thrifty chic. Interior style on a shoestring is a book by Liz Bauwens and Alexandra Campbell. Unlike this spring’s fresh new book Undecorate, Thrifty Chic has been around for a while, both as a book (from 2009) and as a (partly overridden) concept. This beautiful book is packed with re-ideas. It shows you how to “reuse and restore, revive and revamp, and recycle and reclaim”, in order to create a stylish yet individual home without spending a small fortune.

As you can see already by the cover, the overall style is relaxed country – and vintage charm is all around. The concept of thrifty chic (and same meaning related concepts) is highly sustainable. Inspiration on how to paint up a tatty old chest, cut old curtains into cushions or give an old chair new life by means of some fabric – will never grow old and mossy. Reusing, restoring, reviving and revamping are things creative people have practiced for centuries and that – nicely enough – will contribute to less consumption and environmental destruction as it includes being cautious with both money and property. As if that weren’t enough, this book is pure beautifulness. It’s friendly written with lots of insider advices. This is one of my favourite photos from the book (photography by Simon Brown):

Gorgeous. All these furniture and stuff came from auctions, thrift stores and local sales.

The book has a feature on colour in hallways I found really interesting too (p.34-35), and some beyond lovely photos of thrifty bathrooms. See p. 118-127 for more pics and great advices on 2nd hand sanitaryware, etc.

It’s a must-have in the design book collection!

Sometimes, the city life gets a bit wearisome. Too many people, too little space..What suits better then, than to take a glimpse into the life of blogger Jonna Jinton. She’s the 21 year old city girl who decided to leave town and move to the remote far Northern Sweden countryside. She found herself a new place – an old cottage – in the midst of the Northern Sweden wilderness: in a very tiny village surrounded by beautiful natural scenery. I think her activities and whereabouts actually are interesting, liberating, and calming. She chops wood and struggles to keep her house warm, takes care of her property – and no, she’s not into that 50′s housewife glamour and cupcakes – she works in the local grocery shop and simply enjoys the changing of the seasons and the earty life in the outback countyside.

Every now and then she visits Grandma and Grandpa for a fika (that’s quite simply a cup of coffee and 7 cookies) and you’d guess they live next door, but it’s actually approx 40 miles of winding roads (and that’s no distance to speak of, in the wilderness!). Jonna Jinton has now the chance to get a scholarship for being such a nice representative of the district she lives in. I think she and her blog without doubt deserves this price (if you do too, the pic below will take you to the voting form). Jonna and her cottage. It’s a miracle she’s managed through the lengthy winter up there! :)

Update: In this post Jonna has a collection of pictures from her house!

Lets say a few words about the fresh new interior design book Decorate by Holly Becker & Joanna Copestick; with the undertitle 1 000 inspirational design ideas for every room in your house. First of all, the title does not lie! This is nothing less than a resource book on decorating. It is completely packed with insightful decorating ideas & advices and masses of beautiful and inspirational photos…

| UK cover left and the gorgeous US cover right, together with a glimpse |

This book collects, organizes and features numerous contemporary interior styles and tricks – and pairs it with rich descriptions, advices and initiated quotes. There are guidelines and even space planning layouts included. Though the latter – probably a helpful tool for many – was information overload to my little brain. It’s related to the only drawback (or rather inconvenience) with this book: it makes decorating seem truly complicated and technical. Then again, the book is loaded and such books need to be chewed in bits. Carefully digested.

The book is divided into four sections and my favourite (so far) is Setting Your Style. This section features interesting case studies of many and different styles. Very nicely captured, spot-on and highly interesting.

One can not simply wish for more in a book called Decorate! It meets and exceeds expectations. Well apart from the overload there is one tiny thing my inner voice can’t stop me to say – and bear with me now, I was born and bred in Sweden -

Now, the comparison is inevitable: how do I choose between the two fresh new books in the stands with the contradictory titles Decorate and Undecorate? With major contradictions going down to the very core of the decorating approach?

It has hardly escaped the avid reader of interior design blogs that DwellStudio Founder & Creative Director Christiane Lemieux has published a book called Undecorate. With the appealing subtitle The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design. I got my copy the other day and first of all: the book is definitely a decorative object in itself! But that’s still not the primary benefit of the book. Undecorate is a homage to personal and heartfelt interior design. In a beautiful way it draws upon today’s [or tomorrow's if you live in Sweden ;)] trendiest and most valued interior design ideal: the lived-in, unfussy, creative imperfection. The book features twenty homes which all have the highly interesting and precious trait that they could only be the home of the person who decorated it – so much does each home reflect and enhance the individual(s) it contains. It’s a sweet but definite goodbye to the practise of buying ‘style’ from a know-it-all interior designer. Instead, this book invite you to decorate – or more specifically to undecorate; to follow your own instinct even when it’s telling you to do something a little crazy, a little different; even something against the ‘interior design rules’…

Still undecorating as a (or Lemieux’s) concept, is not haphazard style; it’s not thought-free. At all. It’s about being guided by something other than the traditional constraints. To be your own guide. Though just like its neighbour the creative, personal, quirky and eclectic style it’s not totally trend-free or without its own standards – it points to some direction, at least. Yet the ‘undecorating’ philosophy has an inherent freedom. It says a lot of yes and no no’s. It has a no-rules approach. If you love polka dots and feel you want to paint your rooms polkadotty, yes you should! If you want your living room to feel like a decadent Paris club…OR even ;) if you want your kitchen to look like an emergency room – yes! If those surroundings make you happy. And no, the book didn’t say those last things, but it inspires you in that direction. My personal favourite of the houses featured is under the heading “Life Imitates Art”. A New Englander has created a California home full of beauty and personality. It’s a mishmash of styles and periods with personal connection as a unifying link. It’s even a bit circusy, which I love (and now I know that love certainly has some connection to the fact that I used to ride a unicycle as a child).

Very inspiring, just like the entire book. It can be read many times over and in between readings it’s an attractive addition to the decor – if you love decor books!

Just a quick spotlight: Abigail Ahern’s new website/webshop is live. This place surely is a very happy hunting ground of quirky individualism, with lovely dog lamps, beautiful vases, majestic lighting and much more.  A personal favourite is the faux flowers – they look just amazing in reality. Also, new site has a page with Abigail’s latest loves, updated each month.

There’s a challenge going on in the Swedish blogosphere: to select 5 favourite blogs. I have to choose on a very ‘right now’ basis because it’s ever-changing. So here it goes, 5 fav blogs – in the interior design area – in no particular order:

• Solid frog. Why? It has great content! Lovely pics and above all: style is varied, creative and fun, it’s not only the “usual” stuff. (Blog language: English)

• atelier abigail ahern. Why? Because she is the coolest interior designer on earth, of course! Very inspirational. (Blog language: English)

• style made simple. Why? Again the content is varied with pics and styles from all around. (Blog language: Hungarian & English)

• UnderbaraClara. Why? She’s adorable and most certainly also her house is. Retro and countryish vintage with a huge portion of creativity. (Blog language: Swedish)

• purple area. Why? It’s good, it’s comptetent, it’s meat and potatoes: it covers the broad strokes. (Blog language: Swedish & English)