Trend Alert: True Blue, Baby 2020 Loves You!

I always find January and February such an exciting time in the interior world. Not only are we starting to see small signs of spring, the big trends for the year are beginning to emerge! Yay! From what I've seen, there's one colour in particular that's been popping up everywhere at the start of the year: blue. I particularly love the beautiful light to mid shade which I'll refer to as polar blue (but I've also heard referred to as sky blue and pastel blue). Mid / light blue represents the colour of the ocean and the sky and has long been associated with tranquility, healing and harmony. It also goes beautifully with some of the other colour trends which emerged in 2018 and 2019 such as millennial pink, brown and yellow, making it a natural progression in the home. As these lovely pictures show, polar blue looks equally beautiful on the wall as it does on a piece of furniture or even a small accessory. And it brings an element of calm with it too. What's not to love?!

A you've seen, there are a few variations on the colour - from a mid-blue and cornflower to a paler shade and it even extends to lavender and mint (as seen here). I particularly love the lighter shade (below) - it looks so peaceful!

What do you think? Could you imagine incorporating this shade into your home? Or perhaps you've been rocking it for years? 

In case you're looking for a few instant touches, I've rounded up some of my favourite paint colours, furniture and accessories below:

GET THE LOOK

1. FlowerPot VP1 pendant
2. Into the Blue 01 Print
3. Formakami JH3 Pendant Light*
4. Muuto Outline sofa, 3 1/2 seater
5. Hay Tray Table
6. H&M Metal table lamp
7. Normann Copenhagen Circus Pouf
8. Varjo Rug Blue
9. Hay Flowerpot with Saucer
10. Farrow & Ball Lulworth Blue
11. Valspar Paint Silver Dusk
12. C Lamp from Swedish Ninja (blue version launching next week!)
13. H&M Bench with a rattan seat

I've covered a few homes with a polar blue theme over the years - including an architect's Copenhagen apartment (yesterday), a stunning Norwegian home in many shades of blue and the wonderful home of a Swedish food blogger. And I'm sure there'll be many more to come in 2020!

This was all sparked by my preparation for a trip to Formland in Denmark tomorrow to participate in a panel discussion with Trend Stefan and Holly Becker. We're going to be talking about the latest interior trends. Exciting! I can't wait to share my findings with you next week!

Oh, and meanwhile I'll of course be stopping by both tomorrow and Friday with my usual daily post so do stop by!

Niki

PS What did you think of my madonna-esque headline?! Pretty chuffed with that one!!

Photography: 1. Andrea Papini, 2. Lisa Olsson 3. Andrea Papini 5. Alvhem 6. Bjurfors

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A Stunning Norwegian Home In Many Shades of Blue

This has been a really inspiring week on the blog, I hope you've felt the same! On Monday I was dreaming about buying this holiday cabin on the Swedish island of Gotland complete with sea view and sauna. Yesterday I felt the urge to pack up all my belongings and move to a tiny cabin in the woods and pursue a career in pottery and today, I'm thinking I might just stay put after all and paint my home in shades of blue! When you see the interior of this stunning Norwegian home you'll understand why! Former owner Jan Thoresen and his wife (the apartment was sold last year) hired Tone Kroken to design their beautiful home in Oslo, which she decorated using a range of blue shades, veering from a soft grey-blue in the sitting room and a vibrant middle blue-grey in the hallway to a deep blue in the bedroom. Cognac accents, contemporary art and piles of books also add to the wonderful, unique feel of the space. Så flott!

TIP: To achieve the same rich patina seen in the bedroom and hallway try a minerals based paint like Pure & Original (which was used to paint this home) Jotun Lady Minerals (seen in the first two Norwegian bedroom shots in this post) or Kalklitir powder based paint (which the girls from Our Food Stories used to paint their beautiful studio and home) - the latter ships worldwide. You can also add Roll-A-Tex to normal paint like I did with my dining area (although be warned, this last option is soooo messy!!). Notice how the skirting boards and architraves have been painted in a slightly different blue accent adding interest and depth.

My eyes on that hallway. BE STILL MY BEATING HEART! Anything with piles of books and I'm in (I know I'm not alone either, the open shelving in Katarina Mattson's home is still my number one most popular instagram post E.V.E.R!) - but in combination with the 'mineral walls' - simple amazing!

Is there anything that caught your eye?!

