A Beautiful Danish Cabin By The Sea Becomes a Lockdown Haven

I'm so happy you enjoyed the Swedish summer cottage yesterday - someone on facebook even said they were keen to buy it, how fun would that be? We could all go to stay! Since the sun is still shining in Scandinavia I thought I'd stick with the summer cottage theme, and transport you to a wonderful, earthy cabin in Smidstrup, a small fishing village near Gilleleje (which I've had the pleasure of visiting many times by boat), just North of Copenhagen. The cabin belongs to Simone Polk Dahl, who's beautiful, golden Copenhagen apartment I featured not long ago. In the summer months, Simone and her family swap city life for this lovely oasis. I caught up with the artist and interior stylist to find out more about how it has become her haven during lockdown, where she sources her vintage furniture and what it's been like to swap life on the 5th floor for a small cabin by the sea. 

When did you buy the house?

We bought the house four years ago.

Have you carried out any renovation work?

We have not done that much with it besides building a terrace and painting over the hemp wallpaper and the 80s lookalike wood ceilings. 

Where do you find most of your furniture? 

The majority of our furniture comes from the local flea markets up here. You can find some real treasures! 

Do you look out for specific pieces?

Since it's a house from the sixties, I try to find pieces from the same period. Examples include our coffee table and the lounge chair by Bernt Pedersen which I picked up for 300 DKK (around €40) at a thrift store. The sofa is an old one which brought up here from our apartment - and is also a sixties piece by Erik Jøgensen.  

How often do you visit your cabin?

We spend most weekends here and have staying here for the past five weeks during the Corona lockdown. We have really appreciated having a garden to relax in and the sea close by for a calm, cold dip.  

It sounds like the perfect haven! Has your life changed during this period?

I was so happy living in a small space up here, that I really considered selling our apartment and moving to this little house permanently. When you live on the 5th floor, it's feels like paradise to be able to open the door and be outside. I have found myself getting quite nerdy about the garden too. I have a nightly check on all the flowers and trees to see if they've grown during the special spring season. I also learned to run up here and did so every second day without exception. Now it's back to the 5th floor only having a ton of stairs as my daily exercise!! 

Thank you for sharing more about your life at this wonderful little house Simone! It's absolutely beautiful! 

***

Did you see the wall unit with all the shells? When I hold talks (or write books) about Scandinavian design I often refer to the way Scandinavians take a beautifully subtle approach to bringing the outside in. For example, when you live by the sea it can be tempting to go all out and add sea themed elements to your home such as fabrics with anchor or boat themes, 'gone fishing' signs etc, when actually all that's needed (in my mind at least) is shells or pebbles picked up during a stroll along the beach, a piece of driftwood on a table top or wildflowers plucked from the roadside. 

Some great examples can also be found in this feature: 15 Coastal Living Ideas To Steal From A Breath-taking Danish Home. 

Is there anything that stood out to you?

In case you missed it, you can take a peek inside Simone's beautiful Copenhagen apartment here. And find more inspiration on her fab instagram feed @polkenstudio. 

Have a lovely day, 

Niki

My thoughts are with what's happening in America right now.  My Instagram will be blank today as part of #blackouttuesday in support of justice for people of colour and against racism. 

Photography courtesy of Simone Polk Dahl - shared with kind permission. 

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5

An Idyllic Swedish Summer Cottage In a Former Telegraph Station

Summertime in Sweden. Time for me to start obsessing over buying a summer cottage on the island off Gotland. If I had it my way, I'd be on a Baltic Sea ferry chugging out to the island on the first day of the school holidays. There are two key issues though. Firstly, Per is a sailor and secondly the island is all but closed to visitors this year (at least, under Swedish government recommendation). So, I'll do what I do best (please do join me) - dream! And this idyllic limestone property is today's object of desire! Located in Storsudret near the southern tip, this genuine Gotland limestone cottage was once a telegraph station. The owners have renovated it using a subtle palette of soothing light greys and greens, while being careful to maintain its late 19th century charm. Did I mention it's also a stone's throw from the coast and a few hundred metres from a bakery? Oh, how I'd love to spend my summer here. If you snap it up (yes, it's on the market) - can I drop by for a crepe (sounds random, but this is one of the culinary delights of the island!). There's no need to decide right away - take a look through the pics and dream a little first! 

