For auld lang syne

Well, it’s New Year tomorrow. Already! My hopes for 2009 are kindness, peace, and environtmental awarness.

On a more frivoulous touch, my tips for New Years Eve are classics with a twist, both from my old employer BBC Good Food.

If you want something more Scandinavian try the Absolut Wilderness, a jewel like drink which consists of raspberry vodka, lingonberry juice and apple sour. Serve cold!

Champagne Cocktail with passion fruit
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4150/champagne-cocktail


Oysters with ginger and soy on a bed of salt
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5173/oysters

The Absolut Wilderness, above, as served at the Ice Bar in Stockholm

http://www.nordicseahotel.se/sv/Hotellet/Mat--Dryck/Absolut-Icebar-Stockholm/

Happy New Year to you all!

And if your loved ones are really hard to please...

.... you can always go with a pretty Danish prefab house. Eco-friendly, of course.

By Valbæk Brørup Arkitekter, www.vb-arkitekter.dk

It's the thought that counts

I like Christmas presents.

Both giving them and receiving them. And it’s always nice with a thoughtful gift. So here are a few suggestions that come with little extra thought, for the environment or for people around the world who are less fortunate than we are, or both.

Don’t worry, they will delight any one of your loved ones, too.

Designer candlestick by Kristin Karls for the Red Cross, www.redcross.se

Environmentally friendly sneakers by Veja in a great new blue-black shade, www.veja.fr

Shapely wine glasses from Rädda Barnen (Save The Children). Combine with a nice bottle of eco plonk and you're set! www.rb.se

Notebooks from Watabaran, fair trade in Nepal, www.watabaran.se

And a hard waring and compact tote to put all your gifts in -and to save the environment from drowning in plastic bags www.baggu.se

Cosy Christmas

And some cosy Christmas inpiration from Mimou. I feel very inspired to go out a buy a traditional Swedish straw ram after seeing these pics.

Can you get cosier than Le Rouge?

What this Stockholm restaurant lacks in window it makes up in yards and yards of fabric. Does wonders for the accoustics too.

Trend 2009

According to the latest Elle Interiör "cosy" is the new black. I knew it!

And remember...

Christmas doesn't have to be green and red. It can be anything you want. I like these pics from Taverne Agency http://www.taverne-agency.com/ because the remind of the intense dark blue of the winter sky in dusk.

Christmas -Scandistyle

Christmans is appraoching fast and i certainly haven't had time to do all my shopping let alone any christmas decorating but this wonderful picture from Sköna Hem http://www.skonahem.se/ really inspires me.

Lotta Jansdotter

Lotta is a NYC-based Swedish designer who does screen printed fabrics and more with a fresh Scandinavian vibe to them. Maybe a christmas gift tip? www.jansdotter.com

Fungi fun

I am currently working on a wonderfully exciting project in the States which i will reveal more about very soon. In the meantime i want to share this wonderful (fairly) new range from Royal Copenhagen. It's called the Flora Danica Fungi and is a wonderful mix of the aristocratic -gilding and fine bone china - and the bookish, dryly scientific mushroom motif in greys and browns. I particularly like the slightly bizarre little mushrooms around the rim. www.royalcopenhagen.com

Eclectic mix

Gudrun Sjöden http://www.gudrunsjoden.se/ is a Swedish fashion brand which has a reputation among younger fashionistas for being something your aunty would wear to the theatre. They have recently launched a line of home accessories, and I am still not sure about the clothes, but really like the styling of their interior design catalogue.

Due to popular demand...

...more from Toast! http://www.toast.co.uk/

Teatergrillen

I recently went to a restaurant called Teatergrillen, http://www.teatergrillen.se/, in Stockholm. It is a classic, with an interior which is virtually unchanged since 1968. I am not too keen on the Commedia-masks and other theater paraphernalia but it round the corner from Dramaten, http://www.dramaten.se/, so i guess it’s a brand thing. But the round booths are truly wonderful, and sooo comfortable.

The Stockholm based design studio Fingerspitz http://www.fingerspitz.se/, have designed the menus and bar tapestry on the way in. There is a nice contrast between the cool marbled entrance/bar area and the cushioned, velvety restaurant.

DAY

Day

Toast

The Danish company Day's recent home collection may be "based on North African colours, dry blue and dusty purple, acids; like a vibrant blue and a very lively yellow" but it feels very Scandinavian Cosy to me, see http://www.day.dk/
Their coulours are reminiscent of the wonderful hues at TOAST -a kind of country look to Day's city style, http://www.toast.co.uk/

Burn baby burn

We’re about a month away from the darkest day of the year and as every year I am yearning for good looking a fire place to curl up next to. Here’s a selection of good looking ones including a couple of cool (so to speak) Swedish tiled stoves (kakelugn). More on these here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater The wonderfully endearing one in the last picture is a modern take on our Swedish kakelugn by Annika Svensson http://www.keramik-kakelugnar.com/ who graduated from HDK last year.

