Luckily, I didn't have a clue about things like that when I dragged mine around at the age of three. Now I know I must have been a very stylish 3-year old.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
I was a very stylish kid...?
Last week when I went to Sweden over the day, I bought the latest issue of swedish Elle Interior. They had an article about how important it is for some parents that their kids play with the right type of toys (wooden!!), and that now a days, toys are often used as acessories, rather than toys, in stylish people's homes. The author gave an example on, how one of her friends, wanted a Brio dachshund for her birthday, to match her minimalist new apartment.
Luckily, I didn't have a clue about things like that when I dragged mine around at the age of three. Now I know I must have been a very stylish 3-year old.
Luckily, I didn't have a clue about things like that when I dragged mine around at the age of three. Now I know I must have been a very stylish 3-year old.
Nice little project or just too much work?
Found these mid-century chairs for sale and I wonder if they can be salvaged. If the frame is solid wood you should be able to get the paint off, right?
I've been looking for a chair like this (but in better condition) but the ones I've found have been a bit over my budget. This one I can afford, but is it worth the effort?
I decided to go and have a look at the chair, it's very affordable, and if the paint won't come off, I can always paint it black!
I've been looking for a chair like this (but in better condition) but the ones I've found have been a bit over my budget. This one I can afford, but is it worth the effort?
I decided to go and have a look at the chair, it's very affordable, and if the paint won't come off, I can always paint it black!
About the italian beauty I share my boyfriend with...
My boyfriend is a cyclist, and when he bought the bike of his dreams this spring, I agreed on letting it sleep in our appartment. I'm a bit jelaous sometimes, of course, but we get along quite well, cicli berlinetta and I.
She is very elegant and quiet so I don't mind having her in our livingroom at all, but sometimes it gets a bit messy, especially with the danish winter weather.
I'm looking for the ultimate way to keep a bike in an appartment, but very few of the soloutions I've seen seems very appealing to me. I have to do some more research on that.
Anyways, here she is:
from Livet på poppelgade
This looks nice in a photo, but do you really want a bike hanging above your breakfast??
via Appartment Therapy
She is very elegant and quiet so I don't mind having her in our livingroom at all, but sometimes it gets a bit messy, especially with the danish winter weather.
I'm looking for the ultimate way to keep a bike in an appartment, but very few of the soloutions I've seen seems very appealing to me. I have to do some more research on that.
Anyways, here she is:
from Livet på poppelgade
This looks nice in a photo, but do you really want a bike hanging above your breakfast??
via Appartment Therapy
Bric a brac
I like to collect things, and when you have limited space it easily gets cluttered. A couple of weeks ago I found this type set case in our backyard and I use it to store tiny things like broches and my doll's house portrait of the swedish king and queen. I've been thinking about painting the set case white to make the objects pop out more, maybe it's a good idea since the color of the wood is kind of grayish. What do you think?
Similarity
In my work I often tend to be inspired by things that looks a bit like my own work. Even if my work is mostly 2D I often find inspiration in both architecture and interiors.
Chroma Lab is a Boston-based studio that focuses on renovating and repainting old furniture and I like their bold colours! I found this chest of drawers and it looks alot like a calender card I made last year together with Rebecca at Kollega, don't you think?
Maybe this piece of furniture would not go into my home, but I think it's fun and refreshing!
from Kollega
Chroma Lab is a Boston-based studio that focuses on renovating and repainting old furniture and I like their bold colours! I found this chest of drawers and it looks alot like a calender card I made last year together with Rebecca at Kollega, don't you think?
Maybe this piece of furniture would not go into my home, but I think it's fun and refreshing!
from Kollega
String shelf!
This is a real swedish classic that was designed in the 1950's by the architect Nils Strinning. They were out of style for quite some time, I remember that the shelfes were very common in summer houses when I was a kid because in Sweden, things that are out of style often goes to the summer house for some reason. Then, around the mid 90's they suddenly started to appear again, and I got my first one from one of my mom's collegues, who referred to it as "crap"(!) That one is teak with black sides, and it as followed me to every new home since then. I've used it in kitchens and in livingrooms and bedrooms and I still like it just as much as I did when I first got it.
