Grey and Greige in a Magnificent Berlin Home

Why, hello there! How was your weekend? Kind of whizzed by, like mine?! Don't worry, this is going to be a great week for us all, I can feel it in ma' bones! I'm back home in London today enjoying a little snuggle time with my one year old niece (she's adorable - I might just have to pack her into my case and take her back with me!). I did manage to tear myself away for just enough time to create today's post though. I thought, being a hectic Monday and all, I should opt for a home tour with an element of calm, what do you reckon? This beautiful home belongs to interior stylist Selina Lauck, her boyfriend Olli, a cutler (AKA knife maker - yes, I had to look that up!) and four year old dog Gordin (look closely and you might just spot him!) in Berlin Mitte. Selina studied fashion design before realising that this wasn't her passion, and after a year in Oslo, returned to Berlin to work for Danish brand Hay. Her love for Nordic design shines through every corner of her home, which she describes as 'minimalist with a Scandinavian influence'. Enjoy!

Photography: Selina Lauck

Wow! What an incredible home - don't you think?! Selina's minimalist style and subtle colour scheme allows the magnificent structure and period features of the space to shine through - so perfect!

Here's a little guide to where things are from:

Bedroom: Mantis table lamp (I've got the same in my office!), House of Baltic sells similar linen bedding. Wall colour by Farrow & Ball.

Kitchen: lamp from Kai Linke, Alessi kettle (love this!) faceless portrait from faroe island artist Gurilla Artstudio, wall colour by Farrow & Ball.

Hallway: this round mirror is similar, print from The Poster Club.

Sitting room: Knoll diamond chair, Begonia Maculata print by Coco Lapine, Menu dining chairs. Hay sofa.

If you don't already follow Selina on Instagram, it's an absolute must (she's so good at tagging too - something I need to be better at!!). A little birdie tells me she's also launching an interior blog any time soon - stay tuned! Oh and, the word on the street is that the wonderful Jules from Herz Und Blut paid Selina a visit recently and snapped a beautiful home tour (check it out here!).

More beautiful Berlin homes here too!

Have a fab start to the week!

PS Tonight I'm heading to Regent Street to celebrate the launch of the new limited edition Nespresso Variations Confetto collection in collaboration with artists Craig and Karl (candy inspired coffee blends - fika galore! Yay! More on Instagram stories later!

PPS The voting for the Domino Design Blog Awards finishes tomorrow - I'd be soooo grateful if you can take a mo to stop in and cast a vote one last time here (My Scandinavian Home can be found in the category 'Best International Design Blogs'). Thank you so much!

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7 Design Things To Do in Helsikini + Habitare

A few weeks back (OK slightly more than that, this post is long overdue *red face*!) I was invited to Helsinki to attend the interior, design and furniture fair Habitare. I totally fell in love with the Finnish capital all over again. It really is one of my absolute favorite European cities (and I'm not just saying that because I have a penchant for all things Scandinavian - honest!). If you're into design and looking for a weekend break - this is your bag. For those of you further afield, make a week or two of it and visit the Finnish archipelagos as well as the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort (it's on my wishlist!).

Helsinki Marketing - photo by Jussi Hellsten

Our chaperone was Annika Suomi, who knew just about everything there is to know about the best design spots in Helsinki! Over the space of three days, bloggers Holly Becker, Mette Jakobsen, Katariina Kalda, Stefan Nilsson and I enjoyed a design-packed schedule which included supper out on the island of Lonna,  holding a panel discussion at the Habitare fair and a tour of some of the most incredible stores, museums and galleries around the city (oh and we ate some delicious cuisine too!!). It was a whirlwind tour of some of the best design spots in town. If you're visiting any time soon, here are my tips:


7 Things to Do in Helsinki for design lovers

1. Take a tour of the Helsinki Design District and shop for books, design and craft at independent concept stores and galleries like Lokal and TRE!

Image courtesy of Lokal.

2. Take a guided tour of Alvar Aalto's House

2. Enjoy a morning at the Design Museum

Image by: Patrik Lindell/Vandalorum

3. Relax in a sauna at Löyly (beating yourself with branches optional!).

Helsinki Marketing by Pekka Keränen

5. Wile away a few hours at Iittala & Arabia Design Centre (check out this post by Holly Becker over at Decor8 to feel inspired).

Photo by Holly Becker / Decor8

6. Visit the island of Lonna for lunch.

Image - Salla Kantokorpi

7. Eat supper at Grön

Image courtesy of Grön

Where to stay: I loved my stay at Hotel Haven (I have to say, I kind of lucked out with this one!). And sister residence Hotel Fabian is also very central.

For more tips, the book Helsinki: People make the City offers some great advice from the locals and has been my bible both times I've visited (it captures the atmosphere of the city beautifully!).

Habitare design and furniture fair

While we were there, we also spent a few days at Habitare design and furniture fair. Suffice to say, it was hands down the prettiest fair I've ever attended (and I've been to a few!). It helps of course, that the Finns have an innate sense of style and this shone through across the stands! Here is my round-up of 2017 highlights.

1. To celebrate 50 years in the industry, Finnish interior design magazine Avotakka  collaborated with interior designer Maija Rasila (take a tour of her home here) to create a beautiful stand showcasing some of Finland's finest design pieces!

