EMMAS DESIGNBLOGG

Design and style from a Scandinavian perspective

Saturday Sweets

Mixed treats.

More from Frank Features

The photographer I blogged yesterday, Warren Heath, shoots for a South African agency called Frank Features. I looked through their site more properly today, and look what I found! Loads and loads of awesome shots!

Photographer Warren Heath

I tried to find out a little about photographer Warren Heath, but he seems to be a very private man. In the "about" section on his site it just says "stills photographer"! I did some research and found that he works with an agency called Frank Features, run by stylists/writers Kerryn Fischer and Luanne Toms, two names that might be familiar to the ones of you who read Elle Decoration as their articles are often published there.
I found Warren Heath through an article in the latest issue of Swedish Elle Interiör, where he had shot some beautiful photos of a home in Cape Town, and wanted to see more of his work. Here is some of what I found (that kitchen in the top pic just makes my longing for spring even worse):


Photographer Paul Barbera

As I was reading the Bloesem blog I found the link to photographer Paul Barbera's site. He shot one of my favorite homes ever, the house of Stephanie Rammeloo, which you can view over at Bloesem. But his portfolio was full of other great pics that I want to show you here! You can also follow his blog over here.

And the winners are...

*tatata*

The ceramic Polaroid camera from Anyhow goes to Linda, who wanted to put it next to the polas from her parents honeymoon.

The Friends of Violet poster by Studio Violet goes to Deanna who was reminded of her Swedish grandmother's drawings.

The round recycled boxes from Cosas goes to Sarakatriina who wanted to hide all of her husband's junk in them.

The Mjölk poster from Vackra Väggar goes to Carl who wrote a very sweet story about his grandfather who always gave him homegrown raspberries with milk and sugar when he came to visit him as a child.

The Fika Cups from Isak Design goes to Sonya, who fell in love with the packaging! I thought that was too funny...

And the price I know you've all been waiting for... The bedlinen from the Beach House Company. I want to give them to Geo, who wanted them to make her kids jealous! Isn't that the best reason to get anything really? ;)

Congratulations to all the winners! Please drop me an email (emmas.blogg at hotmail.com) with your post address so I can send you your prices. And thanks to all who participated, I had a lot of fun reading all your entries!

Wait just a little bit more...

I know I promised to draw the winners of the give away today, but once I had printed out all 304 (that was the number by midnight local time) entries, and circled 30 something of the best ones, I realised I could never make these decisions on my own, plus it's getting very late here. So you will all have to wait for the announcement of the winners until tomorrow, when my boyfriend is home and can help me choose! However, the give away is now closed, so any comments made after I printed them all out won't be counted, sorry.

I'll be back here in about twelve hours to announce the winners. Good night!

I will leave you with this pretty picture from Sköna Hem to look at in the meantime.

Any last minute wishes?

The give away ends tonight, so if you want a chance to win any of the wonderful prices you have to be quick now and send your wishes in! Just comment on the give away post and tell me why you want to win any of the items, and I will go through all of your wishes tonight to pick the best motivations.

I'm wishing for spring. It seems like winter is going to be forever this year, and it just won't stop snowing! Our snow shovel disappeared somewhere in the deep snow about a month ago, so it will be fun to see where it turns up once the snow melts...

It feels like Christmas...

Picture by Kråkvik & D'Orazio

 

...when it should feel like this:

Photo by Mikael Dubois

A white dream in Paris

I got an email from a reader telling me about her husband's architect studio Ecole, and a link to this amazing Paris apartment he designed. Have you ever seen more beautiful stairs? These stairs make me think of grand pianos with their perfect curves and the black keys/steps against the white background.

This 95 sqm home covers the whole two top floors of the 18th century house, with the entrance, livingroom, kitchen,  guest room and bathroom on the lower flooor, and the owner's private space on the top floor, accessed through the steel staircase. I must say that the designer, Max Turnheim, has been very successful in keeping the grand impression of the old house but at the same time incorporating the new very minimalist decor, they really compliment eachother well.

Photography by X. Lucas

Just some shout outs...

I am a little overwhelmed by the response on the give away below... I don't think I've ever had so many comments on one post before... It's fun to see how many people actually read this blog!

I just published an article on Etsy, showing my favorite nature inspired Etsy products, you can read it here. And don't miss my guest blog at design*sponge, where I write about some of Sweden's best contemporary designers! It's a bit different from my regular posts here where I mostly blog about stylists and photographers, but it's a nice change.

Well, I can't have a post without a picture, can I? Here you go, it's one I saved in my inspiration files, from Norwegian Bo Bedre.

