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.

| via vtwonen |

You do know Pippi Longstocking, don’t you? She’s that unconventional clever and creative gal whose red braids stand out straight and who lives in a house called Villa Villekulla. You can often see her wearing a short patchwork dress with oversized shoes and missmatched thigh-high stockings. She’s got lots of humour, the strength of ten policemen and a suitcase full of gold coins. She is a treasure-hunter (sak-letare) and vintage-lover who sleeps with her feet on the pillow. Pippi knows all about rule-breaking.

She’s actually the quintessential undecorator.

In fact, one of the houses featured in the book Undecorate looks a lot like Pippi’s house. It has a whismy turret and a bright yellow door set with a patchwork window of coloured glass. More than that: it’s also full of unexpected treasures and mishmashy personal collections inside…

Now what is Pippi Longstocking Decorating, to be exact? Is it the same as Undecorating? Well, both yeah and no. All of the homes presented in the book on Undecorating are clearly Pippi-inspired. Because if anything, Pippi knows what’s best for Pippi. She wouldn’t let anyone else decide. She loves her things and a bit of (or loads of) quirkiness and character. If someone called her hodgepodge style crap decorating she would most certainly say:

“Aren’t we living in a free country? Aren’t we allowed to decorate as we wish?” and maybe she’ll add “…and by the way, I’ll tell you, that in the Isle of Kurrekurredutt, all people decorate this way and they are so downright happy they barely leave home.”

The Pippi Longstocking Decorating Guidelines? The DO’s and DONT’s? Crap, she’d say. And I think we can conclude Pippi has never ever been trendier.

So, I had decided for beige walls in the bedroom (or we had, but my intended was onboard the black walls-boat and the wallpaper-boat aswell as this my latest proposal..) Isn’t beige the beigest word in English! Sounds terribly blah and weak. Well it’s not, it’s the new white and a loved child is given many names the Swedish saying goes so how about tan, cafe latte, camel, champagne, khaki, beach, oatmeal, sand and almond to mention a few. Anyhow, it’s one of the most difficult colours to find the right hue of. We bought and tried 11 sample pots. From Farrow & Ball, Alcro and Måleributiken mainly. None of them fitted this specific room. Too dark, too yellow, too red, too beige. The Stockholm-White walls, in all light-directions, transformed into a patchwork of beiges:

OK, so you got 11 small paint cans of imperfect beiges on your table. What would Pippi do? Yupp, make her own blend! So, I took five generous table spoons of the best match, Joa’s White (“J” in the pic). Added a spoon each of the two second bests (lovely colours but not perfects here); Stony Ground and Savage Ground (“FB”, “SG”) I stirred briskly. To lighten this blend a bit and introduce some red to balance out the yellow I added a teaspoon of Måleributikens almost-white powder-rose (left overs from painting the xmas candlestick-lamp) and a teaspoon of Alcro’s Strand (“AS” in pic) I finished off with one more touch of Joa’s white. Stirred it and served the wall. Wait to dry and another layer. Next day: Perrrrrrfect! :) So we took it (painted on a stick) to my fav DIY-store K-rauta. They put my sample under a machine and the nearest shade as per the NCS standard was 1505-Y30R.

The visual blackness is 15 %, and the colour strength (chromaticness) is 5 % (in scale 0-100). | y30r | indicates the ratio between the two chromatic properties y (yellowness) and r (redness) on a scale from 01-99 (0 means that color alone is yellowness as indicated by only y and 100 means that the color has only redness as indicated by just an r). So it’s yellow with 30 % redness. Hence a light, warm-grey-beige colour with a reddish-yellow hue.

1505-Y30R is one classic Swedish “latte colour”!!! Recommended in several Swedish house & home discussion boards! Widely popular. That’s what happens when you go Pippi Longstocking with Farrow & Ball paint..:D Am I complicated or what?!

Now I’ve only seen this paint without daylight, but sofar I join the chorus of praise for 1505-Y30R – it’s an excellent choice :) Need advice on beige paint? Just ask ;) And as for our walls, case isn’t closed…yet.

Update: In daylight, in this particular room, 1505-Y30R was far too pale, almost lilac. Next step was to research the NCS-colour system – which (theoretically) lead me to the hues S1005-Y30R, S1510-Y30R and S1510-Y20R. The first-mentioned colour was too pale, next too yellow, third too red/warm. Conclusion: the NCS – Swedish colour standard system – couldn’t help us here. And all F&B paints are inbetween the NCS-picks; with only “Lime White” being close to a NCS, S1005-Y20R. Lesson taught? Go for a ready-mixed hue. So we’ll buy a few more samples to get the right one:)

Spring news! Farrow & Ball paint is, we say deservedly so, world-renowned for their purity and depth of colours. This British Paint God today introduced nine new colours to their palette. The 2011 colours range from neutrals to moody greys and takes on a mild and serene scheme. When the muted shades come together they are like earthy subdued pastels.

Alongside the warm nude-honey Oxford Stone (no.264) – a nice addition to the range of “New Wall-Whites” -  I think Plummett (no.272) and Mizzle (no.266) are the most interesting news.

Dark grey Plummett is a lighter version of the “amazing grey Down Pipe“. I can imagine this lead-grey doing wonders in a glossy finish. And matte alike. Mizzle is a pale greeny-grey, or as described: a ‘soft blue grey’ that got its name from very British combination of mist and drizzle. This is one of those mysteriously balanced hues that change according to weather and scene. The 2011 news also include Manor House Gray, Dove Tale, Cabbage White, Calluna, Brassica and – this one deserves its own topic later – Charlotte’s Locks. In the neutral/moody palette there’s locks from a very special redhead! Pippi Was Here. She told F&B to introduce a fierce 50′s inspired orange.

This is the Astrid Lindgren room at c/o The Maidstone in East Hamptons. This iconic hotel set out from a mix of free-spirited Scandinavian design with a timeless sophistication, creating a delightful blend of cozy and modern with a bohemian twist. The 185 square feet Astrid Lindgren room is one of the cozy rooms. I love the vibe!