Now a days they're hard to find in fleamarkets and often very expensive, and they also started to manufacture them again.
A couple of years ago I found one in a flea market that was pretty damaged and painted in a pinkish color. I tried to renovate it some time ago but somehow I only got halfway thorough the process. Maybe It's time to take up that project! I found this pic of a repainted one and it actually looks really nice!
from Modette
Now a days they're hard to find in fleamarkets and often very expensive, and they also started to manufacture them again.
A couple of years ago I found one in a flea market that was pretty damaged and painted in a pinkish color. I tried to renovate it some time ago but somehow I only got halfway thorough the process. Maybe It's time to take up that project! I found this pic of a repainted one and it actually looks really nice!
from Modette
Monday, November 24, 2008
Dream on, dream on!
I'm kind of picky about what goes on my walls. I wish I could be a bit more spontaneous about this and I'm working on it. Right now it's limited to two mushroom posters by Ebbe Stub Wittrup and two (death metal like!) prints by Ragnar Persson that Simon got when buying a magazine. Secretly I dream of one day being able to buy a collage from Jockum Nordström. He has inspired me alot and I never get tired of his work. It's so poetic, sad and funny. Too bad I will have to become a millionaire first. Well, at least I bought the book.
Kitchen first aid!
When we moved in we decided not to do anything about the kitchen, not even repaint it or remove the wallpaper the previous owners put up, since we were planning to do the whole thing later. The kitchen is in a sad, sad state and I don't feel like cooking at all.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to just try to make it a bit more cosy, and I took down most of the open shelves to make the tiny kitchen a little more airy.
The cupboards under the sink were really old, ugly and unfresh so I used some of the selfadhesive vinyl I sometimes use in my illustrations, to cover them with. Then I spraypainted the handles with a bright yellow paint and painted the tabletop black.
I had a really good time doing this and in some weird way I think this kitchen now looks a bit like my illustrations.
It's not perfect in anyway, but it makes the months before we start the big renovation project, a little happier.
This is what it looked like before:
And this is now:
A couple of weeks ago I decided to just try to make it a bit more cosy, and I took down most of the open shelves to make the tiny kitchen a little more airy.
The cupboards under the sink were really old, ugly and unfresh so I used some of the selfadhesive vinyl I sometimes use in my illustrations, to cover them with. Then I spraypainted the handles with a bright yellow paint and painted the tabletop black.
I had a really good time doing this and in some weird way I think this kitchen now looks a bit like my illustrations.
It's not perfect in anyway, but it makes the months before we start the big renovation project, a little happier.
This is what it looked like before:
And this is now:
Sunday, November 23, 2008
This makes my fingers tickle!
This beautiful wallpaper from Allan the Gallant really inspires me to draw on the walls with ball point pens!
via Design Milk
via Design Milk
Tiles!
I'm a big fan of patterned tiles, especially floors, and I found a swedish site, Stiltje, selling beautiful french cement floor tiles. Our appartment is probably too small for a floor like that (too much pattern in a small place!) so maybe we can go for just a few ceramic ones behind the stove in the kitchen.
I went to Barcelona in august and we stayed at a really nice guesthouse with absolutely amazing floors. But of course, that place was huge. And in Spain. I have never seen that type of floors in Scandinavia, do they get too cold in the winter??
from Stiltje
from LivingETC
I went to Barcelona in august and we stayed at a really nice guesthouse with absolutely amazing floors. But of course, that place was huge. And in Spain. I have never seen that type of floors in Scandinavia, do they get too cold in the winter??
from Stiltje
from LivingETC
Found!
Sometimes I can't believe what people throw out. Today I found this beauty in the backyard, thrown away by one of the neighbours. We've been looking for a globe in different antique shops but never got as far as buying one so this was a great find! From the way the countries are divided on this one I can tell that i'ts quite old.
In our backyard we have a little shed were people can put stuff they can't make use of anymore, but still is fully functional. I've found so many nice things there and I think "Found stuff" has to have it's own category in my blog!
