A Pearl of a Home in Stockholm!

Can I just say, I've really loved writing my blog lately! I put this largely down to your input from the recent survey which has inspired me to push the boat out a little more and feature a greater variety of styles, the odd quirky (yet fabulous) home and a tad more colour and pattern- tack så mycket! I hope you've enjoyed all the recent tours too! Today's home, is another gem, and although unique, it's hard not to fall completely in love with it!  Situated on Mariatorg in Stockholm, Anna Lidman and Mattias' functionalism apartment has been decorated with an eclectic blend of furniture, unique design and bespoke, handmade items. Isabelle Pedersen of Lovely Life fame, recently paid a visit with her camera and snapped these delightful pics. Enjoy!

Anna bought the fabulous ceiling light from Stilnovo in Italy. The black and white drawings are by Anna's father Stefan Lidman who sells his work through Lidman ateljé, together with Anna's Mother Kicki, a jeweler.  

Bespoke shelves designed by Anna are used to store Mattias' large vinyl collection. I am really curious about the wallpaper, it looks fantastic! Does anyone recognise the design?

I love the combination of the Bertoia chairs with Hay J104 chairs around the kitchen table. And the sheepskin cushions add a lovely Scandi touch!

Anna made the sumptuous pink velvet headboard - and has combined it with a yellow Samba wool Klippan blanket and velvet cushion (this one is similar) to create a pretty focal point. The bench is from the IKEA PS Stockholm 2017 range (is it me, or does this seem to be popping up a lot in homes right now?) and the piano picture is by Anna's Father (yes, one very creative family!).

The lamp in the corner of the bedroom was also picked up at Stilnovo. Mattias inherited the armchair from his grandmother and the picture is By Stefan Lidman. A fiddle leaf fig also adds a vibrant touch (the arctic gardener would be proud!).

I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I did! I read in Isabelle's post that Anna and Mattias' home is still a work in progress (the couple combined two apartments together to create a bigger living area) - I can't wait to see what they do next, how about you?!

See more pictures of the home here and a load of inspiring Swedish home tours in the archive here!

I'm sitting in a café in Stockholm wiling away my last few hours before I head back to Malmö this evening. It's been such an inspiring trip - but now, as it comes to a close I can't wait to see the crazies back home and give them a stor kram!

Have a great evening! 

Photography © Isabelle Pedersen / shared with kind permission.

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At Home With the Arctic Gardener

What to do when there's no greenery in sight? Turn your home into an urban jungle, that's what. At least this is the solution Agronomist Anders Royneberg has come to. Known as the Arctic Gardener, Anders has over 100 plants in his relatively small Oslo apartment, making him a bona fide member of the 'green squad' that's taking Instagram by storm. From spider and money plants to areca palm and kiwi trees, the Arctic Garderner's home is a true tropical oasis in the heart of Norway's capital city! I had a chat with Anders earlier today to find out more about why it's great to have so many plants, and how we can make our own homes that little bit greener!

 On houseplants as company:

"House plants are perfect roommates. They are quiet, well behaved and they don’t smell bad." 

 

On the 'green squad' community:

"I find fellow plant lovers to be friendly, supporting and creative. We all want a greener world both indoors and outdoors. I would say that most of us also are concerned about the environment and strive for a greener world."

On going the extra green mile: 

"Raise your plants off the floor and place them on the wall, sideboards, tables or chairs. It will give your home that lush green jungle feeling!"

On escape: 

 "Palms make me travel without even having to leave home. I can go to palm-fringed beaches and tropical forests in a split second."

On easy plants for the amateur: 

"Get plants with thick green juicy leafs. They store water in their leaves. They are survivors even though their owners forget them occasionally."

On plant health benefits: 

"I found that plants in my bedroom help me to sleep better. Not only do plants look great and bring vitality and life, they also have relaxing and purifying benefits. This I believe, promotes a healthy sleeping pattern."

