This is a home decor chapter I find really interesting: frame groupings and displays. A person’s home actually tells a story about that person. If not about nerdy interests and exotic adventures (or the love for white and cleanliness ;)), it does say a lot about what is dear to that human. In my opinion nothing is more thrilling and enjoyable than rooms and homes that speaks! Speaks stories, speaks loud, and speaks well, different style languages. A home full of character or at least: some. And displays of various kinds serve that purpose very well.

Ten globes are really cooler than one, don’t you think?

Here’s one of the best DIY-ideas I’ve spotted in ages: using pant hangers!

That’s such a great way to display a doll collection.
And lastly, book shelves, literally speaking. Love it!

After many weeks of packing and moving out and moving in mayhem, I’m finally beginning to settle in in my new house. At last I have the phone and broadband sorted and my new study/office at least partially decorated! Quite a relief after many days of sitting on a stool in front of a make-shift desk made of moving boxes trying to get a dongle to work for more than ten minutes in a row:-)

As I’m a big fan of black walls, I decided to make the walls of the room I spend the most of my time in (except for the bedroom and the kitchen) this colour. I went for Farrow & Ball’s “Off-Black” and I really love how it turned out! In some lights and next to pitch black items (as below) it looks like a lilac-y grey…

…whereas most of the times it just looks like a mellow black or very deep grey. More on this room once I manage to get some more furniture in! On display at the moment are some colour-bursting Mexican fairy lights and vintage finds like a pink Victorian arm chair and my gold-rimmed H. Next is to get some shelves and storage furniture in place, must go shopping!

The December/January issue of Elle Decor just came out and I found this to be the most interesting pic. Nearly black with Americana vibe. Yes I knoooow, the US edition might have American style influences but hey I’m Swedish. I love this hot trend-traditional combo. The sofa table nails it.

I’ve got two personal favourites in the wall colour department. One speaks for itself. Black. Or very nearly black. Rather dark greyish than dark blueish is my preference. At the very top of my list are of course the elusive granny wallpapers. But one must be realistic, it’s both easier and more fun to paint. And less expensive. When the time is right I’ll find my countryside cottage with those terrificly worn old original wallpapers. And the second favourite is a warm comforting colour with no exact definition. It’s kind of pinkish and let’s call the reference lingonberry + milk. The wall to the left below is painted with Alcro’s Lingonberry Milkshake paint. Something similiar to this, but slightly less pink, more like the raw plaster wall right, would be perfect backdrop to a faded glamour scheme.

| black pics via living etc and paul massey photography and lingonberrymilk pics via underbaraclara and living etc |

I can feel it has crept up on me. From having just tickles the diagnosis is now more than clear: I need to paint a room black! It’s just so neat. The syndrome. Forget everything that has been said about black – about its mood-derogatory and size-shrinking effects. Its utter absence of colour is its advantage. Check our category Dark Painted Walls to get the proof! Black makes the boat rock and colours pop. It’s the new white: Replace innocence with power, shift from purity to mystery and skip the fresh cleanliness for sophisticated elegance.

| pics from an earlier post, marieclairemaison, and here and here @Abigail Ahern’s blog |

…only black, white, gold, wood and the occasional bike. Images via Joseph Dirand Architecture.