After studying the names of the countries me and Simon used some of our history knowledge and figured out that the globe is from around the 1940's!
In our backyard we have a little shed were people can put stuff they can't make use of anymore, but still is fully functional. I've found so many nice things there and I think "Found stuff" has to have it's own category in my blog!
After studying the names of the countries me and Simon used some of our history knowledge and figured out that the globe is from around the 1940's!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Bar stools... I changed my mind!
I never liked the idea of having bar stools in the kitchen, or anywhere else except for in a (real) bar for that matter. They are uncomfortable (especially for shorties like me) and in most cases rather ugly aswell. But then I found this on tinyk and I must admit that in this little kitchen, it works quite well. I'm always in a hurry in the morning and i would love to sit here for five minutes with my morning coffee.
via tinyk
This picture reminds me a bit about one of my favourite cafées in Copenhagen Verdens mindste Kaffebar (the world's smallest coffee bar) wich I think actually has to be the world's smallest coffee bar. The first time I went there it was kind of a surrealistic experience because the place looked like a dolls's house and the only guests were two ten year old girls sitting by the bar drinking huge mugs of hot chocolate, chatting with the girl behind the bar about cute boys !
Verdens mindste kaffebar
via tinyk
This picture reminds me a bit about one of my favourite cafées in Copenhagen Verdens mindste Kaffebar (the world's smallest coffee bar) wich I think actually has to be the world's smallest coffee bar. The first time I went there it was kind of a surrealistic experience because the place looked like a dolls's house and the only guests were two ten year old girls sitting by the bar drinking huge mugs of hot chocolate, chatting with the girl behind the bar about cute boys !
Verdens mindste kaffebar
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
How I long for a real kitchen!
We have alot of plans for this place and one involves taking down the wall between the kitchen and what is now the bedroom. The bedroom goes to the other side of the appartment and there is room for an open kitchen/livingroom.
I've been giving this alot of thought and have been looking for a good kitchen soloution for quite some time. Either they are too expensive or just plain ugly. What I was looking for was a type of unglamourous, rustic and plain kitchen without unneccesary details that could fit in a small place.
I stumbeled over the great blog Door Sixteen and saw Anna's really cute, simple and inexpensive kitchen and was really inspiered. As a Swede you can imagine I have spent my fair share of hours at IKEA but I never really noticed the kitchen "Udden". It will be perfect for us! Thanks Anna!
from: Door Sixteen
And below you can see the sad little space where we cook now...
I've been giving this alot of thought and have been looking for a good kitchen soloution for quite some time. Either they are too expensive or just plain ugly. What I was looking for was a type of unglamourous, rustic and plain kitchen without unneccesary details that could fit in a small place.
I stumbeled over the great blog Door Sixteen and saw Anna's really cute, simple and inexpensive kitchen and was really inspiered. As a Swede you can imagine I have spent my fair share of hours at IKEA but I never really noticed the kitchen "Udden". It will be perfect for us! Thanks Anna!
from: Door Sixteen
And below you can see the sad little space where we cook now...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The view from our bedroom
This is what we see every morning when we wake up. I love the amount of sky we see from the 5th floor! Behind the yellow building in the middle you can see the roof of "Riget" wich is the main hospital i Copenhagen. If anyone has seen the Lars von Trier TV series this is the actual hospital (i think they made an American version of it called "the kingdom") and it sometimes spooks me. Just a little bit. Brrrr....
We can see helicopters landing on the roof every night.
We can see helicopters landing on the roof every night.
Big love!
I fall in love with old cabinets. Is that a fetisch?
Our appartment is on the 5th floor and there is no elevator in the building but i have managed to talk my dear boyfriend into helping me carry three huge ones, two of them found in our garbage room, all the way up to our place. Now there is definately no room for more cabinets in our 50 m2 but I still secretly admire pictures of pretty ones on the web.
Like this one f.ex!
from: Design Sponge
And this one is one I built for an exhibition as a part of my master project in illustration!
from: Emma Margareta
Our appartment is on the 5th floor and there is no elevator in the building but i have managed to talk my dear boyfriend into helping me carry three huge ones, two of them found in our garbage room, all the way up to our place. Now there is definately no room for more cabinets in our 50 m2 but I still secretly admire pictures of pretty ones on the web.