I love that the interior has been kept beautifully simple and pared down in a palette of soft grey and earthy green, while the exposed wood beams add plenty of warmth.

As with all Scandinavian summer cottages, the nature takes centre stage - and life moves outside whenever the weather allows. 

Clever use of patterned tiles help to protect the wood floor from constant comings and goings. 

These antique Swedish benches are popular in summer cottages since they double up as storage, aren't they lovely?

 

This is the rustic entrance to a smaller outhouse on the grounds - which is ideal for extended family or visitors. I love the rag rug, clogs and sheepskin. You can't really get more Swedish than this! 

 

The simplicity of this bathroom is typical of an island where people come to enjoy a back-to-basics lifestyle There is a distinct rustic vibe throughout the island - it's entirely unique! 

What do you reckon? Could you imagine spending your summers here? A visit in the winter might also be on the cards: listening to the distant sound of the waves of the Baltic Sea thundering onto the rugged coastline, while enjoying a book by the fire. 

Sold? It's currently on the market here! 

Prefer a more unusual dwelling? How about this windmill that's also for sale?! 

I hope this cottage has put as little spring in your step for the start of the week. In case you'd like to see a few more Gotland cottages, put your feet up and get misty-eyed over a rustic summer cottage (available to rent!), an island retreat and a beautiful limestone farmhouse. 

Have a great start to the week friends! 

Niki

Photography courtesy of Handelsbanken.

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6

A Danish Summer Cottage Oasis on North Zealand

It's Friday, the sun is shining here in the Öresund region - and it finally feels like summer has arrived!  Yay! In two weeks, school will be out, and - government guidelines permitting (in Sweden it's not currently recommended to travel more than 1-2 hours) - many are hoping this all blows over so they can head to their summer cottages to relax and enjoy the nature! Tine and Christian Hertz live in Copenhagen, but when time permits, they hop in the car with their children and swap urban life for a summer oasis in Tisvilde, North Zealand, Denmark. Acquiring a summer cottage in the picturesque village had been a lifelong dream - and when a small house came on the market, Tine and Christian jumped at the chance. On the small side, the pair built on an extension and carried out a loft conversion in order to make room for the entire family and guests. Today, the family can relax in a rustic, light-filled space where the outdoors merges with the indoors. Ready to transport yourself to a Danish summer oasis? Iben and Niels Ahlberg paid a visit and took these pictures: 

 

 

 

Absolutely beautiful! 

I love the back-to-basics feel and the way double doors can be thrown open to the garden on a sunny day. 

Is there anything that stood out to you? 

I have to say, the surrounding area is stunning (I've had the pleasure of visiting several times and photographed two cottages there for my book The Scandinavian Home). A true summer paradise! 

Up for a little more Danish summer cottage inspiration today? It would be rude not to when the sun is shining so brightly here today!  

Two idyllic danish cottages to rent

A charming Danish cottage on the island of Fejø

An idyllic Danish summer cottage (love the little A-frame!)

A hyggeligt Danish log cabin

Right folks, that's it from me this week. Thank you so much for stopping by (I've loved reading all your comments, especially with regards to my wood floor yesterday). 

Wishing you a wonderful, relaxing weekend - I hope the sun shines for you!

Niki

Photography: Iben and Niels Ahlberg - shared with kind permission. Incidentally, if you're looking for prints - check out their online shop North and Space! 

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1

Time for A New Wood Floor - Which Sample Is Your Favourite?

Houston, we have a problem. We need a new wood floor. It's not a decision to take lightly - but sadly, ours has bitten the dust! When we moved in over 12 years ago, our open-plan living room featured a dark oak floor throughout. It's a really dark room, so we decided to lighten it up by sanding down the floor and then applying a whitewash. It was only then that we realised that the owners before us had laid a laminate oak wood floor -  and the actual oak element was only a couple of millimetres thick. It looked beautiful to begin with, but over time, cracks started to appear, and the edges of the laminate started to furl. You can catch a glimpse in the picture above as well as the close-ups below! 

