Get the look: inspiring sitting room of an interior designer

Well hello there! I had a great start to the week yesterday with a photo shoot at my friend, interior designer Genevieve Jorn's home in the centre of Malmö. If you're an avid reader of My Scandinavian Home I'm sure you're already familiar with Gen's home - we've been following her fabulous renovation one room at a time over the past year (take a peek inside her kitchen, office and bedroom). And now, with a little help from beautiful danish brand Nordal, a selection of art and her tree, 'Benjamin'- her sitting room and dining area is now complete! Here are a few shots from the cosy living area where Gen, her husband Kasper and cutest little Olivia love to hang out!

Photography: Niki Brantmark - My Scandinavian Home. Styling: Genevieve Jorn - interior designer.

What a great space? I secretly wanted to stay and hang out right there on the sofa all week!

I especially love how the space is filled with art, personal touches and a mix of old and new.

The wooden pharmacy sideboard, console, and dining table compliment the original herringbone floor and add a wonderful warmth to the room - and the plants truly bring it to life (Gen bought 'Benjamin' from an online second hand store for a song! It's so worth keeping an eye out for bigger plants online - businesses are often selling them off!

Is there anything you love in particular about this space?

Get the look from Gen's sitting room:

1. This wall decoration with beads is similar 2. Fur cushion 3. Console table 4. Pharmacy sideboard 5. Wooden stool 6. Garden pot grey 7. Garden pot, natural

If you're wondering about any of the other items give me a shout in the comment section below and I'll do my best to help.

Have a great day!

PS Nordal ships throughout Europe.

The post is brought to you in collaboration with Nordal. However, all words are my own and I only ever work with brands I absolutely love and think you will too! Thank you for supporting the businesses that help bring fresh content to your mail box and make My Scandinavian Home possible.

READ MORE...

10

A contemporary home with a mid-century touch

 If you've seen the pictures of my sitting room (here and here) you'll know I am a big fan of mid century furniture. This is why the home of Natalie Myers caught my eye for today's post. It was designed by Veneer Designs, a full service interior design studio which brings a modern organic mid-century inspired perspective to contemporary spaces.  I certainly see that here with the beautiful mid-century furniture complimented by kilim rugs and cool art photography. What a great space don't you think?!

Veneer Designs via Plastolux with thanks

I especially love the pale pink Kilim rug in the sitting room - how beautiful is that?! Perhaps something for my sitting room? I also like the Hudson Bay Point blanket on the single bed  - although I'm a little too primary colour shy to have it in my own home, how about you?

I've shown so many mid-century inspired home tours here before, in case you missed them here are a few of my favourites: a unique German space, the stunning home of Natalie Schwer and this monochrome space with a mid-century touch. Oh so cool.

Have a lovely day and see you Friday! 

READ MORE...

10

Converted Stables Become a Dramatic Home Full of Contrast in Norway

It's Friday friends - JAAAAA! To wrap up the week I'm leading us all over to the dark side (mwah ha ha) on a virtual journey to an incredible maisonette in Oslo. Formerly a stables, the two floor apartment is owned by Nina (blogger behind Note to Self), her boyfriend Jørgen, baby boy Gustav, and cutest pup Ipa. When Nina's not sewing or working as a graphic designer, the pair are transforming the space (often on a minimum budget) into a dramatic family home full of contrast and delicious, warm, dark grey, chocolate and beige accents. Enjoy the tour!

The maisonette has an upside down layout with the entry, bathroom and bedroom on the ground floor and an open-plan kitchen, sitting room and dining area on the upper level. I thought we'd start with the cosiest zone of all - the sitting room!

The sitting room wall has been painted in NCS S 7002B which makes a wonderful contrast to the oak floors, plastered brick walls and a fluffy 70's style shaggy rug (from Layered). And just how cosy does that velour Madison sofa look? The Blind No5 print is by Danish artist Kristina Krogh (available here).

It's incredible what a difference vintage wood adds to a monochrome space. Pick up similar  Thonet-style bistro chairs here (gah! So beautiful!). Nina never quite got on with the original brickwork and so they decided to plaster over it.

"The plastering gave just the right, tactile texture the apartment needed. And the colour was perfect too, so there was no need to paint it."

