An idyllic Danish cottage

I hope you're having a great start to the week? I'm actually in the small fishing village of Gilleleje today for the second day of a photo shoot for my new book - so exciting (more news to follow at a later date)! We've got to leave the hotel shortly but before I go I thought it would be fitting to share an  absolutely idyllic Danish former fisherman's cottage belonging to Dorthe Brocante. The palette of blue, indigo, charcoal and earthy tones is so pretty, don't you think?

Photographer: Martin Sølyst (with kind permission). Stylist: Eva Marie Wilken for Bolig Liv. via Nordic Design

 Wow! How I'd love a home like this, how about you?

Anyone want to skip work this morning and drink coffee in the garden with me?!

I love, love love the ceramics. I was at a wonderful styling workshop at The Hive hosted by Dietland Wolf  in which she talked about black on black styling using textured ceramics. The detailed shot of the three black vessels in Dorthe's home reminds me of how beautiful it can be to group three items of the same colour but with different surface texture and shapes.

More beautiful cottages here. And Danish homes here.

Got to rush but I'll leave you to dream! Have a lovely day! 

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A cool, calm and collected Danish home

I hope you had a great weekend? It was a bank holiday here in Southern Sweden so we escaped to the cottage on the west coast. My Mum and I even took a seaweed bath at Torekovs Warmbadhus - where you're actually scrubbed with local seaweed (have to say I was always a bit scared of seaweed as a child so it was quite a feat to get me in the bath in the first place, but my skin felt like silk afterwards!). Anyway. Today's home tour - this morning I'm loving this simple yet striking  pared-back monochrome home in Denmark. Calm, cool and collected, it's the beautiful home of danish architect Jonas Bjerre Poulsen.

Monochrome Home by Hilary Robertson, photography by Pia Ulin, published by Ryland Peters & Small.

What do you think - your kind of palette? Too pared-back or just right?

Personally I love the polished concrete floor and the dark earthy colours. And what about the rounded storage in the bedroom?!

These pictures are from the magnificent book Monochrome Home by Hilary Robertson, photography by Pia Ulin, published by Ryland Peters & Small.

Other homes designed by Norm Architects can be found here. If you'd like to see more monochrome spaces today there's an entire archive here. Time to make a pot of coffee?!

I'm off to shoot a home in the Danish countryside today with a colour palette not far off this one - so excited!

Have a wonderful start to the week.  

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Let's go outside....

...in the sunshine! It's a four day weekend here (don't you wish every week could be like that?!) and the sun's shining here in Southern Sweden - wooohoooo! So today I'm taking things outside for a little al fresco dining inspiration...

Tia Borgsmidt

Nordic Day

Oslo terrace - Photo: Birgitta Wolfgang Drejer / Sisters Agency - Interiormagasinet

http://divaaniblogit.fi/

Spanish house outside Barcelona - Nuevo Estilo

Nuevo Estilo

Zhenya Grid

Ooo, I do love evenings out on the deck don't you?!

You can see a complete tour of the Oslo terrace here. Anyone would think you're in the med?!

And speaking of the med...there's a tour of the inside of the Spanish house, located just outside Barcelona, on Nuevo Estilo - so beautiful, don't you think?! 

Take a tour of Nordic Day's terrace here.

And what about this hanging bed in the garden?! Bliss!

My outdoor space is tiny, but I dream big...and if I were to wave my magic wand and create a garden of my dreams it would have an interrupted view of the ocean (obvs), my sailboat bobbing on a bridge waiting to be taken out, and a hammock or possibly just a swing like this one. Occasionally I'd put down my book and go for a dip. Or maybe in my swimming pool which would look like ANY of these (really, I'm not fussy....). And in the evening we'd all get together like this. Who's in?!

How would your dream outdoor space look?!

Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday!

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A striking dark and white Swedish space

I enjoyed touring the world's smallest luxury home (imagine?!) and the Manhatten loft this week, but today I thought we'd return to Sweden with this gem of an apartment. I haven't seen dark floors for a while and I've kinda missed them. The dark wood looks so beautiful against the white and light greys, don't you think? My eyes are on the hallway - with it's start contrast of black and white - so simple yet so striking. And I'd never miss the mid-century touch (side-table, mirror...) and plants and flowers in every corner. Lovely!

