An Eye-catching Plaster Wall In A Swedish Home

I remember the first time I saw a deliberately unfinished wall. I was at a friend's house when I was 16 and asked her if her parents were in the middle of decorating. She said "I know it looks like it, but it's actually meant to look like this," and we both had a bit of a giggle before running upstairs and listening to our yellow sports walkman or whatever!! Fast forward err (too many) years, and it's a look that I've not only become accustomed to, but love (when done right)! In this Gothenburg apartment a rough plaster wall in the hallway and sitting room adds so much texture to an otherwise neutral scheme - it helps that the space itself is absolutely beautiful too!

Photography courtesy of Alvhem

Isn't it such a lovely space? It's actually for sale too - got to love that!

What did you think of the hall and living room wall? Could you imagine doing something like this in your home? 

In case you're curious, I dug around a little today and found three different styles of  'textured' walls and simple ways to achieve the look.

1. Raw Plaster Wall

James Gardener and I captured the bedroom above in artist Maria Øverbye's relaxed Oslo home for my book The Scandinavian Home. Maria was planning to give the wall a fresh new lick of paint but fell in love with the patina created by the raw wall, dotted with fillers and decided to leave it exactly as it was!

Here is another beautiful example in Karina's Berlin home.  The 'distressed' look works because everything else has been kept fresh, while a vintage table helps to balance the look.

Laura and Nora love using the texture of a raw plaster wall in their country retreat to add depth to the pared-back space. It looks particularly great on a half-painted wall and with industrial-style furniture, don't you think?


2. Hand-troweled plaster work

This beautiful wall has been created by plaster work gurus Tara Mangini and Percy Bright of Jersery Ice Cream Co. The layer of pigmented plaster has been hand-troweled using gypsum (you can also use Lime, Vemeitan or Tadelakt) and the finished surface is smooth rather than textured. You can tap into your inner artist and create your own look - or make the most of Tara and Percy's new service and get these guys to do it for you!

3. Subtle concrete

In our dining room and window nook we added roll-a-tex sand texture to the paint (Fjäder by Jotun). The more you add, the more textured the look. It was actually a total faff to put it on the wall with a paint brush (wrong tool perhaps?!) - but it was worth it in the end!

You might remember the Norwegian bedroom of Steffen Olsen from a few weeks back (FYI it went on to win 'Norway's best bedroom'!). Steffen used Lady Minerals from Jotun to achieve this dramatic aesthetic on the wall.

If you have any tips, please do share them in the comment section below, I'm sure there are a million ways to create the industrial-style plaster / concrete wall!

Have a lovely day!

Niki

READ MORE...

2

Leanne Ford's Dreamy Woodsy Cabin in Echo Park

I know sometimes it's inevitable, but I always feel a little sad when I hear about houses getting torn down, especially if they have a long history - do you feel the same? There's someone else that feels exactly the same way: interior designer Leanne Ford. Two years ago, Leanne stumbled across this little wooden cabin, rumoured to be the first known house in Echo Park, Los Angeles and built by silent movie star Clara Kimball Young. It was then inhabited by a blind lady for over 70 years who donated it to the Braille Institute when she passed away. When Leanne found it, the woodsy cottage was being sold as a tear down (the 8000 sq foot / 743 sq metre lot was worth more!) and there was an investor interested in the land. Leanne made it her mission to save it.

 The cabin oozed charm and character but was in need of renovation. Leanne has beautifully restored the space and created an indoor / outdoor living space which connects rustic textures such as stone floors and exposed wood. The focal point of the living room is a stone hearth and Midcentury Malm fireplace (imagine spending chilly Autumn days in this spot?!).

A Flos Taraxacum pendant light* and chunky knit blanket* are in keeping with the white theme and yet add plenty of texture. The beautiful vintage side table also adds to the charm.

Leanne blames one of the reasons for falling in love with the cabin on the big windows, which flood every single room with light - and who can blame her?!

 White wood panelling, a vintage sink, down to earth open shelving and a pulley system all add to the relaxed charm of the cabin. Leanne picked up the Viking Range oven on Craig's List and the work top is made from 'imperfect' onyx.

During the renovation, they ripped all of the bead board drop ceiling out of the cabin and then put it on the walls. In fact, absolutely everything that was torn out of the cabin, was reused somewhere else - quite incredible, don't you think?!

Leanne's husband had one request: there should be a place to store all their books. 

The narrow master bedroom gets so much light, Leanne went for a cooler white (using white on white from PPG paints) to give it an airy feel. 

Distressed reclaimed windows have been transformed into barn style doors to pull across the cupboards, while soft linen curtains* help to mask the contents!

The claw foot tub came with the house (guh! if only this had happened in my home!). The plumbing and hardware were new, but treated (or 'pickled' as Leanne puts it!) to give them an aged look. The incredible sink was Big Daddy's Antiques find - result!!!

Oh, and I've saved the best news till last. Leanne has just put this cabin on the market (check out the details here)- what an incredible opportunity!!

You know last week I said I was moving to this country house in Nacka? How do I tell my husband that we might also be moving to Echo Park?

Could you imagine living in this charming woodsy cabin too?

More cottage / cabin lovin' to be found in this archive (how cute is this pared-back cabin in Finland?!).

If your loving the style of this little cabin, you might also feel inspired by this Farmhouse and this house - both designed by Leanne.

I hope all these lovely cabins have brightened up the start of your week!

Niki

Interior design: Leanne Ford. Photography: Tessa Neustadt

READ MORE...

4

Interior Shop Tip: The WallpaperSTORE* (15% off!)