I love both the super-modern style above (www.skeppsholmen.se) and the original 18th century kakelugn, below

Historic image from http://www.vvs-museet.d.se/varme.html

The Merchant house Libell

Göteborgsposten

Focus

Boligmagasinet

Bo Bedre

Annika Svensson

Power to the people

It's not possible to have a blogg about Scandinavian interiors without ever mentioning IKEA. Love it or hate it, it is part of the fabric of our lives. The clever new thing, brand-wise, at our national furniture store is the possibility of uploading images and videos of your own home on their site, se http://tv.ikea.se/. Like this handsome bedroom pic by Kix (thank you Kix, who also generously sums up the cost of his bedroom renovation). It is fascinating stuff, I tell you!

More "magically surreal and mystical"

http://www.clubambassadeur.se/ is a Stockholm nightclub which has just reopened with a fairytale interior by the fashion designer Bea Szenfeld. Have only seen pictures so far but might try and sneak a peak this week-end.

Carlo Mollino in our hearts

Scandinavian design is no longer just cool, controlled and blond. Check out the extravagant 1960s inspired lighting at Design By Us www.design-by-us.com . I have no idea whether these Danish designers are actually inspired by the great Carlo Mollino (more on http://www.designboom.com/, Casa Mollino) who’s “magically surreal and mystical” style seems more fashionable than ever.

Victorian Floor Tiles in Stockholm

A friend of mine lives in Stockholm in a classical apartment

-building form the late 1800-hundreds. I discovered this pretty floor there (excuse the poor picture quality, it was dark!) which also reminded me of the wonderful modern take on these kinds of colours and shapes in the floor at Matbaren. See "Go Ilse!"

Speaking of leaves

A recent visit to the latest fall exhibition at Svenskt Tenn http://www.svenskttenn.se/ by Cathrine von Hauswolff, Tom Hedqvist and Gunnar Kaj was truly inspiring. Gunnar Kaj had contributed with poetic flowers and berries in autumn colours in perfect harmony the Chinese lacquer gloss of the podium. In these times of economic crisis it is nice to be reminded that grasses, leaves and berries from the garden can be just as lovely (sometimes more) as shop bought flowers. The photografer here is Ewa Kumlin, Managing Director Svensk Form. See her blogg at http://fru-form.blogspot.com/

Swedish allmoge (peasant) pots

I saw these on this new site http://www.laserowantiques.com/ and i loved the rustic feel and the size. I am guessing they were used for food orginally but i can see them with large branches of autumn leaves in differents shades of orange and yellow.

Go Ilse!

Went to Matbaren the other day. Grand Hotel's (http://www.grandhotel.se/) food bar the other day to check out the new interior by Ilse Crawford’s http://www.studioilse.com/. The menu was kind of confusing (and of course pricey) but the interior was exciting, French brasserie mixed with Swedish allmoge and a touch of 60s design classics. Very cool. The floor, especially, caught my eye. Unglazed ceramic tiles in triangular halves of your bog standard 15 x 15 cm tile. Subtle and original at the same time.

Primary colours reminiscent of the classic Hang It All...

...by Charles and Ray Eames. This photo from the MOMA shop, see http://www.momastore.org/

Primary colours

This playfullness extends to pure lego colours like the PXL lamp by Fredrik Mattsson by http://www.zero.se/ and the salt and pepper mills Plus by Norway Says, see http://www.muuto.com/

Let's play house

I see an injection of playfulness in some of the new stuff around, that is very now but also reminscent of the fifties. Compare the original mid-century chairs above, on sale now at http://www.auktionskompaniet.se/ with the wonderful lounge chair Cartoon from Swedese by the Danish company Gamplusfratesi http://www.swedese.se/easychairs/cartoon/

Janze Brogård Asshoff

I do love this table with a folkloric twist. Commendable, too, that this design trio have an awareness of the environmental impact of their designs. See http://www.jba-design.se/ for more on this.

It is also right in line with the "Cooltural" key word in this month's David Report (www.davidreport.com) where the prediction is that " folklore and artisan production will see a boost". I say yay!

Hey there

Welcome. I spend hours finding useful and beautiful things in the world and on the net for various projects. And some of the stuff is just inspiring but not immediately useful. So i thought i would put it to use. Here.