Relaxed Californian Meets Modern Scandinavian In An Incredible Family Home

Despite its location in the heart of Venice, California, the owners approached Amber Interiors to transform their house into a Scandinavian Modern Cabin. The results take the indoor-outdoor lifestyle Scandinavians so love, to an entirely new level. Bifold doors in the kitchen and sitting room pull back to create a seamlessness between the interior and exterior and allow a cool breeze to float through the house on warmer evenings. Inside, the theme is strictly monochrome with natural wood and layers of textiles adding softness and warmth. Vintage and contemporary pieces sit by side and the vibrant green hue from a plant is never far away. Enjoy the tour - this home is incredible! 

Flag halyard chair (one of my all time favourites!), leather pouf*, kilim rug*

Look: a TV! Soon we can start saying the 'screen' has become a thing on My Scandinavian Home, don't you think? I love how wood panelling has been used to hide the electrics - so clever! 

The tall plant in the corner of the room completes the look in a beautiful way by adding height. 

The Serge Mouille two-arm wall light* becomes a statement piece against a matt white wall - and can be angled so both can read at night.

This is one of the most inspiring shared children's room I've ever seen - isn't that white and wood bunkbed incredible?! 

Well, what did you think? 

I could move right in and not change a single thing! 

You can see more pictures and find out where many of the smaller pieces are from here. 

If this look has got you dreaming about Scandinavian modern cabins - here are a few others you might enjoy:

A magical Norwegian mountain cabin

A striking holiday home in rural Iceland

An idyllic Swedish hide-away on the island of Dalarö

Soooo dreamy!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

Niki

PS Thank you so much for all your lovely comments about my summer cottage kitchen - I'm so happy you like it! It feels great to have finally finished it! 

Design: Amber Interiors

Construction: Potter Mills 

Photography: Tessa Neustadt

*Affiliate links

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A Calm and Relaxed Berlin Oasis, Inspired by The Med!

Men tjena! Hur är läget? I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I'm going to launch right into today's home tour since I'm so excited about it! If you're into fashion and travel, you might just recognise the lovely lady in the picture above. Jacqueline Mikuta has amassed a global audience of nearly 900,000 on instagram thanks to her inspiring outfits and dreamy travel pictures. Over the past twelve months Berlin-based Jaqueline and her boyfriend, photographer Klemens White have been making the most of their time at home to revamp their new apartment. The pair decided to do most of the work themselves - from plastering and painting, to building shelves and tables - as well working with a local welder to create the most incredible bespoke glass wall. Their home is now complete, and it's AM-A-ZING! I particularly love the earthy tones, texture and subtle beach vibe which was inspired by the calmness of the Balearic Islands - a nod to their mutual love of Mallorca and its surroundings. Let's take a peek! 

In the kitchen, a concrete worktop from Carament rests atop cabinets which the pair made from scratch, find out more details here). 

Large plants like this Fiddle leaf Fig help to draw the eye upwards and emphasise the height of the room - as well as helps to create a green oasis in the heart of the city. The sofa is a vintage find. 

Jacqueline and Klemens have painted the walls and wardrobe doors with Palladio from Kalklitir - a powder paint from Iceland.  

Bespoke steel windows and doors, white linen curtains*, Suspension seagrass lamp

The incredible bed throw is from Colour Locale. Source a similar little wood stool here*. 

The bathroom has been fitted with a round sink from Vallone, lights from Wever & Ducré and the wall has been decorated with a finish from Carament. You can read more about the bathroom and see the before pictures here. 

Wood cladding was added to the balcony walls which has then been decorated with a seagrass hanging bringing a beach vibe sanctuary to the heart of Berlin! The balcony railing has been adapted to create a special place for plants and a glass or two - so clever, don't you think? 

What an incredible home! 

I love that the pair have done a lot of the renovation work themselves - including building shelves etc - it makes the space feel extra personal! 

I hope their lovely home has given you lots of ideas - and a bit of a spring in your step this Monday. Is there anything in particular that caught your eye? 

You can see more of their home, style and travel over at @mikutas, @klemenswhite and also over on their blog. They also run an online shop selling their own brand of clothing and jewellery: Mikuta. 

Wishing you all a wonderful start to the week. We've got this! 

Niki

Photography: @mikutas, @klemenswhite - shared with kind permission. 

