New Montana Free Shelving System in Allie's Room

Brand Story:

I'm loving the new Montana Free Shelving System. The Danish freestanding shelves are designed for a new way of living and you can choose between 12 compositions with or without interposed shelves, in 4 colours and optional panels in 8 colours. I picked up a set for Allie's new bedroom in New White with an interposed shelf for all her drawings. I'm pretty sure it won't look as neat as this in a few week's time so I thought I'd better capture them before she goes to town with all her wonderful bits and bobs! 

Genevieve Jorn (the MSH interior designer) and I deliberately opted for a low set so that Allie could easily reach all her knick-knacks and use the top shelf as an extra play surface.

The man and I  can never quite believe all the tiny things Allie picks up during the day  - you have to be super careful when vacuuming as even the tiniest item is important to her!! One of the things I love the most about these shelves is that they can be extended as she grows - so we can add on to them when needed. So handy!

Montana offer a selection of eight coloured panels to place wherever you like on the shelves (front or back!). I'm so happy with the two rust panels - they add a little colour.

The little mouse has followed Allie since she was a baby - I'm so pleased he's made himself at home! 

 

Find out more about Montana's Free Shelving System here and your nearest retailer here.

In case you're wondering anything else in these pictures, I'll be sharing a complete make-over post in the next couple of days. Feel free to ask away in the comment section below too!

What do you think? Could you imagine having shelves like these in your home?

Niki

Photography: Niki Brantmark / Interior Design: Genevieve Jorn.  

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Montana - all words are my own. 

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Gen's Cosy Sitting Room Make-Over with Bemz!

Sponsored: 

Often, when you take a step in a new direction in one room, it has a knock-on effect on the next room - and before you know it you're re-doing the entire place! Have you noticed that too?! When my friend (and interior designer) Genevieve Jorn, renovated her bedroom here in Malmö a few months back, she was thrilled with the results and wanted to continue the look through to her sitting room. Her and husband Kasper, didn't want to invest a huge amount since it's fairly newly renovated, but still wanted to find a simple way to inject similar colours (sand, grey etc) and natural materials such as linen to give their living space a cohesive look. Since they already had a Karlstad sofa and were very happy with it, Bemz* - who make beautiful design covers for IKEA furniture - was the ideal solution to bring more linen into the space. Here's the low down...

 Before

The Design

Sample selection  

You might already be familiar with Bemz* (I've been a partner of theirs for a while and am a huge fan having used their design covers in my sitting room and bedroom). But, just in case you're not - the Swedish brand makes the most beautiful design covers for IKEA sofas and armchairs as well as cushions, curtains and bedroom fabrics (and have over 150 fabrics to choose from - I'm not kidding!).  Such an awesome way to make the most of what you already have and give it a whole new lease of life! 

Gen chose a cover in Simply Linen Graphite Grey which has a craaaazily soft 'peach-skin' finish.  It's also really durable and machine washable making it ideal for saucepan lids (for the non-British out there, that's cockney rhyming slang for ''kids'!).  Side-note: Gen's little girl Olivia is as cute as a button, but even the most angelic of children can leave a fingerprint or too (check-out Olivia's own bedroom here)!

Room design

Gen was keen for the area to feel cosy, personal and warm. She opted for a sandy wall colour (chosen to match her bedroom) as well as warm natural materials in the form of light wood, soft linen and rattan, with the slightest hint of black and grey (get the complete run down on the furniture, wall colours and light fittings here!). 

 After

...be still my beating heart!

The combination of natural textures (which include soft linens, cotton, wood, rattan and paper) and muted, earthy tones have such a calming, cosy effect - which was especially important since it's quite a large open plan room (the dining area is on the other side of the room).  

The majority of the sofa cushions* are also by Bemz. Combining different colours and textures is a perfect way to add warmth and somewhere you want to sink into and chill all day!

Isn't it beautiful?! I seriously could have stayed all evening, perhaps the week (like a true surf coucher!). However, we weren't quite finished with the shoot...

How about Ivy?