Stadshem. Photo: Janne of @Flashbackphoto. Styling: Emma Hos

What a great space - is there anything you love in particular?

More lovely dark floor spaces here and here (proof they look fab in a small space too!). Or why not go all out dark like this Australian summer house?!

A few tips on where things are from (as always jump in in the comment section below if I've missed anything!): Knitted pouf, DLM side table,  Tom Dixon beat light, Bertoia chair (by the desk), RENARP desk light, Frama E27 light is similar (in kitchen).

My V.V.V.I.P guest (Mum) has arrived from London - yay! And in true Swedish style we're heading out of the city to enjoy a few days at the cottage. I love the whole Scandinavian summer cottage concept- there's something about going back to basics and living the quiet life for a few days. You can see some of my favourites here.

Since I'm hoping to spend a lot of time outdoors while I'm up on the West coast, I'm turning to the great outdoors in tomorrow's post too with some terrace and backyard inspiration....see you tomorrow!

And have a lovely day...I hope the sun's shining where you are too?!

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A beautiful vintage industrial home and café

What happens when you combine two foodies, South of France style, North American charm and a Michelin-starred chef? The wonderful café Maman, that's what!  Elisa Marshall and Benjamin Sormonte had been living and working in various places around the globe including France and Ibiza before taking over a former machinery shop in SoHo, New York. The pair left the tin ceilings, exposed brickwork walls and original 1920s flooring untouched and added vintage and antique furniture to maximise charm. They also installed an industrial window so that guests can watch Michelin-starred chef Armand Arnal in action. Oh how I could drop in there now and wile away a morning?! Their six-floor loft in nearby Tribeca is pretty beautiful too and follows the same industrial vintage style - but with a touch of romance - think florals, sheer curtains and pipes painted in gold. Let's take a peek inside the Sormonte-Marshall household and café Maman....
 

The loft

The café

 

Photos: Nicola Franzén - shared with kind permission. Lonny mag. Post inspired by It's Monday but it's OK

What a world they've created? Just beautiful, don't you think?

A few notes on where items in the home are from in case you're interested: vintage letters, dresser found on Krrb / bar cart, table and chairs found at Brooklyn Flea, plant pot from Anthropologie, hanging plant holders.

Two fab DIY ideas to steal- Marshall and Sormonte collected Pez dispensers, sprayed them gold and framed them - such a nice idea. The sofa  / day bed was made from pallets (see a step by step guide here).

You can read more about the home and café here. 

Oh and there were lots of questions about where the throw was from in this Swedish home on Monday - and now I have the answer, yay! (thanks lovely anonymous commenter!!) You can find more details in the post if you're interested. 

Got to rush off as I have a V.V.V.I.P guest arriving from London tonight - my Mum! There's a bed to be made, a bar to be stocked and some recipes to be whipped up (if only I had the helping hand of Armand Arnal!), go, go, go!

Have a lovely day!

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Peek inside the world's smallest luxury home

....And it's fab too! The brainchild of Tiny Heirloom, this super cool custom home on wheels, was handcrafted in Portland, Oregon with an aim for people to have the freedom to enjoy a little luxury and then be able to pass it on to the next generation. Beautifully built with everything you could possibly need (and a pretty cool interior to boot), home is literally where you park it!

How fantastic? Could you take off in one of these?

Where shall we head first...?

It reminds me of previous fabulous homes on wheels I've featured- including this alternative garden shed (so cute!),  an out house retreat in Nashville (available on AirBnB) and a vintage caravan (available to rent), who needs a real house anyway?

And do you remember the girl who renovated her garden shed into a work studio and then loved it so much she moved in and rented her house so she could pursue her art full time?!  And it seems there's a load more people following suit - you can read more about the tiny house movement here if you'd like. Makes sense? I also love '8 reasons I love life in a small house'.

I once surprised my husband with a stay at the world's smallest hotel in Copenhagen, Central Hotel og Café, it's honestly the greatest place I've ever stayed! It had a tiny reception with one key hanging on a hook for the one room, outside two bikes were waiting for us (do you remember the beautiful home of one of the girls who works there?).

While researching for today's post I discovered a lorry load of inspiring blogs dedicated to tiny houses including: tiny house swoon,  tiny house blog, small house big adventure.

I have to admit, I feel so inspired by today's post, it makes me feel I could live on our little sail boat and travel the world after all....

Have a lovely day! 

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