 

On the best plant species for a beginner: 

"Try the spider plant (the one hanging next to the mirror). The spider plant has got spider-like plants dangling from the mother plant, like spiders on a web. It’s really easy to grow so if you are a newbie gardener, you should give it a go. Provide it with well-drained soil and bright, indirect light and they will flourish."

Photography: Anders Royneberg / Arctic Gardener 

It's incredible just how much the plants breathe life into this home, don't you think?! But imagine the level of care involved? I couldn't resist firing off 5 more questions to understand what this requires and what an arctic gardener likes to do in his spare time (sooo nosey I know, but aren't you curious too?!).

The Arctic Gardener low down:

Favourite plant? Calathea Orfobiola, I love the tropical feeling I get from her.

Least favourite plant? I am not a big fan of cactus because I love watering, and they don't.

Number of hours spent 'misting' a day? I try to mist every day, the more misting the better in my experience. Some say misting doesn't work, I say it does.

Dream 'jungle' holiday location?  The rainforest of Madagascar. They've got some huge plants over there, and I like big green plants! The bigger the better in my mind!

Best, secret Oslo tip? The Oslo botanical garden is small but super cozy. Its inside this beautiful old Victorian greenhouse and it's free of charge.

Thank you Anders!

If you love plants and don't already follow Anders on instagram - the @articgardener is a MUST!

And for more green home inspiration today I love Hilton Carter's incredible plant-filled loft, Igor's happy plant-filled home and a guide to indoor climbers. Pure urban jungle inspiration!
Do you have a favourite house plant?

Niki

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A Mini but Mighty Stockholm studio

It's all very well featuring regal, spacious apartments with dazzlingly high ceilings and sweeping staircases, but the reality is many of us live in much smaller (but beloved) spaces! This little gem of a studio in Stockholm measures a mere 28 metres square (301 square feet) and has everything you need at your finger tips - and looks pretty too! There are some small space rules there to be broken- and I for one, love how the owners have gone for the big SMEG refrigerator and turned it into a style statement - it just goes to show, you don't always need to compromise! 

Floor plan

Photography: Fredric Boukari for Historiska Hem (found via Nordic Design with thanks).

In case you're working through the puzzle of furnishing a small space, here are some things I've learned over the years which might help to achieve your own, functional yet stylish oasis.

5 Things To Think About for a Small Space

1. It may seem obvious, but flexible items such as tables that fold-away / extend and stackable chairs are ideal for homes where space is of a premium.
2. Use the full height of a room and store lesser used items higher up.
3. Opt for multipurpose furniture such as a sofa bed, shelving that can also be used for hanging (as seen in this home), and pieces that double up as storage (there are some great coffee tables with built in storage around!).
4. Work to create distinct zones using rugs / different flooring.
5. Use negative space to create an illusion of size - but don't be afraid to go for big pieces of furniture too!

Please feel free to add any tips and tricks you've discovered in the comment section. 

More space love: 15 small space hacks to learn from a Danish home, a small Swedish space that's big on cosiness, small space inspiration from a swedish home.

I'm heading up to Stockholm today to visit the Bemz headquarters (I've loved my sitting room and bedroom make-over collaborations with them so far, so I'm really excited to meet the team in person!). I hope I also have time to nip into the Carl Eldhs Studio Museum during my trip (another recommendation from Karolina Modig!). I'll be on stories if you'd like to follow along!

I hope you have a fun day too!

Niki

PS Anyone else still thinking about Purrli the Internet cat from yesterday's post? More importantly though - what a fabulous home?! Loved the art!

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Hygge and Pops of Colour in a Danish home

Hello! I hope you had a fabulous weekend?! The sun's still shining here in Sweden and the dulcet tones of Hanna Järver (thank you for the tip Karolina Modig!) are drifting over from the speakers on the other side of my office! I have a feeling this is going to be a good week, don't you? I thought we'd kick off with the lovely Danish villa of Louise, the creative blogger behind Mor till Mernee, her partner and two children Merle and Neel in Jutland. Welcome to a vibrant family home, filled with interesting art, mid-century classics, wall colours that change according to the season and an all round warm, happy vibe!

