Today, the winner of the contest “Sweden’s Most Charming Home” (held by real estate agent Fastighetsbyrån) was presented. The most charming home in this country is inhabited by Pia Qvist, who describes it as “Charming and personal, with a consistent style. A home filled with personal things, full of history”.

A lovely, Swedish, country style. Above is my favourite pic. Can’t recall I’ve ever seen a sweeter fire place / wood stove area! The very definition of charming and very well in the spirit of decor guru Pippi Longstocking. Of course it’s too much white for my (and I guess, also Pippi’s) tastes, but a bucket of paint for the dining set and I’ll move in, oh and one for the walls too; it’s indeed very homespun and nice. I like the pic below also, especially the rug and the adorable blue mirror display. The fact that the vintage door and the candlestick seem rather haphazardly thrown in – although they perfectly match the beautiful chandelier – makes it all more interesting. Or maybe it’s the parallel story going on with the cupboard (almost a Christmassy vibe there) that makes it intriguing. Either way, I like it!

More pics, and the other finalists, here.

Hello! Now I’m back and refreshed from a week in sunny Majorca. I love that island, it’s so beautiful and nice. Here’s a round of charming and trendy details. First, a lovely countryish room with granny-vibed wallpapers, a rag rug, vintage furniture and well, loads of charm! Next, an idea for frames – why not fill the empty beautiful golden frame with some nice piece of fabric? In this case it’s just hanging, but it could also be pulled aside and fixed with a little tassle.

| via hus&hem and via sfgirlbybay |

Pant hangers as art displayers – again! A very nice, trendy and low-budget alternative. Can be varied endlessly. And below that, a kind of new trend in wall decor: arrows! These are home made, from the webshop quivver.

| pant hangers via apartment theraphy and arrows via kurbits |

Some time ago, I pondered whether there’s a correlation between people’s tastes in music and – not only clothes they wear, but also – interior design styles and home decor choices. And yes, I figure it may very well be so. All are expressions of personal preferences and surely they can be more or less consistent but it boils down to the same core. As for myself – a lover of alt.country and music with storytelling/folk roots – I’m not really sure how this translates to my interiors, but I have traced some signs :) Defining a song or a music style for each room is indeed an exciting project! Try it. I can’t stop doing it now that I started… Anyhow, I found a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Annis Brander that – if we downsize the cabaret influences – offers great eclectic-boho inspiration. There’s a country base, with folk tunes, elements of clean Swedishness, boho-charm-gypsy as well as my much-loved circus-theme and old glamour. Perfectly missmatched.

In the meantime, while Trendey sisters focus on their regular careers & professions, we have the greatest blog tips for you: Dos family. As always, you might already know all about it, but if not: this is a blog by decorator (slash designer, columnist, TV-presenter, etc)  Isabelle Halling McAllister and photographer Jenny Brandt (who also has the sammy rose blog + shop) The lovely pics above are shot by Jenny at Isabelle’s. I think the black wall display is fabulous! And there’s loads of more inspiration on playful and charming kids’ rooms (like the one right) on their site. It’s undoable (and unnecessary) to define their interior style tastes, but I’d summarize it Happy Scandinavian :) Clearly creative, retro, personal, arty, homey, free-spirited and fun. Below is a really nice example of a ‘Dos Visit’, photographer Jenny Brandt visits Lisa Grue’s home. More of this lovely retro charm can be found here.

I think these two rooms below are very interesting! The decor is simple, yet the Josef Frank wallpaper looks nicer than ever together with the retro/vintage caramel sofa. The bathroom could have been downright boring but the pink pastel door (and a photo display or something hidden behind it) and the orange rug on the grey patterned floor is ‘all it takes’ to give the place some interesting character.

| all photos: Jenny Brandt @ DosFamily |

Now, lastly, I will join DosFamily’s upcoming blog battle – no idea what it will be about, but I will take the challenge :)

Ok, I know that first part of the title don’t make sense to you English speakers. But I have a giveaway, for those tall and fresh Vikings that can be found in Sweden’s population register only – explained at the end of this post. It’s a thanks for Trendey’s efforts as part of the jury in a contest held by Swedish-founded Electrolux with its home appliance brand Husqvarna: about designing your dream kitchen. You can try the thing out, look at Swedish peoples’ ideas on dream kitchens and give your votes here. Every week the four entries with the most votes are lifted out into the final. After next week, the jury designates prize winners among all the finalists.

Anyhow, this, again, got me thinking of my dream kitchen. Inspiration on kitchens is not scarce these days. There’s plenty of different styles around, although the industrial style kitchens and the good ‘ol country kitchens tend to top the league. Personally I favour a combination of the two – something like ‘cozy industrial’ or ‘country sleek’. At the moment, I am very fond of the kitchen style in the previous post. To me, charm is key. And I really really like it when kitchens have decor details just like any other room. These pics are today’s inspiration!

| sources: top innerstadsspecialisten via solid frog, bottom left via style files and right via vtwonen |

Vilken Trendey-läsare vill vinna en Powermix Silent?

Denna snygging är en mixer från Husqvarna Electrolux som har ett patenterat ljuddämpande system, vilket innebär att man kan köra den och samtidigt höra vad man tänker. Värde ca 1350 kr, minihackare för lök, kryddor och grönsaker samt juicefilter medföljer.

Allt du behöver göra för att delta är att svara rätt på följande: När och var grundades Husqvarna? Samt berätta vad Du skulle använda denna mixer till i sommar om den blev din.

Lämna en kommentar nedan – med ditt namn och kanske var du kommer ifrån om jag måste efterlysa dig! – och på självaste nationaldagen den 6 juni stängs tävlingen och jag utser en vinnare som får hem detta tröttaöron-vänliga köksredskap.

En annan sak endast ni svensktalande läsare förstår och som inte får missas!: Boråstapeters tragikomiska reklamvideo med målaren Lennart...

UPPDATERING! Hurra för Sverige denna dag! Och vilket väder till landets ära. Nu till det väsentliga:

thrifty chic. Interior style on a shoestring is a book by Liz Bauwens and Alexandra Campbell. Unlike this spring’s fresh new book Undecorate, Thrifty Chic has been around for a while, both as a book (from 2009) and as a (partly overridden) concept. This beautiful book is packed with re-ideas. It shows you how to “reuse and restore, revive and revamp, and recycle and reclaim”, in order to create a stylish yet individual home without spending a small fortune.

As you can see already by the cover, the overall style is relaxed country – and vintage charm is all around. The concept of thrifty chic (and same meaning related concepts) is highly sustainable. Inspiration on how to paint up a tatty old chest, cut old curtains into cushions or give an old chair new life by means of some fabric – will never grow old and mossy. Reusing, restoring, reviving and revamping are things creative people have practiced for centuries and that – nicely enough – will contribute to less consumption and environmental destruction as it includes being cautious with both money and property. As if that weren’t enough, this book is pure beautifulness. It’s friendly written with lots of insider advices. This is one of my favourite photos from the book (photography by Simon Brown):

Gorgeous. All these furniture and stuff came from auctions, thrift stores and local sales.

The book has a feature on colour in hallways I found really interesting too (p.34-35), and some beyond lovely photos of thrifty bathrooms. See p. 118-127 for more pics and great advices on 2nd hand sanitaryware, etc.

It’s a must-have in the design book collection!