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Springtime In A Rustic Swedish Country Home

Hello friends! Thursday already - how did that happen? Anyone in need of a little escape today?  I hope you'll join me in a tour of this beautiful, rural Swedish home. Regular readers might recognise the interior from when it was all decked out for Christmas. Needless to say, Fanny Lindén's country home looks equally charming in springtime - when lilac bushes burst into life and rhubarb is harvested for homemade crumbles. Welcome to Fanny's home in rural Sweden, where she lives with her husband and three children - and a cat! 

So pretty! I love their cat in the last picture, cheekily playing with the plant! 

The vintage and antique furniture is also beautiful - and they fit perfectly in this environment. 

Is there anything that stood out to you? 

For more dreamy inspiration check out Fanny's blog and instagram feed. 

I think you know what's coming. Yes, that's right! Links to a load more idyllic Scandinavian country homes. Time to pour a coffee, light a candle and pull up a chair - here's a country home from each Nordic country to dream over: 

An idyllic red and white Swedish farmhouse

A hyggeligt candlelit Norwegian cabin

Ilkka's rural retreat in Finland

Charming details in a Danish allotment cottage

A striking holiday home by the sea in Iceland

It's been a bit of a crazy week, with waaaay to much left to do. So, I hope it's OK if I leave you with these lovely spaces to dream about over the weekend. I'll be back on Monday!

Trevlig helg (have a great weekend!),

Niki

Photography courtesy of Fanny Lindén

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The New Wishbone Chair in Slate in my Home!

Paid partnership with Carl Hansen & Søn, all words are my own and I only work with brands I love and think you will too. This post has been edited with a correction. 

I love chairs. People often think that you need to buy a whole set, and that they're specifically designed to go round a dining table. But in my mind, chairs are like art. Functional art. And they can look just as beautiful and be practical anywhere in the home. Especially when they are as iconic as the Wishbone chair CH24. This classic Danish beauty, designed by  Hans J. Wegner is over 70 years-old, but you'd never know it thanks to its timeless design. 

I of course love the oak version, but I was also very excited to hear about a new collaboration between danish furniture company Carl Hansen & Søn and London-based designer Ilse Crawford. A partnership which resulted in nine new colour variants of the Wishbone Chair which include soothing earthy tones of Pewter, Hollyhock, Barley, Seaweed, Terracotta, Clay, North Sea, Slate and Falu.

This fine specimen in my bedroom is the 'Slate' variation. 

The chairs have then be finished in a translucent, non-toxic, water-based paint for depth to the familiar shape and also to allow the natural grain to shine through. Everything else about the chair remains intact including the FSC certified beech and natural cord (on a recent trip to Copenhagen, I watched the weavers in action and the level of craftsmanship was immense!). 

It's been a while since I've shown this little corner of my home. Per built these shelves over 15 years ago and they are still going strong! They're not very solid though, hence why they only hold a whittled down curated display including clay figures by local artists Simon Vendin and a bowl by Helena Gorne, a piece of drift wood picked up on a volcanic beach in Iceland, art by my children and lots of plants and photos! 

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I think chairs can look lovely in pretty much all rooms of the home. Perhaps my favourite spot for this one is simply against the wall in my bedroom (beside the desk). I like that it means you can more clearly see the outline of the shape. 

Until of course, I cover it in clothes - I give it two days! 

I know it would look beautiful by the table too - either as an entire set or one at the end, perhaps one day I'll move it down, we'll see! 

Are you a fan of the wishbone chair too? 

If you're tempted, see the complete collection over at Carl Hansen & Søn. 

It's been ages since I've featured my home here, if you'd like to see more corners, check out my home  although, I'm starting to feel some updates are needed so maybe you're better off looking at my cabin or better still, there are also lots of beautiful home tours to discover in the archive if you'd like some inspiration this weekend! 

I hope you a relaxing couple of days, thank you so much for stopping by.  

Vi ses på måndag! 

Niki

NOTE I previously stated that this was a limited edition collection, which was an error. The nine CH24 Sift collection will be permanent. The post has been corrected accordingly. Sorry for any confusion! 

Photography & styling: Niki Brantmark - My Scandinavian Home. 

