Step Inside Franziska's Home - With Flowers Around Every Corner!

 

Hey there campers. How are you today? Hang on in there friends! And if you're a care worker (or other key worker) reading this after your shift (I know there are quite a few of you) - thank you from the bottom of our hearts, we think you're amazing. Ready for a dose of beautiful interior inspiration? Today it comes in the form of Franziska's home in a small village in South West Germany which she shares with her husband and three sons. There are many things to love about Franziska's home (check out the eclectic chairs, Scandi touches, earthy tones and beautiful light for starters!) - but what really stood out to me were the flowers. Look closely and you'll spot a bloom in every single room except the hallway (but something else will make you smile in that space!). I asked Franziska to tell us why in-season flowers are so important to her, particularly in these times. Enjoy the tour!  

"I love playing with flowers and their colours. It's pretty amazing how they can affect an interior. I love it when our home is decorated with seasonal flowers. I particularly like to decorate our table with flowers because I try to make every single dinner a special one for our boys."

"Flowers affect our senses in different ways. I hope that one day my boys can look back and cherish their childhood memories. Maybe they will remember the smell of flowers from our home. The essence of flowers are an excellent tool to connect myself with my inner child."

"In this difficult and crazy time, we are all living in right now, our home is literally our castle. There is nothing more important than a good and safe home."

Simply lovely! 

If you check out Franziska's instagram feed, you'll discover that the display above her bed is continuously changing. Such a lovely sight to wake up to each day, don't you think?  

Do you have a flower 'routine' - or perhaps you have a wonderful garden from which you can bring in all kinds of blooms? I'd love to hear about your favourite flowers! 

Every Friday I go out and buy a beautiful bunch of flowers for our table. This week it's made up of lilacs and peonies and it smells so wonderful. They really lift my day! Now I'm thinking I might just try to put flowers all over my house this weekend. Nothing complicated - maybe a single peony here and a branch of blossom there.  Thank you for the inspiration Franziska! 

Got a little more time today? 

Check out the subtle flowers and plants in this Norwegian home in summer time and 5 beautifully lagom ways to bring a spring feel to your home. 

Stor kram! 

Niki

Photography: Franziska / @_wohnblock_ shared with kind permission. 

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A Cheerful Swedish Home With a 'Tropical Scandinavia' Theme!

A few weeks back someone put in a request for something colourful on My Scandinavian Home - gaaaaah *laughs*. With spring firmly in the air and summer just around the corner I agreed that this was a great idea. The trouble was finding something! And then I came across Tropical Scandinavia. The cheerful Swedish brand designs fab rugs, cushion covers, blankets, jewellery and more bursting with bold colours and pattern! You can imagine my excitement when I also learned founders Emil and Johanna live just across town from me, near the hip neighbourhood of St Knut in Malmö. And they have a fabulous home. Just like their brand, the creative duo has decorated the living space with bold prints, topical patterns and colours that sing against a white-washed background. I reached out to find out more. 

Where are you from? 

Emil is originally from Helsingborg and Johanna is from a small village called Vomb (but spent part of her childhood living abroad in USA and Italy). We have lived in Malmö for many years now. Every year we try to escape the winter for a couple of months and go somewhere tropical to rest, gather energy and come up with new ideas. 

Who lives in your home? 

Emil (41), Johanna (31) and Viggo (4 months). Every now and again you'll find a dog here that we're babysitting. We love dogs! 

What is your background?

Johanna has a background in graphic design and illustration (she studied in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts) and Emil runs a movie production company but is also a painter (since forever!). We founded lifestyle / interior concept Tropical Scandinavia together a year ago.  

Tell us more about your apartment

It was originally two apartments, now merged into one. We took down a wall when we bought it to turn it into a big open living space, we usually like to be all in the same room! 

What inspired your tropical theme? 

Every year, as summer gets closer, a tropical trend kicks in. But we love the tropics and lots of colour all year round! So, we thought it was a shame that it usually only lasts one season. That's where the idea of Tropical Scandinavia came from. It's also inspired by our travels of course! Most countries aren't nearly as afraid of using colour as Swedes! But to balance it out we do have a lot of white as well, which feels much needed during darker times.

Have you always been into bright colours?

Yes! But I think it really boomed when we started creating our home together and realised we really share a passion for bright colours and quirky things!

What is it about bright pops of colour and tropical motifs that you love? 

Life constantly offers us so many choices, and we truly believe that it is possible to choose to live with an open heart, bright spirit and to make fun things! In some way, I think colour and a happy tropical theme symbolises that for us. It might sound a bit out there, but I really think it's true! Everything kind of blends together for us - life, work, interior, spiritual beliefs and love.

