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