As I mentioned, one of the beauties of Bemz is that you can easily update your furniture. I have a spare linen cover for my sitting room sofa so that if something gets spilled (a regular occurrence in our house - bah!), we can whisk off the covers and throw them in the machine.

As a reserve (and an update as the mood takes her!), Gen went for the Loose Fit Urban Brero Lino Ivy. Here it is: same room, same setting:

Isn't it smart?! I love the loose fit urban style and beautiful Ivy hue. It's amazing how each of the colours pick out details in the room, making them more pronounced.

The cushions (covered in the same Pure Linen Brero Lino - Ivy*)  fabric are pretty too as you can really see the texture and piping.

Aaaaaa, such a lovely space. She's managed to achieve that illusive super calm, yet super cosy balance!

Which look do you prefer?

Could you imagine hanging out here watching one too many Netflix series too?

If you'd like to achieve a similar look (even if you don't have an old IKEA sofa or armchair knocking about, you can always pick one up second hand online!) you can find more details here.  Oh and Bemz are offering free shipping exclusively to My Scandinavian Home readers until the end of July with code freeshipmsh (right in time for the mid-season sale too - yay!).

Have a lovely day!

Niki

Photography Niki Brantmark / My Scandinavian Home. Interior Design Genevieve Jorn. 

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Bemz, however all words are my own and I only ever work with brands I love and think you will too. Thank you for supporting the businesses that make My Scandinavian Home possible.

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Win a natural linen tablecloth and napkins!

Sponsored post

Thank you so much to everyone who entered, I loved hearing about all the different types of food you enjoy at this time of the year *mouth waters*. I'm excited to announce the winner of this beautiful tablecloth and napkins from Nordal as, drum roll......

Koza Domowa - congratulations! Please send me a mail with your full name, address and phone number so Nordal can ship your prize to you.

***
To me, this time of the year is about getting together with family and friends over food, drink and candlelight  - how about you? I try to do something a little different every year with my table setting (check out this year's here). If you're looking for a new look and haven't got around to organising anything yet I might just have the perfect give-away for you! Danish homeware brand Nordal are offering you the chance to win a beautiful pure natural linen tablecloth (140 x 270 cm) and a set of six napkins to match Oh yay! See below for how to enter.

 N.B. I love the more relaxed look but the tablecloth and napkins look beautiful ironed too! 

This give-away is now closed. 

Check out Nordal's beautiful home-ware items here. 

Terms & Conditions

You must be age of majority in your country of residence. We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur. Only 1 entry per person. 

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Nordal, however all words are my own and I only ever work with brands I love and think you will too. 

1 & 2 Photography: Niki Brantmark / Styling Genevieve Jorn. 3. Courtesy of Nordal. 

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Small Space Make-over: A Teen Boy's Bedroom

Children's rooms are always fun to renovate as you can go a little more crazy, but when they start to hit their teens it's time to reign it in again and create something a little more grown-up. My stepson Albin, is 16 and spends a fair amount of time in his room (sometimes I think I hear him talking to himself but he's actually gaming against friends (in my mind, gaming is still Horris Goes Skiing on a ZX Spectrum circa 1984 so you can understand why this gets confusing!). When it comes to interior decorating, Albin has a fairly laissez-faire approach (understatement!). As long as he can sleep, study and play on his computer / watch football, tennis, baseball or WHATEVER is scheduled at the time, he's as happy as Larry (I'm still wondering who that is?!). Despite Genevieve Jorn and I being give free reign to design his room (which measures 7.7 metres square / 82 square feet), we were keen to ensure the look reflected his personality, run items from my wonderful make-over sponsor Danish homeware brand Nordal passed him, and ensure he had everything he needed!

 

Teenage Boy's Bedroom checklist*

Bed + reading light
TV and gaming console
Shelving for books
Storage for sports equipment
Desk with task light + drawers
Clothes storage

*according to Albin!

Inspiration

Photography: Bettina Holst / Coco Republic / IKEA

Floor plan

I really wish I had a 'before' picture (totally forgot to take one) but if you can imagine all white walls, no shelving and a slightly ripped poster stuck on the wall using sellotape you're on to something!