Giveaway time! Make a wish!

The give away is closed and the winners have been drawn!

As a thank you to all of you who read this blog, and helped me win the Stora Bloggpriset award, I am hosting a giveaway this week, to give you something back! I have collected some very nice prices from from some very generous companies! To win, just comment below, telling me which item you would like to win and why. I will draw the winners this Friday, February 19.

One full set of white jersey bedlinen for a double bed, worth around $540, from Beach House Company. I love jersey sheets, but they have been very hard to find here in Sweden, so we only have one set in my home. And now there is a queue for that set, because every time I change the sheets my kids are standing behind me asking if it's their turn to have "the super cosy bedlinen" this time! So now we have made a waiting list. I'm telling you, a few people in this house will be very jealous of the person who wins this set...

 

Handmade Ceramic Polaroid Camera, worth $65, from Anyhow.se. Anyhow is a beautiful webshop, with lots of stylish things to make your house a home. Many of the products are handmade, others are carefully sourced throughout Europe on one of the owner's many travels.

 

A set of two Fika cups, worth £18, by Sandra Isaksson from Isak Design. Sandra was one of the first designers I wrote about on this blog, and I have followed her throughout the years, excited to see her launch new products each season. What started out as a couple of trays and posters is now a whole range of wallpaper, childrens clothes, fabrics, stationery, tableware, prints and books!

 

A set of two round boxes with lids from Dixie, worth approx. $57, provided by Cosas, a Swedish webshop with shipping inside the EU. The boxes measure 24 and 20 cm in diameter, and are made of recycled magazines but with a steady core of wood veneer.

 

A print with a motif from the Swedish milk cartons! This is a poster, size 50x70 cm/19.6x27.5 inches, worth around $28, generously gifted from Vackra Väggar, a webshop filled with cool things for your walls. I know foreign readers love this design for some strange reason, but I like it too, because to me nothing says "childhood" like this cow, and I think I share that feeling with many Swedes who grew up in the 80's and 90's.

 

Last but not least, a lovely Friends of Violet poster by Studio Violet, worth €21! I know you all love Camilla Engman and Elisabeth Dunker of Studio Violet, so this doesn't really need an introduction. The size of the poster is 50x70 cm/19.6x27.5 inches and it's printed on 170 gr off-white paper.

 

So go ahead now, just make a wish in the comments, and the ones with the best motivations will win!

New paint collection by Jotun

I got an email from paint manufacturer Jotun presenting their latest collection Lady NOW 2010 and as I was reading it I knew it was spot on for this blog. Jotun were talking about two big trends right now which they chose to call Soft Minimalism and Industrial Simpleness, and they both pretty much summed up all that I am in to at the moment. Layers of white, lots of light, industrial lighting, rough and rustic, these are all words that were mentioned in the press release that went straight to my heart. Then when I saw the pictures, there was no return! The photos are styled by Kråkvik & D'Orazio, which I posted on just last week, and shot by the always brilliant Siren Lauvdal.
PS. Don't miss my guestblogging over at Design*Sponge this week! I will be posting the latest news from all my favorite designers.

Stockholm Design Week 3

Swedish designers Form Us With Love hosted a super cool party yesterday, in a building that was more of a shell than anything else. It was under renovation, so there was concrete, brick walls, plywood sheets and dust all over the place. An alarm had been triggered somewhere in the building and could be heard faintly under the pumping 90's electronica. Free red wine for all, and cute young hipsters were hanging around in clusters, seemingly trying to win the award for "best poser of the evening". I had a lot of fun, and today I am tired but happy. Here are two pics from the location, but when we were there it was dark, and the only lighting provided was from the spotlights pictured below.



This will be the final post from the design week, so I'm just going to wrap it up by showing you what I liked best from the Furniture Fair.

Cabinet Collect 2010 and stool Happy by A2

Totem shelf by Broberg & Ridderstråle for Klong

Dusty Diamonds ceramics by Anna Elzer Oscarson

RE:cover bespoke dresses for old chairs by Fredrik Färg

Favourite Things pendant light by Chen Karlsson

Tatami sofa by Line Depping

Tetra Chair by Julia Göransdotter


I do actually have some goodies left that I want to show you, but I think I'll save them for next week, when I'm guestblogging over at Design*Sponge! Until then, have a great weekend!

Dining Room by Kråkvik & D'Orazio

As a short break in between the Furniture Fair updates, I want to show you this photo that just popped at me on my screen.