MSH Partner

I've been a fan of Wallpaper* magazine for as long as I can remember. There's something about the design and style which truly resonates with me each and every edition. But did you know there's also a WallpaperSTORE*?! I did a little dance when I find out. Sure enough, the curated marketplace doesn't disappoint - it's a complete treasure trove of the most stellar and emerging brands and designers in the design world, and includes decorative objects, furniture, lighting, tabletop, desktop, and stationary, technology and travel kit! And the good news is that all My Scandinavian Home readers can get 15% off with promo code WMSH15. Here's a taster of the type of beautiful specimens you might find.

How beautiful, are these brass items? I spy the Swedish Skultuna 'kin' in the mix too!

I could actually lift these items out of this picture and arrange them on my desk in exactly the same way! The only thing is, I seem to accidentally pick up ugly branded ballpoint pens wherever I go - if someone gives me a pen to sign with, I'll find it in my hand ten minutes later, a mile up the road! Please tell me there's somewhere else out there who accidentally does this too?) and these pieces are way to pretty for them!

What do you think? Did anything catch your eye?

It'd be a tricky one, but if I were to go for five items in the store right now, it's be these...


My Picks From The WallpaperSTORE*

1. Tip of the toungue light
2. Echasse Bowl
3. Bølling Pauline bar stool
4. Myhrre candle
5. Brewer stand

This could be dangerous!

See you at the WallpaperSTORE*!

Niki

This post is brought to you in collaboration with WallpaperSTORE*, however all words are my own and I only ever work with shops and services I think you'll love!

READ MORE...

4

Before + After: Allie's bedroom make-over

Just as I feel I've got to grips with one stage of my younger daughter's life she suddenly shifts a gear and moves into an entirely new phase! It's Allie's 8th birthday today (happy birthday wonderful girl!), I'm really not sure where the time has gone (this was her at Christmas two years ago)! She suddenly feels so grown-up! Allie's been wanting to update her bedroom for a while now as she's grown tired of her bunk bed and outgrown many of her toys. So, over the past few months we stripped it bear and donated old toys to charity and started all over again. I know I've shared a few snippets on here over the past few weeks, but I thought it'd be fun to run through the complete make-over from start to finish. I hope you enjoy the tour!

Before

The last time we decorated her bedroom was in collaboration with Genevieve Jorn in 2014 - and I still think it has a fresh, vibrant look. Allie had simply grown out of it and wanted something a little calmer and more mature. Gen also gave her fabulous interior design guidance on her new room too.

During

Allie was the cat that got the cream when she got to paint some of the lower sections of the wall (heavily supervised by the ever-concerned man!). We used Jotun Lady 1059 - Complexion on three of the walls (seen here to the left) and Minty Breeze 7163 on the back wall - seen to the right (both kindly gifted by Jotun). Complexion has a subtle pinkish tone to it which was unexpected but creates a lovely, soft feeling the room.

After

The room only came together once the rug and Industriell pendant lamp were in place. It's amazing how that can happen. At night, the lamp fills the room with the warmest light and pretty shadows dance on the ceiling. 

The rug* was handmade by Etsy shop So' Homeso*. it's really soft and made from 100% recycled cotton and fringes of linen. The one thing I haven't done yet is buy an underlay to stop it slipping around. I always forget this but they're so important for a clean finish (and safety!). We've had the wooden blocks for as long as I can remember - they're so simple yet so popular!

I picked up the row of hooks (two combined) from local Malmö shop Geijersgatan 53 (these ash hooks are similar)- I think I've pretty much installed a row of these in every room of the house now! Here is the same set in my  kitchen! The pretty jumper* is from Danish brand Molo this season.

A collaboration with Montana came at the perfect time to swap out the large bunk bed for a single bed and make place for open shelving (Montana Free System Shelving in New White with two Rust panels). I can promise you now, they're not going to stay this tidy! Allie has had the Apple Papple print by Fine Little Day your years - she tells him all her secrets - apparently, he's a great listener!

Allie's always drawing, writing and cutting things out - and now she can pin them onto a cork board - as well as write messages on her pegboard (both from Granit). I was kind of hoping she'd write reminders like 'remember PE kit' - but it looks like that's not gonna happen! 

I can't tell you how many paper fortune tellers the girls make - they're all over the house!

 Allie can't go more than 5 metres without doing a cartwheel. She loves gymnastics! This set of wooden gymnastic rings from Lillagunga were a special request and have been such a hit!

Another hit, is her new rattan bed.  It was originally a daybed (from Nordal), so we added a 105 cm mattress to make it comfy enough to sleep on. In case you missed it, I wrote a post about it here. 

The bed is made with Hanako duvet cover and pillow case from Camomile London. The white linen curtains were made to order by Not Perfect Linen* - I always buy my curtains from them since they are high quality and beautifully made.

And finally, a little place for Allie to sit and write etc (I have to confess she rarely sits at her desk - often preferring the floor instead, but still, I thought she might need it one day!). I was so excited to find the secondhand chair at AB Småland in town. I've seen a load of similar ones here*.

 In case it's been difficult to keep tabs on what's what - here's a quick round-up of the items:

The kit!

From top left: Jotun Lady 1059 - Complexion / Minty Breeze 7163 
/ rust panels from Montana Free System Shelving / green clamp light (Granit) / cork board / pegboard / gymnastic rings / hanako duvet cover & pillow case / Ypperlig mirror (IKEA) /  ash hooks / rattan daybed / rug*

I hope you like Allie's new room as much as my daughter does!

If you're wondering about anything, just give me a shout in the comment section below and I'd be happy to help!

Right, better run. the sun is shining and we've got a birthday to celebrate :)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Vi ses på måndag!

Niki

A special thank you to all the amazing brands that made this bedroom make-over possible and made one little girl super happy! 

Affiliate links marked with *

Photography: Niki Brantmark - My Scandinavian Home. Interior design: Genevieve Jorn. 

READ MORE...

4