 

The tour

A 200 cm bed perfectly fitted the width of the room - with enough space for a TV, placed on a narrow wall mounted shelf, at the end. Layers of textile in the form of cushions and a rug (all Nordal) and the blue-grey wall colour (S 7010-R90B Ambience by Nordjö) helped to add a cosy feel. 

Simple wooden shelves were painted in the same colour as the wall and mounted higher up for extra storage. Gen and I love a corner gallery wall (remember this one?!). This ensemble includes a Happy Mondays print, and an old drawing by Albin. He can easily add to the gallery over time too. A wall-mounted reading lamp helps to light up the corner after dark (in a small room, wall mounting items help to free up floor space).

From left to right: Satin Pothos plant from a local flower shop, and grey and blue cushions with lovely fringed edges, a patterned rug and lampshade from Nordal.

Since Albin is often at his Mothers he doesn't tend to store a lot of clothes at ours, so we decided to do away with the wardrobe to create more floor space. A clothes rack (from IKEA) with storage underneath works as a great replacement and doubles up as a bedside table.

We couldn't place the desk in front of the window because of the big radiator. However, it still gets plenty of natural light in the corner. Right now a big palm adds a splash of colour to the corner of the room but we could add a wardrobe in it's place if needed. PS Loving the tassles on the rug!

I found the desk chair in a local second hand shop (imagine how excited I was?!)- it's originally from Hungary, and perfect because it's still relatively ergonomic (it swivels and the height can be adjusted). As you can see from the picture, I still need to sand down the seat and re-varnish it - Gah! Where does all the time go?!

My sister took the framed picture of Albin, the man and I many moons ago on a beach in Falsterbo. I love it as it was such a happy, sun-kissed day. There's a good chance we might just be replaced with a signed picture of Zlatan Ibrahimovic imminently though! The Nordal library lamp was moved up from our sitting room. 

And here he is, looking pretty happy with his new room, I must say...

... and perhaps wondering why I swapped his Malmö FF poster for an Arsenal one (out of shot) - kidding, England was a much better match!

I hope you liked the make-over as much as my stepson! In case you're looking to do something similar, here are a few of the items we picked:

1. Library table lamp
2. Dark blue cushion cover
3. Black wall lamp
4. Cotton quilt bedspread
5. Fabric lamp cover
6. Graphic canvas carpet
7. Natural cushion cover

*Find a webshop stockist near you here (Europe only).

If you are wondering about anything else just give me a shout in the comment section below and I'll do my best to help!

Come here for a home tour? You might like to check out the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian home tour archives.

Have a lovely day!

Niki

Photography / shoot styling: Niki Brantmark, Interior design direction / styling: Genevieve Jorn. 

This make-over was made possible with the help of Nordal. All design, styling and words are my own and I only ever work with brands I love and think you will too. Thank you for supporting the companies that make fresh content possible.

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Before & After: My Office Make-Over

Do you work from home? I've been sitting at my little desk in the corner of my bedroom for just over two years now. There are many pluses and minuses of working from home, but one of the things I truly love is having total autonomy over how my work space looks - no LED strip lights in sight! So why hadn't I done anything to spice it up (I mean, really spice it up) for over six years?! The thing is, there's nothing wrong with my office (it even appeared on the front cover of a book once upon a time!) but it began to feel well, a bit tired and I had started migrating to the kitchen table or a nearby café instead (they do serve great chocolates muffins so it's kind of understandable!). A friend of mine from Greenland told me recently that if you're not using the space for the purpose it's set out for, you need to re-think it. Wise words indeed! It was time to make a change...

Before

The Area

My home office occupies a corner in between the stairs and balcony at the far end of our bedroom on the very top floor of our house. The area I have to play with is pretty mini: approximately 3.4 metre square (36 square foot), which is open on one side. Here's a quick overview of the dimensions (as you can probably tell, I'm not a trained designer - the lines were drawn with the side of a magazine!) but I hope it gives you an idea of the area.

