Taking a Short Summer Break!

Friends, the sun is shining and it's finally time for our family to have a little break and go out and enjoy it!

We'll be spending some time at our little cabin and also heading North to the Stockholm archipelagos for a few days. I'll be sharing snippets in my instagram stories in case you're curious about summer in this neck of the woods! 

For lots more Scandi home inspiration while I'm away, why not delve into the archives? I particularly love the summer cottage, rural retreat and country home archives at this time of the year. You might also be looking to pep up your outdoor space (no matter how tiny) or even get in inspiration for adding an outdoor bathroom, kitchen or small pool - I hope you find what you're looking for! 

Wishing you all a wonderful, relaxing week! I'll be back Monday, 25th July for a week. See you then! 

Niki

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10 Idyllic Scandinavian Summer Cottages

There is nowhere I'd rather be in summertime than Scandinavia, it's a magical time which everyone embraces it with every fibre of their being. Being up at the cabin, I love to cycle around the village and take in the atmosphere. There's a certain joy in the air when everyone is leading a simple, yet joyful life with the same rhythm of sleep, swim, eat repeat (with a cool glass of rosé thrown in the evenings!). In honour of this, here is a round-up of some of my favourite Scandinavian summer cottages, I hope they will also have you dreaming of summers in Scandinavian and that you'll visit some day! 

1. A dreamy Danish cottage with an outdoor bathroom

2. Before and after: a rundown cabin becomes a vibrant Danish summer cottage

3. A charming little Swedish Sumer cottage by the sea

4. A beautifully simple light-filled Danish summer cottage

5. A light and airy Danish summer cabin 

6. A magical rural escape by a Norwegian fjord

7. A charming summer house in Finland 

8. A charming open-plan Swedish summer house

9. A fairytale Swedish summer cottage 

10. Glimpses of my very own little cabin - which I'm hoping to share more of soon! 

I hope you enjoyed this tours - and  this post might have inspired you to spend a summer in Scandinavia - it's a beautiful place to be. Just make sure you're prepared for every weather! 

Was there a particular cottage that really resonated with you? I'd love to hear which one and why! 

By the way - the top image is 

Nik

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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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