Scrolling

15 Small Space Hacks To Learn From a Beautiful Danish Home

Hej, hvordan har du det? I have to admit it's really hard to concentrate today - it's such a beautiful day! And when the sun shines in Scandinavia it's not something to be taken for granted! I was thinking of taking the Stand Up Paddle out at lunchtime ('thinking' being the operative word since it's still a bone-chilling 12 degrees in the water - eeeek!). While I procrastinate - I have a space to share with you which totally makes staying indoors worthwhile! This is the home of Danish model Johanne Landbo and her boyfriend.  Located high up in the eaves in the city of Ã…rhus, Denmark, what the home lacks in size and ceiling height, it makes up for in clever small space solutions and beautiful design. Velkommen!



1. A clutter-free home creates the illusion of space. Johanne has used wall mounted floor to ceiling shoe cabinets to banish shoes from the floor. 

2. Simple hooks hung over a door are really handy for everyday items (I use them in the bathroom and bedrooms in my own home) - they also don't require any drilling, making them ideal for rental spaces!

Shoe cabinet, door hook and Sinnerlig stool all IKEA. This round basket bag is similar. 


3. Raising the ceiling to it's full height and adding skylights helps to generate a loftier feel. Plus if you're lucky - you might end up with beautiful beams like these (well worth their weight in hygge!).

Green Forest poster, this pendant light is similar. Source a runner like this here.

4. I love these old warehouse windows between the bedroom and hall. Replacing an internal wall with windows (new or vintage!) allows light to filter through to darker areas and widens the look of a narrow space. Drawing across a curtain is a great way to add a little privacy and darkness at night time.





5. Multi-purpose furniture helps each item to go that bit further, for example, this Gjöra bed doubles up as a place to hang plants (or clothes).

6. Installing minimalist, bespoke wall-to-wall wardrobes helps to make the most of every inch of a room and create a clean look and feel. 

7. Johanne's home has been painted in a fresh, matt white throughout which bounces the light around.




8. Flat wall-mounted book shelves provide a less intrusive place to store magazines in a dead space between the radiator and eaves. 

9. Stackable furniture is a small space's best friend! Here, the lower nest table can be tucked under the higher table when not in use.


10. If your sofa is in the middle of the room, break up the (often cumbersome) back of it with a bench that can also be used for coffee table books and other items.

11. Make full use of ceiling height. Lesser used items can be stored higher up. 

12. Wall mounted, flexible lighting (such as the Mantis) helps to clear floor space and reduce the number of directional lights, since they can be rotated to where ever you need the light. 











13. Stackable, modular shelving like Omar from IKEA help make the most of awkward corners.

14. Opting for less bulky / more streamlined furniture like the Adam stool by FRAMA CPH will achieve a clutter-free, airy look and feel. 

15. Keeping the view clear on the balcony gives a continuation of space (and means you can enjoy it even on a rainy day). 

Aaaa, I was so happy to discover so many great ideas to steal from Johannes home! Is there anything you found particularly helpful?

I also liked Charlie Cameron's tip on Thursday: to use negative space throughout your home (I've been thinking a lot about this). 

You can see more pictures of Johanne's beautiful home over on instagram - and for more small living space inspiration today I can totally recommend these home tours too: small space that's big on cosiness, a tiny one room flat in Finland and Clever small space style in Stockholm

Have a great start to the week!

All Photography: Johanne Landbo

Twitter FaceBook

Pin It
10

A pretty, rustic, minimalistic hotel on Gotland

Ever romanticised of owning a B&B on a beautiful island somewhere? Me? Always! Today I'm dreaming of owning Hotell Magazinet which is now for sale on the wonderful Swedish east coast island of Gotland. Decorated in beautiful rustic, minimal style with orginal floorboards and pillars restored from the days when it was a flour warehouse and then a grain depot in WWII, it's already for you to move in and start receiving guests!











Fantastic Frank
Incidentally, Gotland is a fantastic place to go on holiday. Lots of very trendy and arty Swedes flock there each summer. Some of the summer cottages available to rent are just beautiful. Well worth an internet search!

Hej heeej.

Twitter FaceBook

Pin It
13

Urban Pioneer: Interiors inspired by Industrial Design

I absolutely love receiving a new book in the post, don't you? The smell of the pages, the anticipation of settling down a little later with a coffee in hand. And today is one of those days. The new book Urban Pioneer: Interiors inspired by industrial design by Sara Emslie has just landed on my doormat. There's something about the rawness of large, spacious rooms and the rustic feel of ex-industrial spaces that is simply awe inspiring. And Sara's wonderful book is packed with industrial-design inspiration, beautiful images and styling tips from homes set in the most magnificent buildings including: a warehouse in London, a former dockworker canteen in Amsterdam and a converted feather factory in Brooklyn. Here's a sneak peek......









This is just a small example of some of the lovely spaces inside....

Now all I need is a conversion of my own. I've always quite fancied a windmill (or even a lighthouse!), how about you?

Sara is a stylist and writer based in London (actually not far from where I grew up). You may recognise the name from her best selling first book: Beautifully Small: Clever Ideas for Compact Spaces (which I reviewed here).

You can pick up a copy of Sara's new book through Amazon here or order one through local bookstore.
 
Have a lovely day!

PS there's a very exciting give-away right now here (would hate for you to miss out!).

