographer Patric Johansson with kind permission. Lantliv.

Such a lovely rustic retreat, I especially like the art work what about you? And there's that indoor swing again....

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My dream cottage would never be without......

Hi, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend?  Admittedly I spent some of Sunday thinking about how I could go about acquiring a Swedish cottage in the woods! I realised I've nailed two things about this future cottage and how I would renovate it. 1. it will be mostly white inside and 2. it will have a wood burning stove.  Here's my inspiration.

1. Line T Klein. 2. Saaan Olli 3. Johanna Pilfalk 4. Via 

(If you fancy a little more Fireplace inspiration you can always check out my fireplace board on Pinterest).

Yesterday I was eyeing up this Skånegård house near Simrishamn - ooooo how I'd love to put my personal stamp on a home like this...and what about that stunning garden?! Or perhaps you'd prefer a Swedish cottage on it's own private island like this one? I definitely wouldn't say no!

PS On Saturday it was so great to finally meet Peggy of children's design and lifestyle blog Paul & Paula and her fabulous family (as you can imagine, they were wearing the coolest children's clothes, ever!), welcome to Sweden!

Have a lovely day!

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A Danish take on Autumn 2013

Hello Friday! Yay! I've had such an inspiring week, I hope you have too! Now, I'm not sure if I dare say the word....Autumn. There I've said it. For some reason I used to feel all nostalgic with the feel of a slight chill in the air but these days I feel a little bit sad that summer is over, does anyone else feel that? (I guess you guys in the Southern hemisphere are thinking yaaaay Spring!!!).  But today the chill in the air is warmed just a little by the new autumn/ winter collections that have started to fill my mail box. And one of my annual favourites is Danish brand Tine K Home.

Tine K Home via myke minutter

My neighbour has a black and white striped vase just like the one shown and it looks beautiful in their home. 

PS I mentioned yesterday that I've been attending The Conference in Malmö. All the seminar video's can now be found online here. My favourite was this seminar by Line Thomsgård, what an amazing lady!

Have a fantastic weekend - up to anything nice?

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The Row house. And the creative power of boredom.

Newly built mid-century cool housing is not something you would usually pair with 'affordable' but that is exactly what this housing project 'Row on 25th' in Houston, Texas set out to achieve. Investor and landowner Holden Shannon's own home was decorated with the help of designer Barbara Hill. I love the choice of vintage mid-century furniture starting with that fab turquoise sofa, very cool.

Photographer: Jack Thompson, Dwell via Scandinavian Retreat

For more pictures and info check out this article by Dwell.

Yesterday I was at 'The Conference: Power, Disruption & Lies' in Malmö, Sweden. There were many inspiring seminars but one in particular stood out: 'Being bored but not being boring'. It was about people spending to much time looking at screens and not enough time being bored. The experts say we should switch off and just 'be' to get creative ideas. Like wise with children; being bored sparks their imagination.  As a result we're planning a little 'switching off time' each evening from now on...starting with me...the blogger and Pinterest addict (oh and I haven't told the girls yet!)....

Do you spend to much time on the screen and not enough time being bored?

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A cute Swedish family apartment

Hello, how are you today?! I've been in a rush since I woke up (I think it's one of those days where I'll always be one step behind). Sorry if this is a bit rushed but i really wanted to share this home currently for sale in Gothenburg, Sweden. What strikes me most is the children's room for two. It's so sweetly laid out I can just see the little ones chatting away in their beds or drawing along side each other at their desks. Oh and OK, the Bumling light in the kitchen is a bit of a favourite too.....

Stadshem

The clothes in the bedroom are such a useful styling tool. I recently had a photo shoot in my home (can't wait to share more with you soon) and I could really emphasize the look and feel I wanted by taking a few select items from my wardrobe. Perfect! Who says clothes are just for wearing?

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An elephant in the room....

Morning! We all love an Alvhem make-over so I thought I'd kick off the week with one of their latest Gothenburg apartments which is currently for sale here. The Svenskt Tenn elephant wall paper is so cute don't you think?

Alvhem

 I do love a black and white kitchen floor too. That or moroccan mosaic. What about you?

Have a lovely Monday!

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