Natural light - a priority

I've mentioned many times how important light is to me. Having grown up in Norway, I have experienced the total darkness in the winter. It's maybe why I'm a Spring / Summer person. I simply feel better when there's lots of light!

I think if I had the option my favourite place to live would be in an industrial loft like this one. 

photo by Paulina Arcklin

Or this place where you have a great view of the garden. These large window really make the most of both the inside and the outside. 

photo via Milk by Karel Balas

In our old barn in France we had four rooms upstairs. Two, the bathroom and a bedroom had VELUX skylights. The other two bedrooms had a tiny little window each. The windows were down low because of the sloaping roof and you had to sit down on the floor to look out onto the garden. Not practical, safe or ideal. 
You wouldn't believe the difference from having skylights to not having them. It really was night and day. I think sometimes you need to experience something to fully understand as I had no idea how this would effect us. The bathroom and one bedroom were beaming with light, whilst the two other rooms were so dark. If we had been a bit more clever we could have done something amazing! We could have added balcony roof windows. I didn't even realise that these existed back then. We would have had such a nice view over the garden and so much natural light. I think this would have helped a lot especially as one of the rooms was our home office. 

When we built and designed our new home in 2009, light and windows were a priority and we had lots of them! I love natural light and couldn't go back to living somewhere really dark. So when we go house hunting again, natural light will be one of my main priorities. 

photo by Fantastic Frank

Happy Friday! 

I'm off out to enjoy a quiet coffee (in the sun) 
as the school holidays start later today!!

hx

For the love of stripes

I've always liked stripes, but these black and white ones - I love!

They work so well with Nordic interiors. 

photo by Prue Ruscoe

photo by Stadshem

photo found on Raw design source unknown

photo by Stadshem

photos 1. Bodie and Fou 2. Ronja Worum

photos 1. Trettien 2. Bambula

A black and white stripy rug is still on my wish list!

hx

Tuesday Tips - Trend Alert Invisible Kitchens

Yes, it's possible to have an invisible kitchen. Modern kitchens look less and less like a traditional kitchen and are made to blend in to our living space. We don't need our appliances and pots and pans on display. Everything is hidden behind the cupboard doors and it feels like a peaceful space and not a everyday busy kitchen. You would need to be super organised and keep everything very clean at all times thought, or I don't think it would work. 

photos by i29

photo by Tamizo

photo by Septembre

What do you prefer? A traditional kitchen or an invisible one?

hx

To read previously posted Tuesday Tips click here! 

Hula Hoop DIY

Not even sure if you can really call this a DIY it's more of a quick transformation or just plane simple fun! I had a meeting in Glasgow the other day. While I was there I saw a woman come out of the pound shop with some Hula Hoops.. My instant thought was of course, that would look cool in black! So yesterday I went off to the pound shop searching for Hula Hoops and I got two. I didn't get two because I needed two, but because I new mine would be kidnapped by Magnus if I only got one.. He was by the way outside playing with his all evening!

So all I had to do was strip the hula hoop of glittery paper, then spray it black  The whole project took about half an hour, as you of course have to let it dry, then turn it over the spray the other side. I think my £1 was well spent. 

I then had some styling fun. What do you think? I think the hula hoop looks way better black. 

Have a lovely day!

hx

Magazine feature

Excited to be featured in a brand new magazine in Norway!! Det Nye Interiør. They asked my for three bargain buys. Here's my selection; a bric-à-brac vase and wooden kiwi bird, and a marble lamp. 

Here are some great Friday links for you;

Nathalie's fantastic outdoor space with her sofa made from pallets. 

This copper DIY by Monsterscircus on Eclectic Trends.

A cool DIY lamp makeover by Mrs Monday on Stein Saks og Papir. 

Come join me on Pinterest for some more inspiration.

Happy Friday and Happy Birthday Pål (older but wiser, right?!) !!!

hx

Flooring alternatives

The other day I mentioned that I'm seeing a lot more dark wood flooring. I've always thought that great flooring is really expensive, but more and more you'll find great offers and solutions out there. Laminate flooring doesn't have to look cheap and nasty anymore. I remember when we bought our first home in Edinburgh, in our early twenties. We didn't really know what we were doing, but we took great pride in decorating our new home. Biggest mistake though - our choice of laminate flooring, especially in our living room. There are so many much better alternatives now, than what there were back then. 

photo by Fantastic Frank

photos by Carpetright

Not into dark colours? Well, then there's white. I'm still a fan of white, as it makes rooms look so light. When we put down the floors in our Edinburgh home there were only a few colour options. White was definitely not one of them. I wonder if I would have chosen white or not?! I chose a grey laminate for our kitchen and people thought it was very unusual. Not sure they meant good unusual, but we liked it! Back then it was new and a bit different.