I can't quite put my finger on what it is with this dining room that makes me feel so extremely at home and relaxed, but I can tell you that I love it. I believe it has something to do with the perfect mix of raw, modern and traditional. The unfinished rough wooden table and stool combined with high shine white floors and old fashioned rag rugs, striped table cloth and blue painted cabinets... And I don't even like the colour blue!

Styled by the always amazing pair Kråkvik & D'Orazio for Elle Interiør and shot by Siren Lauvdal.

 

Stockholm Design Week 2

Today I made it to the Furniture Fair, and wow I feel like I was run over by a train now... You see, I live in the countryside, and am not used to seeing that many people and things at the same time! Aside from that feeling it was a great experience! It felt like the fair had grown a lot from last year (actually it has, as they recently added 10 00 square meters to one of the halls), and there were many more interesting exhibitors this year. I could also sense a feeling of hope and enthusiasm in the air, like the regression is about to end soon and give room for more risktaking and edgy designs. Gotta love that!

It felt like the big trend in booth designs this year was using lots of white in combination with black and wood, and guess what I think of that?! Super, of course! If you have ever read this blog before, you can not have missed the fact that it's my preferred colour range!

I would like to start by introducing 100% Norway. This was a big booth full of the best Norwegian design has to offer, with some of the biggest names represented as well as a few newcomers. The booth itself was shaped like a traditional drying rack used to dry fish in the Northern parts of Norway, and inside it were lots of beautiful furniture pieces, wallpaper and home accessories.

The 100% Norway booth

Basic, a collaboration between StokkeAustad and Frost Produkt.

The Glass series consisting of a water carafe, a wine decanter and an old-fashioned and red wine glass, is the result of a collaboration between StokkeAustad and Frost Produkt. The project was initiated after a common wish to create timeless durable tools for preparing, serving and enjoying food. In addition to the glass series kitchen utensils, cutting board, a trivet, and candleholders has also been designed.

We wanted to create sturdy durable and lasting objects; lasting both in quality of material, and through an abiding form. The carafe and decanter have a large opening for pouring water and wine into them, and big easily maneuvered cork. The large neck of the opening is also used as a handle. The glasses take after the carafe in their straight lines, angles, and slight cone. The glass series are made of glass and turned oak.

The series was awarded Best Cooks Kit, by Wallpaper Design award 2010.

Basic
Prototypes, 2009.
A collaboration between StokkeAustad and Frost Produkt.
The Glass series consisting of a water carafe, a wine decanter and an old-fashioned and red wine glass, is the result of a collaboration between StokkeAustad and Frost Produkt. The project was initiated after a common wish to create timeless durable tools for preparing, serving and enjoying food. In addition to the glass series kitchen utensils, cutting board, a trivet, and candleholders has also been designed.
We wanted to create sturdy durable and lasting objects; lasting both in quality of material, and through an abiding form. The carafe and decanter have a large opening for pouring water and wine into them, and big easily maneuvered cork. The large neck of the opening is also used as a handle. The glasses take after the carafe in their straight lines, angles, and slight cone. The glass series are made of glass and turned oak.
The series was awarded Best Cooks Kit, by Wallpaper Design award 2010.Basic, Prototypes, 2009. A collaboration between StokkeAustad and Frost Produkt.
Hay, sofa by Petter Skogstad

"Hay is a module-based sitting furniture inspired by bales of hay. Arrange the modules how ever you like and create a landscape. The modules are soft, playful and inviting."

Norwegian Forest White, by Cathrine Kullberg

Norwegian Forest lights draw on a classic Scandinavian tradition of using thin wood veneer strips for lighting. Norwegian Forest lights show a deep pine forest with animals in light and shade.

The shade is made from thin double layered white stained ash, 1st grade. The veneer is carefully laser cut by a skilled airplane model maker who knows his veneer. The simple shape of the shade and the structure of the wood is challenged by the intricate pattern cut into it - made possible through a close relation to the material and a succession of test cuttings.

There is a long tradition in Scandinavian craft to use these thin strips of wood, and in the 1950's, 60's and 70's it was used for lighting. Now, the Norwegian Forest Lights represent a new take on tradition.


That's all for now, more highlights from the fair is coming tomorrow!

Stockholm Design Week 1

This week is Stockholm Design Week, with lots of press shows and parties all over town, and the Furniture Fair in Älvsjö as well. I started it all off yesterday by going to four press shows/parties! I'm planning on going to the fair tomorrow afternoon, and then on Thursday there are some more parties to attend, so expect more reports here during the week.