My Inspiration

Since changing my bedroom to warmer chestnut and blushing peach tones in the same open-plan room, I was keen to create more of a cohesive space (that's the problem with doing something new - it's exciting but has a total knock on effect - bah!). 

While I wanted the office space to blend in, I also wanted to create a distinct space where I could sit and work, store all my books and have all my bits and bobs to hand: in other words, a complete mini office where I can work on my billion dollar deals (if only!). This meant re-configuring the space and picking up some new pieces such as a smaller desk to fit the shorter side of the space and a row of shelving opposite. Here is the original moodboard (put together with the help of designer extraordinaire Genevieve Jorn who also worked with me on the design of my adjoining bedroom):

It has the warm brown, chestnut and netural tones which I love and felt earthy, calm and relaxed.  I ended up changing the artwork selection to make it more personal and swapped out the rug for a similar one I already had.  See further down the post for the final selection!

The Paint:

I can't tell you how nervous I was about the Norwegian Wood paint colour (by Jotun) - it's quite possibly the boldest I've gone - eeeek! But I loved its warm, woody notes and was willing to give it a go! I tested a sample on the wall (it's always a good idea to observe the colour over a number of days to see how it looks in various lights) and was so thrilled with it!

To the paint the entire wall I stripped away the shelving to the right too. FYI I'm absolutely no painting and decorating pro  - but I'm learning paint splodge by paint splodge! After prepping the area with a damp cloth, tape and newspaper, I used a roller for the bigger areas (long strokes and a generous amount of paint is key) and a smaller paint brush to go around the edges and tighter corners.

Oh yes, and in order to create cohesiveness with the rest of the room I painted the entire wall below in the same Norwegian Wood colour. Of course, once I finished, I realised the back wall now looked a little yellow next to my lovely new accent wall - so this required a fresh lick of white - phew!

After

With the paint finally finished it was time for the fun part. To put the furniture and all my gear back in place! Here's how it's looking...

I was so happy to finally get around to putting up a moodboard of some of the items that inspire me right now. One challenge I still have though is the radiator. While it's going to be great for keeping my toes toasty in the winter, I'd much rather it was the same colour as the wall - next project?! 

Hanging the artwork!

I didn't want to mess up my new, sparkling white wall with trillions of unnecessary holes- so I used an interior design trick I learned from Gen a while back (you may have seen it in this post). It's a really safe way to avoid making mistakes!

Here's a step by step guide: 

 

1. Take a large roll of paper and draw around each of the pictures you intend to hang. Cut out the template.
2. Stick them on the wall with blu-tac - and play around with the templates until you have a composition you're happy with. Quick tip I learned: artwork looks best if it's around two thirds of the width of the furniture beneath it (of course rules are there to be broken and this is definitely not an instruction - more a guide if you're feeling stuck!).
3. Measure the distance of the hook on the back of the picture (both vertically and horizontally)
4. Mark out the same spot on your template on the wall.
5. Hammer a nail through the marked out spot
6. Tear away the template leaving the nail in place and you're ready to rock!

I hope you like the results! It was a fun project, but best of all I've got myself a shiny new work space (I'll have to do a take-out on those muffins instead!!

I've put together a quick guide on where a few of the items are from below. If I've missed anything just give me a shout in the comment section below!

Get The Look

1. Gurilla Portrait H
2. The MANTIS lamp
3. Desk w/drawers, oak, nature
4. EKET cabinet
5. Hubsch Metal black Table lamp
6. Norwegian Wood paint by Jotun
7. Washed white linen curtains
8. Carpet with fringes
9. Black Scissors from Hubsch
10. Desk organizer

If this has given you the incentive to update your workspace you might like to have a snoop around this archive (if this pops up first just hop over as always!).

Have a lovely day all!

Photography / styling : Niki Brantmark / My Scandinavian Home. Interior Design direction: Genevieve Jorn. Thank you to all the brands that helped contribute to this make-over by gifting items. The post contains some affiliated links.

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