| via sf girl by bay / marcus hay |

There’s some new blues in town this season – like the very fashionable cobolt blue  – and overall many variations of strong blues. I like the strong blue vibe yet I fancy the blue-greens too. Here’s a bunch of interesting blueish styles.

| one of those lovely, lovely pics from Tricia Guild’s home |

| a room at the zetter townhouse |

That’s what I love. I didn’t know about photographer Ashley Campbell, until I stumbled upon a reference to her blog Under the Sycamore in French Côté Maison. I also learned she sometimes writes about DIY on Design*Sponge. Anyways, the bohemian spirit in these pics makes me so happy…

An absolutely amazing kitchen wall – gorgeous mix.

| Sources: #2 via Cote Maison and #1&3 via Under the Sycamore |

Todd Selby has visited the New York City home of Colin Tunstall, co owner & creative director Saturdays NYC, and I cherish the laid-backness! A melodic and interesting tune is what I hear. Detailwise, I Iove it that he’s got a beautiful Dala horse in the window (actually there are more Swedish details if you look further at the Selby – e.g. some bottles of fine Swedish snaps. Good choices).

Lived-in and hodgy-podgy. On the verge of messy, yet I still hear a good tune, fine lyrics. Love this display below.

This weekend has held the Autumn 2011 Formex Fair. As always with these fairs – and maybe with this one in particular – there is much ado about nothing. Of what makes this event, fresh ideas & insights, trends and innovations are extremely small parts. Actually, you almost only find it in the marketing material! This of course is beneath contempt, since Formex could be The Place for inspiration, clearly ahead, like a fortune-teller-market. Instead, the exhibition is mainly blah when it comes to fresh new thoughts. Luckily enough though, we stayed for a lecture by Lotta Ahlvar, the CEO of Swedish Fashion Council. This very inspiring talk outlined some upcoming trends. Again it was confirmed that the Swedish white minimalist era is over. It belongs to the 00s. The successor can not be understood and defined already, of course, but Ahlvar spoke of somethng like “down-toned and cozy” as the present new concept. An anti-trend of course, after all the whiteness in this country. With the 70′s as style reference, nature as the source and the farmer as guru, a bit of style- and view-shifting is afoot.

Lotta Ahlvar highlighted a clearly growing trend in Sweden – the urban farmer. Or at least, the urban cultivator. The city is transforming into Farmville. Think potato plantations in the window and warp chickens on the balcony (and maybe a dairy cow in the garden?) Long passed are those multi-equipped fancy kitchens people never cooked in, just showed off the occasional sourdough. Now it’s time to plant some uniquely rare beans. In a cozy and 70s nostalgia environment. Crafts belong to the new (new-old) movement too and wool was noted as a trending material; knit, crocheted or tangled. Recycled. And wood! Lots of wood. Even more of the Swedish pinnstolar and Windsors (especially appropriate as one of our main resources and exports is wood). Moving on to the trend colours,  the charts for 2012-2013 contained lovely reds and 70s yellows together with gold and copper (i.a., this is only one / my selection). I really believe in Brandy orange + brass. There was also charcoal and clay. Now this was some of the trend news, let’s await a greater impact! I personally am convinced Lotta Ahlvar is right on track in her trend spotting (and n.b. I’ve fueled some of the content; all excesses are on me, not the lecturer). If not already, in due course (the style-anxious) Swedes will take the new trend line very seriously. Furthermore, this path is a natural consequence of our eco-thinking, conscientious waste sorting & recycling and not least given the ongoing trendification of the countryside.

As mentioned above, the innovativeness and trend sensibility demonstrated in the Ahlvar speech (and in the written Formex material) was not very much reflected in the Formex fair’s main content: the exhibiton. Some nice things were spotted – pictured above, though seen before -  but the overall impression was just as shabby chic as 2005. Loads of factory-worn or whitewashed signs with positive messages and other “newly-made antiques”. Not one single eye-opener, which leads me to conclude that the Swedish (mainstream) market for interior design products is pretty dull. Do It better Yourself – my next mission is to find/invent and share some DIY-ideas.

And speaking of, I like the DIY fair Hem & Villa and the Home fair way better. This year [Oct 13-16] it’s themed – tadá! – Close To Nature. Trend report follows.

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Dearest readers. I hope you enjoyed Henen’s House Tour! Judging from your response through comments & emails it was a real treat. Thanks Henen! And she’s got many more rooms in her house, so there’s more where that came from! Also, although I only got three rooms and a kitchen, I’ve done some new things recently (e.g. re-styled a drawer and re-arranged a wall) that I will share with you all soon.

Autumn season is ready to bloom and it’s an exciting time ahead now. This coming weekend, the largest meeting point for nordic interior design – the Formex fair – will take place and Trendey is invited to cover it. (As said before, this season’s trend theme is Cozy Minimalism – i.e. a contradiction in terms)) I don’t know about you, but I am really ready for some new influences now: Interior scenes not seen a thousand times already. These two pics, from September issues of Marie Claire Maison (first pic), and Style at home (2nd pic) do thrill me a bit.

A nicely decorated kitchen! I do love the ethnic vibe and the use of different tones of green and pistachio. A slight touch of industrial and the oddish objects on the selves complete the style. As an update, I just found this kitchen below and felt an urgent need to add it here (it’s Isabelle’s at Dos Family, click in for more detailed views).

I love the mood and it has also that new vibe. The tiles are gorgeous and the decor so exciting.
Below, black walls with frame groupings taken a step further as the collection of artwork is very expressive and, let say: well-travelled. I hope to see more of these interesting and dynamic globetrotterish/ethnic styles in the months to come. And I long for more folklore!

Discuss!

Now I’m back from an absolutely wonderful stay in London. Will show some smashingly trendey pics on Saturday, i.e. on Trendey’s birthday! As always when in London, I vistited dear Anthropologie at Regent Street and there I realized there’s a super-interesting book I hadn’t read: Creative Walls by Geraldine James. The book has the undertitle How to display and enjoy your treasured collections, but is not one of those How-To-books with rules and instructions – it’s just a pack of highly interesting ideas! I really like Mrs James’s be-yourself-attitude as well as the bohemian and eclectic looks of it all.

Wall displays and frame grouping is definitely one of the most interesting home decor features imho. Like nothing else and it can give life, meaning and personality to a home. And it can be done in zillions of ways. Furthermore, it don’t have to cost much, well in terms of creativity but not in terms of money. So is Mrs James’ passion to create beauty from nothing. A crucial element in this book is also her statement that “cold minimalism has its place, but not at my place”. (couldn’t agree more :)) This is my favourite photo from the book:

Beautifulness! A stairway can hardly be more attractive. Of course in this business, there is an obvious obstacle: it is hard to find those bits you want to decorate the wall with. I guess it can take a lifetime to collect them. Nevertheless, it should be worth the effort. Other nice inspiration in this book includes brilliant displays in bathrooms (example to the left below), and pictured right: prints hung with clips. Yupp, I really like this book!

Hang tight for Saturday’s treat.