Thursday, March 28, 2013

Win an industrial pendant light!

To wish you a very happy easter I've collaborated with Mette from Make-Living blog on a very exciting give-away! Mette makes these fab industrial pendant lights here in Sweden and has recently launched a small webshop here. The light comes in 5 colour ways and one could be yours - yay!






To enter all you need to do is:

- Visit the Make-Living website to see the complete colour range.
- Write and tell us which colour you would most like to win in the comment section below.
- Like the Make-Living Facebook page.

The competition is open to everyone and closes Thursday 4th April at 12.00am GMT. The winner will be announced Friday 5th April. Don't forget to leave your contact details!

Wishing you all a super happy, relaxing Easter.

See you Tuesday x

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Can't keep your fingers off your eggs...?


Well, it seems, neither can I! 
Having gone just a little bit bananas with the lilac craft paper I used for my moustache-adorned egg heads last week, a few more mini craft projects took form in my spring-desperate head. So, what to do with some miniature bunting...?


Well, it quite obviously needs a sponge cake, some chocolate/coffee frosting, 
a few chocolate fingers and some mini eggs. 
In short: the bunting needs an Easter cake to go with it!

 And who am I to argue with that?

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, 
I hope your weekend is a lovely and relaxing one, 
and - dare I say it? - a warm and spring-like one too!
Helena

Guest post: Monochrome in Malmö

I'm Hanna from Doyoufancythis.com. It's such an honour to write a guest post here at My Scandinavian Home and I wanted to find the perfect home to show you. Since I know Niki likes monochrome colors and interiors in black and white I think this Malmö apartment is perfect for the occasion. This minimalistic, yet cozy space is located in the picturesque square of Davidshall in Malmö and is really something else. Just look at those great white walls and the dark wood, the almost to-good-to-be-true terrace and the sophisticated colors throughout. I hope you'll enjoy this lovely apartment and Niki, have a great vacation! /Hanna of Doyoufancythis.com.














Bilder: Bo-Laget Fastighetsförmedling

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Guest post: fab Stockholm home tour

Hello everyone! I'm Dagný Björg from Feel Inspired blog. Easter is just around the corner, any of you have plans yet? We are skipping town to stay at a summer cabin with nothing but good food, good friends and a good book as soon as our Easter vacation starts. A great way to relax and recharge I think. Today I have for you a home tour of this charming apartment in Stockholm. I love it's hardwood floors and how alive the apartment is thanks to the colorful and playful decorations. 











Hope you enjoy and hopefully we'll meet on my Feel Inspired blog soon!

Love, 
Dagný Björg

Monday, March 25, 2013

Guest post: A Malmö masterpiece

Hello I'm Catherine from Nordic Design blog. I am very happy to collaborate on another beautiful blog promoting Scandinavian design and it's greatness. This beautiful home in Malmö, Sweden has the most amazing ceilings and beautiful parquetry flooring. The eclectic style is amazing! We love how the owners, Julius and Sara, successfully combined the old and the new - it's filled with character. And that shade of green in the dining room is great. What a gorgeous place!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Blue skies and dreamy windows...



In a post last week, I mentioned having 'a thing' for doors. Well... the attentive among you may have spotted that I do have quite a crush on windows too... and the one in the photo above, in a nearby village,  became one of my favourites a couple of years ago when I first saw it in 'summer costume' (if you want to see what it looked like then, click here).

To me, there is something special about this house, and as it inspires a multitude of romantic country dreams for me, I think from now on I will refer to this window as "my dreamy window"... Is that a nod to Tina Turner's old song "Steamy Windows" you may wonder? Well, imagine if I allowed myself to do what I secretly would like to, wander up and peer into this darling house... now, I think my open-mouthed  staring would quite soon render that window rather steamy, so there is perhaps the link... But not to worry, I will behave perfectly appropriately and only admire it from a distance. Ehm, that is, armed with a snappety-snap-happy camera!


On a sunny walk a couple of weeks ago, my "Peeping Tom" tactics were still going strong, and peering into the back garden of this lovely old house, I saw the little moss-clad round "appendix" at the back. I can't quite seem to shake off my curiosity about what it might be? Storage, perhaps, but why the round shape? Either way, it has got all of the features (old stone, moss, curvy shapes) that make me sigh and mutter "I want one", clicking my tongue and scratching my head to figure out how I could make it happen... I mean, does one really need to justify wanting a round, moss-clad old thingamajig attached to one's house? Stranger things have been attached to houses, have they not?