Kudos to photographer extraordinaire Yvonne Wilhelmsen who took these wonderful pictures and interior architect Tone Kroken, the latter of whom who I had the pleasure of meeting when we captured her former home on an tiny car-free island outside Oslo for my second book The Scandinavian Home. It was such a magical day! Check out their interior book here and see more pics of this beautiful home on their website here.

More blue interiors to drool over today: feeling the blue in a Swedish home, a striking dark blue Stockholm pad, the wonderful home of a Swedish food blogger and how to add colour the Danish way.

I hope you're also singing the blues after all this Scandinavian inspiration today!

Niki

Photography: Yvonne Wilhelmsen  Styling: Tone Kroken

PS We've been beavering away on all your new room designs - so fun, thank you so much for signing up! If you'd also like to give my new room design service a whirl, I'm offering a special kick-off discount of 20% off with code MYNEWROOM. Get started here, or read more about the service here! 

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5 Ways To Rock The Blue And Beige Look - Swedish Style!

Tjena! I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Today in Malmö, we've woken up to blue skies and sunshine - these days are few and far between AND such a blessing when they arrive. Cue: people you haven't seen all winter, suddenly outdoors, all smiles, with faces tilted up towards the sun! Yep, there's no sign of the winter blues today. Which got me thinking. Why is blue so often associated with melancholy and 'cold'. I actually think it can be such a lovely, warm and yet serene accent in the home, do you? Swedish stylist Emma Fischer has combined a dark blue accent with brown, beige and white in this Gothenburg home - and the result is beautiful! Plus, if you're looking to add an accent to your home and use it to create a cohesive look, this is a great example. Here are 5 ways Emma has used blue to create a 'red thread': 

1. Kitchen cabinets - if you're looking to change the colour of your kitchen cabinets without replacing them the best way is to either to paint them yourself (if you like the slightly more brush stroke, rustic look) or take them to a professional spray painter. I'm for the latter since the colour will be more even and long lasting, but it is a personal preference! 

2. Accessories - the chances are, you've chosen your accent colour because you love it - and therefore naturally drawn to it when acquiring new items for your home. Even so, it's good to think about picking up small items such as textiles, mugs (seen in the first picture), and trinkets for your home in your accent colours. Details can make a big difference to the overall look! Notice how Emma has added a tea towel in deep blue and a lovely linen tablecloth in beige / natural (I love this vintage one*), both of which help to strengthen the theme. 

I love this corner by the window! The vintage piece looks similar to the Karin chair - I wonder what it's called? Anyone know? Otherwise, I'll have a little dig around and see if I can find out. 

3. Paint the walls: Bit of an obvious one this, but the absolute easiest way to add an accent is to paint your walls. in this home, Emma has used popular Jotun St Pauls Blue (NCS 6108-B08G) in the bedroom, and an off white Jotun Antikgrå hue in the living room, which complement each other beautifully. Notice how, in the past it was popular to pick out one wall, but these days colour blocking the entire space (walls, wardrobes and all) is the way to go for a bang up to date look! 

4. Bedding: there's a huge amount of beautiful bedding out there right now and you can pick up pretty much any colour under the sun! In this room, Emma has layered soft off-white /natural linen. If the room had beige walls, dark blue bedding mixed with browns and beiges would also have been a great option. Try Bea Linen* for similar. 

5. Art: whether you use the colours in art to inspire the room or feel naturally drawn to art with your favourite accent shades - prints and paintings are a perfect way to help create a cohesive look (as seen with  the blue and beige tones in the 'Copenhagen' print by Astrid Wilson the sitting room below!). 

Beautiful use of colour, don't you think?

What accent colours do you have in your home? 

I've realised, after looking at this, that my home is a little all over the shop. I guess that's OK, after all, I do love to break the rules. Even so, I can't help thinking it might feel a little more harmonious if I applied the 'red thread' idea. Hmmm. 

It doesn't help that my home feels a total mess right now due to the school holidays (half term!). Thinking it might need to be a short week of blogging before the house completely transcends into chaos!!! Hope that's OK with you!

Have you also not quite established that cohesive look you're after? Here are some tips: 

8 ways to create a cohesive home, Danish style

5 lessons to learn about adding an accent colour to your home

Or, if you're still deciding on a colour, the beautiful homes in these archives might help: 

Decorating with blue

Decorating with green

Pretty in pink

Bright colours

Decorating with pastels

Wishing you a great start to the week! 