Have you got any tips for anyone who loves Scandinavian style but also wants to add colour?

Start with some details! Maybe you don't have to paint a whole room, start out with some colourful prints or a blanket. And don't think too much about everything matching, sometimes the odd things turn out to be the best! 

Thank you so much Emil and Johanna!

***

This home put a great big smile on my face and a real spring in my step today. It's amazing what bright colours can do, don't you think? 

My daughter Liv already has the Tropical Scandinavia two birds one cat print in her bedroom, and now we've got our eye on a blanket and a rug  - aren't they fabulous?! 

I hope Emil and Johanna's home has inspired you as much as it has inspired me. 

If you'd like to see a little more, check out their instagram feed @tropicalscandinavia or better still,  take a scroll through their wonderful online store - and turn your home into a Tropical Scandinavian haven! 

Other colourful homes to feel inspired by:

A fabulous Danish home in a plethora of colour! 

A Delightful family home decorated in beautiful, bold colours!

The happy vibrant home off a Finnish designer

Have a fabulous day friends!

Niki

Photography: Tropical Scandinavia / Jenny Brandt Grönberg

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Before and After: A Dated House Becomes a Fresh Mid-Century Modern Home

I think it's time for an awe-inspiring 'before and after', don't you? It's the only way to truly understand what can be achieved with a little (OK a ton) of vision and hard graft! Even if your home is just the way you want it, an incredible reveal is a pure joy to ogle at. In the case of this beautiful house in Ottewell, Canada, it took the masterful eye of interior designer Kristina Lynne to transform an outdated, stuffy living space into a light and airy mid-century modern home. Let me talk you through it. I hope you feel as mesmerised by the transformation as I am!

Kitchen before

Kitchen after

Kristina opened the kitchen out and used high end warm wood cabinet fronts from Kitch on IKEA units. This is a trick I've grown to love. Using IKEA basics helps to keep the price point down while adding high end pieces where it counts (cabinet doors, worktops, taps etc) will evoke a unique, high end look and increase your enjoyment of your new space!  

I also really like the concrete countertops which add an industrial touch while a textured honeycomb backsplash and open white shelves keep the style fresh and relaxed. Lovely! 

Sitting room before 
If it weren't for the wall-to-wall shag carpet (I mean, seriously, that had to go, right?!) the before is pretty cool in a whisky swigging, mad-men-esque kind of way. But wait until you see the 'after' and you'll quickly decide, like I did that light and bright is the way to go!

Sitting room after

At a first glance I wondered if Kristina had raised the height of the ceiling to reveal beams - and then I realised that actually it's just the effect of the white paint! Painting the beams in a contrasting colour also helps to bring this wonderful feature to life - they were completely lost before!  

One of the biggest changes was blocking off the second door - which served no purpose, making space for useful built-in shelving and a reading corner! The whole room was also given a fresh white update which helps to capitalise on the light pouring in from the panoramic window. Love it! 

An Eames lounge chair* , but of course - what better piece to use in a reading corner and help create a mid-century modern vibe? The only problem is, you could get stuck there for hours! 

Bedroom before

Bedroom after
I am so glad that I was not the one to have to scrape all that stuff off the ceiling. I've done something similar in a previous flat and to say it was unpleasant job is an understatement! But whoever put the hard graft in to even out the walls and white wash them has done a sterling job!

 Bathroom before

Bathroom after
Moving the loo to the side of the room to create room for a shower was key to the success of this space. It's even making me wonder if we should do away with our bath upstairs and put in a lovely shower like this instead. I wonder if I'd miss the bath? Do you enjoy baths?

A huge amount of work also went into tiling the space, re-plumbing it, laying a new floor, as well as fitting a new bathroom cabinet.

Entrance before

Entrance after

Kristina ditched the small closets, red carpet and linoleum floor in favour of hand cubbies, a great bench / coat hook area and tiled floors. The result is a fresh and clutter free hallway. 

What an incredible transformation! Great work Kristina! 

I'm going to look at the Malmö house market in an entirely new way from now on! 

What did you think off this renovation? 

You can see more of Kristine's projects (as well as some really inspiring 'before and after reveals' here). 

If you love a before and after as much as I do, check out this archive (there are some incredibly talented people out there!). 

Have a lovely, sunny day friends. Stay safe, stay well. 

Niki

Photography courtesy of Kristina Lynne, shared with kind permission

*affiliate links

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