trendey

As the winds blow colder outside and the winter darkness makes us want to curl up, these rugs look more desirable than ever! Patricia Urquiola has designed the rug series Mangas for Gan Rugs. The rugs come in quite unexpected forms -  almost reminiscent of a pair of large, knitted socks or leg warmers. They are designed to be assembled into longer creations. I would love to dress my floors in this!

The Swedish fashion company Boomerang has, since the start in 1976, said to define “Scandinavian Preppy”. Their concept is a preppy style with a Swedish heritage – less sporty than the American style, yet more casual and less formal than the British style. Tonight, the Boomerang Home Collection will be previewed.. and from tomorrow Friday, it will be sold at Boomerang stores. Exiting!

| photo from Design Delight |

Those stools look very appealing! The Home collection is developed in collaboration with designer Jens Fager. And there’s a Boomerang Effect – lamps, carpets, stool-seats, etc, are made from recycled clothing and fabrics – waste material from the production of Boomerang clothing. The Boomerang Effect also means that you can return your old Boomerang garments to the store and receive a 10% discount on your next purchase – some of the returned garments will be given a second chance. Super – thank you Design Delight for sharing this news – I feel an urgent need to go there tomorrow and check it out!

The Gudrun Sjödén Winter 2009 catalogue arrived to me today. It reminded me to check back on the lovely AW 2009 home collection. One of the themes (my favourite) is Burträsk, a tiny town in the far north of Sweden. Gudrun Sjödén was inspired by pictures in the book “Måla som förr” (“Paint like in the Old Days”) taken in a cottage in Burträsk. And so she went there, to a cottage with a colourful decor – a yellow ochre background and shades of Paris blue. Inspiring, I think!

Now to the Winter 2009 clothes collection “Bhutan/Stockholm”. Some may think Burträsk is far away, but this time Gudrun Sjödén has travelled to the Kingdom of Bhutan high up in the Himalayas. Here she found a fine tune: a blend of simple Scandinavia with the colourful Buddhist Bhutan. Message is: there is a link between folklore all over the world. Gudrun Sjödén created her first unique collection in 1974. Having grown up with Gudrun Sjödén-style as a concept as familiar as the stackable orange chairs in the school canteen, I think I haven’t seen the forest for all the trees. The clothes are mainly very colourful and bold, chunky and shapeless. It is, and has always been, homespun, coarse and comfortable. The concept is strong, almost overwhelming. However, looking behind the more than 30 years old stereotype, I can easily recognize there are some treasures! Here’s a few favourites from the Winter 2009 collection:

A spooted top in lyocell, £43, and a tiered cotton skirt, £53. I would match them a bit different though… The “Mountain avens” long knee-socks look soo cozy! It’s jacquard-knit socks that feature a pretty folklore pattern with a twisted braid and tassels. This is where Gudrun Sjödén meets Odd Molly and we find Swedish blended folklore style at its best.

In its report about this Autumn’s hottest trends, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter picks up 5 strong trends: Recycling, Eco, Colourful, Clean Wood and Neoclassical. Pics of all 5 trends display a chair. Here’s my top 3, (I left out the colourful and the eco).

The Recycling trend is pretty obvious. And pretty cool. I haven’t yet started my own DIY Odd China Lamp project, but in time I will! As for chairs – it’s all about paint. Old chairs, not least pin chairs, are easily enlivened with some strokes of paint. Seat cushions can be created from old clothes, yarns, cloths, curtains, scarves, anything. All one needs to immortalize old goods is a creative mind and a skillfull hand. =)

The Clean Wood trend, in Sweden, speaks of Nordic blonde wood like birch, ash and oak. Birch bark is a personal favourite in this compartment. Like this lamp, that recently was for sale on an auction site (auction closed due to lack of interest). Birch bark handicrafts are common in Northern Sweden, and can be found at flea markets, like in this example from the blog Kurbits. A fav light-wood chair is the previously metioned mushroom-ish IKEA CARLJOHAN stool.

The Neoclassical trend asks us to dust off old family portraits and bring down those leather-bound hardcovers from the attic. Soft upholstered furniture is the key for seating, as watchwords in this trend are elegant, timeless, cozy and recognition of roots. For my new home, I’ve decided on at least one Louis Ghost Chair by Philippe Starck for Kartell. (And of course, my heart still beats for the velvet DAY sofa and what if one had place for a Chesterfield as well =))

One overriding, long-lived, chair trend that I am definitely bringing in to my new home is the odd chair mix. Examples of this pick-and-mix feature are numerous in interior design magazines and blogs. This photo is from Sköna hem:

Now speaking of chairs, make sure to visit London Design Museum’s online exhibition A Century of Chairs. The exhibition shows chairs from the late 1800s ’til today:
“Few objects tell the history of modern design as eloquently as the chair. Aesthetics trends, the emergence of new technologies, ergonomics, social and cultural developments are all reflected in the evolution of chair design.”

One of my favourite brands, for both clothes and interiors, is the Danish DAY Birger et Mikkelsen. The DAY HOME winter collection of 2009 is, as always, well-thought-through and absolutely stunning in its perfect colour mixes.

The atmosphere is cozy, intellectual – a little messy, inviting and warm. You want to stay at home with the fireplace on, read books, drink toddy´s, maybe start knitting a sweater to a loved one. The colors of the season are WARM with red, pink and purple, COLD with blue and army and an ethnic GOLD to tie them all together.

This latest collection includes a piece of furniture I’ve fallen helplessly in love with – the Conversation Sofa. A velvet sofa with a warm purple-aubergine hue that is totally consistent with DAY’s inspirational thoughts: I want to stay home in that sofa, with the fireplace on, read a book, drink toddy´s, and maybe start knitting a sweater to a loved one. All winter long…

The DAY sofa measures 200 X 80 X 100 cm and has a pricetag of approx £2500 (29 900 SEK).