Like this one f.ex!
from: Design Sponge
And this one is one I built for an exhibition as a part of my master project in illustration!
from: Emma Margareta
The ceiling had to come down...
The first thing we did was to tear down the ceiling. Someone had put it up sometime in the 70's and we were hoping that underneath it there would be the original 1880's ceiling, maybe even with som stucco... Boy, were we in for a surprise!
Appearantly our house had been in a really bad state at some point of it's history and at that time some of the ceiling had come down. So there we were with just half of the original ceiling left and the rest of it was stuffed with something we really didn't know what it was and sealed with some kind of aluminium foil. Luckily we couldn't see that there ever had been any stucco, so at least we didn't have to feel sorry for that.
After some hard work, and the help of a very tall and sweet friend, we had a new ceiling up and now I remember what people say about old houses. Lots of surprises!
Appearantly our house had been in a really bad state at some point of it's history and at that time some of the ceiling had come down. So there we were with just half of the original ceiling left and the rest of it was stuffed with something we really didn't know what it was and sealed with some kind of aluminium foil. Luckily we couldn't see that there ever had been any stucco, so at least we didn't have to feel sorry for that.
After some hard work, and the help of a very tall and sweet friend, we had a new ceiling up and now I remember what people say about old houses. Lots of surprises!
I've been practising my French!
After coming home from work today I made myself a cup of coffee and a toast with some norwegian goatscheese (yummy!!) and found the Marie Claire maison site while surfing around with no particular purpose.
I'm always looking for inspiration for ways to make use of every little corner in small appartments and I found alot of it here! Love the simple rustic style of those small appartments!
from: Marie Claire Maison
I'm always looking for inspiration for ways to make use of every little corner in small appartments and I found alot of it here! Love the simple rustic style of those small appartments!
from: Marie Claire Maison
First real post!
Almost a year ago me and my boyfriend were lucky enough to be offered to buy our small but very cosy appartment in central Nørrebro in Copenhagen. We had been moving around quite alot and it was a huge relief to finally get our own place after months in different sublets.
At the time we were subletting an appartment in the very same house where we live now, the rent was too high and the woman who rented it to us was quite frankly a bitch, so when the sweet couple next door asked if we were interested in buying their place we said yes immediately. Without even seeing the place! Such a happy happy day!!
A couple of moths later we moved in and I really love this place. Yes, it's small and yes, it has some very strange soloutions but the location is great (could't think of a place in Copenhagen I'd rather live) and the athmosphere of this building from the 1870's is very charming and danish. Both me and my boyfriend are Swedes and even if I have lived in Denmark for more than two years now, to me, there is still something exotic about this place!
We have alot of plans for this place and I will be blogging about the process here and every now and then I will throw in a post about graphic design or illustration sinc that is what I do for a living!
Welcome (if anyone will ever be reading this ;))
At the time we were subletting an appartment in the very same house where we live now, the rent was too high and the woman who rented it to us was quite frankly a bitch, so when the sweet couple next door asked if we were interested in buying their place we said yes immediately. Without even seeing the place! Such a happy happy day!!
A couple of moths later we moved in and I really love this place. Yes, it's small and yes, it has some very strange soloutions but the location is great (could't think of a place in Copenhagen I'd rather live) and the athmosphere of this building from the 1870's is very charming and danish. Both me and my boyfriend are Swedes and even if I have lived in Denmark for more than two years now, to me, there is still something exotic about this place!
We have alot of plans for this place and I will be blogging about the process here and every now and then I will throw in a post about graphic design or illustration sinc that is what I do for a living!
Welcome (if anyone will ever be reading this ;))
Friday, November 14, 2008
Before we moved in it looked like this....
The tiny kitchen with the big flowers
The-toilet-in-the-closet-soloution.
Very common in old appartments in this part of Copenhagen.
Livingroom with view into the hallway and the bedroom with
the (also very common) shower-in-bedroom-soloution.
Livingroom facing the street
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