Christina's Light-Filled Danish Cabin is Available to Rent!

Do you remember Christina Krabbe's beautiful Danish home I featured earlier this year? I have just discovered that Christina and Jonas also own a dreamy summer cottage in Mols Bjerge national park with the forest, beach and a small farm shop on their doorstep. It's also near Ebeltoft, a picturesque old port and market town on the east coast of Jutland.  The cottage measures 142 m2 / 1528 f2 which means there's plenty of space for extended family and friends (although sometimes it's lovely to just to be your own little unit too, don't you think?) and in true Christina style, it's filled with light, subtle colour and secondhand finds. Oh, and did I mention it's available to rent? Let's take the tour! 

Maybe a trip to the Danish East coast is in order? I've never been to Mols Bjerge - it's now on my travel list! 

See more pictures of Christina's summer cottage and city home here. It's available to rent through Landfolk here. 

You can find a load more Scandinavian summer cottages in this archive. 

Thank you SO much for all your lovely comments on the feature about our little cabin kitchen on Friday, it really meant the world! I hope I can share more room tours from our 'smultrönställe' soon! 

Wishing you all a great start to the week! 

Niki

Photography: Christina Krabbe / @glimtvist 

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Our Little Cabin Kitchen (with an IKEA hack!)

Guess what? Our little cabin kitchen (or should I say kitchenette) is finally finished! The cabinets have been in for a while, but the devil is in the detail, and all the hooks and doorknobs are now in place too! I'm looking forward to sharing all the details with you today!  

(See all the design plans for our 30 m2 / 322 f2 cabin on the Swedish West coast here). 

Inspiration

I love everything about the kitchen above by Nordiska Kök -  the grey-beige tone, clean look, the stone and the open wood shelves. I was also keen to bring in some dark grey stone to match the dramatic rocky shoreline in this part of Sweden. 

Floorplan

The designated kitchen area is small and centred around a mid-height window (174 cm wide). Even so we had several criteria: we needed a sink, fridge, small freezer, plenty of food storage and a recycling area. Notice that I haven't mentioned a stove or oven. 

We learned early on that installing a stove would mean it would become a property in its own right and would have electricity / water bill implications (gaaaah!) so we decided we'd use the stove in the main cottage for now. However, there are several options moving forward which include a gas barbecue, outdoor kitchen or even one of IKEA's pop up stoves. We'll see! 

Design

We explored many different kitchen brands, but to be honest, we simply couldn't believe how much even the tiniest of kitchens cost (have you found this too?) and since this is our second (little) home, they were all over our budget, so we had to get creative instead! 

When you're on a tight budget, I think IKEA kitchens are great. I'm a big fan of using them for the basics and then pepping them up by splurging on the details like the tap, handles and worktop. This is what we did in the main cottage kitchen several years ago, and I've been so happy with it! 

I also think the free IKEA kitchen planning service is great (no, this isn't sponsored by the Swedish giant, I promise!)  However, I was hoping to add a few personal touches, so I turned to my dear friend and interior designer Helen Sturesson for advice on how to incorporate hand-built shelves etc. And she sketched the above design. 

Ready to take a look at the results and find out more about the details? 

Results

We chose the Veddinge kitchen and then had it professionally spray painted by Swiss Metod / Lackera Köksluckor (my absolute go-to guys in Malmö) in Blek Sand (NCS S2005-Y20R). 

Worktop

I'd have loved a real stone worktop, but again our budget didn't quite reach for that now. I was really happy to find this laminate worktop at Hornbach. One day, maybe we'll swap it out for real stone, but I love this one for now! 

I think a high quality, beautiful tap is one of the most essential elements of a kitchen. It makes such a difference to the overall experience! We opted for the CRISTINA Rubinetterie CRIKT501 under window kitchen mixer in brushed old brass to match the bathroom taps. I love the finish!  

The sink is HAVSEN from Ikea. 

Handles

I was so happy to find these Cabinet Knob Helix - with a modern industrial vibe by Beslag Online (they have a load of beautiful knobs, hooks and furniture legs in their collection and sell throughout Europe).  The antique bronze matches the tap perfectly too! 

Shelves 

The open shelves were built by hand with oak slabs from Hornbach. I have to say, despite the faff, these are my favourite part of the kitchen - and so handy for cups and glasses and other items we use all the time. 

If we had installed a stove to the right, we wouldn't have been able to have these shelves there as we'd have needed to add a fan (I just wanted to point this out in case you're planning to do something similar). Maybe in the future, if we decide to get a stove, we'll have to do away with the upper right ones (sniff, sniff!). 

Lighting

An essential element - good lighting! In the above picture you can catch a glimpse of the subtle, Strömlinje LED light from IKEA which is connected to the wall switch and also has a remote control. The lighting is excellent, I have to say! 

