After many weeks of packing and moving out and moving in mayhem, I’m finally beginning to settle in in my new house. At last I have the phone and broadband sorted and my new study/office at least partially decorated! Quite a relief after many days of sitting on a stool in front of a make-shift desk made of moving boxes trying to get a dongle to work for more than ten minutes in a row:-)

As I’m a big fan of black walls, I decided to make the walls of the room I spend the most of my time in (except for the bedroom and the kitchen) this colour. I went for Farrow & Ball’s “Off-Black” and I really love how it turned out! In some lights and next to pitch black items (as below) it looks like a lilac-y grey…

…whereas most of the times it just looks like a mellow black or very deep grey. More on this room once I manage to get some more furniture in! On display at the moment are some colour-bursting Mexican fairy lights and vintage finds like a pink Victorian arm chair and my gold-rimmed H. Next is to get some shelves and storage furniture in place, must go shopping!

When I saw this pic in the latest (Jan 2011) issue of Style At Home I got a the spendidest idea. I’ve got a white desk and I have a pair of white old cowboy boots that I used to wear in early 00′s which are now stoved away – much loved and saved for sentimental reasons. How cool wouldn’t it be to dress a table leg with one beloved boot, and maybe also let an interesting sock pop out?! Sadly my dream was ruined already after one round of thoughts, because how twisted wouldn’t the desk be with one leg a shoe-heel higher than the others..Bah. And I am pretty sure my BF wouldn’t be so pleased if I cut off one leg 2″. Works for flat shoes though!

Now Ladies and Gentlemen, I need to bury myself in work. Maybe Henen will show up or she’s up to her ears researching on decor for their new London house! Either way, I’ll leave you with this fine study. Same blue as my study walls – creative and calm – and I just looove this mix!

| pic: marie claire maison |

There is a wide range, a large and mixed content, within the Scandinavian interior style. There are many different versions: Danish, Norwegian and Swedish style to mention a few. And within these, subcategories. Urban, country, folklore, etc. All with common (Scandinavian) denominators. The Scandi style that recently has been most popular is surely an industrial vintage version. Sleek, clean, white, with an industrial backdrop and yes, design chairs. 50′s furniture and a retro vibe has step by step gained more interest, and alongside all the design pieces, Danish colour splashes are increasingly visible, as well as Finnish graphic patterns. All under the Scandinavian style umbrella.

Now within the Swedish styles, dating back to e.g. Carl Larsson and a handicraft and folklore heritage, the designs and philosophies of Josef Frank, on to the comptemporary Stockholm style and Swedish style mix I personally fancy the countryish Swedish styles. Not the sh****-chic, but the folksy vintage. A kind of decor style that is very well-represented by the Swedish blogger/entrepreneur Underbara Clara. I mentioned her before here, under the theme “Grandmother Is a Decor Hero”. Now to Underbaraclara’s home office. If I had lived – or maybe, when I’ll live – in the country side, in the deep forests of Northern Sweden, I would think in these decor terms…and I would love it.

I’ve got stripes, stripes around my shoooulders...

I rather like the impression of black & white stripes in decor. It’s classic, modern and stylish. Stripes work well in any style. How ever the trend winds blow. I love my b&w Bob Pappelina rug, it always fits somewhere. There are some b&w stripes around this Autumn, e.g. in the well-circulated pics above from DAY and Ferm Living. Always classic and an interesting style-break in many settings, right now I’d combine the black-white-striped details with grey, with colour schemes like these, added a bith of warmth.

Personally, I am not particularly fond of modern graphic patterns, I think they often have a disruptive effect. As small details though, they can be really nice..

| photo: Trine Thorsen |

For large surfaces, I prefer a white pattern against a black background rather than vice versa. These dramatic walls below are really cool I think. And and extra hello to the boho charmig magpies!

| photo: Andrea Ferrari |

It’s Monday evening and besides trying to figure out what to have for dinner (fried salmon and salad maybe?), I’m busy musing over the industrial vintage design style. I really love reclaimed vintage industrial furniture and fittings! So trendey! They’re rough and ready and full of history. Rusty metals, steel and brass, old wood and squeaky weird contraptions… cool and quirky. Reminds me of some of the items from the DAY Birger et Mikkelsen’s AW 2010 Home collection actually.

Anyway, before I get giddy with hunger, I’ll leave you with these images rounded up from across the web to show you what industrial-shabby looks like to me:

                                                                                                                                                                             [pic 1: Anthropologie - pic 2: via La Dolce Vita - pic 3: Three Potato Four - pic 4: Peddlers - pic 5: Peddlers - pic 6: Styleathome.com]