| pic: marie claire maison |

Stainless steel backdrop + colours. It’s absolutely trendy, but with its variation possibilities it has a potential of resistance to the changing times.

| pics: living etc |

Another, possibly more daring, choice is to let  colour have the prominent place. Blueish, redish, yellowish…All excellent kitchen-colours.

| pics: living etc |

| pic: Sköna hem |

So… those were my picks for inspiration. What’s YOUR dream kitchen like? Would you go for something 2010-hot like this or keep it more traditional?

She says: I am neither a style police nor some minimalist Scandinavian designer. You can’t design on the basis of trends. Of course, this is reflected in her personal interior style.

The hallway is papered with yellowed newspaper ads from old fashion and home magazines. Fancy old corset ads get new trendy life behind her shoe collection. Story says, she has matching shoes for all her bikinis. All photos: Jimmy Croona for DN Bostad

The Lively colourful balcony pots are high on the agenda this spring, with a choice of eight colours and a great feature: the selfwatering attachment.

As for seating, I’m looking out for the chair that will beat my design favourite, the top-trendy Forest chair from Italian Fast.

And of course, every outdoor space needs a (colourful) garden gnome.

| pic: living etc |

| photo: Pia Ulin |

Yesterday night, me and Mike planted some seeds. Some pre-cultivation is going on, in prep of the balcony season. Since we live in Swedish hardiness zone 2 (corresponding to approx. American zone 6) we need to be proactive. Seeds of Tobacco flower, Tomatoes, Basil, Wild Strawberries, Chili and Busy Lizzie are now set in fertile soil. We’ll see who makes it to June :) Beauty is under waaaaay. Let the sun shine in!

Manne the Clown has travelled all the way from PeachyChic in California, now found himself a happy corner @ Södermalm, Sweden. He has asked for a line of colourful pennants on the wall – and I’m right at it! Using this great DIY-tutorial. Ladies and gentlemen, a spring fresh and funny circus theme is under way…*drumroll*

| Irina Graewe |

Next item on the list of neglected rooms are bathrooms. I.e. said from a Swedish point of view. Tile and re-tile…! We do believe bathrooms must be sterile. Reason for this is unclear, but it certainly has its historical explanation. Yes, we are a timid bunch! Pic below, my dear readers, I appoint the typical Swedish bathroom.
A random pick from the site that aggregates current real estate listings (Booli). White, fresh and clean (sterile):

Okay, surely there are variations. The use of colour, the spa feeling, yet head-to-toe tiled bathrooms are still the finest, most exclusive. The main problem is presumably not the all-over tile, key issue is the ample lack of decor. The squariness.

| all pics: Booli Inspiration |

Is not it very cozy to lie in a bathtub in a sensible place…. with colours, living materials, a homey feeling? A lively, friendly environment? Yeeeah, I certainly think so! And the trend is pointing in that direction.

…it says: Let inspiration flow! Bathroom is a room too!!

| pics: livingetc |

| pic: veranda.com |

| pic: real estate ad – Oscars |

| pic: livingetc |

| Via Sköna hem |

| pics: Living etc |