A beautiful and practical Swedish home

Hello there. Happy mid-week! Today I'm taking inspiration from this lovely Swedish apartment. I love how the space is both beautifully furnished (a perfect blend of old and new but also highly functional, with plenty of storage, and everything you need at hand. I'm particularly loving the touches of midnight blue (velvet sofa, linen bedding), brass fittings and calm green wall in the kitchen. Oh and it's cosy too!

Source: Historiska Hem found via Coco Lapine Design with thanks.

Oh and it's for sale too - wonder if it comes with everything inside, wouldn't that be good?!

A few items that caught my eye: this is a great source for mid-century dining chairs. House of Rym blanket,  Lee Broom crystal bulb and pendant light, midnight blue stonewashed linen bedding (love this!), this brass bed is similar.

Notice the books turned inwards? Always a fun talking point. I have some shelves in my bedroom (which I'll be featuring later this week) and all the book jackets have been bleached from sunlight, which is so upsetting! So I do actually see the value in it these days. I'd love to hear your thoughts though!

On a separate note - here's a little mid week link love for you:

Evening light - possibly the most beautiful set of pictures I've ever seen. 

A romantic corner from the bedroom of Mokkasin (love the dress and bag).

How to do open-plan.

This bouquet is beautiful, don't you think?!

51 sitting room ideas. 

An Autumn must have.

Have a lovely day!

PS I spoke at a 'social media influencer workshop' yesterday alongside instagrammer Marion Payr (AKA @ladyvenom)- if you love travel, you must check out her gallery, it's beautiful! 

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A lovely Finnish kitchen with vintage finds

I was doing a little research for my second book (so exciting!) last night and stumbled across this beautiful country style kitchen in a house dating back to the 1800's in a peaceful, rural setting in Purmo, Österbotten Finland. The family, who run the shop Lundagård, aim to counterbalance today's growing consumption through recycling and living a greener way of life.  Christian and Aja Lund (the owners) designed the kitchen and built it with the help of a local carpenter.  The space has been furnished with a beautiful mix of antiques and vintage finds for a lovely, relaxed feel where family life lies at the centre.

Photography - Krista Keltanen (shared with kind permission). 

Oh so lovely - whenever I see spaces like this I feel like swapping our modern house for an old one in the country  - one day?!

How about you? 

Get the look: Lundagård sell a beautiful selection of 'old and new, handmade and antique' items. And I also find Etsy a great source for Swedish antiques and Finnish antiques.

You can see some lovely snapshots from life at Lundagård here.

I visited Finland for the first time last month and absolutely fell in love with the country. The people were so friendly, the design shops in Helsinki were wonderful and the countryside was simply stunning (I even spotted my first wild moose!).  One day I dream of going back and exploring the Ekenäs archipelago national park by boat. Imagine?!

Most likely I have been inspired by Finnish cabins featured here on MSH including this log cabin (which has now been transformed into this beautifully simple cabin) and this idyllic holiday home.  Ah, so lovely!

Finland anyone?!

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A Swedish apartment with old world charm

Hello! How are you today? Did you have a good weekend? We went on a little adventure to Österlen - the 'artist's country' here in Skåne, Southern Sweden. We happened across a charming B&B where we stayed the night surrounded by rolling hills and forest just near the sea, it was magical!  I'm feeling all revived and ready to go again! So. On with today's tour. This lovely apartment in Gothenburg belongs to stylist Frida Schüler and husband Christian. When the pair moved in, the flat was in need of a total renovation. They set about putting in new floors, painting the walls and adding their own personal stamp on the space. The result is a harmonic home with a touch of old world charm. Let's take a tour....

Credit: Photos: Alice Johnsson (shared with kind permission). Home owner / stylist: Frida Schüler.

So calm - perfect for a Monday morning, don't you think? I particularly love the kitchen with all the vintage touches. How about you?

The water colour is By Nynne Rosenvinge and available here (thanks for the tip Salma!).

You can see more pictures and read about this lovely home over at Elle Decoration here and explore Frida's instagram gallery here.

Have a wonderful start to the week! 

PS last night I was having a scroll through instagram, as you do and stumbled across the most beautiful gallery documenting life at a Norwegian cabin (Wild Wood) - you must take a look! It's so inspiring!

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A Stockholm home rich in texture

I have to say, I've really enjoyed this week on the blog, it's been kind of crazy. From an apartment on top of a Norwegian ski jump to your very own Tasmanian (dream) island hide-away  you could never say I don't shake things up a bit! Since it's the end of the week I feel it's perhaps time to come back down to earth. But this lovely family home in Stockholm is far from ordinary. Owned by Petrus Palmér, the founder of Hem design studio and shop, wife Madeleine and two year old son Alvar, the house is full of beautiful textures - from light wood and concrete to marble, cork and linen, and of course, many wonderful items. Let's take a look around....

Photography Erik Lefvander (shared with kind permission).  Styling Alexandra Ogonowski 
Found via The Design Chaser with thanks. 

Get the look: kitchen - Alphabeta pendant duet lights,  Alvar Aalto chair 69,  cast iron Japanese teapot. By the Stairs - Vitra cork stool, Pocket armchair, Kenno throw. Bedroom: this light blue linen bedding is similar.

You can read more about this beautiful home in Residence here (one of my absolute favourite Swedish interior magazines).

And before I shoot off for the weekend, here's a little link love to enjoy when you have a moment:

Curious to know what happens when Parisien style is brought to a Swedish apartment? Take a look here.

The secrets to styling your home like a Parisien.

For the sweet toothers among us, how mouth-wateringly good does this fluffy smor dip look?! It's either that or this (or both?!). Or even this (someone stop me!).

This is where I'd like to go this weekend... what do you reckon?

Have a wonderful couple of days and see you Monday!

PS keep an eye out for my give-away on Instagram this weekend!

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Your very own dream island hide-away

Located off Bruny Island in southern Tasmania, this small island formerly belonged to a writer, painter and poet. And now a family has transformed it into Satellite Island, an off the grid hide-away in untamed Tasmanian wilderness. Your own private island to share with family and friends where you can wake to the sound of sea birds, fish from the boathouse jetty, explore the waters by kayak or simply enjoy the scenery from a deckchair (guh!). Oh and did I mention the beautiful rustic vibe of the summer house and boathouse? The only real way to finish the day would be to watch the sunset with a glass of chilled Tasmanian wine - don't you think?! Can someone please whisk me away here?

Source: these beautiful pictures were taken by Kara Rosenlund and shared with kind permission. 

I mean, could you imagine?!

I wish I could say - and I'm holding a give-away to stay here for a week.... hahaha! I don't think I'd be able to give the prize away if this was the case?! But maybe we could share it?! Satellite Island are you listening?

Now this might sound crazy, but there are a few ideas to steal from this beautiful haven (hey, Tasmania's far away, it's nearly the weekend, we can do tropical too, right?):

Bedroom: source Kilim rugs to overlap here. Kitchen: industrial white pendant light, white Tolix chairs. Sitting room: source beautiful denim blue stonewashed linen by the metre here (how's that for a quick update for an old sofa?!). Bedroom 2: find stonewashed linen bedding in these shades here.

In need of more 'paradise' inspiration? - I'm also loving an ethereal beach house on St Barths,  a villa in tropical gardens in Brazil, and a long term favourite of mine - a little touch of paradise on Mykonos. And yes, you can stay at all of them! Which one first?!

I'll leave you to dream! 

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