A beautiful and smart tiny one room flat in Finland

The other day a friend and I were puzzling over a small one room cottage with a grey wood floor. We were trying to figure out a way to make it practical and cosy. And then this morning I opened my mail box to find a message from one of my favourite Finnish stylists Laura Seppänen. She's been working on a project with YIT - who have recently launched a new housing solution called 'Smartti' - a flexible solution that combines functionality, adaptability and reasonable prices. Cleverly the apartments have no partition walls, instead dividing the space using cabinets and sliding doors - which provide storage and can be removed according to the owners needs. The Smartti home Laura has been working on is a mere 26 metre square (279 feet square) and - yes you've guessed it - has grey wood floors too - the chances?!  Laura's aim was to decorate the space, on behalf of her client, a local florist, with ecological and organic materials such as wood, cork, rattan and flax and locally sourced items. Green plants bring colour to the otherwise calm tones and neutral surfaces. Perfect inspiration for anyone living in a very small space? Oh and there's a twist to this space too....

Credits: Furnishing and styling - Laura Seppänen / @laurajuulia, photography - Krista Keltanen / @krista_keltanen. Architect - Kanttia for YIT / @yitkoti.

....it's been built inside a shipping container!

Remember this lakeside Finnish cabin made from containers? Incredible!

Get the look - eye eye and atelier CPH prints. Chairs, rug, mirror. Bell jar, AJ floor lamp, string shelves, HAY tray table. Small and large glass water bottle, round chopping board. Shorebird. White linen throw.

If you're looking for more small space inspiration you can always check out my small space archive - who needs a large house when you can do all this in under 30 metres square anyway?!

We're enjoying the last couple of days of our summer holiday here in Sweden (in the rain....*^?&%). and will be back on Wednesday. Until then, have a wonderful couple of days!

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Reader offer: 15% off at Posterlounge

A home would never be complete without wall art, don't you agree? If your walls are looking a little er on the bare side right now you'll be excited to hear Posterlounge are offering My Scandinavian Home readers (worldwide) 15% off all types of prints (posters, canvas, Forex, Alu-Dibond and acrylic glass) until 14th August, 2016. Choose from a range of movie, art prints and fascinating photographs and modern graphics. A few of my favourites include Starting to Flow, Palm fronds and Happy Cactus (here it is in my daughter's room). I also love White Crane in the Rain and Beach seen below. Which would you choose?

To redeem your 15% discount simply enter the promotion code MSH15 at check-out.

I'd love to see your chosen wall art on instagram!

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Posterlounge. 

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The inspiring melbourne home of two architects

Friday? Woah! It doesn't seem fair that time flies when you're having fun does it?! Despite spending our summer holidays in Sweden and Denmark I love to travel abroad in the winter given the chance. And high up on my list is Melbourne, Australia (I've never been, have you?). Not only have I got some great friends living there, I also love the design aspect that's taking the city by storm. Take this lovely Victorian terrace house captured by Derek Swalwell, as an example. The black floors, the art and way it's been hung on the wall, the suspended fireplace....that entrance! Just about everything about this wonderful Melbourne home of architects Annick Houle and Stephen O'Connor is so inspiring! Let's take a tour....

Source: photography - Derek Swalwell (shared with kind permission), found via The Style Files with thanks.

What a great home!

Is there anything that catches your eye in particular?

Get the look: office - your local DIY store should have the wire and hooks you need to hang art in this way, rustic stool, Tom Dixon beat light, source a Beni Ourain rug here. Sitting room - lampe gras (light on wall), Ergofocus fireplace.

Other Melbourne spaces which have caught my eye in the past include an artist's home in a former factory,  the home of an illustrator and bargain hunter, and a Scandinavian inspired home. I told you they've got it going on down under!

A little weekend link love:

10 unexpected places to add a spot of colour to your home.

This bath, that wall. 

Each of these beautiful rugs tell a story. 

How living like a Danish woman can make you happier. 

I can't stop looking at this image of snow and sea.

20 photos that will inspire you to visit Norway (as if we needed convincing?) - although I'm not sure about having my picture taken on that 'hanging stone' *shivers*.

Right guys. I'd better be off. But I'll be back tomorrow with a special reader offer, so do stop by! See you then!

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Your own little fisherman's cottage on Sweden's west coast?

We're slowly touring the beautiful Swedish west coast - namely the Gothenburg archipelagos. It's a really special place for my husband and I since it's where we met. The waterways are dotted with little fishing villages with bright coloured 'fiskebodar' (fishing huts) and clapboard cottages perched on the rock face. Yesterday we visited picturesque Smögen where, the boardwalk bustles with people shopping, or buying fresh seafood by day. And by night it comes alive with restaurants and bars with live bands. If you're a party person, it's a must! But what's behind the doors of those little old clapboard fishing cottages? As you've guessed, many of them are just as charming on the inside. Here's a tour of a little white cottage in the heart of Smögen dating back to 1830....

Source: For sale through Stadshem, with photography by Janne Olander. 

Oh so charming! How wonderful would it be to have a little cottage like this to go to in the holidays? Your dressing gown hanging in the hall ready for that daily dip?

Get the look: I like this industrial pendant (keep an eye out for others here). Retro kitchen storage. Source a Swedish rag rug here (IKEA also sells them). 

You can see more pictures of this lovely cottage and the village of Smögen here. 

If you fancy touring the islands next summer here's a guide to some of the islands and places to stay. One of these days I'd like to create my own guide as there are just so many hidden gem!

We're heading south now (sniff sniff), and wifi might be a little touch and go. I'll do my best to post Friday but bear with me! 

Have a wonderful couple of days!

PS I also love this traditional Swedish cottage also near Gothenburg and this fisherman's cottage on the South coast. One day....  

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The Line in a cottage by the ocean

Have you ever visited the Hamptons on the easternmost tip of Long Island, New York? My Mum once took my sisters and I there on a road trip (a diversion en route to Martha's Vineyard) when I was nine years old. I'll never forget the pretty clapboard houses and lovely beaches! Excitingly, The Line has taken over a seaside cottage in Amagansett - creating a beautiful beach home that's both relaxed and elegant - and of course, everything's for sale! Time to do that road trip all over again?

Photographs: Hanna Tveite

Could you imagine owning a holiday cottage by the ocean like this? Just lovely! 

If you like some of the items but the Hamptons feels a bit of er a trek, no need to worry, you can always shop online (this could get dangerous!).
 
We're still on holiday on the West coast of Sweden (and been soooo lucky with the weather - with deep blue skies and beautiful sunsets. The girls have been in the water from the moment we wake up to when the sun goes down).  I love the Fiskebodar that line the water's edge and the sharp light too. 

Since I'm on 'summer time' I'll be back with a post on Wednesday. Until then...

'Ha det så bra!'

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