The light wood coloured laminate in our living room I would definitely not have chosen now. As our living room was quite small I think I would have gone for white or really pale floors to make the room appear larger. 

photo by Design Milk

photo by Snö

What kind of flooring do you prefer?!

hx

A visit to - Dezzig, France

Dezzig is a company based in France and the main focus is on old printing techniques - namely screen printing. Dezzig artists create handmade large-format posters with a perfectly recognizable style: solid colors, thoughtful composition, clever illustrations, and elegant typography. Its purpose is simple: to bring graphic design and craftsmanship back to basics. 

Now there's one thing printing posters, but here you have to print several layers. You actually only print one colour at the time, so you can imagine the process being time consuming. You might be wondering why they bother..  I've asked Dezzig a few questions. 

- Why do you choose to print this way? 

The purpose of Dezzig is simple: publish the work of designers reviving traditional printing techniques. I've always loved paper, engraving... So I created this workshop to become a true craftsman. For a graphic designer, It is logical and natural to practice screen printing: a must to find the meaning a work of art and pleasure to create original artwork. That's why I created Dezzig turning back to all-digital.

Le projet de Dezzig est simple : éditer le travail des graphistes en utilisant des techniques d’impression traditionnelle. J’ai toujours aimé le, le papier, la gravure… Je voulais donc créer un atelier et devenir un peu artisan, Pour un designer graphiste, la sérigraphie est une continuité logique, un must pour retrouver le sens du travail artistique et le plaisir de l’objet d’art. C’est pour ça que j’ai créé Dezzig en tournant le dos au “tout numérique”. 

- What makes screenprinting so special? Wouldn't it be easier to use a good printer? 

Screenprinting is well suited for designs that have large areas of solid color. It allows exceptional render on beautiful paper : thick inked, metal ink, transparency, color brightness. Nothing to do with ordinary digital print and offset! Yet it is a hard job, there is no automatic printing machine to make all by pushing a button! Here, everything is done by hand. But it's worth it! You can feel under the fingers land-forms left by ink on paper, it's magic! No printer can produce this level of quality.

La sérigraphie est parfaitement adapté pour les aplats de couleurs, elle permet un rendu sans équivalent sur de beaux papiers : épaisseurs d’encrage, transparences des encres, effets métaliques, rendu des couleurs. Pourtant c’est un gros travail, il n’y pas de machine automatique pour tout faire en appuyant sur un bouton ! Ici tout est manuel. Mais le rendu final en vaut la peine ! On peut sentir sous les doigts les reliefs laissés par l’encre sur le papier, c’est magique ! Aucune imprimante ne peut rivaliser avec une tel niveau de qualité.

- How long does it take to make a poster? 

With screenprint, each color is printed separately with a separate artwork for each layer of color. This means that for a run of 100 posters in 3 colors, I take my paper and place it 300 times on the table! Depending on the difficulty and the number of colors, a printing may take 1-3 days to complete.

En sérigraphie chaque couleur est imprimée séparément. Ce qui veut que pour un tirage de 100 affiches en 3 couleurs, il faut passer 300 fois les feuilles ! En fonction de la difficulté et du nombre de couleurs, un tirage peut prendre 1 à 3  jours.

Today, we've been allowed in behind the scenes. I'm excited to be able to show you their office. It is such a fabulous industrial workplace and it has obviously been carfully thought out. 

Dezzig has also come up with a nice product for displaying posters - the POSTER PANT. Another quality product from this company. It's beechwood, made in France and available to buy in their shop. 

all photos by Dezzig

Look out for new poster collaborations in the comming weeks! 

I learned some new things. Hope you did too!

Thanks, to Dezzig for answering my questions!!

hx

Tuesday Tips - ART DIY

Now, I'm certainly not an artist and a lot of you probably feel the same way, but it doesn't mean we can't have a go at making things. This kind of art - we can all do! It's so simple and can add a lot to a room - colour and / or pattern!

