Coastal living in Finland

We've been spending our annual long weekend in Naantali, a smal coastal town in western Finland. We just love this cozy little town! I wrote about this last time almost exactly a year ago (click here). Walking and running the same old streets, but this time my eyes were clearly on the greyish mint tones.

Isn't it pretty? No cars allowed in the old town (as it is so tiny anyway), filled with small galleries and gift shops. 

Look especially at the craftsmanship in this houses - we don't see this much effort nowadays, which is such a pity! Decorations on these houses are very simple compared to some others, but very Nordic.

Especially the windows - so beautiful!

dreaming of a home in Rome - part I

Do you agree with me that there needs to be joy in life? Real joy, the kind that makes you smile just thinking about it? Travelling is one of those joys for me. Experiencing new things, tasting new tastes, seeing new views. The very best way to travel and learn is of course to visit friends who live in faraway places. The second best - to rent an apartment or villa.

I would love to get an apartment in a city in Italy - to be able to visit a few times a year and just - be. Would be a perfect get-a-way with friends, perhaps even staying a few days just on my own. Wandering the streets, eating delicious food is small family restaurants, enjoying a glass of nice red wine in a corner cafe. Forgetting we were going somewhere, and staying there to read a book for hours. Or just watch the people walking by and making up stories of their lives. Visiting local market places during the weekend - a true treat! Not too many more enjoyable things to do in foreign cities.

What would the dream apartment look like? The N.Y. Soho apartment we decorated in rustic loft style - Italy, for sure, rustic romance. Right? Here you don't sit sipping cosmopolitans and eating sushi, here you have that glass of red wine together with country bread and running gorgonzola!

I've gathered a collage below for the entrance hall in this style. Let's see what my mind comes up with in the next couple of posts.

All images in this post can be found at http://pinterest.com/weranna/dream-home-in-rome/

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romanttinen sisustus, eteinen, eteisen sisustus

inspired by old mint

Do you like the different hues of mint? I love them! Preferrably a wall, or a part of it. Or a piece of furniture, like an old chair or a drawer. Stay tuned for next week - I will be writing about my dream home in Rome. Or perhaps not in Rome, it just rhymes nicely :), more probably in Florence. It will be pure fantasy - we'll decorate a dream home in old and rustic style. 

The images on this post I gathered from a new blog I working on http://www.mokinsisustus.blogspot.se/ - it will be more a scrapbook for inspirational photos found on summer houses and holiday living. And in Finnish :).

All images http://pinterest.com/weranna/holiday-home/

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väri-inspiraatio, minttu

Jiao Zi action

Look at the speed of that hand!

Yesterday was all in all such a perfect day! Extremely inspirational morning, including a morning run in the crisp spring weather, followed by a wonderful lunch-get-together making Chinese dumplings, Jiao Zi and laughing a lot while at it :). There was 3 of us - the master (her hands pictured above), and 2 - well, not so masters ;). What would life be without international friends, I wonder?

Jiao Zi is a traditional dish prepared for Chinese New Year, and it is SOOO DELICIOUS!  Our dear host had prepared the stuffing, and the dough a couple of hours before (only wheat flour and water, imagine that!). There's really no instructions, just mix it. Yep yep.

Then you cut the dough into even pieces, and roll it into flat, thin pancakes. Rolling the wooden roll with the other hand, while twisting the pancake with the other.

 (Writer's note: isn't the casual use of this Svenskttenn designer tray hilarious :)?)

As some of us don't enjoy red meat, the stuffing was made of ground chicken meat, self-picked mushrooms, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, ginger and some other spices. Just the pure scent of the stuffing made my mouth water! AND my mind plan for China trip.

When done with all the rolling and stuffing and squeezing (tight, so they don't open in the pot), the dumplings are put into boiling water. When they resurface, they are more or less done.

And then - enjoy :)! Dip into some soy sauce with lots of garlic, or alternatively Chinese vinegar. Bon Appetit!

White bathroom inspiration

http://pinterest.com/weranna/bathrooms/

White bathrooms are beautiful, aren't they? They look clean and crisp, but you just need to be so careful for it not to look too  - I don't know - sterile, I guess is the word. Some of the above pictures are touched for them to look more harmonious, so I wouldn't expect my bathroom to look like this even if everything was actually white. But awfully pretty pics (and bathrooms) in any case!