Where would a Scandinavian kitchen be without a natural linen tablecloth?! So pretty (and it looks better un-ironed too). It's nearing lunchtime here and I'm sort of drooling over the cheese too!

All hale the Bollo chair by Norwegian designer Andreas Engesvik (I've got my eye on the pink one). 

Since the pair are currently renovating a house elsewhere right now (their future home), they didn't want to invest too much money on the apartment. Even so, they still managed to transform the kitchen from this...

 To this...

...on a limited budget!

 To achieve the new look they plastered the walls and painted them in NCS S 7002B, spray painted the cabinets in NSC S 8002B, replaced the thick laminate counter top, kitchen taps, sink (all HTH), added Borghamn handles from IKEA and spray painted the switches, sockets and cables. 

Quite incredible, and so inspiring to know what you can do on a limited budget, don't you think?!

When the pair moved in the stairs were a varnished yellow colour...

They painstakingly sanded them down before washing them with white pigmentation, and then painted the walls and doors the same colour as the sitting room. They also added the same oak floor. 

What an incredible transformation, don't you think?! I've been wondering what to do with my stairs (which are also tinged with an old yellow varnish) and now I may have found the answer - I just need to brace myself for the work (and warn Per!)!

Nina saved a load on a designer clothes rail by creating one from a 12 mm copper pipe, which she bent into shape using a wrench, lightly sand papered and then sprayed matt black! So clever! More info on her blog here. 

The dark tones are also carried through to the bedroom which give the room a wonderful cocoon like feel - and no doubt feels blissfully dark at night, even under the Norwegian midnight sun!

Another Scandinavian must - natural stonewashed linen bedding (it's that ironing thing again! Source similar here) - the unbleached material looks particularly lovely against the dark grey walls!

And this little chap feels right at home!

Thank you so much for inviting us into your beautiful home Nina, Jørgen, Gustav and Ipa! I for one, might be tempted into over to the dark side in my own home after all. Anyone else feeling inspired too?!

See more of Nina's home renovations, creations and recipes over on her fabulous blog Note to Self as well as on her instagram feed.

I can't resist leaving you with a few other links to enjoy over the weekend too:

f you're looking for more home tours on the dark side try a cosy cocoon-like Swedish home (also featured here) and dramatic green and grey in a Swedish home - actually, do you know what? I'm just going to go ahead and give you the link to the entire 'dark colours' archive! Way easier!

And now for one of my favourites. Conversions. Don't you love it when a home has history (like the stables in today's post)?! See everything from converted garages, warehouses, schools, shops and even a bar here!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Niki

PS This weekend I'm writing a guide to Malmö in which I'm hoping to cover off a load of the things I missed in my previous Malmö guide (and some of the new places that have popped up too) I'm so looking forward to my staycation! Look out for the guide soon.

All photography  © Nina / Note to Self

READ MORE...

7

Helen's Cosy Swedish Summer Cottage Living Room

Kindly sponsored by Nordal, thank you for supporting the brands which make features like this possible*

A few weeks ago, I headed off to My Scandinavian Home interior designer Helen Sturesson's 19th century summer cottage in Blekinge on Sweden's east coast. We had such a lovely time! Last week I shared some information about the cottage's fascinating past and some snapshots of the cosy kitchen, including her Mum's incredible apple pie - take a peek here if you missed it! Today, I'm looking forward to showing you a tour of the main living room area and bedroom (the entire cottage is made up of three rooms: a kitchen, sitting room and bedroom. The loo is at the end of the garden and the bathroom is... in the Baltic Sea! A special thanks to Nordal - the Danish brand who made this trip possible - you'll spot many of their lovely pieces throughout the rooms! Ready to take a look?

The cottage is L-shaped, and the sitting room connects the kitchen (to the right) with the bedroom, when the family of four are here, they all share a room. Two windows flood the space with a warm southerly Autumn light. 

The room is made up of many different items collected over time - including a vintage sofa, a big glass cabinet which helps to keep books and games dust free as well as an incredible mirrored coffee table!