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Short holiday. And Amara Interior blog awards

A little note to say I'm on a little holiday in England this week with family and friends. I don't think I've had a day off all year so it will be lovely to kick back for a few days, switch off and take it easy. Although admittedly, it's soooo difficult to leave My Scandinavian Home for a few days...while I'm in London I'll also be heading to the Amara Interior Blog Awards,  so exciting! Thank you so much for voting for me, I am so happy to be shortlisted.

A cabin in the Lofoten islands, Norway @dudelum

Before I take off here are a few links from around the web I loved and though you might like too...

I can't stop eating chocolate right now - could it be the cold weather kicking in? My mind is on this completely and utterly chocolate to end all chocolate cake and this s'mores cutard cake mmmmmm!

The beautiful book 'we are freckled' is available for pre-order here (a definite addition to my autumn coffee table display!).

I'm on a constant hunt for the perfect rug and this pretty one from the Azilal region of Morocco is fab (find similar here). 

This week I'm planning to put my laptop and phone aside, partly inspired by these intimate images  - pretty powerful and thought provoking, don't you think?

Speaking of switching off - have you been to Iceland? I went a few years ago and loved it. If (when!) I go again I'd like to stay here (the pool...!). Or this house with a sea view?

I'm also feeling inspired by instagram galleries Up knörth and Dudelum - the cabins and landscapes are a-ma-zing. I'd love to own my own cabin one day in the middle of nowhere like this one in Norway. *sigh* and relax! If this doesn't inspire you, these pictures of the Norwegian Lofoten islands might...infact I could go absolutely anywhere on my travel inspiration board. Do you have a favourite holiday /travel spot?

And finally - top five posts on my scandinavian home this month (in case you missed them): a Swedish apartment, an elegant home with touches of black and navy, a smart small space, a Finnish home in converted factory and a charming and relaxed Biarritz space. Did you have a favourite?

Have a wonderful week! And see you Monday! 

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A Warm and Relaxed Swedish Cottage by the Sea

Hello friends! It's so great to be back here on the blog after my summer break! I am easing myself in slowly with this wonderful summer cottage in the picturesque fishing village of Simrishamn, south Sweden. It's a popular summer destination and this cottage, with its charming touches from the 1860s and sea views is a perfect place from this to enjoy all the town has to offer! 

I was planning on sharing a carefully whittled down selection of pictures from the listing, but the task became impossible - there is simply too much inspiration to be gleaned from each and every room. What I love most about this cottage is how the owners have veered away from a more obvious blue and white coastal theme. Instead, an ode to the summer and sea can be seen in a variety of clever ways - from the warm yellow tones, straw hats, art, scalloped edges and sea-themed lamp shades! Välkommen! 

You'll be hard pressed to spot new items in this lovely home. Chairs, tables, cabinets and mirrors have a distinct vintage and antique vibe  while other touches have a traditional touch to match the soul of the 150-year-old property. 

Rattan, bamboo and woven rugs bring in a relaxed costal touch while rag rugs (seen furthest away in the above picture) bring time-honoured tradition to the cottage, while also helping to keep drafts at bay. 

A mix of pieces help to create a relaxed atmosphere in the sitting room. 

I don't think I've ever seen so many hooks! They are highly practical in a summer cottage when storage is limited, although you'd need to pack your prettiest garments - and underwear would need to go elsewhere (I'm not sure I would want to wake up to a row of Per's boxers!). 

The yellow bedspread brings instant sunshine to the space - well needed given the rainy summer we have just had in Sweden! Any tips on where this might be from? if so, please do share in the comments section below! 

Wildlife art in the stairwell draws the surrounding nature indoors, while curtains help to create privacy for extra bunks in the landing. 

Open storage is great for short term stays. I like the way they have made the most of space under the sloped ceiling. 

How lovely! I could definitely see myself wiling away the summers here, about you? 

See more pictures and the full floor plan here. 

You might also like to take a peek inside a few other these coastal cottages:

A charming coastal cottage in Denmark

A beautiful danish ceramicists house by the sea

A striking holiday home by the sea in Iceland

Also: 

15 coastal living ideas to steal from a Danish cottage

Thank you for stopping by, I'm excited to be blogging regularly again (Mondays. Wednesdays and Fridays) from now on. If you'd like to be alerted to new posts, you might like to sign up to my mail subscription here. 

Kram! 

Niki 

Photography courtesy of Ekström & Co

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