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.

Etsy is one amazing place. I keep finding so many nice things! My latest catch is a gorgeous vintage monkey I’m so much looking forward to meet. Here’s a collection of some other nice things, available right now.

| a hand woven ikat pillow @ lai grai, a vintage task lamp & a vintage robert mitchum framed portrait @ confetti garden and a gift set for the craft lover @ funretro |

| a vintage 70s swag ceiling light (in sweden we call them ‘tiffany-lamps’) @ funretro, a sea foam herman miller eames chair @ comod and finally, there’s something special with this montana brewery fine art print @ awakes |

d istinctly talented Swedish designer Lisa Bengtsson delivered her graphic design graduation project – the wallpaper Familjen – only a couple of years ago, and has since then received many awards for her adorable and clever designs (one of my favourites along the way has been the Ros-Marie wallpaper). Lisa Bengtsson derives inspiration from people around her and the atmosphere of bygone days. Now, as a mother of twins, she has pondered questions of family resemblance, similarities and differences. This has resulted in a brand new design, featuring a multitude of dachshunds!

These illustrations are sold (in limited editions) in cooperation with Save the Children Sweden – Design for Children’s Rights. The dachsies all originate from different corners of the world and the design shows that despite our differences and regardless of where we were born – we are all very much alike.

These sweet personalities also form a fun medallion pattern. Three of them in close-up, in either blue or gold, are available through textiles company Mairo as fabric by meter and as cushions. There is also a pattern with 12 dogs, which is also available in oilcloth. The pattern is called Tillsammans (Together). This one is definitely a new favourite!

Today I’m inspired by kitchen details. Maybe it’s because I talked to Henen today about her kitchen-under-construction. I was deeply engrossed in the subject matter of kitchen design and haven’t really come out of it! Sometimes, I find kitchen’s being a bit left behind in terms of decoration. With all functions and features in place, there’s no reason kitchen decor should be less fun and creative than that of e.g. a living room. In these pics, small details make big things happen to the kitchen atmosphere.

| photos via allt i hemmet, unknown/forgotten & bottom pic: fantastic frank |