You need:

- plywood or canvas

- paint (tester pots or leftovers will do)

- masking tape

- roller or paint brush

- ruler or spirit level 

photos by Leth & Glory via Home Adore

If you think this is too difficult, but still want to try why not do something like this?!

photo by Cornerstone Cafe via WeHeart

Last year, in France, I made something similar (click here to see my DIY). It was really easy to do and it added a bit of something to our living room. 

As our topic is art today I've found a video for you to watch. Are you ready for 4 minutes of pure inspiration?! I love it! Installation by Juanan Requena. If you have an empty wall, well here's what to do with it!

AMONG FUGUE & RETURN [installation] from Juanan Requena on Vimeo
Good, isn't it?!
If you make this simple art DIY or have already made something similar please link below so we can have a look! More Tuesday Tips here.hx

Most popular pins

So when you blog a lot - not blogging for almost a week feels like ages! I was convinced it was longer since I last wrote a post. That's what happends when you have a bit too much to do. 

Last week I spend a couple of days in London. I was invited to a 3D printing event hosted by Pinterest. You can see the photos here. The presentation was held by Paul Sohi from 2052. I'm now a huge fan of 3D printing and there are some amazing things out there! Pinterest has created a 3D printing board, so please go and have a look. I had no idea how this worked. Did you know that it's possible to 3D print a table?! Designed by Amin and Mehran from Studio Integrate this table is printed as a normal size dining table and as a table top - a large sheet of glass. Amazing!

I was also very lucky to meet and have lunch with the founder of Pinterest, Ben Silbermann, the UK Pinterest team and three other bloggers. We gave them some suggestions on how to change and improve Pinterest and hopefully our ideas will be put into practice. That whould be fun! 

I'm of course a complete Pinterest addict as you might have noticed if you follow me. So why not start the new week with some of my most popular pins from the last couple of weeks. They have one thing in common. Can you see what it is?! 

photo by Stadshem

photo by Birgitta Drejer

photo via Quarter - CoffeeConcepts

photo by Kristalia

photo via Design Sponge by  Maxwell Tielman

The red thread... Dark floors! 
Are we shifting away from white floors?!! What do you prefer?

Have a great new week! 

hx

Tuesday Tips - Empty Frames

So when it comes to empty frames, yes I have written about them before. It was one of the first things I tried myself when I started blogging. I couldn't get enough of vintage frames. In France, they are everywhere at Bric-à-bracs. 

Last weeks Tuesday Tip was about duplicating art and this week it's about displaying empty frames.. I think we need a DIY next week!

I love this display and the fact that the frames have been painted the same colour as the wall. The frames are all different and that makes it more interesting. The rustic string goes really well with the wooden crates and the vintage door headboard (which by the way is just beautiful). Love the peacock feather and the frame in a frame! I think this is a great alternative to displaying art. The frames become art themselves. 

The wall colour also matches the linen sheets and it makes it look like a very peaceful room. To make this room more industrial and not too sweet, Lina has added black as an accent colour.

photos by Lina på landet

If you've been creative with empty frames please link to it below, so we can come and have a look! 

hx

Elisa Ossino Studio

Hope you've had a nice weekend! We're starting clean and posh this week with styling by Italy based Elisa Ossino Studio. 

In addition to the architecture and the styling shown on the site there's also a very impressive thumbler account to discover. 

who we are creatives coming from different areas under the creative direction of elisa ossino, architect and interior stylist 

what we do we deal with concept, design and creation of interiors, set, stand for fairs, exhibitions and events for the interior design industries. we also produce editorial photo shoots, advertising campaigns and catalogues for some of the most important design companies and create objetcs and furniture 

how we work we choose a light and empty approach connoted by a strong scenographic character that refers to installations

I think this monochrome home is very impressive. There are plenty of design classics and it has been beautifully furnished throughout. You've got to love the sofa!

Great mix of chairs! My favourite the Charlotte Perriand Les Arcs leather chair. I also love the daybed!

I guess these LC3 Courbusier leather armchairs aren't too bad either...!

Simple, but fab and peaceful bedroom!

The bathroom is very classy! Love the wooden stools! The wood softens the look of the black marble.

(with kind permission) all photos by Elisa Ossino Studio

I would love to live in a place with this much light... one day!

hx