Oka coffee table with antique mirror sides and stone top, Mahe candleholder, Vela linen cushion cover

When Helen moved in, she peeled back the plaster on the wall to discover beautiful wood panelling. The planks are all numbers which could indicate the house has have been moved here - although this isn't confirmed (I have come across 'house moving' before in Sweden, does this ever happen in your country? 

CEMA pots in medium, large and extra-large, Club lounge chair in teak and paper rope.

Large 'kakelugn' (tiled ovens) stand in the corner of the main living room and bedroom and are amazingly effective at heating up the house.

Roa basket

In this picture you can catch a glimpse of the wood floor which squeaks as you move across it. A traditional Swedish 'trasmatta' (rug woven with rags / scraps of cloth which I wrote about in my Lagom book as they are a big part of the Swedish heritage) helps to keep drafts at bay and if you look very closely you'll notice the walls are wonky, adding to the charm! 

In the bedroom, floral wallpaper and natural wood help to bring the outside in and a candle brightens up the dark autumn day while adding a sense of calm.

Teak wooden stool, Aula linen bed cover

I hope you enjoyed this snapshot into Helen's cottage.

If you have any questions about anything, give me a shout in the comment section below and I'll ask Helen for the low down. 

Incidentally, it's not possible to buy the Nordal items directly from their website (they sell wholesale only), however, there are many webshops throughout Europe which stock their things. Find your nearest stockist here. 

Next week, I'm looking forward to sharing the final post of three: Helen's cottage ready for Christmas - weeeee, so excited about this one! 

Meanwhile, I'm busy packing for a two-day trip to Oslo, Norway (very excited!) where I'll be writing a guide for Simply Scandi magazine UK (my guide to Helsingborg appears in the latest edition and there's also a Christmas edition on sale right now which features a piece I wrote about our Swedish Christmas). The mag is available here in case you're curious! 

Do you think it could be interesting to share a guide to Oslo here on My Scandinavian Home too? 

Wishing you all a REALLY wonderful, relaxing weekend - and look forward to seeing you here again on Monday! 

Niki

*Thank you to Nordal for this paid partnership and helping to make My Scandinavian Home possible. All words and photos in this post are my own and I only ever work with brands I love and think you will too. 

READ MORE...

6

Danila's Lovely, Earthy Home In A Finnish Rental

Quite often, the homes I show are blessed with dramatically high ceilings, beautiful stucco, original parquet flooring and other drool worthy period features. All very well if you are lucky enough to have these in your home, but what about the rest of us mere mortals? If you fall into the latter camp, you'll be as excited as I was to hear the owner of this Finnish apartment state in her instagram bio: "making the most of a not so glam 73m2 rental." Sound familiar? Read on for some beautiful inspiration from Danila Yonsini's lovely home!  

Danila has painted her walls in soothing earthy tones with a warm hint and added plenty of texture to break up the 'boxy' feel of the architecture.

IKEA rattan cupboard, Portrait H* is similar, Mantis table lamp*

Every time I see a Samsung The Frame TV it takes me straight back to that greenhouse make-over I did with Emily Henderson.  I love the one in my sitting room too - I always choose pictures like the one Daniela's chosen but my kids love to change it to more shall we say 'statement' art - just to wind me up!  

We're so used to seeing iconic String shelving in the sitting room, but I absolutely love it in the kitchen too (as seen here!!).  

Is it just our family, or is your hallway floor knee deep in shoes too? If you have the wall space for it, this storage from IKEA is really nifty! 

I spy a piece that has gone bananas on instagram lately: the round, white ceramic vase from HM Home (I couldn't find this in the online store so it might require a store visit if you're interested) . They're everywhere! 

I love the little sculpture next to the bed. Sadly, I don't know where this particular one is from, but I got sent a similar one recently by a Swedish artist and it's one of my favourite pieces! You can see a glimpse of it in my sitting room here and they're available here. 

I hope Danila's home has given you some inspiration for your own home! You can see more pictures here. 

Fancy delving into a few more Finnish homes today?

In case you missed it, I shared a stunning Finnish family home in a former schoolhouse yesterday (so dreamy!) and I also love the happy, vibrant home of a Finnish designer and Maiju's delightful home. Check out the entire archive here. 

Niki

Photography: Danila / @indivisualstyle

READ MORE...

13