Norway gave us Ane Brun – just listen to Du gråter så store tåra and you’ll be spellbound – and what’s more Norwegians are the masters of country style decor. And what best would be described as cozy & contemporary Scandinavian. Very trendy for spring with its pale pastels and wood.

| left pic via lev landlig #7/2011, right: trine thorsen|

I’m not sure if Norwegian decor’s va va voom factor would have happened without the artistery of Norwegian photographer Trine Thorsen (site/blog). And besides the many Norwegian blogs featuring variations of this style, the interior/lifestyle magazine Lev Landlig is undeniably one of the best in its range.

| left pic: trine thorsen, right via lev landlig #7/2011 |

Blonde wood & wool are crucial elements, and for some reason, so are plates! The colour schemes not seldom include light blues, and other inspiring details of this beautiful fjord country’s style are antlers and fishery equipment.

| left via stines blogg/vintage chic, right: trine thorsen |

 Lastly, a Norwegian bedroom nature-style.

| pic via NIB – norske interiørblogger |

Personally, I really really like the Norwegian touch, and especially the more countryish part and the nature inspired details. Many times though, the contemporary Norwegian style is set against an all-white backdrop (white walls and white-painted floors) and that’s the part I like the least. Or well, i can definitely be beautiful to look at, but my feeling is I wouldn’t stand such white interiors in my everyday life – just like I wouldn’t everyday (or anyday!) wear a white suit and white shoes, even if the accessories were cozy :p This pic is an extremely nice example though! Love how the elements are put together. More inspiration on this style can be found at Draumesidene, a blog by the bedroom owner.

Now that’s me. How about you – does Norway inspire you too?

This lumberjack log wallpaper by Andrew Martin looks simply amazing.

 | It’s part of The Engineer Collection and is available at trendey-favourite Rockett St George |

As you might have noticed, I have a sort of intermittent blogging behaviour. Periods of silence goes into sudden bursts of inspiration, and back to silence. Last weekend was spent in the northern parts of the country, together with my dear sister. We browsed through loads of fresh interior design magazines, discussing back and forth. So much fun! One thing that got stuck on my mind from this activity was one designer’s (can’t remember who’s) advise to always add something orange or red if nothing else works. The room will be as fresh as the taste of an orange. I totally agree. And like nothing else, the best and ever-so-trendy time for reds & oranges is now.

This picture is from the cover of Homes & Gardens November 2011 issue. What a spark! The colour scheme is so attractive. And I suspect the botanical prints will survive (and develop) a few more seasons to come – not least because they are part of the trendification of the countryside and the popular urban farming-thinking. The only thing I immediately would like to change in this room are the matchy-matchy lamps (and the cushion arrangement – it screams precision and control). Gorgeous sofa spotted. Now, at this time a year, one only needs to look out of the window to get inspired. Nature’s wonderful display of colours surpasses every other source of inspiration.

Although it’s not this red in Stockholm city today, the inspirational beautifulness is significant. Moving along to the November issue of Living Etc, I think the use of red in this blue paradise is as excellent as can be…

And the copper, dear copper, is a crucial element. Now who’s not thrilled by a tango? Its dramatic energy, sensuality and power totally symbolizes red. (Comes to mind I actually went to Argentine tango classes some 10 years ago, believe it or not!).

Lastly, one more red masterstroke to look at. These lipstick red panton chairs (pic found via A Beautiful Living) are in my opinion what makes this kitchen wow instead of ok, nice. My future house will no doubt contain a pair, maybe not as mysteriously placed as these (guess it’s simply for relaxing while food is cooking), but I do like the unconventional vibe it entails.

Happy Autumn days!

| ceannis |

Today, I have a special feature for you. Trendey has had a word with the design duo behind fabulous escape from sofa. If you haven’t seen their furniture collection yet, I hereby make sure you do! Escapefromsofa are exhibiting later this month in both TENT LONDON and Istanbul Design Week with nothing less than ûber-trendey design that hits both at our love for mid-century and the surge for nature inside. Or as Henen put it: 50’s modernism meets the Flintstones. Design duo Mahmut Kefeli (industrial designer) and Kerem Ercin believe in simplicity and worship the details, and they enjoy working with new and emerging materials and technologies. Now, let’s hear some more! I found three favourites in the collection, one of them is the 2-functions-in-1 sidetable Coma (above), cravings!, and another one is this gorgeous shelf/bookcase named Longneck:

Please tell us about it!

Longneck is our first baby actually. We designed longneck while we were designing nisantasi berker house (name of the project). We created it as a tv unit and later on we decided to make it as a moduler unit. And after all we are quite satisfied.

You should be! Your furniture collection is lovely. What was your main inspirations and thoughts for the collection?

We always try to work with the sense of style, simplicity and functionality and mostly believe that scandinavian furnitures are really good designs and we as escapefromsofa try to look from their aspect. And also we believe that the devil is in the details!

For the collection also we tried to achieve the perfection of simplicity, the perfection of craftmanship and also the perfection of functionality.

Your brand name is interesting. It implies a movement away from the sofa?

That’s actually what we try to impress with the name of escapefromsofa. As you know mediterenian people live quite close to their sofas. But we as escapefromsofa try to stay away from sofas. We love our job and we love to design. You know the saying that “ let your job be your lover, so that you dont have to go work everyday!“ This is the main idea that we try to implement to our office and co workers.

That’s you reviving all couch potatoes! :)  Indeed a great saying. This is my third favourite, the rocking chair Short Tail:
Please tell us about it!

As you know every designer has at least one iconic rocking chair. So that we designed one :)

Well done! Love its vibe. Lastly, what are your plans -  when and how will your products be available?

Our goal is to enlarge our collection and meet with manufacturers. So that we can distrubute our products worldwide. Also if we manage to produce 1.000.000 pieces of one product than i can say that we achieved our goal :).

Our product are available at Nordist in Istanbul. Hopefully we ll come up worldwide soon :)

And yey, Trendey sincerely hopes so too!

I love this mix. So snug and comfortable! With a gorgeous Autumny colour scheme and a laidback combo of flea market finds and mid-century design. Harmonious and down-to-earty yet interesting.

| via Lantliv |