It had been bothering us for a while, since a tired looking floor can really bring the entire look of a room down. But the final straw came on New Year's Eve when we had a bit of a raucous party which resulted in a dance-off until 4am (remember those days before the - whisper it - 'C' word?). It was great fun, but our poor floor was not up to it - and great lengths of laminate became dislodged. It was definitely time to get a new wood floor! 

Where to start?!  

Living in Scandinavia, a wood flooring is the obvious choice - and thankfully we don't have a dog so   we're confident that the right wood floor would be a great, sustainable, long lasting option. The natural material helps to draw nature indoors and add warmth and depth top a room. There is an overwhelming array of options out there, but I already knew I wanted one of two looks: herringbone parquet or a wide plank. 

Herringbone Parquet

It's no secret that I've always loved a parquet floor (see my 'all hail the parquet floor' feature) - aren't they stunning?! The herringbone parquet floor in particular is hugely popular in Sweden and many turn-of-the-century homes are blessed with original versions, in all their creaky glory. This particular Boden oak with a matt finish in 'extra white' is absolutely stunning, the only thing is, our townhouse is modern (it was built in 2001 which incidentally makes it 20 years old this year - time for another party?!) so we felt we needed something a little more contemporary. 

Wide plank oak

I've been fan of wide plank floors for a long time. There's something really clean and contemporary about them and yet they still add a lot of warmth to a space (this one is the wide plank SVANSHALL in hardened oak - isn't it beautiful?).  Are you a fan too? Per and I agreed that this option would be the best one for our open-plan living space. 

The brand

Bjelin - one of Europe's largest floor manufacturers - was an obvious choice for us. Their wide plank wood floors are produced not far up the coast and since we're planning to lay the floor ourselves - we like that their planks click together without glue or nails. They also have a great sustainable approach: maximising the use of every log, reusing waste as filler or energy and sourcing raw materials from responsibly managed forests. And finally, they sell beautiful wide plank flooring made from cured the wood, which is super strong (roll on New Year's Eve!). Yay! 

Samples

It's one thing looking at the pictures on a website, it's another thing entirely testing out samples. We approached Bjelin and tested out as many samples as we could. We wanted to make sure that the wood had more of a grey tint (and not a yellow or beige note that might get more pronounced as time goes on). We also wanted to make sure that the wood wasn't too dark and fitted the design of the room (it's amazing how much a wood floor can change a space!). Here are a few of the wood floors we tested: 

Clockwise from left to right: Loarp, Lyby, Torekov, Arild, Hittarp

Do you have a favourite? 

I'd love to hear about your favourite wood floor style - and any tips and advice you might have from laying a wood floor in your home! Feeling a little nervous!

I promise to update you soon! 

Niki

PS Stop by tomorrow to take a peek around a breath-taking Danish summer cottage, it'll have you dreaming of a summer in Scandinavia all weekend! 

Photo 1: My Scandinavian Home. All other photos: Bjelin

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13

A Serene Swedish Home In A Berlin Rental

I seem to have fallen into a phase of featuring homes of expat Scandinavians right now - and based on the messages in my inbox, I'm not the only one feeling inspired by them. So, today I thought I'd share the home of a Swede living in Berlin! Ellinor Belvén was born and raised on the island of Kungsholmen in the centre of Stockholm. Ellinor moved to Berlin around 8 years ago and founded SALTY Interiors with her friend Annetta in 2016. I caught up with her to find out more about her home, her journey to becoming an interior designer and how living abroad has influenced her style. Welcome to Ellinor's world! 

Have you always wanted to be an interior designer?