The first press show was called Check In, showing the work of ten up and coming Swedish designers. The ones I thought were most interesting was Alex Gunnarsson with her "wooden fabric" (which for some reason won't upload right now, but I'll try again later), Asshoff & Brogård's drop shaped hooks and haute couture inspired upholstered stools, Johan Lindstén's embroidered chairs and Studio Yra's plywood letter candlesticks.

After that I went to Elle Interiör's Design of the Year Awards, where we got the best goodie bag ever! It was sponsored by Design House Stockholm, so all the goodies were packed in their shopping basket, and inside it was a tealight holder from Orrefors, the latest issue of Elle Interiör, a beautiful note book from Mateus, a package of very tasty knäckebröd plus a smoothie and a candy bar.

I also visited Monica Förster's exhibition of enormous (like 6 meters high) paper lights at Berns, and architectural magazine Rum's party at Sturecompagniet. I have to say though that the goodie bag we got from Rum was very strange... Just a pile of bathroom catalogues. I was like: What?! Why would I want a pile of catalogues, that I can get for free from any bathroom store? I'm not greedy, if they had just thrown us an issue of the magazine I would have been totally content, and if they had added a piece of chocolate I would have been really happy. But no. I got bathroom catalogues...


White House by Jeltje

Update: Unfortunately Jeltje did not like this post so I had to remove all the pictures. Sorry!



I found Dutch photographer Jeltje's blog through the style files, and the moment I saw this home I knew it would fit like a glove on this blog! The massive amounts of white in this home gives an amazing impression of space and light, but if you look closer you will see that this is actually a quite small place, and the windows are all placed on two of the walls. Somehow the light seems to be coming from all over the place anyway, it is as if the whole house is glowing! That is of course an effect of the glossy white floors, and the fact that the sheer drapes in front of the windows filter the light to prevent any hard shadows from appearing.
So these are my tips to all of you out there struggling to make your small space look bigger; keep the floors light! (You can either paint your existing floors, or put in new ones. A poured resin floor is a dream for many, but if you are on a budget Ikea makes a nice white laminate floor that would work just fine too.) And filter the light through sheer white curtains to make sure any shadows from the furniture are kept to a minimum. Another great trick is to keep all your furniture off the floor by using casters, legs and wallmounted options wherever possible. This ensures that a maximum of floor surface is visible, and thus makes the rooms appear airier and bigger, and also makes it easier to clean.
Jeltje's blog and portfolio is full of fantastic spaces, you really must click over there and check it out, I promise you won't regret it!

Swedish summer house deluxe

I was just over at the Dos Family blog, and found this amazing house! It was first bought as a summer house, and was quite ready to fall apart, but after years of renovations, the owners Patric and Sophie and baby Iris moved in permanently. I can totally understand them, who would ever want to leave a house like this?

With a white base and concrete floors, you would think that it would look cold and sterile, but with the mix of styles in the furniture pieces and the addition of warm wood hues and colourful art and textiles, this home looks very relaxed and welcoming in my eyes.

Introducing my latest sponsors!

I would like to introduce my latest sponsors to you!

First up is Artic Design, a webshop selling Scandinavian design with free shipping within the EU for all orders over €200 (they ship outside of EU too, but with normal shipping rates). Artic Design is having a winter sale right now, with up to 50% discount on lots of products, to make rooms for new brands like Normann Copenhagen, Design House Stockholm and just in are some lamps from the famous finnish designer Eero Aarnio! Below are my favorites from the sales:
The second sponsor is Icelandic Designmarket. They sent me an email a few months ago when their webshop opened, and I loved the products! I recognised many of them from my trip to Iceland last year, and I think it's great that they are now available for international customers! They carry both home decor and fashion for men, women and children.

I won!

I'm still in shock, but I have to share this with you. I won! I actually won Stora Bloggpriset in the design and interior decorating category! It's the biggest contest for blogs in Sweden, so this really means a lot to me. A huge thanks to everyone, all who voted and all who reads this blog and encourage me to keep going!
I'm celebrating at a hotel room in central Stockholm, trying to get a sip of white wine in between the phone calls from friends and family, and even some journalists. I still can't believe I won...

Story Hotel + Wonderwall = Story Collection

I've written about both Story Hotel and Wonderwall before (please use the new search bar to the right to find those posts), but I haven't written about their cooperation called Story Collection, which is a series of five different prints, used in the Story Hotel and also available for purchase at Wonderwall. The artists behind the prints are all big names in Sweden, and the art is truly beautiful.

Artist: Cecilia Carlstedt
Artist: Julia Hetta
Artist: Jenny Mörtsell