Found! (finally)

I have been looking for the perfect pendant light for my hallway for ever (or 4 years since that's how long we've been living here) and I finally found it! It's so gorgeous and fun :)

It's by dóttir & sonur, " a multidisciplinary creative couple; serving design, creative direction and cunsultancy in both digital and printed media". They also make this amazing wallpaper.

Cozy nooks

Autumn is all about cozy, and what's more cozy than a nook?!


Some reading nooks:

Here's an idea for the nook that is now my closet.

What a fantastic use of a very tiny space!

Kids love nooks!

Perfect for utilising the space under the stairs.

How about this for some jaw-dropping fabulousness!

Or this one! Words fail me!

On to a couple of office nooks:

I wouldn't mind my office being a nook, if it was as fabulous as this!

Love the white, the colour provided by the books and the lovely Danish chair.

A sleeping nook:

How I would love to cuddle up on a cold winter's night, the open fire burning.

And finally, how to make a nook:

If you have a tiny space in your home that you don't know what to do with, such as the end of a hallway or a built in closet (on the remote chance that you wouldn't need it for storage), why not make it a cozy nook? The basics of a nook, for me, would be wall to wall seating (or a desk if you're making an office nook) and some shelving all the way around. This defines the space as a nook, as opposed to just a small space with some furniture in it.

Click on the images for the sources.

The smallest shared bedroom ever!

When it was time for Sam, our younger son, to move on from his crib we decided to switch bedrooms, George and Sam got our big bedroom and we got George's small room. Ella, our youngest, is now sharing this room with us... it's about 9 square meters (just over 90 square feet) so it's pretty crammed (double bed, crib, changing table, small closet). We chose to go all white in here, not just because of the tight space but also because I just love a crisp clean bedroom... it's just so relaxing to wake up to a non fussy, clutter free space. We've added a few personal touches though, and I'm planning to hang a couple of pictures similar to what I did above Sam's changing table. A few pics:

White Raven hanger by my friend Ingibjörg Hanna

Ella's bed

A wall blanket that was given to my mother as a Christening present 57 years ago

A blanket my grandmother made for me when I was a baby.

The room is tiny but we love it. Later, when George starts school we're giving him his old room back and Sam and Ella will share the bigger room. Terry and I will move into the smaller living room (we have joint living rooms and we hardly ever use the bigger one. I'm exited about this change, it will be a much better use of the space and I'm looking forward to decorate our "new" living room.

September 1st

Soon it will be Christmas! I want mine to look like this.

Via Pinterest and Tumblr to here.

Happy easter!

Easter weekend is upon us. I haven't decorated much, I've just put the little easter chicks my sons made in kindergarten in our entrance hall window to welcome guests. I have an excuse, it's my baby's due date today and I must admit to being a bit tired. I wish I had the patience and energy to do something like this, aren't they gorgeous?!

via design*sponge (click for instructions)

Cute baby bed

I like this cot bumper for its graphic design, the lack of fluffy teddy bear characters, and because it's white on the side facing the baby and therefore doesn't overstimulate an infant that is supposed to be sleeping.

(photo from The Brooklyn Home Company)

Feeling sorry...

...for the lack of posting
...for myself

I've been coughing my guts out for the last four weeks and I finally gave in and got an appointment at the doctor's. Been feeling soooo tired, sick, sweaty, sticky, ugly, awful... I've been going to sleep at the same time as my little boys, between 8 and 9 pm and sleeping through till 7 in the morning, still feeling I want some more sleep. Now I dream of the perfect bedroom, and guess what! Design*Sponge has a best of bedrooms roundup! Here's my favorite:

As a sign of my sickness, I would even let hubby roll the TV in there for me... oh no, did I just say that?!

PS I don't even know what day it is, so the weekly schedule is out the window for the time being.

Decorative laundry?

Who would have thought?! I could actually imagine using my laundry as decoration! I wonder if that's good Feng Shui...

The Polyp laundry basket by Helene Steiner be fixed on the wall and you just put your laundry through the hole in the front. When you can't stuff more in it, it's time to do some laundry, as each basket can only contain one load of wash! 

