Lilac as Wabi Sabi accent.

Elegant och finstämd färgsättning, med olika lila toner till mer naturnära, sandfärgade nyanser. Och en varm, röd klick som pricken över i. Me like. 

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Wabi Sabi interiors

Beautifully photographed by Johanna Ekmark for the French mag Marie Claire


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DIY: Pimp your Pendant

Tired of your less that exiting pendant over the kitchen table? Try painting it. If you like the aged look of these two top lamps, you need to give the surface several coats of paint, and wipe or brush some of the top layer(s) off, in order to let the lower layers shine through, and get the right aged look. The two bottom pics are from Ikea - livet hemma. You can read all about how they spray painted their aluminum pendants here (in Swedish). 
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DIY Great, recycled furniture. Gamla möbler i ny, snyggare kostym

What do you do with your old furniture? Sell it? Give or throw it away? I just love what Marjolaine Poulin does with hers:  
Born and raised in Quebec, CanadaMarjolaine Poulin is currently making her own designs out of her workshop in El Salvador. This is what you may find if you visit her:
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Check out my other blog Creative Living here.

A chain of hands

Click on this link to reach out, to show your solidarity with the people of Norway. It is the Oslo newspaper Verdens Gang that's taken the initiative, where you, via the net, can "hold hands" with the people of Norway. And in a small way take a stand against violence - religious, political or otherwise. Go here
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Clever Color Combinations. Färginspiration: natur-grönt-grått-svart-vitt

Another good example of clever color combinations: browns, greens, greys, black and white in a somewhat masculine setting. I personally appreciate the fact that nothing is painted black. Or white. Or something... Very Wabi Sabi. Love it! At the bottom you'll find the different colors in this set: 
Photography: Ditte Isager
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Hidden treasures. Återanvänd ditt gamla porslin som smyckeförvaring

Har du som jag udda porslin från 1800-talet och tidigt 1900-tal i dina gömmor? Föremål med stort affektionsvärde men liten praktisk användning. Om du inte har plats, eller lust, att samla föremålen i ett vitrinskåp, varför inte hitta en ny användning? Som här: ett läckert förvaringstips från alla vår pysseldrottning Martha Stewart: smyckeförvaring av udda koppar och fat. 
What do you do with all those delicate, one off, old china pieces you've inherited? I hate to dust, so in my own home I don't display things with no practical purpose. Reuse is another thing. So when I saw this solution from Martha Stewart, I jumped. Perfect! Now I know what to do with Granny's odd cups and saucers. A hidden secret. And clever storage for all those little things that tend to disappear. 
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DIY taklampa - Think outside the ... box?

Inte för mig, eftersom jag hatar bländande belysning, men kul lösning på ställen du bara passerar: vira in två elsladdar i rep, och vips har du en lekfull taklampa. Lite pyssel blir det. Kanske framför TVn, när din bättre hälft har lagt beslag på fjärrkontrollen? 
Source unknown. Let me know if you  have it. 
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Wabi Sabi meets Scandinavian Modern - in Norfolk, England!

I have spent these past, rather rainy days finishing the re-organisation of my studio/home. But not just. I've also prepared a set of interesting house projects I think you'll like. All houses have a distinct focus on simple, elegant living, close to nature. 

I've already started over at my more colorful blog Creative Living with a post of a new Danish home. Let me start here with a house I found via the great blog Desire to Inspire

It's the Norfolk home of the London art dealer Stuarts Shave. The house is situated deep in english farmland (I guess it's his holiday retreat), and designed by David Kohn Architects 2010. Below is a pic of the largest room of the house - the living room, decorated with the same soft natural colors you'll find outside. 

The architect describe the project like this: The living room offers wide views back across the garden, past an open hearth, to the newly planted apple orchard and nut grove. The plan of the house has been echoed in the landscape to create rooms of wild grasses, flowers and trees each offering different degrees of remove from the house, to be enjoyed at different times of the day and year.

Above: the dining space facing the bedroom area. 
Below: the bedrooms are rather small and each has a separate exit out to the garden, as seen on the floor plan below. 

Then a set of pics, by danish photographer Ditte Isager for Elle 2011. Now the place is drained of color, and the focus is on the furniture etc. The Wabi Sabi stillness is gone. The home has become a stage set where trendy details play the lead. 


Samma hem fotograferat av två olika fotografer, med två olika resultat. De sista bilderna visar ett hem, omstylat nästan till oigenkännlighet för Elle sommaren 2011. Det enkla, eleganta och naturnära har blivit en teaterscen, dränerad på färg. De grålaserade väggpanelerna och det grå betonggolvet ser nästan trendigt kritvita ut. Det är även intressant att notera hur de utbytta föremålen gör hemmet "nättare", mer feminint, där inredningsdetaljerna lyfts fram på bekostnad av helheten. Hemmet som en teaterscen. Kan det bli trendigare? 
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Calabash as Material, Art and Design

The calabash may be the most used vegetable there is? The perfect container, or so they must have thought some 8000 years ago in Africa, America and Asia

Here some beautiful examples from the web of calabash art and design, from all over the world. And then, the beautiful calabash shaped pendant by the Danish design pair  Komplot Design for Lightyears. Just love it! Don't you? Just perfect for adding color and modernity to your wabi sabi home




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Gone fishing - Snabbvisit i Mollösund

The other day (a very rainy day...) we went on a road trip along the west coast of Sweden. We ended up in Mollösund, a small fishing village, and popular summer resort this time of the year.  
Above: images from a small shop frozen in time, after it's last owner passed away years ago. Now a museum. 
Below: pics from the Geranium Museum - and garden center, where I (with a little help from my friend, the garden expert) stocked up on some rarities. 
All in all a good day, despite the weather....
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Färgsätt med naturliga nyanser: Living au Naturel

Letar du efter en lugn, elegant, harmonisk färgsättning, kanske detta kan vara något för dig? Ett spektrum av brungrått, flera nyanser av ljusgrått, brunbeige och sandfärgad beige. Kan det bli vackrare? 

A spectrum of natural colors for an elegant, harmonious feel. Image from the lovely blog Linen and Lavender

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Stylistens egna färgklanger hemma

Jag har redan i ett tidigare inlägg skrivit om stylisten Marie Olsson Nylanders olika arbetsrum i hemmet i Arild. Hemma hos reportaget publicerades utsprungligen i Residence, varifrån dessa bilder kommer. Den säkra färgsättningen gör att jag vill visa ytterligare några bilder, från husets olika umgängesytor: en djärv och lekfull blandning av gammalt och nytt. 

Some images from stylist Marie Olsson Nylanders home in the south of Sweden, Love her mix of old and new and her clever color combinations: 
  




More images here.
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TRANSLATION (well, sort of...)

Wabi Sabi ceramics spells RAKU

Last weekend I joined my friends around the raku kiln yet again, to experiment with more ceramic glazes. Last evening I took some pics of my stuff: some plates and bowles, a set of numbers 0-9, several small animals etc. 



 ... a hippo! 



 ... am not sure what this can be used for... 




... and finally, a few of mine and my friend's raku items, at the end of a long work day.  

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DIY: The Craftsman Builder & Handmade Houses

Some years ago I co-owned an old house with some architect and carpenter friends. We each had a room to ourselves, and shared other spaces. In our renovations (the roof had caved in...) and decorations, we worked very much in the spirit of this book: The Craftsman Builder, which I had bought in an second hand store in the US some years earlier. I understand it's much sought after now, but hard to find, so here are some inspirational pics from the book. Enjoy! 








And finally, a few stunning images from their previous book 
Handmade Houses







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