A beautiful white cottage by the sea

I hope you've enjoyed my Asian inspired week, I would've loved to have done so much more, there's only one thing for it, I NEED to go back on a personal visit rather than a business trip and take my own images!! Watch this space!! And now it's time for the weekend and here in Sweden everyone's gearing up for the annual trip to either their own or a friend/family's summer cottage. So here's a little inspiration - a beautiful 18th century summer cottage by the sea in Cornwall, England. It had me at the all white....!

Photography: Paul Massey via Dust Jacket Attic

According to Dust Jacket Attic the floorboards are made of reclaimed scaffolding wood which has been white washed and waxed. Beautiful?!

Tonight it's England vs Sweden in Euro 2012. Always tense in our household and I'm actually starting to get very nervous  (I'm english and my man's swedish!). So I'd like to end by saying good luck Sweden, and COME ON England!!!!! May the best men win!

PS If you haven't already - don'¨t forget to enter my blog give-away for your chance to win some genuine Japanese Washi Tape I picked up in Tokyo!

Have a lovely weekend! x

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Pretty Chinese lanterns: prints & DIY

On my work trip last week I also went to Hong Kong which gave me my first ever taste of China. Sadly I was there less than 18 hours and so it was all go go GO and no time to take pics! But since then I've found lots of beautiful pictures of Chinese lanterns. Imagine decorating your garden or home with these? So pretty! 

Share some candy buy this image on Etsy!

Pinterest here 

Buy these lanterns on Etsy!

And wonder blog SF Girl By Bay has a brilliant guest post about how to make your own Chinese lanterns like the ones below....if you do I'll be super impressed!!

SF Girl By Bay

I wish I'd had the time to invest in some lanterns while I was there. I wonder if I have the time to make some myself, the thing is i just know they'll never turn out like the ones above. Hmmm! What do you reckon?

PS Don't forget to enter the Japanese Washi Tape give-away here!

Have a lovely day!

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A pretty, pastel Asian inspired home

This Asian inspired home of Carol Dey designed by Peter Wilds (formerly of The Cross), is simply beautiful. I love the pastel colours and mix of old; with a pretty antique wardrobe, vintage suitcases and lamps and the new with the Tulip chair.  Photographed by Janis for Anthology.

Photography by Janis of Pine cone camp

I could definitely live in this home. In fact it's inspired me to paint a wall in my home in a pastel. The only thing is my man - he's not going to let me get away with a pink wall. Thankfully he's a little colour blind though :) The other difficulty is finding the exact shade of pink. I think Victoria of SF Girl By Bay gets this right in her home.

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Give-away: Washi Tape

Hejsan! When I was in Tokyo last week I picked up some pretty Japanese Washi tape and I'm giving-away four reels of this to one of my wonderful readers! Washi tape is traditionally made from paper and is slightly translucent and is decorated with pretty colours and patterns. It's a fab way to put pictures up on a wall or use in arts and crafts....

All pictures: My Scandinavian Home

To enter all you need to do is:

1. Write a little comment below about your thoughts on washi tape - don't forget to leave your name!
2. It's always nice to get a new blog follower too so if you fancy it, click the 'follow' button to the top right of this page too :) and make me very happy!

I will announce the winner (selected randomly) next Friday, 22nd June. The give-away is open to everyone, wherever you are!

Lycka till!

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A split machiya home in Tokyo, Japan

Hej hej! I'm back and as promised this will be a bit of an Asian interior week! Last Monday I visited Tokyo, Japan for 24 hours. It was a fantastic city and perhaps the most intriguing culture of all. Japanese are guided by the 5s principles: Seiri: Tidiness, Seiton: Orderliness, Seiso: Cleanliness, Seiketsu: Standardisation, Shitsuke: Discipline which are reflected in the home. Interiors are based on natural materials wood and stone and designed to encourage a respectful relationship with nature and bring balance and harmony to your life. This beautiful split machiya home in Tokyo, Japan from  Atelier Bow Wow is in two parts and connected by a lush courtyard.

'split machiya' by atelier bow wow, shinjuku, tokyo, japan
photographer: Manuel Oka via Design Boom

Can you see any reflection of the 5s principles in your home?! Every one minute I step on a piece of lego or trip over a barbie car which is followed by a string of expletives, so perhaps I need to work on this!!

Tomorrow it's time for a little Japanese give-away for you lovely readers so pop by if you get the a chance!

Have a lovely day!

 PS You can read more about this home here.

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Home sweet home: my kitchen

My week's work trip in Asia is coming to a close and it's been soooo fantastic! I've been to Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with sadly too little time in each. And now I'm looking forward to going home and seeing my little family. So here're a couple of shots from my kitchen back in sweden. My cheeky 18 month year old kept running into the shot and lying down on the sheepskin rug (a present from Dalarna, Sweden). She's so sweet! Awwww. 

My Scandinavian Home

My Scandinavian Home

My Scandinavian Home

A few little tips on where things are from....the black and white tray is from Design Torget. The appliances are all Bosch. The rug over the back of the chair is Himla of Sweden and the little black and white lanterns are Graham and Green.

Sorry for being a poor blogger this week and thank you all for your lovely comments. I am really looking forward to getting back on track and blogging everyday next week. First off will be to find some wonderful Asian inspired interior design pictures to share with you. Oh and a give-away! :)

Have a lovely weekend! See you Monday! From a very tired Niki! x

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Home inspiration: pom poms

Hejsan! Anyone who saw my post on Friday will know that I'm currently on a fly-by tour of Asia. OK it's for work, but I've still absolutely loved my past couple of days in Tokyo. The city is beyond belief and I simply can't believe how stylish and graceful all the women are. I feel a little like the incredible hulk in comparison! I thought about creating a Japanese inspired post today but sadly I don't have the time so I thought I'd have an Asia inspired week next week (including a small give-away of something I picked up in Tokyo! Ooooo!). Instead I'm going to cheat a little and publish a post about pom poms I made last week (hope you dont mind but they are rather lovely...). I absolutely love pom poms right now and they're popping up everywhere in the home.....

Etsy

Pinterest (sorry!!! can anyone help?)

Via Covet Garden

Bodie and Fou

Weekday Carnival

via 

Via

What do you reckon? Are you a pom pom gal/boy?! If you're feeling crafty you can make your own ones here. Of for the more, um, time deprived?! you can buy beautiful ones on Etsy here.

I'll be back again on Wednesday so sit tight and have a lovely couple of days!

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