The house tour continues in the kitchen! When we moved in, the kitchen was tiny and very outdated, so to create a larger and more user-friendly kitchen we knocked down a wall to combine two small rooms and opened out the chimney breast to make room for the range cooker (which I love because it’s got so much oven space!). It was an excruciatingly dusty and noisy job and I’m really glad it’s over. But it was all worth it of course because now we have a spacious and modern kitchen which makes life just a bit easier and cooking a lot more fun!

View of fridge-freezer and pull-out larders. We don’t normally have that much wine, but I won auctions on three boxes full of wine so now I’m rather unexpectedly rich on wine, if not money.. :-)
Dining room. My favourites here are the vintage empire-style chandelier, the Chinese cabinet and the cute Polish “Cyrk” poster (my birthday gift). This room turned out a lot more traditional looking than we had initially envisaged – mostly because of the period features already in the room and the antique furniture finds we laid our hands on along the way. Decorating can be quite an exciting journey – you never quite know where you’ll end up and often mistakes, path-corrections and chance discoveries can make the end result a lot more interesting than what you had in mind from the start! :-)

Finally, check out the lift below. This is brilliant – I only wish it was a real lift which I could take up to the loft! Sadly it’s just a trompe l’oeil wallpaper from style-your-door… Highly recommend this for a boring piece of wall actually – it certainly brougt some fun and colour to the disused door under our stairs :-)

| all images: trendey |

Like nothing else, flowers represent summer.

What would this white-tiled kitchen be without the flowers?

Instant loveliness.

The most effective home decor feature of them all.

Ok, I know that first part of the title don’t make sense to you English speakers. But I have a giveaway, for those tall and fresh Vikings that can be found in Sweden’s population register only – explained at the end of this post. It’s a thanks for Trendey’s efforts as part of the jury in a contest held by Swedish-founded Electrolux with its home appliance brand Husqvarna: about designing your dream kitchen. You can try the thing out, look at Swedish peoples’ ideas on dream kitchens and give your votes here. Every week the four entries with the most votes are lifted out into the final. After next week, the jury designates prize winners among all the finalists.

Anyhow, this, again, got me thinking of my dream kitchen. Inspiration on kitchens is not scarce these days. There’s plenty of different styles around, although the industrial style kitchens and the good ‘ol country kitchens tend to top the league. Personally I favour a combination of the two – something like ‘cozy industrial’ or ‘country sleek’. At the moment, I am very fond of the kitchen style in the previous post. To me, charm is key. And I really really like it when kitchens have decor details just like any other room. These pics are today’s inspiration!

| sources: top innerstadsspecialisten via solid frog, bottom left via style files and right via vtwonen |

Vilken Trendey-läsare vill vinna en Powermix Silent?

Denna snygging är en mixer från Husqvarna Electrolux som har ett patenterat ljuddämpande system, vilket innebär att man kan köra den och samtidigt höra vad man tänker. Värde ca 1350 kr, minihackare för lök, kryddor och grönsaker samt juicefilter medföljer.

Allt du behöver göra för att delta är att svara rätt på följande: När och var grundades Husqvarna? Samt berätta vad Du skulle använda denna mixer till i sommar om den blev din.

Lämna en kommentar nedan – med ditt namn och kanske var du kommer ifrån om jag måste efterlysa dig! – och på självaste nationaldagen den 6 juni stängs tävlingen och jag utser en vinnare som får hem detta tröttaöron-vänliga köksredskap.

En annan sak endast ni svensktalande läsare förstår och som inte får missas!: Boråstapeters tragikomiska reklamvideo med målaren Lennart...

UPPDATERING! Hurra för Sverige denna dag! Och vilket väder till landets ära. Nu till det väsentliga:

The last couple of weeks, my regular sources of inspiration (such as magazines, blogs, etc) haven’t injected the regular dose of excitement. I think maybe I’ve had a bit more than I can chew :) Nevertheless, during the year passed I’ve decorated more than ever. Had more creative thoughts than feasible. Our home is funnier than ever! And over and over again, I find new inspiring books. This is one of them, published in 2008: New London Style by Chloe Grimshaw; photography by Ingrid Rasmussen. Just next to Undecorate in my compartment of favourites, this book features the homes of some of London’s most exciting young talents from the music, fashion, design and art scenes.

The interiors have been put under the heading “New London Style” but it’s not a showy parade of ‘taste’ nor a rulebook or instruction on pretty – it’s a book full of creativity. I adore the kitchen above, it gives me so much inspiration! I’d take it right-a-way…Many of the interiors are pretty simple, or rather effortless, relaxed. With my love for beige-ish walls, I think this scene is lovely.

Though superbly edited, it’s the charm and sensible personal choices (i.e. the photos!) that matters in this book. Style varies throughout the book, and there is no glossy quest for perfection – which makes it spellbinding to study: there’s something interesting to consider in almost every photo! Like this one, who lives in this room below?

In our kitchen, we’ve got a special wall of fame. Or rather, wall of love. Here you can find superstars such as my grandma the ceramic artist Tora, Mike’s grandpa City Gardener Birger, my great-grandfathers parents who were travellers and some other dignitaries. I’ve mixed them on purpose so that Mike’s grandma goes together with my grandpa and so on…It is perfect to have a chapter like this right in the kitchen, for intetested guests to ponder and discuss, while we cook. And for us to share what we know about their lives and personalities. Not rarely it also leads to exciting stories of other people’s ancestors. That’s a mingle in our house!

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 |