Niki

Photography Anders Bergstedt 

Styling: Emma Fischer

Mäklare: Alvhem

*This post contains affiliate links which means I might make a very tiny amount of money if you click on something and buy it - at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting My Scandinavian Home. 

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Feeling the blue in a Swedish home

I've always loved the colour blue (cornflower blue to be precise). And these days this extends into the home (could this be a Scandinavian influence?!). Right now I'm considering a palette of grey-blue for my own home to mirror the sea nearby - and find myself constantly looking out for 'blue' inspiration.  Like in this beautiful Swedish country house - with it's lovely light blue kitchen and the darker conservatory (OK, I admit it was probably more the idea of sitting and enjoying a morning coffee and a magazine in that conservatory which really got me!), but I love the personal touches and vintage finds too.  What do you reckon - could you wile away a morning here?!

 Credits: photo Johan Spinell, Styling Åsa Copparstad for sale through Historiska Hem.

Oh so lovely. Don't you think?

Is there anything that stands out to you? 

A couple of items I know and love: kitchen aid in yellow, vintage chopping boards (beautiful!),  rattan 'wing chair', light grey stonewashed linen bedding.

When it comes to the shades of blue I'm working on a selection of these, I just need to take that leap (a little scary!). I might just develop my moodboard a little more with some lovely pics from the 'decorating with blue' archive first (if the first home you see is this one, just scroll past).

I'm intrigued - what colours do you have in your home?

Have a lovely day!

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Singing the blues in a Swedish space

Blue is stealing the show this year (I'm especially loving this blue / black outfit for autumn - could it be because that was the colour of my school uniform?!). And the kitchen in this Swedish apartment is fab  - I'm not sure if it's the combination of deep blue with aqua, the leather handles, the grey splashback, light marble work surface or simply everything? It really sets the tone for the rest of the the home too (loving the cluster light, touches of mid-century and the oh so light and airy home office). Let's take a tour...

Entrance

This home has been styled for sale so it's perhaps a little spartan -but the beautiful bones are there (those windows...), imagine what you could do with it?

The light grey floor in the study looks fairly similar to the floor in my bedroom (painted with 'strong white'). I like the way they've painted the skirting boards in the same colour. It also ties the room with the rest of the home (they've used the same colour on the doors and hallway floor).  I do love a light grey and white combo!

If you're in the mood for more blue inspiration - I'm also loving this elegant blue kitchen in a Brooklyn home and these blue kitchens - in fact, there's an entire archive dedicated to the colour  (skip the first home as it will be this one). Are you a fan of blue?
 
It's another extremely early start for me today - one of my friends calls them  'double coffee mornings' .... and as I look out of the train window I'm dreaming of a slow morning back at home with coffee gently brewing on the stove (or perhaps I could be in this Gotland summer home or this pretty swedish cottage or infact, any summer cottage for that matter!). Don't you love mornings like those?

Have a lovely day!

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Calm blue-green tones in a Swedish home

This Swedish apartment belonging to Emma Solveigsdotter is absolutely beautiful. Emma has used tones along a spectrum of blue-green to make every room different. The colour also cleverly enhances the period features which have been painted in crisp white. I particularly love the combination of deep blue-green with the teak mid-century furniture in the kitchen and bedroom - lovely! If you're thinking of injecting colour into your home but would still like a calm and elegant look, this is your bag!

So lovely don't you think?

It's currently for sale through Alvhem, so for one lucky person your home is already sorted! Imagine?

Get the look -Farrow & Ball offers a beautiful spectrum of blue-green shades.  The SINNERLIG plant pot is similar, source a bumling pendant in brass here. Bedroom - Hay mega dot quilt, white linen bedding, this is a good source for a vintage mid-century credenza.

You can keep up to date with Emma's latest projects on instagram (so inspiring!).

If you're feeling the blue today you might also like to check out this lovely Swedish space with a blue kitchen, the wonderful home of a Swedish food blogger and a danish apartment (a favourite of mine!). In fact, there might just be an archive dedicated to 'decorating with blue'... just saying!

Have a lovely day!

PS don't forget to make the most of your 20% discount at Feliz Home with code 'SCANDYLOVE' - valid until this Friday, 26th August!

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