Book Credits
Urban Pioneer by Sara Emslie (Ryland Peters & Small, £19.99) Photography by Benjamin Edwards © Ryland Peters & Small

Home-owner credits:  
Pg.12 – Next Door’s Space by Carin Scheve and Francesco Caramella (open-plan space with concrete support columns)
Pg.36 – The London home of Peter Win (dining table with wooden drinks cabinet)
Pg.6 – The home of Louise Miller, available to hire through www.millerstyle.co.uk (kitchen with wooden benches)
Pg.94 – The home of Thomas and Bibi de Haas (galley kitchen beneath a mezzanine)
Pg.62 – The residence and studio of Jennifer and Liam Maher (aka Energy Plan Creative) (book shelf & 2x mannequins)

Twitter FaceBook

Pin It
1

Creating light in a Stockholm apartment

Monday! Let's start the week with an apartment styled by one of my favourite teams; Fantastic Frank. Very cool dining area aside what really catches my eye is the use of glass panels instead of walls to carry light through what otherwise could have been a fairly dark and poky apartment. Very inspiring. 







Fantastic Frank

Do you use glass dividers in your home? If I had my way I would definitely go for reclaimed warehouse windows as a room divider.

While I was on holiday last week, one of my favourite online stores and wonderful sponsor Nest posted a guest post by yours truly on how to get a Swedish style kitchen, you can pop by and see it here.

PS You can tell I haven't had my breakfast yet by the way I've included the sliced bread!

Have a lovely day!


Twitter FaceBook

Pin It
12

A Dated Home Becomes a Fresh, Modern Farmhouse

Ever since I stumbled across the portfolio of Pittsburgh based interior designer Leanne Ford and featured this incredible home, I've been a huge fan of her work! Leanne is currently the star, along with her brother and contractor Steve Ford, of Restored by the Fords on HGTV, which follows the siblings as they turn some of Pittsburgh's most dated buildings into magazine-worthy homes. Their latest project was to transform the Faraci family's pokey ground floor (made up of three rooms) into a fresh, open-plan space. I caught up with Leanne to find out more about the project...

What was the design brief?

I loved the Faraci family! They are so lovely and loving and their demands were rather simple! They wanted a simple and well designed home to be together as a family and to entertain in. The first floor of their house was separated by three walls when we got our hands on it. And of course, I removed them ALL. We wanted those in the kitchen to be able to see out the front window. And we wanted a more welcome communal living space for them.


What style were the family after and how did you achieve it? 

"They wanted a fresh and modern farmhouse style. We gave them all the classic fixings; subway tile, butcher block counters, classic white cabinets, open shelving, farm table down the center of the kitchen, simple design and decor. And I played with all of these features over the original and very beat up wooden floors. Though they started out as a kind of disaster to try to make them work, they ended up being my favorite feature of the home. Ain't that how it happens. The rough and vintage floor really adds life to the clean lines of the new kitchen." 







 Do you have a favourite feature from the make-over?  

That amazing modern "sculpture" of a stair case that Ed Zeiler from Wood N Wrench made us! We had to totally reconfigure where the staircase went after ripping walls out, so we played with the new "railing/wall" And made it a design feature.


 Did you experiment with anything new? 

"We did Board and Batton on the INSIDE of the home for a change. It was a simple and economical way to bring texture and character into this home. Over the coffee table you see a white chandelier that I TRIED to make... I would say this is one of those examples of letting art evolve...I certainly never set out to make the light look like that, but let's just say it really "wanted to" ;) The family made me feel better when they said it looks like something from the MOMA. I don't know about that, but... I'll take it!"

Photography: Alexandra Ribar

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful make-over with us Leanne!

If you love this look and want to steal a few ideas (I certainly will be!) - here's a quick guide:

Get the look







1. Nuvo lighting, warehouse shade
2. Vintage chopping board
3. Glass cake stand
4. Natural linen napkins
5. L:A Bruket liquid soap
6. Drip Glaze 16-Piece Place Setting
7. Tour Eiffel brackets  
8. IKEA armchair with Bemz Loose Fit Country cover (get 15% off design covers for IKEA furniture at Bemz with code '15myscandinavianhome' until 11th Feb - ships worldwide!).
9. Woven basket pendant light
10. Sisal natural jute rug

Ahhh, so inspired by this space - the statement basket lamp, the asymmetry of the chairs and bench around the table, the open shelves. So much to love. I hope it's inspired you too!

Have a lovely day.

****

Complete Source list:

Kitchen: Cabinets / Miter Box (custom built),  Farmhouse 3018 sink in pearl / Native Trails, Trinsic kitchen faucet in champagne bronze / Delta, White subway tile / Jeffrey Court,  Butcher Block countertop / IKEA. Cutting boards / Whitney Jurgovan of Kinsey Vintage market, Small white rug in bleached jute ivory / world market*, Wooden shelving with Tour Eiffel brackets / Anthropologie*,  Napkins and Tea towels, Parachute home, Vintage Mirror / Garden Style Living, wooden kitchen table / Weisshouse, Woven Basket Pendant / World market. Wooden chairs / 1stdibs. 

Family room (with fireplace): Cloud sofa in beligan linen natural / RH Modern,  Sisal natural jute rug / World market. White linen armchair / Weisshouse. Blue Tin Washer // Kinsey Vintage Market, coffee table / weisshouse, Metal Locker Boxes // Urge Studio.

Living room: White rug in bleached ivory jute / World market, Burlap sofa / Weisshouse,
wooden coffee table / IKEA, Chandlier custom made by Leanne, Green credenza / Urge Studio.

Twitter FaceBook

Pin It
5

Subscribe To My Scandinavian Home

Subscribe to My Scandinavian Home

skovby ad


 

site by ANAAR

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
MORE INFO