If you are looking for something beautiful to create that white-bathroom-look, go ahead and check out our Homespa section at http://www.werannas.com/en/homespa.html. I gathered some in the below collage, as well - cotton, bamboo, rattan, natural fibers, delicous scents...

Weranna's Homespa

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Kylpyhuone, kylpyhuoneen sisustus

Rustic bathroom inspiration

http://pinterest.com/weranna/bathrooms/

Shall we continue a little on the bathroom front still? Our bathroom renovation - I need to find cabinet doors. I've been looking for a year, and have ended up buying old doors, and try to alter them to the trunk - as we have a good trunk, which we want to utilize, but the cabinet doors - IUU!

http://www.trendir.com/interiors/creative-diy-idea-for-foyer-wall.html#more

There's a nice selection in the above picture - we only need 2 pieces, a pair preferably, 30x180 cm - shouldn't be too complicated, should it? Well - it is...this project might become one of those which end up in a compromise. And every time I look at the cabinets, I think - I SHOULD'VE been more patient ;).

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Kylpyhuone, kylpyhuoneen kalustus, kylpyhuoneen kalusteet, kylpyhuoneen sisustus

Bathroom renovation

I've been promising to post these photos from our bathroom renovation for a while, and here we go!  This is where we took off after the water decided to find its way all the way to the basement from the bathroom the very first day after we had moved in:

I kind of liked the mid-way, as well ;):

Remember I gathered the items below around which I wanted to build a bathroom?

It is by no means done yet, but I am so far satisfied with the results - let's say we are half way, and getting there.

We are especially pleased with the wooden deck we built around the jacuzzi - the space was so big and COLD somehow, and building kind of a room-in-room did the magic. And the deck is the handiest thing with the kids!

Do you have some before and after pictures of your bathroom renovation you would like to share with me?

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kylpyhuone, kylpyhuoneen sisustus, kylpyhuoneen remontti

Weranna's Easter

You know what feels so strange? We've been living Easter in Weranna's since this photoshoot, which took place in February, and only now we are here! Living the wonderful seasons so much in advance sort of takes the edge off the celebrations. Must be making my hubbie happy, though, as he is good at rolling his eyes to my enthusiasm to decorate our home for each season ;).

We introduced 3 kinds of Easter with our products, but this rustic version clearly was a winner! Mixing old and new, based on natural materials like linen, and decorations made of real eggs.

The below eggs don't stop amazing me. It is impossible to understand, how they can decorate these without breaking 10 for each finished one...

I am eagerly waiting to receive the Blockwallah paper and textile printing blocks to the warehouse - they are SO delicious as decoration, as well!

I will make sure to introduce the couple behind Blockwallah later on!

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Pääsiäinen, pääsiäiskoristeet, pääsiäiskoristelu, pääsiäiskattaus

Blue bathroom inspiration

Blue it is. And Moroccan.

I tend to like white bathrooms, or the pictures of them. But then - nooo, I don't recall ever having one. My guess is that in the Nordic regions like Sweden and Finland, you need to have some warmth, at least visual such, in the bathroom. Because the bathroom can get CO---LLL--DD-D-D-D during the winter months.

Now the mood seems to be shifting to blue, and to more oriental such.

We are almost done with our bathroom renevation, and I will be showing you those photos this week! My computer crashed, and I wasn't able access those photos last week, like promised. You will laugh, when you see the before-after photos  - you may guess what the color was before? Yes, blue... Well, the whole thing was leaking, so we didn't have a choice, and I felt the tiles were anyway so - I don't know - 90's? Well, apparently the 90's are coming back.

And - it is not so easy with such a strong color. You need to get it absolutely right for the bathroom look lovely, not cold or tacky.

Here we go with the blue:

There is such a nice balance in this one - modern oriental.

Going a bit rustic:

Adding a tree! Well there's an easy idea for us Finns :)!

This one - had to post it for the blue and pinky pink combination - I just adore it!!!

And look at the calm atmosphere in this one - I can almost hear the Yoga tape playing in the background, can you?

All images in this post can be found at http://pinterest.com/weranna/bathrooms/

Fancy for something blue and white for your bathroom? Go and check out our webshop http://www.werannas.com/en/ocean/.

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Kylpyhuone, kylpyhuoneen sisustus, sinivalkoinen kylpyhuone, sinivalkoinen sisustus, siniset laatat