In the sitting room Louise has opted for a nougat colour. It's a unique blend that looks a little like a lighter, warmer version of the LADY Pure Color 10961 Raw Canvas. I think the pale pink, red and nougat make a pretty, warm combination, don't you?

Nothing says hygge like a sleeping cat! Don't have a cat?! You can get the vibes from Purrli (I had the sound on for five minutes and kept thinking a feline friend was about to bat my pen - not as relaxing as anticipated!).

The lovely AKARI 3AD light sculpture lamp looks great with the coloured art work on the wall which includes HAND / Paw with golden nails and V. Lundstrom - Opstilling med Kander.

One of the tricks with using colour is balance. Here, Louise has complimented the aforementioned print with a pink junior vernon panton chair.

The dining area is all about the classics. I spy the VP Globe suspension light, wishbone chair and a bright coloured Eames.

A vintage Moroccan rug (source similar here) pops against the white floor and dark grey IKEA kitchen cabinets. I'm loving all the higgledy piggledy crockery on the open shelves too!

A print by Kristine Hellesoe, cushions by Eline Engen (who's home I once featured here) and a restartmilano wall light make a pretty combination in the corner of the sitting room.

The pink wall colour is carried up the stairwell to the upper floor where Merle and Neel sleep.

Merle and Neel's bedrooms are full of vibrant colours and playful details including a Miffy night light and a pair of Series 7 chairs.

All photography © Louise / Mor till Mernee

Oj oj oj. What a fabulous home. So unique, warm and inviting!

Is there anything that stands out to you?

I particularly loved all the items that add pops of colour. I kind of listed some of the pieces as I went along, but to make things a easier, here's a round-up:

Get The Look from Louise's home

1. Eames Molded Fiberglass 4-Leg Side Chair
2. Uden titel
3. Paw with golden nails
4. FLOS IC Lights S Pendant
5. Vintage cushion cover
6. AKARI 3AD LIGHT SCULPTURE
7. VP Globe Suspension Lamp
8. Panton Junior Verner Panton, 1954 Pale pink

If you'd like to see more of Louise's home, there's plenty of inspiration on her lovely blog and instagram here.

And for more Danish home inspiration I'm loving this charming Danish home on a shoestring budget, the cool Copenhagen home of a typographer and a relaxed, mid-century inspired home. 

Have a dejlig start to the week! 

Niki

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Home Tour: How to Add Colour, The Danish Way!

It's fun to see more colour in homes right now (even in Scandinavia!). But this doesn't come without its perils - for colour-shy people like myself, adding even the most subtle of hues can be a daunting prospect - and I've even spoken to interior designers who say the same! If done right however, colour can breathe life into a space and yet still feel calm.  This vibrant 1940's Danish apartment is a fine example of this. Located in Frederiksberg, a leafy area of Copenhagen, the home belongs to Sofie Amalie who works at a design agency as a service designer and runs the instagram @thusthefuss and her boyfriend Niels. Sofie Amalie has always been passionate about colourful interiors and thrift shopping, and this shines through in their lovely home. I caught up with Sofie Amalie to find out more about the subtle injections of blues, yellows and pinks - as well as their collection of contemporary art.

 Louis Poulsen Enigma 425 Pendant Light, Arne Jacobsen Rosewood Coffee Table, paint Jotun Lady ‘Sval Sjø’ 5262. 

Tell us a little more about your apartment?
The building is from 1942 and the apartment is 114 metres square (1227 foot square) with a pretty awesome terrace.

The paintings in the dining room are both vintage: the smaller one is by Danish artist Helle Thorborg and the larger one by Tom Wesselmann which the pair found in a second hand shop in Tokyo. 

What renovations have you carried out?
We've lived here for 1.5 years and spent the first 8 months completely renovating it. The final details are still a work in progress. Nothing had been done for 30+ years, so everything needed stripping down. We lived there throughout the renovations (which meant no bathroom, kitchen or even running water for 5 months!).