Ever since I was a child, I was exposed to art and music. I started singing in a choir at the age of 6 and continued my journey in music schools all the way up to high school. In addition to the music, I had lots of interaction with architecture and interior styling, as family members were working in the field. Leaving the music path however, I started a new journey into the business administration field with my University degree (Master's in Business Administration & Economics). I worked a few years with numbers, but soon felt a great need of surrounding myself in a creative atmosphere again. And so, after moving to Berlin, I was able to combine my financial skills with the creative, and I worked as a buyer in the e-commerce interior market. This opened up new possibilities, and in 2016 I quit my day job and created SALTY Interiors with my friend Annetta. We have been running our SALTY business for 4 years now and are really happy to see the success we’ve achieved. All those long hard hours are so worth it!

Can you tell us a little more about SALTY Interiors?

SALTY Interiors is a creative agency specialised in interior architecture and visual content creation. We work closely with private clients, interior brands as well as real estate agencies to provide expertise in every work field. We are passionate about creating comfortable and beautiful spaces, working with natural and sustainable materials, as well as keeping the aesthetics light with a minimalistic warm touch. Annetta & Ellinor; both coming from Nordic countries (Iceland & Sweden), we were raised surrounded by design and a general understanding about form and interior style. With a background in interior sourcing & buying we started our business in 2016 and since then we have combined our strength in buying and our desire to create. We look at each project like an empty canvas and an opportunity to create something unique.  

Your home is beautiful, when was it built?

I moved into this beautiful “Altbau-wohnung” (the name in German), which is a house built sometime before the 1930’s. It has the typical “Altbau-features” like high ceiling (approx 3.30m), stucco and ornamented double doors between the two big connected rooms. It’s a 2 room + kitchen apartment, which measures around 75 sqm.

  

Söderhamn sofa with a loose fit Bemz Brera linen cover*

How did you approach the interior? 

Since it’s a rental flat, I didn't want to put in too much money into renovation, so I simply did what I could with a small budget. That meant a lot of time spent painting walls! In the two big rooms (living room and bedroom) I have painted the walls in 4 colours, all very different, but still coherent with one another. In the living room I have warm grey on three walls and deep forest green on one wall, and in the bedroom three walls of beige, and one wall of dusty pink. Since the rooms are connected with the double doors, it was important that the colours fit together, in any way you turn your head.

Would you say your style is still very much Scandinavian or have you been influenced by German / Berlin style? 

I would say my style is very Scandinavian. The one element that I love about the German/Berliner mindset however, is that people would prefer to give away old furniture than throw it away, which means that there is furniture on the street (“Zu Verschenken” - to give away) everywhere. I have several pieces of furniture in my flat that I found this way, my kitchen table and bed headboard for example.

Table from Nor11, sculpture by Kristiina, Cooee 'pastille' vase

Despite being fairly minimalist, your home still looks lovely and cosy, how did you achieve this? 

It’s very important to me that my home feels cosy and inviting. I want to be able to relax and feel at ease, and safe in my space. I work a lot with coherent colourways (as already mentioned) and a lot of textiles make any room feel more comfortable. I also love plants and have lots of them on every windowsill and on every table. 

Where do you shop for pieces for your home?

I use a lot of different sources for my interior pieces, either it’s brands that I work with, old furniture that I brought from Sweden when I moved, or I find furniture on the streets of Berlin. But of course, I have my fair share of IKEA furniture too. The trick is to mix old and new and make it your own style. 

And finally, can you share your favourite interior instagrams with us? 

@studioilse_ @swantjeundfrieda @sofia_wood @lottaagatoninteriors

What a lovely, calm home! 

I love the idea of finding items out on the street - they leave pieces out like that in Copenhagen too, but sadly not in Malmö. Do they do this in your city? It must save so much hassle - and also reinforces the idea that one man's trash is another man's treasure! 

Got a mo? See more pictures of Ellinor's home on the SALTY Interiors instagram feed and the latest swoon-worthy projects by SALTY Interiors here. 

Other beautiful Berlin homes:

An inviting Berlin flat decorated on a budget

The beautiful Berlin flat and country home of Our Food Stories

Get the look from a serene family home

Have a great day - halfway there folks! Wooop! 

Niki

Photography courtesy of SALTY Interiors

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