trendey

Words are really superfluous…..but: trendey not only care about styling and trends, we’re on a gender mission! Nah, not really. But home decor / interior design is gender-relevant. It’s not only women who like it. Not just women who have taste… Not only women live in homes (!) Not only women are parents. Not only girls helps to set the table. IKEA catalogue 2011 – you are hereby gender approved.

This is a IKEA catalogue 2011 roundup: some interior styling details, colours and overall trend themes. We’ll start off with a couple of styling features.

Examples of tricks we knew.. :p On the whole, I think the styling in the IKEA catalogues only gets better for each year. No doubt they are keeping pace with time. As for colours, IKEA fancies red and blue in particular the year 2011.

Good choices imho! Not too exciting and groundbreaking, but lagom (you know the Swedish word ‘lagom’? It’s like a National Word. Things must be moderate and pretty average, i.e.”just the right amount”.) With that said, however, the blue armchair might be a little too blue. Anyway, in terms of interior style trends the catalogue content comprises at least two more recent, apparent ones – a follow-up on the folklore style and a partially new industrial style.

| all images press photos |

There is no secret by now that I am crazy for French-style carved headboards. I do not have one in my possession, but I yearn for them. Big time. However, I’m planning to introduce a little boudoir feel to the bedroom now that the new storage furniture is in place. Our bedroom, which is not altogether Stockholm White with naked windows – it actually has both dark wood furniture, an Indian style colourful bedspread, heavy red velvet drapes and lace. To this, I am thinking of adding a touch of ladies’room, where I can have a petite rest, relax the taut bustier and powder my nose wearing negligee …;) I actually did not find so many nice boudoir photos, they were all too white, but a string of the sensation can be found in these:

I will start at IKEA. Their Edland dressing table has been on my mind since I first saw it. Now I know how to use it. And another very nice IKEA product I stumpled upon is the Årstid lamp. It speaks Faded Glamour. Ok, here we go! Story to be continued :)

It has undoubtedly become increasingly popular to have clothes on open display at home. IKEA’s clothes rack RIGGA and its likes are big sellers. More and more often you can also find a single or a few clothes items hanging in a room as decoration. Almost always it is beautiful dresses and tulle skirts hanging from a rack in the ceiling or placed out as small works of art. Below are pics from two recent Swedish home tours, with Elsa Fischer and Elsa Billgren respectively.

The very talented photographer Pia Ulin also has a photo of this kind in her portfolio..

Apparently, mainly women’s clothes are honored decorative value. In the field of menswear it is only hats that has appeared to a greater extent.

Just a quick note as this year’s outdoor furniture & decor is slowly beginning to be launched. Alongside the nature theme, colour is the thing. And solar-powered lighting! (more…)

(more…)

The prevailing style of decor in the capital of Sweden has been a topic in this blog several times. My apology and explanation is that I – during my four months long search and hunt for an apartment to buy – glanced through countless real estate ads and visited numerous styled Stockholm homes. It has been summed up in Scandinavian style and the “colour” Stockholm-White (its definition and colour code is disputed, some holds it’s S 0502-Y). Now, I stumbled across the (very fine) blog Splendid Willow, written by Monika, who is a native Swede living in the US. She has recently listed the design elements you can be sure to find in a Stockholm apartment:

* White. Swedes embrace gallons and gallons of white paint.
* Hardwood floors with individual rugs (Swedes stopped using wall to wall carpeting decades ago).
* State of the art kitchens.
* State of the art bathrooms.
* Books! Books are prominent, we surround ourselves with books and display them with pride.
* A great mix of old and new. A true Swede will rather have no furniture at all than to get rid of historical elements such as old wood burning stoves and the old beams.

I endorse all the points and add to the list:

* Naked windows. A fear of curtains lives inside the city homes.
* Stylish lighting. Lighting is a crucial point. Right now, two trends stand out: large round lights hanging from the ceiling (the IKEA Maskros lamp probably sell like crazy) and chandeliers, preferably crystal.
* Well-arranged wardrobes. Again, you’ll never escape IKEA, that company has distorted our brains showing their shelving systems with thousands of practical options. (The dream of a walk-in closet is intrinsic but not always pronounced.)

Proof. (Exhibit A to F)

|photos from Skeppsholmen|

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

The first IKEA catalogue was printed back in 1951 and at that time it was only available in good ol’Sweden. Just recently the IKEA catalogue for 2010, the 59th edition, was printed and distributed all around the world. Today it’s printed in close to 200 million copies and shipped to 38 countries. Being a Swede I’m of course very proud of IKEA’s success and it’s quite interesting to look in the older editions. Here’s a couple of snapshots from the 15th edition and some of the furnitures are really trendey! Check it out over at ikke tikke theo.

IKEA Catalog anno 1965