We made one mistake. And that is that I should have used one panel instead of two on the front of the fridge (lower-centre). I got myself into a bit of a pickle with door handles - and may have used some photoshop trickery with this to show you how the end result will look with the knobs! However, in the long term I think I'll swap the two drawer fronts out to a single unit. What do you think? 

A few other things: 

We do have a kettle (hence all the teapots etc) - it's just not in shot!

The extendable table and chairs are from Danish brand Skovby (see my post about them here) and the ladder - which can be moved across to the kitchen, was built by a local carpenter. You can find all the information about the wood floor and panelling (by Norrlands Trä) in my post here. 

I hope you like our little kitchen as much as we do! 

If you have any questions, please give me a shout in the comments below and I'd be happy to help. 

Have a great weekend all, see you Monday! 

Niki

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The Storekeeper's House - A Beautiful Airbnb, Full of Character

I've figured out the best way to appreciate summer in Northern Europe - go against all gardening advice and sow grass at the beginning of July. That way every time it rains, you'll be super happy (our newly sewn grass is coming along nicely!). Even so, I am dreaming of escaping the chill and travelling to a faraway place (as exciting as it is to watch grass grow). Now, I know it's winter right now Down Under, but that doesn't stop me from gathering inspiration for a future trip (one day friends, one day!). And this beauty of a house is the latest one to be added to my little black book of beautiful stays! Read on to discover more about it. 

The Storekeeper's House in Tatura in Victoria, Australia was built in 1905 and started life as Flanagan's Store - a general store specialising in drapery and haberdashery and later, ironmongery, boot making and repairs. 

Carrie and Luis Casanova took on the major renovation two years ago - transforming it into a beautiful, warm and inviting home for guests. 

The house is full of character thanks to its original period features, cast iron stove, exposed bricks and lovely wood floor. Carrie and Luis have also scoured flea markets and second-hand sites to fill it with lovely old pieces, helping the house to reconnect to its past and celebrate the early storekeepers of Victoria. 

The house has three bedrooms (my eyes are on the one with the four-poster bed!), all fitted with linen sheets - of course! 

I love the bathroom with its claw foot tub and walk-in shower. Take a look at that antique chest-of-drawers which has been converted into a vanity too - such a great idea! 

Outside seating area provides a cosy spot for a cool glass of wine - and I also read there are plenty of cafes, bakeries and restaurants nearby. It's sounding more and more like my kind of place - do you feel the same?

The question is, when can I visit? 

All the details can be found over at Storekeeper's House and airbnb.

I love a great airbnb find, how about you? 

Here are a few others I've got in my little black book of holiday rentals: 

A charming miner's cottage among an acre of roses

Your own bohemian-style hideaway in the desert

A Swedish weatherboard cottage in South Australia

Two idyllic Danish cottages to rent this summer

In other news, I said that I was going to feature my cabin bathroom on Friday but let's just say... I've had a few teething problems so there's a slight delay with that one. I have something else inspiring lined up though, so please do pop back before the weekend! 

Vi ses på fredag! 

Niki

Photography: Abbie Melle, shared with kind permission. 

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Snapshots from Sina's Scandi Inspired Apartment in Hamburg

I've been featuring lots of Scandinavian summer cottages lately and thought today I'd take a break and head back into the city to share a vibrant apartment with you! Sina's 45 m2 / 484 f2 home in North-West Hamburg, Germany (4-hour's drive from southern Sweden, and even closer to Denmark) has a distinct Scandi vibe. It could be the minimalistic touch, the hint of colour and stripes so loved by the Danes right now - or the Sax Le Klint lamp as well as other Scandi design pieces or, most likely it's a combination of the three! Keep a look out for the corner shelving (so smart!) - and see if you can spot the well camouflaged TV! Ready to feel inspired? 

This lovely Crayon lamp in blue is by danish brand Hubsch (I really like the green version too!). The kitchen wall has been painted in K/11-23-38-20/T by Kolarat. 

Do you see it? 

The chair is from IKEA museum. 

The shelves are made up of a selection of IKEA units - which have been combined to fit the space. 

The print is from Stilleben - one of my favourite Danish stores (known for colourful and handmade items). 

The pretty yellow floral bedding is from Gina Tricot. I didn't know they did homeware and was surprised to discover a whole range of lovely bedding for those on a budget! 

So many nice ideas! 

Is there anything that stood out to you? 

You can see more snapshots from Sina's apartment here. 

I'll be back on Wednesday with an exciting home tour to share with you - and on Friday I'm hoping to finally be able to share the final reveal of our cabin bathroom! Holding my thumbs (as they say in Sweden!). 

In the meantime, why not take a delve through these archives for inspiration: 

Small spaces

Danish home

Swedish home

Norwegian home

Stor kram! 

Niki

Photography: Sina / @iets.met.kleur

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