Speaking about our Swedish pride IKEA, here’s my top 5 list of news in the 59 ed. catalogue.

Eight years ago I bought my first Pappelina rug, his name is Bob (to the right). I’ve always loved this black and white award-winning plastic rug. Some years ago a light brown/vanilla -coloured dotty Vera entered my hallway as well. Now with the new acquaintances Jon & Alice, I feel time has come for a new Pappelina friend.

The company Pappelina was founded in 1998, when Lina Rickardsson returned to Sweden after a couple of years abroad. Plastic rugs were almost forgotten and so she renewed it and made them oh so popular! The rugs are made with a modernized traditional weaving technique from 1948. Although Pappelina now has a wide range of home interior products, the centre of gravity in their assortment is still the plastic rug. This autumn two new designs are born. Meet Jon and Alice, they are an elegant couple.

Jon is wearing a pinstriped suit. He comes in formal black, in red or in pale turqouise. His length can be choosen out of several intervals from 70x100cm up to 70x450cm. Price ranges from approx. £77-£215 (905-2 540 SEK).

Alice wears a classic white checked plaid pattern shirt. She comes in sex variations: coloured with cerise, blue, green, yellow, purple and black. She can be almost as tall as Jon with sizes from 70x100cm up to 70x400cm. Price tag between approx £49 and £175 (570-2 055 SEK)

Have I got a diffucult time now to choose with one to invite home..! Visit Pappelina for more pics and inspiration. I will get back later with a pic on how I integrated my choice of rug at home.

Today, the Swedish paint manufacturer Beckers launched their AW 09/10 paint collections. Inspiration is derived from three parallel trends: Eco, that connotes to the environmental awareness with beige colours in earthy tones, white and some yellow and green hues. The colorful geometry that communicates art and freedom, with sporty and happy hues preferably with metallic luster and graphical expressions. Last but not least (rather most!) is the focus on new luxury, nouveau riche. The new luxury paint has an unconcerned saturated approach, inspired by the newly rich countries’ (read Russia, China, India..s’) “carefree” attitude and fearlessness of colours. Here we find deep, bold and sophisticated colours accented by luxurious metals such as copper, gold and bronze. They also call it shabby chic, with a slogan that goes “just do it nice enough”.

Nature transformed into warm colourful interior details. Ready to move in to a September home. To use as curtains, table cloths, miscellaneous decorations – here’s two autumn favourites from Marimekko:

From 1949 until forever – the String bookshelf is a timeless piece of furniture. This autumn the String Pocket shelf will be available in four new colours.

The ‘String Pocket’ is a slim shelf for paperbacks, CDs and DVDs. With 2 side panels and 3 shelves it measures 60x15x50cm, and the price tag is approx. £75 (880 SEK). The pocket shelf collection has offered eight combination possibilities – with shelves in white, red, black and walnut.

From early October the current bright orange-red shelf will be replaced by a darker hued red, that together with a mild pink, a light blue and a bright yellow alternative, form the new colourful String Pocket collection.

(Release info and photo via Olsson & Gerthel)

As summer fades and evenings are getting darker, yellow is the perfect accent colour to illuminate our homes. No other color expresses hope and reassurance more than yellow. This was said when the Pantone Mimosa yellow was selected the Color of the Year for 2009. Bright sunny yellow, warm golden yellow, orange-and green hued yellows, they are all super-trendey sparkles ready to enlighten any interior.

Around a photo of a balcony (taken today @ Norr Mälarstrand, Stockholm) I’ve gathered some yellowish favourites. Clockwise starting from 1 o’clock it is the Toldbod Pendant 120, yellow blossom, from Louis Poulsen, followed by Magazine Racks and the stool La Bohème by Kartell. From 6 o’clock going towards 7, a yellow Atelier Chesterfield and a Suzani Sprig Cocktail Napkin from Anthropologie. The Yellow Statue at 8 can be found in Supermarket Sarah and finally at bedtime, the Trollsta side table from Ikea.

As you probably already know, no one is drinking coffee in mugs anymore. It’s all about petite and beautiful vintage coffee cups. This phenomena goes along with the 1950′s/60´s housewife trend. For today, a non-negligible amount of young urban people has brought sweet new life to chores and duties our parents thought were overdue. The trend is aimed at the American housewives from the 50s. A bit harsh, a bit glamourous, but mostly back-to-the-bone. The new born interest in home-made soup and bread, 7 kinds of cookies, spectacular cupcakes and in exchangig tips on how best to manage antler salt has not necessarily anything to do with a backlash; i.e. a desire to never work and just wear a floury apron and be devoted to housework. Inside of the trend there is indeed an element of admiration of each other’s vintage china and puffy vintage skirts, but there’s also a high awareness and a play with stereotypes. It’s way aside from the heroine chic fashion, quite the opposite: with the hair come wavy on rollers and with the tilting pleated skirt, you can eat as much frosting as you wish. It is permissive, and that’s probably one key as to why the trend is so easily absorbed today. The appealing part of the housewife in modern times seems altogether to go back to the genuine: to make real food, cooked from scratch. To practice the tricks and that grandma taught us. To stand firmly on our roots when the wind wines. As long as you know how to grow and harvest potatoes you’ll survive difficult times.

So, even though not all of us will be making 7 sweet pastries for the coffee rope on Sunday, we cant’t escape reality. For this, we need flowered tablecloths and china from the first half of the 1900s. Here’s a lovely vintage coffee cup example: