we are at Winter Wonderland

Like mentioned in my previous post, this week has been a true luxury  - at our cottage in the Eastern Finland. When home in Stockholm, I've been feeling the spring approaching. Here - NO :)! This is the heart of winter. The days are a bit longer, we've seen the SUN a few times, there's a lot of WHITE snow. Every day is filled with outdoor activities, and afterwards we try to warm up the frozen toes in various ways. On sunday afternoon we decided to do it outdoors - eating hot dogs while enjoying the fire place - the kids loved it!!

The floor cushions made of goat skin, purchased from Turkey years back are still the best thing. Only - you need to have skiing pants on, as otherwise the hair really tickles your butt! The sink for cold drinks during summer time has become the perfect container for the fire wood...

...and the all smoky lanterns from smoke sauna were carried back to the main building to add to the atmosphere.

The chunky wool throw is from Weranna's Warehouse - I must admit that one of the motives to include this fair trade beauty to the shop's selection was that I wanted one myself...

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kesämökki talvella, terassielämää talvella, ulkotakka

I like PLAZA KOTI interior design magazine

Chakra rattan storage box from Weranna's Warehouse

The children are on a winter holiday, and we are spending quality time at our log house in the eastern part of Finland. The little one was sleeping in, and I had the rare, wonderful opportunity to read through the major interior design magazines in Finland (there are many in this country, by the way, we like to read magazines).

Jutta Rissanen from Plaza koti, a magazine belonging to the international PLAZA magazine family and claiming to be the most stylish home decoration magazine in Finland (I have to agree :)), had included a couple of Weranna's products to their bathroom ideas - the wonderful round storage box, as well as the massage glove, which really gets your blood going!

Chakra massage glove

It was so funny that they picked the above glove - when we were doing the photo shoot, the above was so hard to take a proper picture of :)! It really looked like a dead rat on the studio table from a distance, especially sideways. And I was thinking - what a silly product to sell in a webshop - beginner's mistakes :).

ANYWAY - in the same magazine there was a wonderful story about a BEAUTIFUL home in Sweden - I will be sure to post some pictures when my scanner decides to co-operate with me again.

my Easter eggs were in an accident

Luckily, luckily - no-one got hurt, but almost half of the wonderful, colourful, hand-painted ceramic Easter eggs are gone. When I received the message, there was a rush of pictures, noises and scents in my mind...

Anyone been to Istanbul knows what the traffic can be like, especially on a Saturday afternoon. Horns honking, perhaps a little slippery as it is February after all, the wonderful scent of coal hanging still over the city from the previous night, even the ezan (call to prayer) could be heard... it is no surprise that an accident happened. But my mind is completely occupied by the scene - an old truck (which they are always), transporting loads of eggs, hits another car, and....this time not an omelette, but a wonderful, colourful scene with millions of tiny pieces of my ceramic eggs! Well - I wish I had been there with my camera.

Now another set is being painted, and will be delivered in time for the Easter celebrations. If you wish to order a set from this historical lot, please let me know by sending me email from the store.

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Pääsiäiskoristelu, pääsiäiskoristeet, pääsiäismuna, keramiikkamuna

she's telling you what she's doing

MISS DESIGN

My last blog post was a color splash - what is she doing? This isn't her style!  Well, like said, I LIKE mixing styles :) - you can call it rustic loft style, or whatever. As long as it is balanced, and looks good to your eye.

Here is some wonderful pictures of a rustic loft in Bagnolet, France, at www.miss-design.com. You see their babushkas? They've chosen to add them white (anyone know, where to get these, I want some!!), as their loft has other splashes of color in the Electric Romance style. I LOVE this interior! It has so much air, they are not afraid to mix and not match - and the end result is fantastic, and matches perfectly. The owners are both visualists, clearly.

MISS DESIGN

See how it balances? They have clearly a shabby chic floor, and a cupboard. They've mixed those with industry style lightning and chairs in the kitchen, a designer lamp on top of the wooden dining table, modern shelves on the wall and a pop-art style TABAC multi-color floor light. Talk about vision - it is not very likely some interior designer would've come up with this selection if she/he was given the task to decorate this space...

MISS DESIGN

MISS DESIGN

...and the colors. AH. Yes, I know, I'm still going through my pink season, but isn't pink just DELICIOUS mixed with yellow? I think so.

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keittiön sisustus, ullakon sisustus, sisustustyyli, vintage tyyli

back to basics

You like babushkas? I think they are the most adorable toys for kids - and now my guess is they will be moving full speed to home interior world, let's see! The set pictured here my daughter received from Russia from her Godfather - they are the real thing. You know how the original ones have that special scent, in addition to the fact that they are clearly hand-painted?

Last week I wrote about Ambiente and the trends they introduced for 2012, and I couldn't think of any better way to describe my very favorite of those brands, 'Electric Romance', than Babushkas. They stand for everything in this trend - let me quote 'Folkloric, bucolic and traditional handicrafts appear with a new and fully contemporary look. Natural and recycled materials luxuriate in vibrant summer colours. Simple finishes, old handwork techniques and innovative combinations transcend cultural borders...traditional costumes and rustic embroidery are presented in new contexts...Carefree and with a hint of humour, the watchword here is 'Mix it yourself'.'

That we like, don't we :)? If you are following my blog on a frequent basis, you have already noticed that I don't go with any specific 'defined' style - like mentioned, I am in love with the rustic loft style, which 'requires' you to have it your way. Home decor isn't so serious, really! You have the things around you which you like to see every day, and make you feel good, and that's it.

Materials defined to this trend? NATURAL, hurrayy!! They mention wood, raffia, wool, linen, pearls, paper materials and recycled plastic.

Textures? Lace, natural, vegetable-dyed, embroidery, XXL knitwork, crochet work and wickerwork.

COLORS? The ones you see here, mixed with those natural tones of wood and linen and white.

Products then? Hand-knitted cushions and kitchen textiles made of linen - knitkits - wooden furniture - baskets, hand-made ceramics.

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maatuska, sisustustrendi, sisustusmessut, kansainväliset sisustustrendit, kesä 2012 trendivärit

Light Innocence

Someone very close to me has one of the most beautiful interior decorations I have seen live. Why? She keeps it alive. Every time I visit (which is often) she has changed a little detail, moved an item from here to there, thrown away something (ahh, that feels good), and (or) purchased something new (feels even better). Fresh flowers? Always.

Her whole interior is based on details and settings. She loves the shabby chic style, but as she is such a tidy person, she probably couldn't handle too shabby. But chic...yes. Light innocence? YES!

We will now wander through her beautiful house - from the hallway to the living and dining area, after which we take it upstairs to their master bedroom. You won't be seeing panoramas, as that is not what this home is about. You will get a glimpse of some of the details she builds her decoration with. We moved as little as possible to give you the very authentic feel of this home, as it is wonderful just the way it is.

 Welcome...

...to our living room.

Moving upstairs...

to take a small peek to the master bedroom.

Even the accidental pile left to an antique chair has the colors right...

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kevät 2012 sisustustrendit, vaaleanpunainen sisustus, shabby chic sisustus, valkoinen sisustus, olohuoneen sisustus, makuuhuoneen sisustus

I love Valentine's!

Snow rose - photo by S. Thure

What's your Valentine's like? Mine is usually super-romantic, thanks to my wonderful husband. A nice dinner, just the two of us, and as a gift (I love presents, both to get and give)  - some wonderful musical or theater tickets (something to look forward to!), perhaps jewelry, and...roses.

Breakfast? Hmm. Let's say it's not SO romantic with the 3 still bed-warm sweethearts crawling on top of us, rather it is quite a lot of cleaning and 'no, no, no, no...', but that's alrite. It don't need to be exactly February 14, either - the thought matters.

For him? A nice tie, cuff-links, an exclusive scarf or gloves. You may laugh, but it is actually quite the same every year - it might be the previous year's gift has gotten lost or misplaced by the time Valentine's is around the corner again, so I don't need to get overly creative :).

I've been feeling so pink lately - it started with the photoshoots for Valentines a few weeks back, and it's just getting...worse. Luckily there's women's day just around the corner!!

But 'til then - I wish you the happiest Valentine's ever.

In the air - photo by S. Thure

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Ystävänpäivä, ystävänpäivälahja, vaaleanpunainen sisustus, pinkki sisustus, vaalea sisustus, valkoinen sisustus

Ambiente spring 2012

There will be now quite a few posts on the same subject, as I want to bring up each atmosphere presented in Ambiente in the very best way I can.  There were 3 different trends that caught my eye (the 4^th one – noooo…can’t say I was inspired.) this time –

1.       Trend which I could call ‘But that’s Johanna!’ (above). The style can be described as light and luminous. Built with materials like glass, lace, organza and silk. Colors like white, ivory, pale pink, lavender and silver. Soft, round forms and cozy textures. In Ambiente this trend was named ‘Light innocence’

2.       Trend which was called ‘electric romance’. In my mind this trend should be called something  completely different, like ‘glory to nature’ or ‘Back to basics’ or something such, but – okay. The trend was about hand-made – knitted or crocheted home décor items. Natural materials like wood, jute, cotton, linen. BIRDS, BABUSHKAS, and recycled plastic. Colors were natural with strong accents from red and green and blue.

3.       Radiant modernity – I adored the colors of the display – bright pink, bright purple blended with black and white - but the items included into the display didn’t talk to me – at all. But that’s just me – There are plenty who get inspired just of this. And I must admit this is an eye catcher – more about the brands which were representing this trend a bit later.

    
      Anyway, about the ‘But that’s Johanna!’ – trend  – as I visited the stand of one of my dearest business partners Samantha Holmes, we laughed together with her and her friend Gemma:  they have put all Samantha Holmes brand colors to the 'Light Innocense' display! I will let the photos here speak for themselves. Next week there will be also a post where I give you a glimpse of a home decorated EXACTLY according to this trend.

Do you know about Samantha Holmes and her hand-knitted Alpaca beauties? Samantha works in Peru with a network of some 500 handknitters. She visits them each year and ensures that they are fairly remunerated and work in good conditions. Samantha is committed to fair trade and whilst her business is not formally registered with the International Fair Trade Association, she adheres closely to the code of practice it promotes.

Samantha Holmes surrounded by her beauties like the booties also sold in our shop

Lady just like her brand - gorgeous!

Practically all of Samantha's products are made of Alpaca, which is a species of camel. Like Llama, but smaller, Alpacas are gentle and inquisitive by nature from thousands of years of domestication. They have a fine, heavy fleece which occurs naturally in over 22 shades ranging from black, charcoal, silver, sand, brown and ivory. Alpaca clothing and other alpaca products are made from this pure natural fibre, which does not tend to pill or ball.

Once treasured by Inca Royalty for its unique strength, lustre and slippery softness, Alpaca wool has a hollow fibre which renders it uniquely light and up to 30% warmer than the same weight of merino wool. Alpacas are not killed for their fur. 

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2012 sisustustrendit, sisustusmessut, kevät 2012 sisustustrendit, kesä 2012 sisustustrendit, pastelllivärit