Global folklore, handicrafts, knitted decor – they are all part of one major interior trend this season. I think these images, from Country Home & Interiors (Nov 2010), have a fresh folksy feel. An inspiring merger. Stylewise it’s like a hybrid of country and folklore with a touch of light bohemian. Added a slight granny-wibe.

…is hot!

Autumn 2010 Home Collection by Gudrun Sjödén.

From my urban-Swedish position I continue to examine the trendification of the countryside. Here’s another fresh and inspiring example. An urban career couple with a nice Stockholm apartment stumbled upon a very rickety, even dilapidated, timber cottage from the year 1792. It was in the beautiful countryside region of Hälsingland, and so their four-year adventure began to make the decrepit place a homey home.

The entire interior of the old cottage was dismantled and fixed by using traditional methods and materials. The couple also endeavored to add traditional patterns and forms from the district, e.g. the rugs below, woven by grandma. The chairs in the dining room are newly manufactured after old model and has been painted with linseed oil according to the district’s tradition: grey frame and black seat.

The city pair became a family running their own business in a rural area. They have now the house of their hearts, a fixed point in life with great comfort. And may I add, with great style. I fully understand projects of this kind! And it’s great to see trendy interior styles be applied to, and created in, beautiful countryside houses.

| story – and all images, by Anna Kern for, – SvD |

Itty-bitty boho slash folklore inspiration for you this Friday. A sweet mix I think! To the left, a photo by Ditte Isager and to the right, the beautiful Mamma Maria lamp from Lekfull Design and some lovely vintage signs from Three Potato Four.

…excitement! I usually do not read Russian interior magazines, but as I was playing with my fiance’s iPad I stumbled across a wide assortment of digital interior magazines in the Zinio app. I read a Taiwanese mag, one from Belgium and another one from Mexico. That is, in all sorts of languages I do not understand. Most fruitful, yet very arcane, were the magazines from Russia.

In order to give you some inspiration from a slightly different angle, from an infrequent cardinal direction, I brought some pictures. Let’s have a sneek into the latest (available) issue of Russian magazine Seasons, #66 – 2010.

When I saw these pics I was flabbergasted..! Amazed to find this cool eclectic content. But well, what was I expecting? I know people don’t all live in those richly decorated palaces of the Tsar era, neither in homes filled to the brim with babushka dolls. And there is not nouveau riche all over. It’s trendey!

Upon reflection, it was not too long ago that Russian winds breezed in over the interior design world. Russian folk style and The Mystique of the East are themes that every now and then pop up as interior decor trends. All in all, that’s enriching and inspiring I think: it is slightly different vibe. Now the conclusion from the Russian mag study is: If you wish to have a look at contemporary decor trends from a Russian perspective, Seasons is a good choice.

Some slightly more odd parts from the Russian scene can be found if you

This is a IKEA catalogue 2011 roundup: some interior styling details, colours and overall trend themes. We’ll start off with a couple of styling features.

Examples of tricks we knew.. :p On the whole, I think the styling in the IKEA catalogues only gets better for each year. No doubt they are keeping pace with time. As for colours, IKEA fancies red and blue in particular the year 2011.

Good choices imho! Not too exciting and groundbreaking, but lagom (you know the Swedish word ‘lagom’? It’s like a National Word. Things must be moderate and pretty average, i.e.”just the right amount”.) With that said, however, the blue armchair might be a little too blue. Anyway, in terms of interior style trends the catalogue content comprises at least two more recent, apparent ones – a follow-up on the folklore style and a partially new industrial style.

| all images press photos |