And yes, this is exactly how blue the sky was that day. Not having been spoiled with this type of colourful eye candy for a long time, it was difficult not to lose oneself staring at its hypnotic blue glory, forgetting everything else for a sweet moment. As if invited to enhance this scene, two doves rested their feathery selves on top of this folly next to Corsham Court.


The beautiful local cemetery, where the old and anything but straight grave stones always inspire me to write a detective story or two...


Down by the lake, the rare rays of sun warming the bark of 
the old oak trees made them creak with delight...


... while the Canada geese did the obvious... well, geesy thing: make noise and 
shake their.. you know... whatever it is that geese might shake...

Now, may these bright and sunny images work their 
magic to conjure up some more days like this!
Happy Monday to you all!
Helena
Egg Heads...


No, of course I did not mean you, dear readers! 

The egg head heading refers to these three gentlemen that were the result of last night's itchy craft fingers having been allowed to play. Inspired by a photo I had seen on Pinterest (unfortunately I cannot remember where, so I apologise that there is no source stated), I dug out some old craft paper, three mini jam jars (those you often get with hotel breakfasts and which, I found out when I asked in a B&B last summer, are often thrown away and not recycled... which now makes me ask if I can take them home instead!), a black  pen and the three remaining eggs I could find in our fridge. And ta-daa, instant Easter fun! 

***

... and on the subject of itchy craft fingers... I thought I might continue the theme of 'show and tell' by showing you some wands I made for a certain young gentleman's Harry Potter birthday party a few days ago.. Welcome to Hogwarts!



I found some very easy step-by-step instructions here on how to make a Harry Potter wand that lived up to my health and safety conscious, do-not-like-any-children-to-get-their-eyes-poked-out-at-the-party philosophy. It was my first encounter with a glue gun ("What?" I hear you say, "a crafty girl without a glue gun???") and after an initial farcical few minutes that would give Mr Bean a run for his money, we bonded quite well (pardon the pun), the glue gun and I. 

I made a few changes to the original instructions and used two sheets of paper, one rolled inside the other, for stability, and I did not use any primer or paint several coats - instead I used a couple of tester pots in black and two different shades of brown and slabbed on the paint a little haphazardly, trying to achieve that distressed look. The wands were surprisingly easy to make,   and even if they will not last a lifetime, at least they are safe and proved very useful for the spells and potion making the little wizards undertook at the party...

Happy Sunday, everyone, and may it be a magical one!
Helena

Friday, March 22, 2013

Do you prefer less or more?

These sitting room snaps were recently taken by Line Klein for Alt Interior which featured a story about how to style your sitting room in different ways using the same fab sofa.

One sofa, two different spaces, which sitting room would you prefer? 






With kind permission from photographer Line Klein, Stylist: Nicola Kragh Riis
As you know I'm off skiing tomorrow - yay! But I'd never leave you high and dry and have lined up a series of fab guest posts including a very exciting Easter give-away next thursday which is not to be missed!

Before I hit the slopes (how much do I love writing that?!), here are a few links from around the web this week:

Loving these Danish iconic prints. And these wonderful photographic prints by Max Wanger  as seen in Bri Emery's LA home.

If you're hosting friends or family over Easter and are in need of some festive table inspiration check out these fabulous Scandinavian table spreads.

Easter renovations / shopping? Don't forget my wonderful sponsors who make this blog possible including Design Collectors (15% off with MYSCAN)! New socks from here, Nest for Hay, Muuto and countless other cool Scandinavian items, Loja Dada for the cutest kids clothes you'll ever see, cool shop LET LIV for you Ozzies and New Zealanders and The Reclaimed Flooring Company for the wood flooring you've always wanted but never known how to get (until now)!

I hope you have a wonderful week and a really lovely Easter!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Eclectic Stockholm apartment

Hello! How are you all today? I'm pretty stressed as I'm off on a family ski holiday on Saturday and have sooooo much to do before I leave! Friends keep asking me if I'm excited and the truth is I won't be until I'm actually sitting in a mountain bar with a beer in my hand!! Thankfully there are calm spaces such as this beautiful home in Stockholm to soothe my soul! I like that it has an eclectic mix of designer classics, vintage and retro pieces and Swedish antiques too.








Behrer & Partners Fastighetsmäkleri Via Seventeen Doors
With so much lingo bandying around it gets a bit confusing about what should be considered an antique, a collectors item, vintage or retro. I've just read an interesting article here which basically advised:

Antiques: items more than 100 years old
Collectables: items younger than 100 years old
Vintage: items that have cycled back into fashion or are less than 30 years old (but also can be applied to the time period: 1960-1979
Retro: Generally referred to the time period 1950-1959

The jury's still out though so perhaps you have other ideas?!

Have a lovely day!