Painting on the floor by Farshad Farzankia from Exhibition A gallery. Montana shelving. 

It's refreshing to see so much colour in your home, is this something you've always been passionate about?
Before moving, we had just renovated our old apartment (not as extensively) and played around with different colours, which we loved. So we decided to be even bolder with colours in our new apartment.

How did you decide which colours to use?
All our paints are from Jotun, they make great colours and have an inspiring selection - also I love their super matte finish. We spent a lot of time deciding on our wall colours and thinking how they would suit one another, which I think is important.

I love the light blue tone, was it tricky to find the exact hue you were looking for? 
We knew we wanted the living room light blue, but struggled to find the right shade without risking it looking like a nursery. In the end we went for Jotun Lady ‘Sval Sjø’ 5262 and it is perfect! Just the right mix of fresh and colourful, yet calm and comforting.

A poster by Hilma af Klint purchased at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

Dining chairs by Rex Kralj, DOCKSTA table from IKEA. 

I spy some white walls in your home too...
We kept the bathroom and kitchen white (to my surprise). We wanted to let the tiling and the lovely oak of the kitchen shine on its own. But maybe it will get a splash of colour too at some point :)

Kitchen cabinets by IKEA, Jielde wall lamp, Le Creuset jug, Stelton Vaccum jug.

Pendant light by Broste, Georg Jensen alarm clock, this velvet cushion is similar. 

I love the cocoon like feel of your bedroom - what colour is this?
My boyfriend chose the color for our bedroom: Jotun Lady ‘Deco Blue’ 4477 and we love it. The dark and rich hue is soothing, perfect for a bedroom.
 

A vintage lithograph by Tom Krøjer adds a splash of colour to the bedroom. 

I love the glass details - are these original or something you added?
Most of the glass details are original. The building is from the architectural period of functionalism, so the small window details above the doors have a practical function to allow more light to flow through the space.

Can you tell us about the other colours in your home? 
For the miniature hallway between the bedroom and dressing room, we used a green-blue leftover from the other apartment called Jotun Lady ‘Prismegrønn’ 5341. And the dressing room is painted yellow in Jotun Lady ‘Velvet’ 10246. It was a bit of an odd one out, but I just loved the color samples and wanted to try it out. You can so easily repaint. But so far it is still a keeper.

I also love the pink in the hallway!
I really liked Jotun Ladys ‘Deco Pink’ 2782 and knew I wanted it somewhere. We ended up choosing the huge main hallway, which opens up to the living rooms. We were a bit concerned about the light blue vs. light pink right next to each other, but they complement each other well. Also, we have decorated the hallway with items in dark wood to even out the girliness, and actually think that my boyfriend is even happier with the result than I am!

Do you have any tips for anyone looking to inject a little colour into their own home?
Choosing colours was not easy. I used pinterest and instagram a lot in the colour selection process , so I could see pictures of how they looked in real life peoples homes and changed with the light. That was a big help in the process.

Thank you so much for showing us around your inspiring home Sofie Amalie! I love the use of colours, the unique furniture, the art - just everything! You've also made me feel a little more bold about using more colour into my home!

Does anyone else feel this way?

Colour guide:

1. SVAL SJØ 5262    2. DECO BLUE 4477   3. PRISMEGRØNN 5341  4. VELVET 10246   5. DECO PINK 2782

You can see more of Sofie Amalie's lovely home on her instagram feed @thusthefuss. And there's an archive dedicated to colourful homes here (hop over this home if it rocks up first - unless of course you'd like to look at it again, which I'd fully understand!).

Since it's a pubic holiday here in Sweden and I've got a man and two little girls waiting for me, I'm going to rush outdoors into the sunshine. I hope you don't mind that I won't be stopping by tomorrow to make the most of a bit of family time.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and see you Monday!

Niki

All photography Sofie Amalie 

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