2. Scandinavian design is often about keeping things minimal and working with subtle colour changes. Pentik demonstrated this beautifully on their stand which was decorated in subtle shades of grey and dusty pink with the help of their ceramics.

3. A pile of design books including works by the famous architect Alvar Aalto (who's home we visited!) and Finnish design brand Artek were part of the Asun magazine stand. 

4. I kind of wanted to curl up on the Anno stand and get cosy among all their sumptuous textiles (and enjoy a fika at this table too!).

5. Toimittajien Tusina (The association of interiors journalists) selected their favourite 12 Finnish interior design products 2017 - which were showcased on this beautiful stand near the entrance.  

6. Having worked on a collaboration with Be&Liv in my own home earlier this spring I was so happy to finally meet the team in person and check out some of their new products - like the Peony Lamp.

8. And something for the children - the multi-purpose Nuppu sustainable ceramic children's tableware collection by Maija Puoskari caught my eye - in fact, I awarded it my design choice from the fair! Isn't it beautiful?

Kittos Annika and the Habitare team for inviting me to visit. I hope this post has inspired you to visit Finland some day soon too!

If you'd like to add any tips of great things to see and do in this wonderful city please add them to the comment section below!

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Sara's fabulous 'funkis' house in Malmö, Sweden

A few Friday's ago I packed up my photography equipment and nipped over to the other side of Malmö to spend the day with Sara Hallin Sandström. Sara is a Master of CMF (Colour Material/ Finish) at Electrolux and co-producer of Colour Therapy (along with Tina - who's beautiful home I featured here) and lives with her husband Nicklas - an Art Director (and ex colleague of mine - it's a small world!) and their gorgeous sausage dog Kakan in a funkis house from the 1930's. We had a brilliant day, including chats and laughter over a fika (coffee and a small treat) and capturing the details from Sara's wonderful home. I hope you enjoy the tour! 

Tell me about your beautiful house:
Our house was built in 1934 for families working at the nearby airport (Bulltofta, closed in the 1970’s). At that time, it was made up of two apartments with a shared bathroom, laundry room (in the basement) and garden.

What drew you to the house?  

We really love the architecture and the structure. It was made in the early days of the “funkis” (functionalist design) era and this is visible in the details of the house. The very rational structure and the big windows are very “funkis”, while the decorative details inside are more inspired by the 1920’s style. We liked that the house was left in its original state with a lot of original details. We also love the location of our house, it is a cosy, bohemian neighbourhood within walking distance of the city center. And of course, that we have our own garden with several fruit trees (original from 1934) and space to grow our own vegetables.

Have you carried out any major renovations? Yes, we re-made the kitchen and built a modern bathroom next to our master bedroom. But we have also kept the original bathroom with a tub in the basement. When we made the new kitchen, we removed a wall to open up the kitchen towards the entrance of the house, we hired carpenter Christer Bentmon to build a custom-made kitchen inspired by the original but with modern functionality. I painted the kitchen in a traditional, ecological paint made of eggs, linseed oil and pigment. We want this kitchen to live as long as the previous one, for more than 80 years!

How would you describe your interior style?
Eclectic, I like to mix new with old things and things from home with things from other cultures.

How would you describe your colour palette?
Colourful Scandinavian - we have lots of colours in our house but they are all quite muted and not too loud (very Scandinavian!) and work well in combination with other colours.

What tips do you have for anyone looking to introduce colour into their home?  
Dare to be personal. Go for what you like and don’t care too much about trends. But it's always a good idea to try the colour on a small part of the wall before you buy a big bucket. Colours change a lot depending on the light in the room, but that's also the beauty with it! Our grey colour in the living room is shifting from warm to cold depending on the time of the day and the season.

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Thank you so much Sara, Nicklas and Kakan for inviting me into your home - what a fun and truly inspiring day. I think I need to go and fix a walk-in-wardrobe for myself now - how much would you love a room like this in your house?!

Get the look from Sara's home:

Kitchen - cabinets painted in Ovolin (code 5-632), Sara made the pendant lamp using the
HÖLJES Pendant lamp from IKEA, gold electric cable from a local store and this brass vase which she drilled a hole in.

Dining room - the Olle Alberius for Orrefors lamp was a wedding gift to Sara's parents from her grandparents

Sitting room - the round mirror is an antique (from Bukowskis) - this one is similar (see our mirror round-up here!). Sofa from Bolia, Isamu Noguchi coffee table. Book shelves from IKEA (painted the same colour as the wall: Lin from Alcro). Vase on shelf from Stilleben, Copenhagen.

Walk-in-wardrobe - storage baskets from H&M home, Ilva rug, clothes rails from Vore. This, this and this stand are ideal for jewellery.

For more inspiration check-out Sara's blog and instagram feed!

....And that's me done for the week here on the blog! We're enjoying our last couple of days in Spain before I head to London to celebrate the new limited edition Nespresso Variations Confetto collection in collaboration with artists Craig and Karl (candy inspired coffee blends - What's not to love?!) at the Regent Street boutique on Monday night (keep an eye on Instagram Stories!).

I hope you've got some fun plans over the next couple of days?

Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday!


Photography - Niki Brantmark / My Scandinavian Home. Design / home-owner: Sara Hallin. Styling support from Tina Lekeberg.

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