Check out her website for more cool designs, such the Colo dishwasher and the breakfast table.

(via Home Design)

Everyday saints

Saints for those everyday situations... like losing your keys!

Saint Isidor, the Internet Guide

Saint Zita, the key finder

Saint Disma, the alarm system

Saint Claudius (of course!) for smoking in peace

Wall Saints stickers by Marcella Foschi and Alice Rosignoli are, according to Marcella's web site, actual Vatican approved saints that protect us from our fears or solve little problems. I need you, Saint Zita! What kind of a saint do you need in your life? I wonder if there is one 'for mothers to drink just one cup of coffee in peace a day'...

MoleSkinny pillows

When my little bedroom is finally all white and relaxing, I want sweet pillows from MoleSkinny to make it all nice and pretty.

Updating floating shelves

A cute way to update those floating shelves we all have somewhere in our house is to cover them in fabric. I found this tip in last month's issue of Livingetc. I wouldn't use a staple gun though as they suggest, at least not on the surface where you can see it, i'd try to do all the fixing at the back or use sticky tape or something where you can't see it, so that the shelf could be used without the fabric again when you tire of it. Perfect for the nursery.

Liking...

...this BÖJA lamp from IKEA. Beautiful for the bedroom or a cozy living room.

Hamster wheel electricity?

This wall sticker made me laugh outloud!

Join the fight!

over at design spunk.

... and another one!

Here's another gorgeous one from Design*Sponge Sneak Peak into designer Barbara Rourke's home. I'm green with envy!

Starting small

I've been trying to figure out a way to start arranging a picture wall in our TV/family room but can't seem to decide on even the overall effect I want from it. But I did manage this little one above the changing table. In the white frame we put a card we got at the hospital with our son's footprint, the date and time of his birth, his weight and length and our names and the name of the midwife who delivered him. I found the 'S' block at a local charity shop (S is his initial) and the painting (by an artist called Hildur) was a present I got about 12 years ago from my dad's family when I graduated from architecture school. All are fixed with blue tac, which I hope will be strong enough when baby 'S' starts grabbing everything within reach! I'm going to add a Lack shelf for wipes, toys and perhaps a mobile above the pictures.

Another fabulous one...

... pointed out to me by Viv.

It's from MadeByGirl Jennifer Ramos' home, also check out her house tour on ish and chi here.

Picture Wall

I'm still undecided on the look of our gallery wall. I know (I think) it's going to be a "family wall", with pictures of and by family and friends. I've been gathering some inspiration here and there:

Random display from Apartment Therapy. Good for frames of different shapes and sizes. Some discipline needed in placing the pictures so it looks as cool as this.

Straight up and across from Desire to Inspire. Will only work if all your frames are the same size. But the pictures could all be different shapes and sizes in one type of frames. Notice the wall light.

On shelves from moline. Good for also displaying little items with the pictures, and also good if you want to keep changing the display.

I could also just hang pictures, no frames no nothing? There could be a million stories there. From Desire to Inspire.

This one is brilliant. I didn't even notice the tv until I started looking at the pictures more closely. Also from Desire to Inspire, but found on Apartment Therapy Housetours.

This could be fun; get a big frame and put a few different pictures in it, maybe do a collage. From enourmous champion sneak peak at design*sponge.

The wall won't be complete just yet, we're planning to take the boys to a photographer in a couple of months time, until then, I'll have plenty of time to look for inspiration. Do tell if you know of any great examples.

Something for me!

Easy effortless holiday decorating from Real Simple.

Entrance Hall - part II

I finally did it! Well actually, I finished it a few days ago but didn't get round to blogging it until now. Like I said, it's pretty simple. A section of the wall painted black, a couple of FRÄN hat racks from IKEA and some baskets on top for hats, scarves and such.

And what a wonderful opportunity to show off my vintage 60's cape that I absolutely adore. Too bad it's getting to cold to wear it now.

A few well chosen pairs of shoes on display (they make my eyes so happy!).

And for our son's coats we got these fantastic BÄSTIS hooks from the pet section in IKEA!

That's it, my entrance hall sorted. Next will be creating a better storage space in the bedroom.